LOVE FOR GOD — SteemCN

"AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ THIS IS THE FIRST COMMANDMENT."
Mark 12:30 (NKJV)

1 “IF there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder,
2 and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—‘and let us serve them,’
3 YOU SHALL NOT LISTEN TO THE WORDS OF THAT PROPHET OR THAT DREAMER OF DREAMS, FOR THE LORD YOUR GOD IS TESTING YOU TO KNOW WHETHER YOU LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL.
4 You shall WALK after the LORD your God and FEAR HIM, and KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS and OBEY HIS VOICE; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him."
Deuteronomy 13:1–4 (NKJV)

• Prophets are known by their fruits:
15 "BEWARE OF FALSE PROPHETS, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. "16 "YOU WILL KNOW THEM BY THEIR FRUITS..." (Matthew 7:20 NKJV).

Idolatry is abominable in the sight of God. You might not have a molten image somewhere that you bow for, but If you did allow anything to take the place of God in your heart, such a thing has become an idol (Ezekiel 14:3-7).
Nothing should take God's place in your life. You must not love the gift more than the Giver—God.
You should always remember that the reason for your lifting is God. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they discovered their nakedness (Genesis 3:6,7).
Jesus Christ says If your affection for someone or something is higher than your affection for Him, you cannot be His disciple:
“ANYONE who wants to be my follower MUST LOVE ME FAR MORE THAN HE DOES HIS OWN father, mother, wife, children, brothers, or sisters—yes, more than his own life—OTHERWISE HE CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE" (Luke 14:26 the Living Bible).
READ: Matthew 10:37-39
Things that could take the place of God in your heart are: money, career, business, and the affection for your spouse, children, parents and others (Matthew 10:37-39).
There are legitimate things which are not sins per SE, but, they are weights that could weigh you down in the race set before you—If you do not know how to handle them (Hebrews 12:1).
Whatever you have given more priority in your Life than God, such has become an Idol.
Your love for God should be in all season, when you have enough and when you do not.

• The proof of your love for God is seen in how you walk intimately with Him.

You need to understand God and walk in the light of that understanding which you have had.
If you get God, you have gotten all things. Jesus is all you need! If you had Jesus, you had gotten all things.

• Reverence God and fear Him

You had to fear God reverentially, and honour Him by doing His Will.
Keep His commandments: "YOU ARE MY [Jesus'] FRIENDS IF YOU DO WHATEVER I COMMAND YOU" (John 15:14).
The whole commandments of God are packaged in love (Romans 13:8-10).
If you love God you will want to obey His Word.
If you love others, you will sacrifice yourself; your time, money, gift or whatever, as Jesus Christ did for the church (Ephesians 5:23; 1 John 3:16-18).

• Obedience to God's voice (Hebrews 11:8).

If you are born-again, walk in the light of God's Word, filled with the Holy Spirit, and being sensitive to His leadings; His voice would not be strange to you and would always receive directions about issues of Life (John 10:5,11,14-16).
When you are about to go astray, He will give you a check in your heart. A nudge to call you back to the right track.
Most Christians do not always obey His voice, there is no time He does not speak to us. Many believers are either do not hear or do not obey and heeded His voice which they have heard.

• Some do not understand His voice

Some are rigid; they have rigidly programmed their minds, set up their minds, in certain ways. Even when God is speaking to them on the changes they supposed to make or the direction to follow, they would not hear.
They have idolized their own ways of life, programmed their thoughts, and are rigid about whatever they wanted to do.
They are not flexible in the hands of God.
If you are like that, It means, your love for God is not completed.

• Serve Him

To serve God means to live your life for His interest (2 Corinthians 5:15; 1 Peter 4:2).

What is God's interest?

The primary interest of God is that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4).

All other things are secondary.

God's Blessings, favour and mercy, on your Life; are meant for being an extension of His Kingdom on earth.
You are to expand God’s Kingdom on earth, that is the foremost assignment of every Believer.
Whatever God gives to you, is for the purpose of His Kingdom. For people to know Him, sinners to come to repentance through their meeting with you—having a contact with you.
Know that God has not bless you that you may oppress other souls.
God has not promoted you, to that enviable position, in order to harass others or to dominate them; but to expand His—Kingdom through service, that is, serving others to bring them to Christ.
Serving God is using every opportunity, position, situation, circumstance to spread His Gospel.
If your vocation is not passing Christ's message to people, that means your work is not for God's cause.
Serving God means Serving Him with everything in your Life; your money, position, gift, business, knowledge and whatever.
Let your life and everything about you speak about Jesus.

• Cleave To Him

To cleave unto Jesus means to abide in Him—to stick close to Him.
It means you have no other god.
Whether things are working or not, God will still remain your God.
YOU want to commit your total life to Him without any reservation.
YOU want to be unwavering in your commitments and submissiveness.
All the points mentioned above are the ways of proving your love for God (Matthew 22:37).
God wanted to see in the depth of your heart, for He knows your heart, that you long and thirst for Him:
"AS THE DEER PANTS [longs] FOR THE WATER BROOKS, so pants my soul for You, O God" (Psalm 42:1).

• As you long for Him, you will see Him in the mighty name of Jesus.
Peace!