Encourage Someone
Today

Heeding the New Commandment

FOR THIS MONTH we will lay our souls bare before God’s Word and what it says about love. We will be honest and humble as we ask Him to set our lives in order with regard to loving. We hope to learn to hold others before the Throne of God’s grace, asking Him to bring their lives into order in this same regard for His Kingdom.

DAY 1—Religion that is empty of love is empty of life.
Jn 5:39,40,42 Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me. And ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life...But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.
• FATHER, I have religion, but it is missing the life that Your love would bring. I still hold hatred for myself. I find it difficult to really love other people. They annoy me and make me angry. I find their faults and put my walls up against them. Heal me with Your love.
Religion without love is a false thing.—I Jn 3:10; I Jn 3:14; I Jn 4:8; I Jn 4:20

DAY 2—The love and acceptance of one’s self makes way for the love of God to enter.
Gen 1:27a So God created man in His Own image, in the image of God created He him... Ps 139:14 I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
• PRECIOUS FATHER, I am a wonder of Your creation. I have no right to despise how You made me, or to think ill of the parents through whom I came into the world. I thank You for me. Who and what I am is Your gift to me. I’ve messed things up a lot, but I still praise You and am ready to love the person You gave me to be.
How God made us provides the ground for our personal triumph.—Ps 92:4,5; Ps 104:24; Ps 111:2

DAY 3—Love for God, and from God, heals us so we can love ourselves, and then love others.
Lk 10:27 And He answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself Jas 2:8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:
• FATHER, I am ready to take down my barriers against Your love. I am ready to believe You love me without condition. I am ready to accept myself as You made me. And Oh! You are ready to heal me! You are setting me free to love the person You gave me to be. Now I can begin loving those around me—whether they meet my requirements or not.
Loving God completely sets us free to love others and to fulfill the Scriptures—Mt 22:37-40

DAY 4—If we rule out Jesus, we miss out on the greatest expression of the love of God.
Jn 8:42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love Me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of Myself, but He sent Me. Rom 5:8 But God commendeth ("gave evidence of’) His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
• FATHER, it is still a mystery to me how you so loved the world that You gave Your only begotten Son. Yet, I have believed this with my heart and You have saved me. Please reveal Your Son to me. Reveal Him in me. Set my heart a flame with love for Him, and for You.
It was God’s love for us that sent His Son into the world to die for us.—Jn 3:13-21

DAY 5—It is God’s rich mercy and great love that has made us alive in Christ.
Eph 2:4-6 But God, Who is rich in mercy, for ("because of’) His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us ("made us alive") together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
• FATHER, Your love is so great that I cannot grasp it unless You reveal it to me. Today, I wait before You for this revelation. Show me more of Your love. Bathe me in Your mercy. Then, reveal Your mercy through me. Show someone through me how much You love them.
How the Love of God Becomes Manifest in Us—Jn 17:18-26

DAY 6—Serving our neighbor in his destitution is the same as loving the Lord.
Mt 25:37-40 … Lord, when saw we Thee an hungered, and fed Thee? or thirsty, and gave Thee drink? When saw we Thee a stranger, and took Thee in? or naked, and clothed Thee? Or when saw we Thee sick, or in prison, and came unto Thee? ... Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.
• LORD, some souls, even close to me, are hurting and I have not loved them. Set me free from this coldness of heart that makes me unaware of others’ needs. Open my eyes, and my heart. Let me know how to minister to my neighbor, even those in my family, who suffer.
The great and final judgment will revolve around how we have loved.—Mt 25:31-46

DAY 7—It is the love of God manifest in us that sets us apart as disciples of Christ Jesus.
Jn 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another. Ac 4:32,33 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.
• FATHER, I have been tested in this area. Demands have been made of me that are not just, and I have failed to show Your love. Forgive me. Show me how I can begin to love and care for those who offended me. Let the humiliation manifest in Your Son become manifest in me toward them.
Christ’s way of thinking tends toward the emptying of one’s self.—Phil 2:5-8

DAY 8—The new commandment of Christ’s Kingdom is that we love as He loved.
Jn 13:34,35 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another. Jn 14:15 If ye love Me, keep My commandments.
• DEAR LORD, I believe it is Your grace that has drawn me into believing You and loving You. Now will You bring that same grace upon me as You help me love like You love. Show me the way of love in what I face today.
Keeping Christ’s commandment to love keeps us in His love, with fullness Of joy.—Jn 15:10,11

DAY 9—Love is the key that will bring the manifestation of Christ’s life into our midst.
Jn 14:21 He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him.
• LORD, I have longed for the manifestation of Your presence. So, help me hear what You have said that You want from Your disciples. Show me how my love toward You can find its release. I wait before You. I open myself to Your love. As I continue to wait, I open myself to Your presence. Heal us now.
Jesus answers a question about His and His Father’s presence with us.—Jn 14:22-29

DAY 10—It was Jesus’ prayer that the love God had expressed in Him would be in His disciples.
Jn 17:24,26 Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me: for Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world. ...And I have declared unto them Thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them.
• FATHER, I no longer want to withstand the great desire of the Lord Jesus. He wanted the love You shared with Him eternally to come into our lives. Although it is beyond the grasp of my poor mind how this can be, with my heart I open myself to that great love.
The great desire of the Lord Jesus for us is that we abide in the love of God as one body.—Jn 17:6-26

DAY 11—If we know the love of God expressed in Christ, we can know the fullness of God.
Eph 3:19 ...And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Jn 1:14,16 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of The Only Begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. ... And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
• FATHER, entice me with the fullness that was in Christ. Draw me into that relationship with Him that brings me up into Your bosom. Oh, love me! From there let me show Your love to those who are so needy of it.
The ministries Christ set in the church are to bring us together into the fullness of Christ.—Eph 4:10-13

FROM THIS POINT we will consider what the Apostle John said in his first Epistle about love. His understanding was profound. As we receive it for ourselves, it will do a profound work in us.

DAY 12—If we give heed to the commission of the Lord Jesus, God’s love can be perfected in us.
I Jn 2:3-6 And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments (from entolé, the orders and commission of His Kingdom). He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth His Word, in him verily is the love of God perfected ("brought to its full development"): hereby know we that we are in Him. He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked.
• LORD, I love the commission You placed on my life. Help me guard it and walk in it so Your love can find its completion in me. Enhance my understanding of what You want me to be and to do. Then Your love can have its full expression through me. Let it work in us.
When we receive His mercy, His commission for our life comes upon us.—II Cor 4:1-6.

DAY 13—The wrong kind of love for the world will crowd out our love for the Father.
I Jn 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. I Jn 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.
• LORD, search my heart, and these I hold before You. Love for the world has crowded in on our love for You. Help us see the emptiness of what the world offers. I lay my heart, with all its affections and desires, before You. Set it in order for Your Kingdom. Draw these.
Loving God supremely will cause the world to despise us.—Jn 15:18-21

DAY 14—When we love others, our knowledge of eternal life is made strong.
I Jn 3:14a We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. I Jn 5:20a And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ.
· FATHER, I can see it. As my love for others decreases, my knowledge of You and the life You give grows dim in me. Please let this be reversed. Let my love for others only increase. Show me how I can lay down my life for those around me. Give me the grace to do this.
We groan for the life that is eternal because God designed us to know it—Il Cor 5:1-5

DAY 15—The love of God that comes to us through the Lord Jesus will pass through us to others.
I Jn 3:16,17 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
· FATHER, let me see the channels of love opened in my life. Show me where there is blockage. I repent of my little love toward You, toward myself, toward others. Send Your Spirit throughout me to cleanse and open these channels so Your love can flow freely through me.
Showing love and compassion to others will bring a light to our own soul.—Is 58:6-10

DAY 16—The love of God expressed through us must be in action, not just in word.
I Jn 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. I Pet 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.
· FATHER, I’ve used my own weakness and personal need as an excuse for turning my head from others in their need. Too often I’ve thought someone else could take care of them. Forgive me. Stir in me a compassion for those who hurt. Show me how I can love them even while I am hurting myself.
Faith without works is dead—Jas 2:14-18

DAY 17—The love we show others is an expression of God’s love to them.
I Jn 4:7,8 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
· LORD, I am beginning to see it. You are ready to supply Your love where mine is weak. You are filling me with love—for myself It is moving through me and healing me. Now there is love to move on through me to these I hold before You. I call their name in Your presence. Show me how to go to them and love them.
However much we have loved others, it is only to increase.—I Thes 4:9,10

DAY 18—The resource we have for loving others is in God’s love that is manifest in Christ Jesus.
I Jn 4:9-11 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. Herein is love not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
· FATHER, help me never forget the pit from which You digged me. Keep me aware of Your love that came to me in Your only begotten Son. Let me never move from its power. As I love others, let them become aware that it is Your love coming through me so they will love You.
As we receive God’s mercy, we become a channel for it to extend to others—Mt 18:23-35

DAY 19—To dwell in love is to dwell in God.
I Jn 4:12,16 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected ("brought to its fullness") in us. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
· DEAR GOD, draw us to dwell in love so we can dwell in unbroken communion with You. Show us the way of love so the assurance that we are in You can be ours continually. Now, here are some we are ready to hold before Your Throne. Let Your love find its fullness in them. Bring them to an unbroken communion with You.
The fragrant odor of His Presence follows us when we walk in love.—Eph 5:1,2

DAY 20—The end of love is that we may have boldness in the day of judgment.
I Jn 4:17 Herein is our love ("love with us") made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as He is, so are we in this world.
· FATHER, keep my eyes and my heart open to know that the love in which I walk will follow me to the day of judgment. But today, let me be an expression of Your love to someone near me. Let them know You—let them know Who You are and where You are—by knowing me.
We can have confidence, and not shame, at His appearing.—I Jn 2:28; I Jn 3:19-21

DAY 21—The love God releases in us sets us free from fear.
I Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. Rom 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
· DEAR FATHER, fear has followed me. Often I do not even know why I am afraid. But now, I see what will deal with this fear. It is Your love finding its perfection in me. Let it become full in me. Let it become full in these I hold before You so they can be free from fear.
We can live without fear—Isa 12:2; Ps 34:4; Ps 56:3

DAY 22—If we do not love our brother, we cannot say we love God.
I Jn 4:19,20 We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
· DEAR FATHER, it’s so simple. If I don’t love others I will have no means of loving you. I think I can see it: even one person that I do not love will clog my channel of love toward You. Search this out in me. Send Your Spirit to cleanse the channels of my life so I can love You by loving others.
We hear again the two greatest commandments.—Mk 22:36-40

DAY 23—It is love that unites us with God, with His only begotten Son, and with all His children.
I Jn 5:1,2 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth Him that begat loveth Him also that is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep His commandments.
· FATHER, with Your love set us free to move in harmony with others who love You. We’ve let doctrine, religious practice, and ways of living separate us from others who know You and love You. As I wait before You, let Your Spirit deal with this fault in me.
Christ has one Body; we have no right to break the communion of that Body.—Eph 4:1-7

DAY 24—We cannot keep the commandments of Christ unless we love one another.
Jn 15:12 This is My commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Mt 5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
· LORD, the love of all of us has been damaged, but I see there is no release from Your commission to love. Even though our hurts have crowded in upon us, let Your mercy restore us. Cleanse us and set us free to walk in love. And please, show the way of love to these others I hold before You. Heal them to love.
If we guard His Word, His love will be perfected in us—I Jn 2:3-5

DAY 25—The final matter is: loving God means keeping His commandments.
I Jn 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep ("set a guard upon to observe") His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous. Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
· DEAR LORD, refresh us in Your commandments. Show us clearly how they are all embraced in love for You and love for others. Wherein we lack, let Your Spirit continue to deal with us so we can have right to the tree of life. And, DEAR LORD, let others see Your love in us so they will want to love You too.
"And this is love, that we walk after (according to) His commandments."—2 Jn 5 -10

© Berean Ministries

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