Love For Jesus Must Be Our Driving Force

Eureka! Eureka!  Eureka means I have found it.  You can only find something that was lost.  What I’ve found was never lost.  It’s been before my face for years and before all our faces for centuries.  I’ve only now found it now because the Holy Spirit enlightened my eyes and heart to it!  Now that I’ve found it, I want to give my heart and my life to embracing it and pursuing it.  What is it that I’ve found?  I’ve found the way to overcome all my shortcomings and the sins with which I’ve wrestled for so long.  I’ve found the key to living out the gospel successfully. I’ve found the key to pleasing Jesus in all that I do.  I’ve found for me, the very best way to honor and glorify Jesus my Lord and God my Father who is so awesome and great.  I’ve found the key to overcoming our struggles with sin.  One reason victory evades us in overcoming our sins, or dealing godly with certain people is this.  Our focus is on the wrong things.  Our focus is on the fact that we keep sinning even though we want to change.  This is not a bad thing but it’s not the best thing for living victoriously.  Jesus gave us the insight for this victory. He said in John 14:15-17,  "If you love me, you will keep my commandments.  16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,  17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. We know that the Holy Spirit indwells us at the time we trust in the finished work of Jesus on the cross. Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit, who is a Helper, and He indwells us and will always be with us.  He, the Holy Spirit, is not just in us but He is our helper who helps us overcome our sin issues, our relational issues, our trials, etc.  How does He come to our aide and make us victorious during those times when we struggle with our sins, relationships, or whatever?   Jesus told us in this verse. He said if you love Me, you will keep My commandments and I will give you another Helper who is just like me.  So what should our focus be in all our trials, struggles with sin or whatever?  We must change our focus to expressing our love for Jesus during the trials, temptations, or relational situations.  When we focus on what it takes to love Jesus, we are then more driven towards loving Jesus than we are in overcoming that sin, temptation, or situation.  When expressing our love for Jesus drives us, our focus changes to pleasing Him first no matter what the temptation, trial, or situation may be.  The sins for which we struggle, or the situation in which we find ourselves, then become instruments through which we express our love for Jesus by keeping His word, His commandments within that situation.  For example, a spouse could be struggling with loving his or her mate.  If he or she changes his or her focus to how can I love Jesus in relating to my mate, he or she will make the changes that demonstrate love to Jesus without regards to the actions, attitude, or disposition of his or her mate.  If a person is struggling with racial issues but is driven to love Jesus, then that person will begin to deal with people from other races in a manner that expresses love to Jesus.  Our focus for every single decision must be preceded with this question in mind.  How can I love Jesus in this?  By consistently being driven by how we can express our love for Jesus, that focus drives all our actions and decisions. Over time as Jesus makes us more victorious, He also changes not only our ways but also our hearts. We get to rejoice not so much in the outcome but in the fact that no matter what happens, we loved Jesus through it all.  Starting today, this question will now be the driving question and focus for my life.  How can I love Jesus in this?  When the driving focus of our hearts is to express love to Jesus in all things by keeping His commandments no matter how difficult or insurmountable the situation, our ways and practices that previously did not please Him will change.  If we allow our love for Jesus to be the driving focus for all of life, we’ll see a most awesome change in us. 

Pastor Lawrence Robinson