Love God First Bishop Keith Butler

For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest
thou dash thy foot against a stone.  Psalms 91:11-12 (KJV)

Is God your first love? In order to walk in the blessings of Psalm 91, you have to set your love on God. He must be first
place in your life. If He is first in your life, then He is your dwelling place, your abode. He is Who you think about all day
long.

Now the scripture is referring to the angel assigned to Jesus. But this is not just for Jesus. Jesus is the head of the
Church, and you are the Church. So, what He has, you have. In my case, I know there were a couple times that my
angel saved my life over the years. Well, why did that angel intervene in my life? Because I have set my love upon
God.

What you love is apparent in your life. Nothing else surpasses what you love. Nothing else takes precedence over
what you love. You’re going to keep on going toward what you love. And the scripture says that deliverance comes
because of a person’s love for God. They don’t just love God. But they love Him first. They are intimately acquainted
with Him. They have taken the time to get to know Him through prayer, worship before Him and studying His word.

Set your love upon God. You’ve got to love God more than the man, more than the woman, more than the husband,
more than the wife, more than the child, more than the job, more than anything else. Make Him the one that you think
about all day long. Therefore, He will deliver you.

Psalm 91:14 says, “I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.” You must know God’s name. That name
is Jesus and it is the authority of God. You must know the power behind the name of Jesus: how He got that name,
how you can utilize that name. You must know the authority that’s vested i n the name and who they are. See, the
name of Jesus is the key when the enemy attacks you. And the only way you will get to know that name is by spending
quality time in prayer before God and in His Word.

Scripture References: Acts 13:22; Genesis 18:19

What God Requires Of Us Charles Scobie Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada

The steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children's children, to those who keep his covenant, and remember to do his commandments.
Psalm 103:17,18

How good is your memory? Mine is not as good as it might be. In fact, I'd be completely lost without my pocket diary. I
write in it everything I'm supposed to do, and constantly check it in order to be reminded what I have to do today. The
system works well - except when I forget to check my diary.

When we remember what we owe to God and what we owe to others, then our response ought to be one of renewed
faith and commitment and obedience to the way in which God would have us walk. There are things that we need to
remember to do. Above all we need to remember to do God's commandments.

Moses foresaw what was likely to happen when the Israelites settled in Canaan among neighbours whose life style
and whose moral standards were very different from those laid down in Israel's covenant with God. "Take heed," he
told them, "lest you forget the Lord your God, by not keeping his commandments and his ordinances and his statutes,
which I command you this day" (Deuteronomy 8:11).
God's commandments were not given as a set of harsh laws which must be obeyed in legalistic fashion. The Law or
Torah was given by God to guide and direct the people to a life style which would make for a healthy and happy
community. According to Jesus, the greatest commandments are to love God and to love our neighbours as ourselves.
Paul called upon the Ephesian elders to "remember the words of the Lord Jesus how he said, 'It is more blessed to
give than to receive'" (Acts 20:35). It is only as we remember God's commandments to do them that we will find true
happiness and true fulfilment both as individuals and as a society.

Lord, even when we remember all that we owe to you and to others, we often forget to respond by keeping your
commandments to love you and to love our neighbours as ourselves. Forgive us, and help us to live lives of willing and
joyful obedience to your commandments.

Because He First Loved Me Alan Riley

This week we observe Valentines Day.  The more cynical among us would suggest it is a holiday perpetuated by
florists and greeting card companies to sell more stuff.  Some among us would take theological exception to it,
declaring it to be a pagan holiday that pays homage to evil so we should avoid it.  But the vast majority of us will use it
as an opportunity to do what we should all do more often anyway... to tell and show the one we love how we feel about
them.

Throughout history, the love of a man for a woman (or vice-versa) has inspired us to reach for the heights of our
creative abilities in search of a way to express that love.  Look at all of the songs that have been written, the words that
have been penned, even the monuments that have been erected.  They say that the majestic Taj Mahal in India was
built to express a man's love for a woman.

In like manner, man has gone to great lengths throughout history to express praise, adoration and love to God.  But all
of our efforts seem to fall short of the mark.  While we can find words to express human love, we find it hard to
comprehend, much less express or return the agape love of God. 

We wrestle with the concept of God's love because much of the time we have a hard time loving ourselves and
certainly have a hard time loving each other.  If we can't love ourselves, if we can't love our brothers and sisters in
Christ, how can we comprehend the perfect love of God?

Only God's love is unfailing.  Even the best, most godly people will let us down. But God never fails and His love never
fails.

Only God's love is unchanging.  He is the same yesterday, today and forever, and His love is as unchanging as His
character.

Only God's love is unconditional.  As much as we love our spouse or our children or our parents, our love can never be
completely unselfish or with absolutely no strings attached.  We are not capable of that kind of love.  But God is. There
is nothing that you can do to earn God's love.  And there is nothing you can do that can cause God to not love you.

With our finite human minds we cannot fully comprehend the love of God, but we can accept it.  You don't have to
understand something to know that it is true.

Karl Barth, the great theologian, was once asked by a group of divinity students what was the most profound thing that
he had ever heard.  He paused and pondered the question for a moment while the students waited with their pens
poised at the ready to record some deep truth.  And then he said, "Jesus loves me, this I know; For the Bible tells me
so..."
Every now and then when I tell my wife I love her she will smile at me and playfully say, "Why do you love me?" 
"Because you are so easy to love!" I say in return.  It's the same with my Lord.  I may not be able to understand how
God can love me, but I know He does, and that makes it so easy to love Him in return.  He loves me, and that love is
expressed in the grace, mercy and favor He has bestowed upon me all of my life.  And it was best expressed when
Jesus gave His life to give me the gift of eternal life.

Oh, how I love Jesus, because He first loved me!

Alan Riley is the Director of Web Operations for Streaming Faith and serves as the Managing Editor of
StreamingFaith.com.  He is an ordained Baptist Minister and a frequent contributor to the Streaming Faith Daily
Devotional.

Ten Words Of Love Laurence DeWolfe Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested
him with this question: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your
God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And
the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two
commandments." Matthew 22:34-40

The summary of the law in Deuteronomy chapter six, which Jesus quoted, is the greatest commandment: Love the
Lord your God with everything you've got. And like the first of the ten, that commandment really begins with an
affirmation of who God is. This is your God, your one-and-only.

When Jesus was asked to sum up all the laws that Moses had passed down to his people, Jesus said the same thing.
Then he added another phrase from one of Moses' sermons: love your neighbor as yourself. The commandments all
come down to love.

We know that love can't be commanded, or required. The will to love can't be forced. But God doesn't demand that we
obey in order to be loved. God loves us already.

God loves us. God has made covenant with us through Jesus. We love God, but how can we know how to love God?
Where do we begin? So God shows us how to love, by giving us Jesus. God tells us how to live in love, by speaking
words of law. Words of love.

Living in the way of love is the best way to show our love for God.

It begins with God, and God's love.

The Absence of God's Love Bishop E. Earl Jenkins

“God…Separated the Light from the Darkness." Genesis 1:3 NIV

A university professor challenged his class: “Did God create everything?”

A student replied, “Yes.” The professor continued: “If God created everything, then He created evil too. And since our
works define who we are, then God is evil.”
The class became silent. Suddenly another student raised his hand and asked, “Professor, does darkness exist?” The
professor responded, “Yes.” The student replied, “No, sir, darkness does not exist. Darkness is just the absence of
light. Light, we can study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton’s prism to break the white light into many colors
and study the various wavelengths of each color. But you cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break
into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of
light present. Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present.”

Then the young man asked, “Sir, does evil exist?” Now uncertain, the professor responded, “Of course.” To this the
student replied, “No, evil does not exist, sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. It is simply the absence of God. It is
just like darkness, a word that man has created to describe the absence of light. God did not create evil. It is the result
of what happens when man does not have God’s love present in his heart. Evil is like the cold that comes when there
is no heat, or the darkness that comes when there is no light.” The professor sat down.

The young man’s name was Albert Einstein.

Bishop Edward Earl Jenkins is the senior pastor and founder of the True Servant Worship & Praise
Church located in Trenton, New Jersey. Bishop Jenkins earned his Bachelor of Theology degree from
Eastern Bible College and has been preaching the unadulterated gospel for over twenty years. His
unique method of preaching and teaching has opened many doors to allow him to touch the hearts of
many lives near and far. Bishop Jenkins is the proud husband of Lady Sheila Jenkins and father of
Travis, Jamal, Clarrisa and Dionna.

The New Law: The Law of Love Bishop Keith Butler

Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as
in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (KJV)

Jesus did away with the Ten Commandments and he introduced the new law, the law of love. When you walk in love
you are not going to steal from your neighbor. When you walk in love you are not going to bear false witness against
your neighbor. When you walk in love you are not coveting what your neighbor has.

We see in the gospels that Jesus himself was standing in front of the religious leaders of the day, and their hearts were
hardened. They could not even see the glory standing in front of them. And that is still true today. Some still have not
recognized that Jesus is the Messiah . They are still looking for the Messiah, but He has already come; and He is
going to come back again. That is why we pray for them in this regard, that when their hearts shall turn to the Lord, the
veil shall be taken away. And it will be done by the Spirit of the Lord.

Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. There is an unveiling from the letter of the law. There is the removing
of the veil only to see grace and freedom, through Jesus.

Now the Word says that we are free. But we are not to allow our freedom to be used as an "opportunity or excuse for
selfishness, but through love you should serve one another" (Gal. 5:13 AMP). In that case, it is inappropriate to say,
"Well I am free, so I can just say anything I want." You unnecessarily offend others that way. Contrarily, we must allow
love to direct our actions and our words to the end that those who observe our lifestyle would be led to receive the
Messiah.
"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (emancipation from bondage, freedom)."
(AMP)

The action that causes us to put on God’s dignity and to become all that He is, is looking into the Word. The Word says
that we are changed. "Change" means to be transformed. In other words, there is a constant changing. The more you
look into the mirror of the Word, the more you will think different, talk different, and act different. The more you get into
the Word, the more you look just like Jesus in the earth, and the more His love will flow through you.

We have a ministry of bringing the unveiling light to others through the love of God, so that they, too, can be
transformed into God’s image.

Scripture References: Romans 12:2; John 13:34