In 1 John 4:19, the beloved Apostle wrote, “We love Him because He first loved us.” The first and foremost thing that God desires from us is that we love Him in return for His love for us. In Deuteronomy 6:5, He said to His people, “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” In Matthew 22:37-38, Jesus referred to this as “the first and greatest commandment.” This kind of love is more than just mouthing the words “I love you”, and it is the kind of love expressed by action; it is the kind of love, in a measure, that He has shown to us. It is the kind of love that is reflected in our daily life; it is the kind of love that drives us to pursue Him, to worship Him, and to allow His presence to so impregnate us, that His fragrance will be sensed all around us! The church at Ephesus, addressed by Jesus in Revelation 2:1-7, received a lengthy list of commendations, but the one thing that broke His heart was that they had left their first love. In spite of all the good they had to their credit, they had apparently found other things that took their primary love away from Him. In John 14:15, He said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (one manuscript says, “you will keep…”). Yes, as an old saying has it, “The proof of the pudding is in the eating”! All God wants from us is our undivided love – service and everything else pleasing to Him will come “sowed in”.
God Wants All Your Love
-prophetic exhortation by Rose Hill
Thus saith God, I am a jealous God and I’m tired of all your other loves. I want all your love. Have I not said to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind”? I have winked at your foolishness in the past but no more. I’m coming after a bride that does not have any other loves; I want all your love or none at all! I’m not coming after a lukewarm church; you make Me sick and I will spew you out of My mouth if you are not hot and on fire. I’m asking you to seek Me with all you have within you, and I want you to be ready and doing My works when I come. I love you very, very much and My thoughts are upon you. I am expecting such love to be returned to Me that your thoughts will be upon Me and not on all these other things. (The following references provide scriptural confirmation for your further consideration… Exodus 20:5; Matthew 22:37; Revelation 3:16; Psalm 119:2; Psalm 40:5.)
Scripture quotations in meditation are from the New King James Version copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson Inc. and used by permission. Scripture quotations in prophetic utterance is from the King James Version.