God’s agenda for us:
- To love God with all our hearts.
- To love our neighbor as ourselves.
Mark 12:28-31 (ESV)28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
We each have a “Relational Sphere of Influence.”
The John 3:16 Factor
Intercede: “For God so loved the World…”
Invest: “that He gave…”
Intersect: “his only Son…”
Invite: “that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but
have eternal life.”
1 John 4:19-21 (ESV) 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
How Can We Do This?
- It has to begin with Overflow – for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. John 16:27 (ESV)
- We are motivated by hell -Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. John 3:18 (ESV)
- God longs for people to choose Him. We should too -The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 (ESV)
Application:
- Examine your Relational Sphere of Influence. Identify three people you know who need to connect with Jesus.
- Intercede. Start with prayer. Ask God to make them aware of God’s love for them.
- Overflow. Pray that God will overflow from His love for you to them.