Whatever Happened to the Church part 3

By now, hopefully, you have begun to cultivate a deeper love for God. As your love grows, reading the Bible and praying should become more frequent and enjoyable, though it may seem like a stretch right now as you try to recover what you lost as your love grew cold. If you are like I was, you may be having a tough time figuring out exactly how to cultivate a deeper love for God. Let me give you a pointer.
Spend time reading about God in the Bible. Get to know Him. As you get to know Him better your love and admiration will naturally begin to grow.

The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹ By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:8-10

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, ⁷ casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6-7

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶ Just as it is written, "For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered." ³⁷ But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:35-40

Can it really be this simple? Is it as simple as reading the Bible and our love will grow? Yes…if you are a Christian! You see, if you are a Christian you have living within you the Holy Spirit and you also have a heart that has been changed from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh that yearns after God. Your heart, if you are a Christian, already has a desire to know Him better, it is already crying out for Him. We sometime stifle that cry by neglecting what we should be doing, or doing sinful things that we know we shouldn't do, but the remedy is always the same.

So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— ¹³ for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" Romans 8:12-15

It is a natural thing for a Christian's love to grow as it learns more about his God and Savior. The process of this change is called sanctification. When Jesus prayed for the believers He was about to leave behind at His death He prayed this.

"I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.¹⁶ "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. ¹⁷ "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. ¹⁸ "As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. ¹⁹ "For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. ²⁰ "I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word;   John 17:15-20

So begin your journey to a fulfilled and joyful Christian life by taking this simple step. Read the Bible and pray that He opens your heart further. Read and let your faith and love grow. It may be a struggle at first, but take it from me it is worth the effort. Be all you can be and want to be in Christ, search the Scripture to know God. Listen to what Jesus said about the nature of eternal life.

"This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. John 17:3 

The Apostle John also understood that the believer's heart cries out for God and also that he needs to grow his understanding of who God is.

These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. 1 John 5:13
And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. 1 John 5:20

Yours in Christ, Jeff