Compelling Love

David writes in Psalm 24:3-4, “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Or who may stand in His holy place? ⁴ He who has clean hands and a pure heart …” He declares and promises Psalm 24:7, ^“Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.”

Psalm 24 (NKJV)
¹The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell therein.
² For He has founded it upon the seas,
And established it upon the waters.

³ Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Or who may stand in His holy place?
⁴ He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
Nor sworn deceitfully.
⁵ He shall receive blessing from the Lord,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
⁶ This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him,
Who seek Your face. Selah

⁷ Lift up your heads, O you gates!
And be lifted up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.

The King of glory enters our lives when we believe and receive Him by grace. We are born again and all things become new.

John 1 (NKJV)
¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. ¹¹ He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. ¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: ¹³ who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 3 (NKJV)
³ Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

Jesus declared in Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.” By His grace when we receive him with faith, he cleanses and redeems us, and makes our hearts pure. He then commissions us to be “the light of the world”.

Matthew 5 (NKJV)
⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.

Matthew 5 (NKJV)
¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Paul emphasizes the importance of keeping our eyes and minds focused on things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, of virtue and praiseworthy.

Philippians 4 (NKJV)
Be Anxious for Nothing; Think These Thoughts
¹ Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved.
⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
⁵ Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
⁸ Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. ⁹ The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

John writes in 1 John 3:2-3 that when Christ is revealed, “we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

1 John 3 (NKJV)
¹ Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. ² Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. ³ And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

²³ And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. ²⁴ Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

Jesus had only one thing against the Church of Ephesus in Revelation 2:4-5, “that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works…” May we remember our first love, and obey His first and great commandment:

Matthew 22 (NKJV)
³⁷ Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”

David Krause, dhkrause2@gmail.com, https://compellinglove.net/