Daniel Fast Day 2

DEEPLY ROOTED
Who do you love?


Colossians 1:1-3(NLT) This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy.  We are writing to God’s holy people in the city of Colosse, who are faithful brothers and sisters in Christ. May God our Father give you grace and peace.

I love how Paul addresses and greets the church in Colosse. He calls them God’s holy people and faithful in Christ. He marks their identity and recognizes their character. Then he pronounces a blessing of grace and peace all in his greeting. When we truly love, we pursue. Whatever or whoever you love will determine the actions you take and the habits you form. If we are going to be deeply rooted, we must ask the question of ourselves: “Who do I love?”

One of the most powerful songs in the OT is the song that David sang to the Lord when the Lord delivered him from all his enemies. It is found in 2 Samuel 22 and in Psalm 18. His men had slain four more of the relatives of the giant, and David breaks out in song. I love the way He starts, and I believe if we have the same heart and mindset, we will be able to grow and develop deep roots the way we need to.

“I love you, Lord; you are my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies. Psalm 18:1-3(NLT)

David is NOT talking about what he heard from others about God, he is singing a song to God because of what he has experienced in and through God. It is personal, and it is based on a relationship that is rooted in love. The first words out of his mouth are a declaration of his love for God! “I love you, Lord…” David truly understood that the strength of his life only comes from his depth of love for God.

To confess our love for anything or anyone is easy because we can just say it. But showing that we love is much different. We live in a world today that is love confused and because the world is love confused, it is love starved. When you are starving, anything that remotely looks like, smells like, or tastes like food, you will consume. The world is consuming things that will never satisfy the hunger and thirst in their souls. So, they call things love. That is not love at all. When someone courageously points out that what they are perceiving as love is not love, that person becomes the object of attack and ridicule. As a matter of fact, that person is then labeled as a hater. When you are love confused, you struggle to discern the difference between love or hate, truth or lie, or food or poison. Have you ever watched a movie with a prison scene and one of the prisoners has the audacity to take another prisoner’s food? What ensues? A brawl, a malaise of epic proportions. Our culture is in a malaise, an epic brawl, because love confused people are trying to protect what they deem as food that is good for them yet fail to realize that they are simply prisoners fighting over scraps, served by the warden of the prison they are in, Satan. Freedom is only found in the love of the Father, made manifest in Jesus, and that love, is empowered by the Holy Spirit!

The reason I say “love confused” is because much of what we call love has got nothing to do with true love. We confuse love with like, lust, feelings, and emotions. Love can produce feelings and emotions, but love is not defined by feelings and emotions. We go so far as to equate love with approval, agreement, and applause, regardless of lifestyle and outcome. True love has been perverted, because human beings have rejected the true source of real love, God! God is love. You will never be able to understand true love until you have a real revelation of the Father’s love. True love is not stagnant feelings or even overwhelming emotions. True love is expressed by generous acts of sacrifice.

The Father’s love for us is expressed by the greatest act of generosity, brought about by the most excruciating way possible…the Son of Man hanging on a cross. Undeserving yet willing to pay the ultimate price for the freedom of all mankind and the redemption of the earth from the influence and control of the evil one. Jesus’ love for us cost Him His life. So generous is God’s love towards us, that He did not wait to express His love for us. He did not wait until we acted right or became right. Jesus willingly died for evil people (us), who then have the choice to accept His sacrificial love or reject it!

We are all sinners in need of a Savior. Because of God’s love, He sent Jesus to die on the cross. Jesus shed His blood and was raised from the dead, all so that we who accept His sacrifice and believe in the Lord Jesus are cleansed and forgiven. By acknowledging we are sinners in need of salvation, we are born again, and salvation comes through the blood of Jesus and through His death, burial, and resurrection!

No one will one day be able to point to Jesus and say “you did not love me enough”, because His love is expressed by His gift of Himself for all humanity. So now as His sons and daughters, He expects us to love others in the same way. The foundation upon which we build our lives is our love for God. If we are not rooted and grounded in His love, nothing that we do or say will ultimately matter. The strength and sure foundation upon which we build our lives are drawn from the understanding, recognition, and expression of God’s love.

Moses commanded the children of Israel to love God with everything. “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.  And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.  And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today.” Deuteronomy 6:4-6(NLT)

Jesus is being tested by a religious lawyer. He asks Jesus about inheriting eternal life. Jesus puts it right back to him, by asking him what his understanding and reading of the law is. Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?” The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”  “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!” Luke 10:26-28(NLT)

We see that the lawyer understands the letter of the commandment to love God and his neighbor but completely misses the point. The lawyer is right in his theology, but wrong in the execution of it. He says he loves God, yet he is selective in his loving of others. Jesus then reveals the prejudice in this man’s heart by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus makes the very people the Jews have issues with (Samaritans), as the hero of the story and the Priest and Levite, are the ones with a lack of care.

By all outside indicators, he seems to be completely devout, yet he misses the point of true love! Our love for God must be made evident in our willingness to obey Jesus’ commandments regardless of the cost. Jesus said: “If you love me, obey my commandments. John 14:15(NLT)

The very source of our affection and love is also the root of our strength, the foundation of our security, the place of our safety, and the power of our deliverance. We do not become weaker when we love God, we become stronger. It is not that we have a strength problem, but rather we might have a love problem. Who do you love?

Prayer and Reflection:
  • If you can measure love by the depth of sacrifice, how deep is your love for God? 
  • What have you sacrificed because of your love for God?
  • What does your daily pursuit say, your time, schedule, and commitments, about your love for God?
  • What changes can you make, or should you make, that would reflect your true love of Jesus?

Father, thank you for loving me first and showing that love through Jesus. Jesus thank You for demonstrating the Father’s love and paying the ultimate price on the cross for me. I pray Holy Spirit, that You would reveal the love of the Father to me in such a way that my pursuits, my time, my calendar, and my lifestyle will always reflect Jesus’ love. Help me to love a love starved world, even if I might be mocked or hated for pointing people to True Love. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.







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