The Benefits of Loving God

The Benefits of Loving God

by Patricia Dailey
Senior Pastor, Bethel Revival Center
43 Norwood St.
Everett, MA 02149

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And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind,
and with all thy strength:
this is the first commandment.
Mark 12:30

If we're going to truly love God with our all, we are going to have a hatred — not for people, but for the world and its ways. We will see people through God's eyes, as those whom He loved so much that He sent His Son to die in their place.

We cannot love God and also love the world, because the world is at enmity with God.

James 4:4
Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

We want to make sure that we are truly loving the Lord with all our heart — not sharing our heart with the world; not going after the world and the things of the world — but giving our heart totally and completely to the Lord.

John 14:15
If ye love Me, keep My commandments.

Our desire and our love should be centered in the Lord. And when we keep His commandments we are showing Him our love.

I like to tell Him how much I love Him: but if I just said I loved Him without keeping His commandments, then I would be lying. And so are you, if you say, I love you, Lord, yet don't keep His commandments.

A half-hearted relationship with God just won't work. We either love the Lord and hate the world, or we love the world and hate the Lord.

We want to be in the place where our hearts are completely given over to loving the Lord. Maybe we don't understand all things — but let us understand this: we are to love God with all of our heart, all of our soul, all of our mind, and all of our strength.

Focus on Things Above

Our mind and our heart should be focused on things above.

Colossians 3:2
Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

Is your mind filled with loving God? Or is it filled with loving this world — loving pleasures and other things that people seem to love so dearly these days?

Benefits of Loving
and Serving God

John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

We're each going to die. As far as this old body is concerned, when we close our eyes for the last time on this earth, our body is going to decay and return to dust — but our soul will go on to be with the Lord if we have received Him as our personal Lord and Saviour and are living for Him. So, it's so important that we love the Lord with all of our heart, all of our soul, all of our mind, and all of our strength.

Psalm 103:3 doesn't say the Lord would forgive some of our iniquities or heal some of our diseases: He said He would forgive all our iniquities and heal all our diseases. When God does something He does it well. He is able to heal all our diseases, regardless of what they may be.

There is nothing too hard for Him. Nothing is impossible with Him, even though it may look impossible to us. The doctor may have given you up, saying there is nothing more he can do, but that doesn't hinder God. The doctor may tell you there is no more hope, that you're going to die: but, thanks be unto God, He gives us hope.

We are all going to die, for it is appointed unto man once to die, but that doesn't mean we have to die from some disease. The Lord has promised to heal us of all our diseases — when we place our trust in Him. He is the Great Physician, and is able to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.

I'm only telling you what the Word of God says. I'm not making this up:

Psalm 103:2-4
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; Who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies

Jeremiah 31:3
The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

Isn't it wonderful to know that somebody loves us? The Lord doesn't always love what we do, but He does always loves us. And He loves us so much that He will correct us when we do wrong.

Hebrews 12:6
For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.

Your children are precious to you and that's why you correct them. You correct them because you love them: and so does the Lord correct His children because He loves them and doesn't want them to be condemned.

This is a beautiful benefit, isn't it: being a child of God. When you're lonely, you can go to Him, a caring Father, and talk with Him about your loneliness.

When you talk with Him about your problems, about your trials, the first thing you know, you begin to feel His love for you welling up in your soul.

Psalm 34:17
The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

If you're going through troubles today, that is a promise to you. And in Psalm 91 we see He will be with us when we're in trouble:

Psalm 91:15
He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

He was with the three Hebrew children when the fiery furnace was heated seven times hotter than usual and they were thrown into it — see Daniel chapter 3.

Those who threw them in were consumed by the fire, but these three came forth without even the smell of smoke! And the Son of God was walking with them in the midst of the flames. They came out of that furnace with no harm — the hair of their head wasn't even singed. The heat from those flames would have been so strong that you wouldn't be able to breathe, because there would have been such a lack of oxygen — yet it didn't harm them.

You need to claim these promises. When you go to pray, quote them to the Lord: such as where He said He would deliver you out of all your troubles.

And, you know what? He said that in the midst of our troubles He would revive us.

Psalm 138:7a
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, Thou wilt revive me . . .

Right in the midst of our troubles, He will revive us. That's beautiful, isn't it?

In Psalm 91 we see where He said He would set us on high, because we have known His name. He lifts us up out of sin, out from the way we once lived — lifting us up to walk with Him in a high place.

He has promised to answer when we call upon Him — Psalm 91:15. There are some prayers that won't be answered because we ask amiss, to consume it upon our own lusts — James 4:3. But if we pray according to His will, He said He would hear us, and we can have confidence that He will answer us — I John 5:14,15.

Psalm 91:16
With long life will I satisfy him, and show him My salvation.

I've had a long life: soon I'll be 75. He has allotted us three score and ten (which is 70 years) — and I've gone beyond that. The longer I live, the longer I can work and labor for Him.

Has He shown you His salvation? If you are saved today, you know you're sins have been forgiven and washed away with the blood of Jesus.

Psalm 34:19
Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.

We saw the benefit where He will deliver us out of all our troubles: and here we see He will also deliver us out of all our afflictions. He tells us here that we will have many afflictions, but that He will deliver us out of all of them. There's not any affliction that we might have which He will not deliver us out of. All means just that — ALL.

We can cast all our care on Him because He cares for us — I Peter 5:7.

When we're carrying a heavy load, when we have a burden to bear (and sometimes it seems it's too heavy for us to carry), we have One who cares, and who wants us to cast all our care upon Him.

Some people worry about everything. Every tiny, minute thing causes them to worry. Those things are cares that distract them from praying and really seeking God. If we do the right thing we will cast those worries and cares on the Lord and not be distracted by them any longer.

Isaiah 26:3
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee.

Maybe nobody else really cares about your load. They might not even know about it. But there is One who knows, for He knows all things — and He does care.

Psalm 23:1
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He does take good care of us. He sees that we have those things which we need — such as food, clothing and shelter. These are benefits to those who love and serve Him.

Matthew 6:31,32
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

Yes, God really cares for us. I thank Him that when nobody else seems to care or to pay mind to us, He cares — and He sees all things that we are loaded down with, things which are too heavy for us to carry.

Proverbs 8:21
That I may cause those that love Me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.

Yes, God gives His people wealth — but, sometimes, they blow the wealth He gives them because they don't use wisdom with what He has given: and, therefore, they don't believe this verse is true. They may have been given an inheritance, or have had money placed in their hands, but they squandered it. They felt it was their money to do with as they pleased.

But it wasn't really their money. God gave it to them, and they should have prayed over it, asking Him to show them how to spend it wisely.

If God blesses you this way, don't set your heart on it; don't put your love on it.

I Timothy 6:10
For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Some have left the faith because of the love they had for money. If you are blessed with money don't get your mind on it to the point where you're loving it.

As we grow older we gain wisdom along the way and we can pass some of it on to the younger ones. They might not think the older have any wisdom worth sharing with them — but they would benefit many times if they would look to their elders for wisdom.

Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.

All things . . . even the trials we may have to go through . . . He will cause all to work together for our good. There will be some good that will come out of each one of those trials, no matter how hard they may seem to be at the time.

Whatever He does, one thing we know — He does all things well — Mark 7:37.

Now, these are benefits to those who love God. Yes, loving God brings these benefits, and many, many more.

Psalm 68:19
Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah

Let us keep on loving God, reaping the benefits that He has for those who love Him.

David Loved the Lord,
An Example for Us

Psalm 27:4
One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.

David had a good desire because of his love for the Lord. He is one of the greatest examples in God's Word of someone who showed their love towards God. He wanted to dwell in the house of the Lord and said that He would seek after that. Yet, so many of God's people are often absent from the house of the Lord. They have no real desire to be in the Lord's house.

Psalm 27:8
When Thou saidst, Seek ye My face; my heart said unto Thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.

David's heart said. David's heart was in love with the Lord: so, when God said, Seek My face, David's heart said, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.

I believe we can have that deep, genuine love for the Lord. I believe we can have a love for the Lord where we wouldn't miss church for anything. Even if we didn't feel well, we'd make the effort to come to church to be encouraged and strengthened.

If you come to church and get your mind on the Lord, worshipping Him from a heart of love, your mind won't be on other things. You may not feel good, but as you worship Him and thank Him, even when you don't feel like it, offering the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving unto Him, that awful feeling can be lifted from you.

This is how God can really bless you with the benefits of your loving Him.

So, David was in the place where he was a man after God's own heart. You can see why: even when David sinned, we find that he cried out to God from the depths of his soul in true repentance:

Psalm 51:1,4,10 & 11
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight: that Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.

David was crying out for mercy. He wanted God to renew a right spirit in him, to renew his love for Him.

Psalm 84:2
My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.

See that love! That real longing! I see plainly here that David wanted more and more of the living God, because he loved Him so.

Psalm 122:1
I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.

Yes, David's joy was to be in the house of the Lord: but there was the time when he was in the wilderness where there was no water (no spiritual water).

Psalm 63:1,2
O God, Thou art my God; early will I seek Thee: my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; to see Thy power and Thy glory, so as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary.

I think about how joy and gladness has been cut off from the house of the Lord today. The majority of God's people don't come to His house with joy in their heart. They don't seem to be glad. They don't enter into His presence with joy, don't desire for Him to really move.

David had a hunger. He had a desire. And you and I should have that hunger and that desire too — to see the power of God. That's what we should be praying about, that God's power would be manifest in His house. It doesn't matter whether there are few or many; God can manifest His power wherever there are a people who are hungering and thirsting after Him.

David wanted to see that: and what a good example he is to us.

Our Reward

John 14:1-3
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

What a wonderful reward! Just think, Jesus has gone to prepare a place for those who love Him with their all; that where He is, there they may be also — for eternity!