Expendable.

     Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone; but if it die, it beareth much fruit.
                                            John 12:24

     It may seem shocking to many, but the reality is that we are expendable to God! Yes God loves and cares for us. He who sees the sparrow fall, and knows the very number of the hairs on our heads, is concerned for us through the trials we go through. Yet, we are expendable. 
     God calls us to lose all for His sake, in His service; even our very lives if necessary. When He calls us to lose our lives for His sake, we might very well face persecution and martyrdom. We are in a spiritual battle for the kingdom of God and the souls of men. Just like an army will count men as expendable, sending them out to die for the greater purpose of winning the war, we too are sent out to die for the sake of the gospel, giving our very lives if it so be, so that another can find life in Christ.
     Remember, we are living in these bodies upon this earth for a short time. We are spiritual beings with souls that will live on throughout eternity. To face death for Christ is truly no loss to us, as to be absent from this body, is to be present with the Lord (2 Cor 5:6-8). So even though we are expendable for the cause of Christ, it is no real loss to us, in fact, it is great gain.

A Prayer For Understanding.

     Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments.
                                    Psalm 119:73

     It is only right that as God's creation, we should be willing to serve Him. It is also right that we go to the God who has created us for understanding, so that we would know His commands, and learn to be pleasing unto Him.
    

Knowing God.

     For I desire goodness, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings.
                                 Hosea 6:6

     The vast majority of people seem to believe that the way to God can be found through forms and rituals. This is how all of the world's religions work. The individual approaches their god through sacrifices, rote prayers, and various other religious exercises, that give one a false sense of God's favor.
     Sadly, many who call themselves Christians also approach God in this way. They pride themselves on all of the religious rules and forms that they maintain, thinking that this is what God desires.
     God desires us to know Him intimately. This is what eternal life is, knowing God, through Jesus Christ (John 17:3). He cannot be found through all of our empty traditions. We worship in Spirit and truth (John 4:23-24). The pursuit of God is carried out by faith, as we humbly submit ourselves to Jesus Christ, allowing Him to form Himself in us.
     Exercising justice, and compassion are what God really wants from us, as we walk humbly with Him. This far exceeds all the sacrifices and offerings we could ever bring to God (Micah 6:6-8).
    

Sacrificial Love.

     Hereby know we love, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
                                            1 John 3:16

     Jesus has shown us by His sacrificial death on Calvary's tree, what love looks like. There was nothing in us deserving of this act of the highest form of love. God commended his own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Understand this. We did not deserve this act of love. There is nothing in us to make us special to God. We were rebels, we were sinners, we spurned Him and His law. Our sinful deeds only gave the outward proof of the inner hatred we held for God.
     Now as redeemed children of our heavenly Father, we are called to love each other in the same self sacrificing way that Jesus has loved us. John goes on to tell us that if we see our brother in need, we are to do what is within our capabilities to meet that need. That is how love responds to the pain and suffering around us. That is the response of Christ within us to the pressing needs we encounter on a daily basis. To withhold what is good, from one who is in need, is to refuse to love that individual (1 John 3:17-18; Proverbs 3:27). How can the love of God be in us?
     Jesus calls us to the highest form of love-

     "This is my commandment, that ye love one another, even as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do the things which I command you. No longer do I call you servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things I have heard from my Father I have made known unto you. Ye did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that ye should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I command you, that ye may love one another."
                                            John 15:12-17
    

Loving Jesus.

     Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
                                     John  14:23

     True biblical love is not self seeking (1 Cor 13:5). It seeks the good of others with no thought of self. Often we see someone do something for somebody else that seems kind, but it is done with the thought of some benefit for self. This is not love. Many try to keep God's commandments with self preservation in mind, but this only amounts to selfishness.
     The one who loves Jesus will, out of that love, live to please Him. Their desire is for Him and His glory. They live to promote the highest possible good that they can, for Him.
     We see even in our own relationships, that when we love someone with a unselfish love, that we will go to great lengths to please that individual.
     It is therefore only natural that if we love Jesus, we will obey His commands (John 14:15, 21).
     Look at the promise we have from the Savior, to come and dwell with us in intimate fellowship, if we truly love Him, with an obedient love.