Word for the Day November
12
By:
Evang. Cascille Hammack
"The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a
sincere faith." 1 Timothy 1:5
When we know God is not offended by our thoughts and actions, we have a good conscience that involves an inner
freedom of spirit. Acts 24:16 says, "So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man."
Living in the Lord is knowing, being and doing His will. We then have confidence and faith and do
as Hebrews 4:16 instructs, "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy
and find grace to help us in our time of need."
We are not to just know the Word, but to put it into practice. We should live out the Word in our daily
lives. What people do speaks far more than what they say. God's Word is a supernatural living Word and when it
is written on our hearts, it creates an inward moral transformation that the Holy Spirit uses to express itself in love, purity
of heart, a clear conscience and faith without hypocrisy. When He dwells in us, His love is poured out from our
hearts to others. People can see and feel if the love you show them flows from a pure heart with a good conscience
and sincere faith in God. Galatians 5:14 says, "The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your
neighbor as yourself."
Jesus
taught in Matthew 7:12, "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law
and the Prophets." In Matthew 22:37, When the religious leaders asked Jesus what the greatest commandment
was, in order to trap Him, He replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your
soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is
like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Learning His Word is not just for knowledge, but it must be digested into the spirit with an open heart, then by
the Holy Spirit, it will produce holiness, a righteous lifestyle and a conforming to God's Ways. This is why Jesus explained
in John 6:53-58, "Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man
and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life,
and I will raise them up at the last day. For My flesh is real food and My blood is real drink.
Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in them. Just as the living Father
sent Me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the
bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”
Matthew 6:33, "But seek first His kingdom and
His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." We must obey the commands of Christ to possess
His righteousness through His Holy Spirit, then we will remain separated from the world and it's desires and share
in Christ's love. We can then share His love with others from a pure heart, a good conscience with our sincere faith.
Philippians 2:13 explains, "for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose."