12th October 2021

Checking into God's Presence… What strategies can we deploy that can add value to Christianity when we consider the word love and unity? Where there is love, it will be so easy to experience unity for two people cannot work and walk together, except there is a unifying theme that connects both of them. Amos 3:3 confirms this assertion: "Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?" When we look at the world today, love and unity are the missing links, including the Household of God. If the church must add value to the world in the field of love, there has to be love and unity among the children of God: and that shows we are fulfilling one of the fundamental principles of why God created us according to the two greatest commandments by Him. These were clearly stated by Jesus Christ when "one of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" “The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. [e] Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' [f] The second is this: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' [g] There is no commandment greater than these." Mark 12:28-31 But among us today: "Day and night prowl about on its walls; malice and abuse are within it. Destructive forces are at work in the city; threats and lies never leave its streets. If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were rising against me, I could hide. But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship at the house of God, as we walked about among the worshipers." Psalm 55:10-14 Where these exist, we cannot bring about the fullness of God that will ultimately link us with His inheritance in heaven.  We are all prone to show inadequate love, produce fake love, and repay love with evil and or evil with evil. Undoubtedly, occasions will arise when we feel unloved and or reject all advanced love. But instead of acting in a retaliatory manner, we must apply the Godly principles stated in Mark 12:28-3: to 'love our neighbour as ourselves. I, therefore, encourage us to use all strength in the expression of our love so we can experience the fullness of God. The story of Leah in Genesis 29 shows how God helped Leah; she was unloved, despised and rejected by Jacob, only to now become a powerful lineage to the coming of Christ out of the tribe of Judah. Sarah also despised Hagar and treated her with contempt and hardship when she noticed the impudence of Ishmael upon Isaac. She became enraged and sent them away from the tent. However, God was with them throughout their ordeal. For: "Early the next morning, Abraham took bread and a container of water and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder. He also gave her the boy and sent her on her way. So she left and wandered around in the desert near Beersheba. When the water in the container was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went about as far away as an arrow can be shot and sat down. She said to herself, "I don't want to watch the boy die."  So she sat down and sobbed loudly. God heard the boy crying, and the Messenger of God called to Hagar from heaven. "What's the matter, Hagar?" he asked her. "Don't be afraid! God has heard the boy crying from the bushes. Come on, help the boy up! Take him by the hand because I'm going to make him into a great nation." God opened her eyes. Then she saw a well. She filled the container with water and gave the boy a drink.  God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became a skilled archer." Genesis 21:14-20 We must be aware that God sees us even as we go through the period of being unloved. Therefore, we should keep the faith, trust and belief in Him for: "God can see us in every place. “For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and He pondered his entire goings." Proverbs 5:21. "Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." Psalm 50:15 Although it was a late evening in the desert, Jesus still had compassion on the five thousand and fed them with 'only five loaves of bread and two fish in Matthew 14:13-21. I pray that God will be moved miraculously in our lives and help where we have been neglected, rejected and made to feel unloved. May God sort all issues of hopelessness, illnesses, and lack of fruitfulness in our lives and link us with His heavenly riches. The Lord will also teach us how to show genuine love to ourselves so we can enjoy peace and unity in Jesus' Mighty Name Amen. Http://testimony-times.blogspot.co.uk Just Checking into His Presence...