Perfect Love: The Path to Glory E-Book

Grace Ozioma Onotu

• Herausgeber: Dove Christian Publishers
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Beschreibung

This book is about the power of the love of God and the capacity of every believer to love as God does. It takes us through the journey of the definition of divine love, to the foundation of loving God and how to grow in love daily to manifest God's nature to a dying world. It emphasises that Christians are the regenerated ones born of the spirit of God and should view and live a life of love from God's perspective because that is the only way to become healthy people for God, building healthy relationships, families, communities, and nations in unity. Only love can empower us to reconcile this decayed world back to God, restore God's people in unity, and also prepare us as the bride of Jesus for the marriage supper of the lamb. The Bible says that the love of many will wax cold in this end time.

This book sounds a trumpet to every lover of God to awake into being eternity driven in all they do in love because it is only love that can make us reign here on Earth and in eternity.

Leseprobe

Perfect Love: The Path to Glory

The eternal beauty of growing in the love of God—and how to be an instrument of love in a decaying generation

And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in Him. — 1 John 4:16

Grace Ozioma Onotu

Perfect Love

Published by

Inscript Publishing

a division of Dove Christian Publishers

P.O. Box 611

Bladensburg, MD 20710-0611

www.inscriptpublishing.com

Copyright © 2018 by Grace Ozioma Onotu

Cover Design by Raenita Wiggins

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used or reproduced without permission of the publisher, except for brief quotes for scholarly use, reviews or articles.

Scripture citations marked NIV are from the the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

eBook Edition

Published in the United States of America

Dedication

This work is dedicated to God Almighty, who has loved me with an everlasting love.

Acknowledgments

I thank God for His faithfulness and love towards me. Words alone cannot express my eternal gratitude for His marvellous help along my life journey. He is my everything, and the reason I live.

To my parents, Mr and Mrs Onotu Ahmed and my siblings, I say thank you for your love and support. May the love of God never depart from our home. In Jesus’s name, Amen.

Thanks to the men and women of God whom God has used as they shared their teachings, materials, and guidance to build me up and make me eternally focused and driven. I am especially and eternally grateful to Papa—Bishop David Oyedepo—for getting me rooted in God’s incorruptible, infallible, and profitable word. To Bishop David Abioye: I thank you for your prayers and encouragement, sir! Thanks to Barrister Emeka Nwankpa for helping me to become a true intercessor. I appreciate your timely words, prayers, and encouragement. To Rev Sam Adeyemi, I say thank you for leading me to Christ through the exposition of the love of God.

To my spiritual mentors, Dr Paul Enenche and his wife, Dr Becky Enenche, I am eternally grateful for your prayers, show of love, encouragement, and timely words. To Dr Ezekiel Oyemomi, I say thank you for your consistency and unconditional love. To Uncle Ojukwu, Gen Salihu Ibrahim (Rtd), and Rev Aka, I thank you for being there always.

To my professional and life mentors, Professor A. O. Malomo, Dr. Babajide Coker, Pastor Okechukwu Emmanuel Okechukwu, Dr Steve Ogan, and Dr Emmanuel Sokpo, I say thank you for every word of encouragement, direction, and belief in me.

I extend my appreciation to Barrister Grace Ovba, Mr Olushola Obaisi, Mrs Blessing Okoh, Itode Igweke, Mrs Ozigi, Mrs Chioma Okafor, Ms Dooshyma Kumbur, Mr Dele Adebayo, and Mrs Uche Areghan for their encouragement and faith in me.

Preface

This book is born out of a heart burdened by seeing the church of Jesus Christ in a state of mediocrity and mundaneness. Yet, I am hopeful that it will rise to its highest call of loving God and humankind. Love, being the driving force into eternity, must be given its urgent attention and its due place in our teaching in this end time. It will help us get ready for the return of our bridegroom: Jesus Christ. As the potential spotless bride of Christ, the church cannot afford to have a superficial relationship with God and His creation. Superficiality does not make us real and authentic; it cannot bring us into the fullness of our call as God’s royal priesthood and a holy nation.

To fulfill our call as His kings and priests here on earth and to consummate our relationship with Him in the marriage supper of the Lamb, we must develop a deep love relationship with God as the work of His hands. Love flows from us to His creation by fulfilling His purpose for creation. If we do not understand God’s eternal love for us, we will not be able to respond to Him—or have enough faith in Him who is invisible yet active in our lives.

As I watch people go about their activities within and outside the church environment, I see a whole lot of differences between their attitudes as part of these two settings. People come to church raising holy hands, looking pious, and blessing the name of the Lord; however, in their homes, their respective businesses, and society at large, their utterances, relationships with others, and decisions made in their places of service and authority do not reflect the values of Jesus Christ.

So much disunity among believers and church leaders exist that one wonders what went wrong or what happened to the legacy and words of our Lord Jesus Christ. We hear of atrocities and abominations among Christians. One wonders if such things should be named among us, which I believe should be a concern to anyone that genuinely loves the Lord. However, the people of the world are watching us; we are to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matthew 5:13–14). Where did we get it all wrong? What happened along the way? What can we do to arrest the schisms, the indifference to one another, and the unrighteous acts in the church in order to affect the world positively for the Lord? As children of God, we are pilgrims here on earth, as David rightly said (Psalm 119:19–20). Though we are in the world, we are not of this world. We have a destination, and that is to spend eternity with the Lord. Sometimes, I think we read the Bible convincing ourselves that we believe all that is written there; however, in reality, our hearts are full of doubts. That is why it is so easy to behave like people of the world.

We are pilgrims here on earth to change the world for good so that Christ will come to us and return us to our homeland: a place prepared for us by our Lord Jesus Christ. How do we retrace our steps to the very foundation of our faith, which is the love that God has for humankind that made Him give His only begotten Son to save us and reconcile us to Himself? We have been so carried away by what to eat and drink, which house to live in, and building empires for ourselves that we have forgotten God’s commandments.

It is not possible to serve at God’s altar as His priests without love for Him and His creation. Our ministrations to Him as His priests must be born out of love. As we stand before Him on behalf of our nation, community, friends, and loved ones, we need love in our hearts to intercede without a judgmental attitude. As kings who will reign here on earth, we need His love in our hearts to rule in alignment with His will and to serve our generation in the fear of the Lord like David, as testified to in Acts 13:36:

For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption.

How David was able to serve his generation in the will of God is found in 2 Samuel 23:2–3:

“The Spirit of theLordspoke by me, and His word was on my tongue. The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to me, ‘He who rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.” These were his last words before he died. This is what one of my mentors, Dr Steve Ogan, calls “righteous rulership through divine relationship.”

No wonder God says in Acts 15:16–17:

“After this I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up; so that the rest of mankind may seek theLord, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says theLordwho does all these things.”

Without love, we cannot serve in the fear of the Lord, because power corrupts. Therefore, love is the only virtue that can put authority under God’s jurisdiction without anarchy or abuse of power. We will talk more about this in the following chapters.

The core message of this book is that only the love of God can make us reign triumphantly here on earth and prepare us for eternity. Further, only the love of God can grant us internal freedom, destroy lust, and help us to walk with integrity and purity of heart; thereby preparing us daily to become the spotless bride of Christ, worthy and qualified to be united with Him in eternal marriage.

Only love can take us to that place of heavenly mindedness and eternity consciousness, as we wait for the return of our bridegroom who will qualify us to be partakers of the New Jerusalem, where according to Revelation 22:3–5:

“And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no light there: they need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.” Praise God! Amen.

I sincerely believe that God is calling His people back to the biblical concept of love in order to conquer the world in these last days; that the message of the kingdom will reach all the nations of the earth in preparation for the return of our King Jesus Christ. This message will also help us to find solutions to the majority of the problems on earth. Only love can heal the nations of the earth. It is the only thing that cannot fail, because where love is, God is.

Introduction

This book expounds on the love of God and the capacity of every believer and follower of Jesus Christ to love as He loves by being an epitome of love to a decaying society. It also relates how the love of God should reflect in our relationships with God and our fellow human beings—and how to grow in the love of God.

It encourages us about the need to endure to the end in following the Lord and obeying His commandments. There is a reward for enduring to the end, according to the book of Revelation.

Perfect Love: The Path to Glory, I believe, will impart us afresh with the Spirit of love to overcome all that is not of God in our lives and society. It will help us to see that our very end is to be like God. If that is the goal, then we must become what the Bible says: that God is love.

If we heed the biblical concept of love, the Holy Spirit will always be there to impart it to us and also enable us to be kingdom love practitioners.

God bless you.

Chapter One

The Triumphant Life of Living and Walking in God’s Love

The subject of love has been a vital issue for a long time especially in the twenty-first century. Many words have been spoken and written about it; yet, the world grows colder without love. We experience heartlessness, brutality, murder, heartbreak, and war everywhere. Even in the Christian fold, we do not see much difference. We see churches rise against one another, and brothers and sisters lying to and cheating one another. The church is meant to be the epitome of love—a living example to people in the world. This has led to confusion and worldly principles about this subject in the church.

Jesus said we are not of this world even though we live in this world (John 17:14–16). This is a very serious message to us as people of God. In everything we do and wherever we find ourselves, we need not forget Jesus’s statement. We are the regenerated ones, born of the Spirit of God. We are the ambassadors of heaven. The immortal Spirit of the Living God dwells in us. The people of the world are not regenerated in the Spirit, and so, have no capacity for the things that are of God. Because of this, nothing that comes from the world gives life.

In the body of Christ today, so many things are going wrong. Teenagers and adolescents are lost to drugs, sexual lusts, perversions, and ungodly relationships. They also experience ungodly interactions on the phone, internet, and television. Families experience divorce and lack a heart for God. In Europe and other parts of the world, churches have turned into monuments and tourism sites. The hearts of the people have departed from God.

The devil has subtly crept in to displace our first love: Jesus. He gives us the power to love and live as He did when He walked on the earth. The devil knows the power and influence we will have if we give to the Lord much of the time we spend on all electronic devices and ungodly relationships. That is why he, the devil, would hardly sit and watch people serve God without misleading them.

Many are going down the road of hellfire all in the name of civilisation and what some call modern Christianity. There is no such thing as modern Christianity; instead, but a refusal to detach ourselves from the ways of the world, so we bring them along with us to the church.

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are His ambassadors among foreign people and should not partake of their culture and forsake or amend heavenly principles to suit us. We are pilgrims here on earth; we are heavenly dwellers, and our end is to be with the Lord. For this reason, we are to attune our minds with the mind of Christ by renewing our minds daily as we study His lifestyle from His word. In doing so, we can begin to think and act like Him. Our definition and practice of love must be scripturally based—not based on the views of people of the world. Therefore, we should not refuse to take advantage of the regenerated Spirit in us to grow in love and be like Jesus.

Irrespective of where we were born, come from, or what our past has been, the scriptures cannot be changed to suit us, because God’s standard is not the same as the world’s. Bringing the world’s concept of love into the kingdom of God will never profit us or make us Christlike.

Jesus Christ is the epitome of love. While He walked on earth, He was love personified. This helped Him fulfill His mission of healing, deliverance, and generosity with no scandal or atrocity in all His relationships with both males and females. He triumphed over temptations and brought reconciliation between God and humankind on the Cross of Calvary. He expects this to be our testimony: to triumph over sin and the wickedness in the world. He knew no sin but was made sinful for us because of His love for us.

Colossians 2:6–15 gives us a picture of what Jesus did for us on the Cross of Calvary. Read with me: “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught abounding in it with thanksgiving. Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily: and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcised of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiving you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”

From the above scriptures, we see that if we are not built and rooted in Christ, it will be easy to be manipulated in the world, to be tossed around by the traditions of humankind and be enslaved. If we do not know the truth of what is freely ours, we will walk in darkness and will never live a victorious and glorious life. We have been raised with Christ from terrestrial to celestial, and that is the place of love, where God dwells; a place of no sin, no sorrow, because Christ has nailed every contrary handwriting of requirements against us to the cross—every sin, sickness, poverty, and condemnation has been judged. We may ask, “If Christ has done all these things for us, why are we still living defeated and broken lives? Why does so much hatred and fear of the future exist? Why do church people still commit suicide?”

I believe that our hearts have departed from the Lord—our first love. Even when we claim to have surrendered all to Him, many things—such as materialism, career, marriage, money, titles, and position—still contend with the love of God in our hearts. This was the case with the Israelites; God became angry with them. In our generation too, things are deteriorating so fast that one begins to understand why Jesus asked a vital question in Luke 18:8b, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

Jeremiah 2:11–19 says,

“Has a nation changed its gods, which are not gods? But My people have changed their Glory, for what does not profit. Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid; be very desolate” says the Lord. “For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns broken cisterns—that can hold no water. Is Israel a servant? Is he a homeborn slave? Why is he plundered? The young lion roared at him, and growled; they made his land waste; His cities are burn without inhabitant. Also the people of Noph and Tahpanhes have broken the crown of your head. Have you not brought this on yourself, in that you have forsaken theLordyour God, when He led you in the way? And now why take the road to Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? Or why take the road to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River? Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backslidings will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing, that you have forsaken theLordyour God and the fear of Me is not in you,” says the LordGodof hosts.

When our hearts depart from the Lord, we become empty. We search for satisfaction where there is none. We do things that attract curses and problems in our lives. Without God, life is full of crisis, hopelessness, and desolation. We begin to scheme for love in the wrong places, yet the place of God cannot be replaced by any other. This is why Jeremiah 2:33 asks, “Why do you beautify your way to seek love? Therefore you have also taught the wicked women your ways.” The New Living Translation puts it this way: “How you plot and scheme to win your lovers. The most experienced prostitute could learn from you!”