Who Will Ascend To The Hill Of The Lord?

"Who may ascend the hill of The LORD?  Who may stand in His holy place?  He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.  He will receive blessing from The LORD and vindication from God his Savior."  Psalms 24:3-5 (NIV)

Here King David asks a rhetorical question, rephrases it, then he proceeds to answer it.  Who may stand in God's holy place?  The innocent, those with pure motives, those who do not worship idols, and those who are truthful and fair.  They will receive a special blessing from The Lord and they will receive eternal life. 

Although the Bible scholars disagree on exactly where "the hill of The Lord" and "His holy place" refers to, it is clear that is in the presence of God.  It is also clear that that only those who qualify will receive the special blessing and vindication from God.  It does not require being free from sin, but it does require the right intentions and motives in addition to the right behavior.  For us to qualify, we would have to confess our sins, ask for forgiveness, and ask Him to create in us a clean heart and a right spirit. (Psalms 51:1-4 & 9-11)  If we would humble ourselves, and pray, and seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways, (2 Chronicles 7:14) then He would bless and vindicate us.

Seriously Pursue Wisdom

"Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge."  Proverbs 23:12 (NIV)

King Solomon suggests that one ought to sereously pursue wisdom.  One should put their heart into it and listen to wise instruction in an effort to gain knowledge, understanding, and wisdom.

In our whole hearted pursuit of instruction and education in oder to gain knowledge understanding , and wisdom, let us remember that wisdom comes from God and begins with the fear of The Lord.  (Psalms 111:10 & Proverbs 9:10)  It is only useful if God is in it.

Get The Truth Wisdom Discipline And Understanding

"Buy the truth and do not sell it; get wisdom, discipline and understanding."  Proverbs 23:23 (NIV)

King Solomon said obtain the truth at whatever cost, and never give it up at any price.  Get The Truth and in all of your "getting" be sure to also get wisdom, get discipline, and get understanding.

Jesus, The Christ, is The Truth. (John 14:6)  The beginning of wisdom is knowing and fearing The Lord.  (Psalms 111:10 & Proverbs 9:10)  Letting Jesus into your life is the best thing you can do.  Knowledge without wisdom and understanding is useless.  Just knowing a bunch of facts is useless unless one understands the significance of the facts and is able to apply them in the appropriate situation.  Just knowing who Jesus is, is not enough.  We must believe in Him, seek Him, and obey Him.  The devil and his demons know who He is. (James 2:19)  Once we get it we must do something with it.  Applying the wisdom and understanding is where discipline come in.  Sustained effort is necessary to exercise our faith.  Faith and belief without work is useless. (James 2:20 & 26) 

Follow The Sayings Of The Wise

"Pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach, for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips.  So that your trust may be in The LORD ..."  Proverbs 22:17-19 (NIV)

The wisest man that ever lived, King Solomon, advised the people to listen to and apply the sayings of the wise.  He said that they should remember his sayings and be prepared to share them with others.  His point was that living by his sayings would keep their trust in The Lord.

Following the advice of wise counselling is always a good thing to do.  This is especially true when the advise is based upon The Word of God.  We should keep the wise saying in The Word of God within our hearts and we should live by them.  The Bible says that we are to be doers of The Word and not just hearers of The Word. (James 1:22) 

Live Right And Keep Your Good Name In Good Shape

"A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold."  Proverbs 22:1 (NIV)

King Solomon, the wisest man ever, states that having a good reputation is much more important than having wealth.

We should do all that we can to protect our good name and reputation.  The best way to do that is to be obedient to The Word of God.  Following His guidance and direction will keep us doing and saying the right thing.  If we love our fellow man as we love ourselves, then we will always do right by him. (Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 19:19, Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:31, & Luke 10:27)  The Bible teaches us to do unto others as we would have them to do unto us. (Matthew 7:12)   Living our lives in such a manner will keep our good name and reputation in tact.  One lost, a good name and reputation is very hard, if not impossible, to regain.  A good name and reputation cannot be bought.

Do Not Stray From The Path

"A man who strays from the path of understanding comes to rest in the company of the dead."  Proverbs 21:16 (NIV)

King Solomon said that the simple man who is void of understanding will be easily led astray, seduced by the wicked and the evil, and he will be lost.

Anyone who turns away from the path of righteousness will be condemned.  Jesus Christ said that any man who turns back after accepting Him is not fit for the kingdom of God. (Luke 9:62)  Once one has come into His marvelous light, there is no way they should want to return to the darkness.  The saved may sin again, but they will never deny Him.  We may fall down along the way, but we will never leave the narrow path to follow anyone else.

Lead Us Along The Straight And Narrow Way

"Teach me Your way, O LORD; lead me in a straight path ..."  Psalms 27:11 (NIV)

This psalm is one of David's many conversations with The Lord.  David literally asks God to help him,  to show him the way that he should go and tell him what he should do.

There is only one right way and that is God's way, and that way must be shown to us.  We would not find or follow the narrow path by ourselves. (Matthew 7:14)   In our walk of life, we want our direction and each step that we take to be ordered by God. (Psalms 37:23)  That is not likely to happen unless we ask God to teach us His way and to lead us along the straight and narrow path.  This is the less travelled way because very few people find it.

Read More Meditate More And Talk More About God

"Love The LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (NIV)  ("The LORD" is used in place of the Hebrew word "YHWH" which some people pronounce "Yahweh" and others will not pronounce at all.)



The prophet Moses told the people that they should love The Lord completely, with all of their heart, mind, soul, and strength.  The Lord's commandments should always be in their hearts and on their minds.  They should teach them to their children.  This is what they should talk about all of the time, where ever they are, at home or walking along the street.

Today, God should always be on our minds and in our thoughts.  He should consume our entire being.  We should read and meditate on His Holy Word day and night.  We should teach His Word to our children, and we should be living examples of it.  Our conversations with our family and friends should include references to The Word of God.  Everyone that encounters us should see evidence of God in us.  Our behavior and our conversation should reflect The Spirit of God that is within us.

Rejoice In The Lord Always

"Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in The Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.  The Sovereign Lord is my strength ..." Habakkuk 3:17-19 (NIV)

Because of all of the evil that God allowed, the prophet Habakkuk complained and questioned God.  After God answered him, he prayed for mercy.  Then he praised God's power and said no matter how bad things got, he would still rejoice in The Lord because God is his strength.

God is in control of everything.  It does not matter how bad things seem to us, they are all part of His permissive will.    Since we know that He has already overcome the world, and through Him we have the victory.  There is no need to worry about anything.  We can rejoice in The Lord and be joyful, in spite of our situation and circumstances.

Pray Like David

"Look upon my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins."  Psalms 25:18 (NIV)
King David prays and pleas to God for deliverance and forgiveness.  David is in trouble and suffering, he knows that he has done wrong, and he is asking God to forgive him and to help him.

We could learn a lot from David.  When he did wrong and sinned, he confessed and asked God for forgiveness.  When he was in trouble, he asked God for help.  He also praised God in good times and in bad times.  (Psalms 103:1-5)   As we endeavor to be more Christ-like, maybe we should start by being more like David.

We All Belong To The Lord

"The earth is The Lord's and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;"  Psalms 24:1 (NIV)

King David told the people that they belong to God.  He said that the world, and everything in it, including the people, all belong to God.

God not only made each one of us, He also made the stuff that we are made of by speaking in it into existence.  God said "Let there be ... " and it was, and it was good.  (Genesis 1:1-31)  The creation belongs to the creator.  He knew us before we existed, even before we were formed in our mother's womb.  (Psalms 139:13-16)  He is the potter and we are the clay.  (Isaiah 64:8)  Woe be unto him who would argue with his maker.  (Isaiah 45:9)  We ought to thank Him for allowing us to exist, and each day we ought to thank Him for allowing us to exist for one more day.
 

Praise Honor And Revere The Lord

“I will declare Your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise You.  You who fear The Lord, praise Him!  All you descendants of Jacob, honor Him!  Revere Him …” Psalms 22:22-23 (NIV)

This psalm begins with David lamenting his suffering and the suffering of our Lord, Jesus The Christ, and ends with exhortations to praise The Lord.  The people were encouraged to praise, honor, and revere The Lord.

Given all that He has done for us, we ought to thank Him and praise Him, all day, every day.  We ought to honor Him and revere Him by keeping His commandments and obeying His Word.  Jesus said: "If you love me, keep my commandments."  (John 14:15)

Doing What Is Right

"All a man's ways seem right to him, but The Lord weighs the heart.  To do what is right and just is more acceptable to The Lord than sacrifice."  Proverbs 21:2-3 (NIV)

King Solomon said that everything that a man does seems right to him, but The Lord judges motives and intent as well as words and actions.  Doing the right thing is only acceptable to The Lord when the heart of the person is sincere, not when one goes through the motions without believing.

Doing the right thing for the wrong reason does not impress God.  Going through the motions of doing good, including going to church and worshipping, is not acceptable to God if one's heart is not right.  If one does not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and accept Him as their personal savior, then everything else that is done is a waste of time.

Give God Thanks

"Give thanks to The Lord, call on His name; make known among the nations what He has done.  Sing to Him, sing praise to Him; tell of all His wonderful acts.  Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek The Lord rejoice.  Look to The Lord and His strength; seek His face always."  Psalms 105:1-4 (NIV)

In this psalm King David is encouraging Israel and us to give God thanks, to remember what He has done, to rejoice and praise Him for doing it, and to tell others about it as we continue to seek His face.

We are encouraged throughout the Bible to give thanks unto The Lord.  Psalms 105, 106, 107, 118, and 136 all begin with the phrase, "O give thanks unto The Lord ..." and then they each go on to provide a reason for doing so.  During this Thanksgiving holiday season, and every day into the future, we need to give God thanks.  Express your joy and gratitude, and share them with others.

God Hears And Answers The Righteous

"The heart of the righteous weighs its answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil.  The Lord is far from the wicked but He hears the prayer of the righteous."  Proverbs 15:28-29 (NIV)

King Solomon, the wisest man ever, said that a righteous man thinks before he speaks, and then he said that The Lord hears the prayers only of the righteous.

It is always a good thing for us to consider what we are about to say, before we say it.  We should filter our thoughts, and not give utterance to all of them.  The Lord does not fellowship with the wicked.    However, The Lord is always near the righteous.  He hears and answers their prayers.  On our own, none of us are righteous. (Romans 3:10)  If we are righteous, it is because we are part of the "many" that were made righteous by His death on the cross. (Romans 5:19)  Just as righteousness was imputed to Abraham, it is also imputed to us, if we believe.   (Romans 4:24)  Because we believe, The Lord watches over us and hears our prayers. (1 Peter 3:12)  Because we believe, that makes our prayers powerful and effective. (James 5:16)

Don't Care More For Things Than People

"But The Lord said, 'You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow.  It sprang up overnight and died overnight.  But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well.  Should I not be concerned about that great city?"  Jonah 4:10-11 (NIV)

After God decided not to destroy the city of Nineveh after the people repented and turned from their evil ways, the prophet Jonah was angry because he did not want the people of Nineveh to be saved.  So he left the city and found a place to sit down.  God caused a vine to grow where he was and give him shade.  Jonah was very happy about the vine, but the next day God caused a worm to chew on the vine and it withered and died.  Because he had no protection from the sun and the wind, Jonah was angry about the loss of the vine, that was when God spoke to him.

 Jonah was more concerned about the vine than he was about the people of Nineveh.  Today some of us are more concerned about things than we are about some people, saints and lost sinners.  Not only should we love our neighbors, but Jesus Christ said that we should love, bless, do good to, and pray for our enemies, those who curse us, hate us, and despitefully use us. (Matthew 5:44)  When we pray for them, we should thank God for them, for the good that they do for others, and (if for nothing else) for helping us to grow spiritually.  We should never care more for our things than we care for people, be they friends or not, saints or lost souls.  Remember, we all have our sins and shortcomings, and we all need prayer and God's mercy.  Every non-believer is a potential believer, only The Holy Spirit can convict, convince, and convert non-believers.    Each of us was a not-believing lost soul at one time.

Salvation After Repentance

“ ‘But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to You. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from The Lord.’ And The Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.” (AND) “ ‘Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from His fierce anger so that we will not perish.’ When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, He had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction He had threatened.” Jonah 2:9-10 & 3:8-10 (NIV)
After the prophet Jonah prayed and repented in the belly of the great fish, God commanded the fish to vomit Jonah up on dry land. Jonah went to Nineveh and told them that God was going to destroy them in forty days because of their sinful ways. (Jonah 3:4) They believed, repented, and turned from their evil ways, and God spared them.

Because of God’s goodness and mercy, we do not always get the punishment that we deserve for our sins. This is especially true when we pray, ask for forgiveness, repent, turn from our sinful ways, and seek His face.

Praying In The Midst Of Trouble

“Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm ... The Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights. From inside the fish Jonah prayed to The Lord his God. He said: ‘In my distress I called to The Lord, and he answered me ... I called for help, and you listened to my cry.’ ” Jonah 1:15-2:2 (NIV)
The prophet Jonah told the men on the ship that he was the cause of the storm. He also told them that they could calm the seas, save the ship, and save themselves if they threw him overboard. Reluctantly, they threw him overboard and Jonah was swallowed by a great fish. From the belly of the great fish, Jonah prayed.
Jonah’s problems went from bad to worse. He was caught in a great wind, then a violent storm, then thrown overboard, and swallowed by a great fish (which today we call a whale) before he began to pray. Like Jonah, we want to do things our way and not God’s way. Even when we get in trouble, in the midst of a storm, we persist. Only when our situation seems hopeless do we turn to God in prayer. We would do better if we prayed more often and followed His Word instead of doing what we see as right in our own minds. We should pray that He would order our steps and guide our tongues. If we spent more time reading The Word of God and praying, we would probably not be in the midst of trouble so often.

Some Storms Of Life We Bring On Ourselves

"Then The Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up."  Jonah 1:4 (NIV)
While running from The Lord, the prophet Jonah boarded a ship and set sail for Tarshish to flee from The Lord because he did not want to go to Nineveh and preach as the The Lord had told him. (Jonah 1:1-3)  So The Lord caused a great wind and a violent storm to occur that threatened the ship and the lives of all that were on board.

Today we refer to the bad times and trouble as the storms of life.  I has been said that if you are not currently going through a storm, then either you are just coming out of one or you are about to enter into one.  We all go through storms.  What we do not realize is that some of the storms that we endure, we bring on ourselves.  If we would obey The Word of God, then God would not have to punish us and our lives would be much more peaceful.

Disobeying God Is Not Good

"The Word of The Lord came to Jonah, son of Amittai: 'Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it,  because its wickedness has come up before Me.'  But Jonah ran far away from The Lord and headed for Tarshish.  He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port.  After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from The Lord."  Jonah 1:1-3 (NIV)

God spoke to the prophet Jonah and told him to go to Nineveh, a city where the people worshipped idle gods.  Jonah did not want to go the this foreign country and preach to those people because he did not want them to be saved.  So he ran from God and went in the opposite direction.  This is the only recorded example of a prophet refusing to do what God told him to do.

There is a price to pay for flat out refusal to do the will of God.  There is really no running away from God because He is omnipresent and is everywhere all at the same time.  Jonah paid for his refusal to obey God (Jonah 1:15-16), and we will pay for our disobedience.  Because of God's goodness and His mercy, after our punishment we can return to His good graces by repenting and asking for His forgiveness.  Prayer changes things but we must have a change of heart first.

As You Have Done It Will Be Done To You

"You should not look down on your brother in the day of his misfortune, nor rejoice over the people ...   in the day of their destruction, nor boast so much in the day of their trouble ... nor look down on them in their calamity in the day of their disaster, nor seize their wealth in the day of their disaster ... 'The day of The Lord is near for all nations.  As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head.' "  Obadiah 1:12-15 (NIV)

A message for the people was given to the prophet Obadiah in a vision.  Because of their pride, and the fact that they stood aloof and did not go the the aid of their brother when he was in trouble, being taken advantage of, and suffering a misfortune, they would be punished and a great disaster awaits them.

The message to us today is that God is not pleased when we look down on people, and when we refuse to help them when they are in need.  We are not to rejoice or boast when misfortune befalls others.  If we do this to people, then the day will come when others will do it to us.  The Golden Rule says that we should do unto others as we would have them to do unto us.  The Bible says "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you ..." (Matthew 7:12 NIV)  The Bible also says "A man reaps what he sows." (Galatians 6:7 NIV)  We should be very careful how we treat people, especially how we treat God's people.

Keep Working For The Lord Do Not Become Complacent

"Woe to you who are complacent ... and to you who feel secure ... You lie on beds inlaid with ivory and lounge on your couches.  You dine on choice lambs and fattened calves.  You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments.  You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions ... Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile; your feasting and lounging will end."  Amos 6:1-7 (NIV)

The prophet Amos told the people that God was not pleased with those who are complacent, not concerned, and feel secure.  Those who are just enjoying life and its worldly pleasures, and not concerned regarding their sins, they would find that their good times would be replaced with suffering.

No matter what our station in life is, we should never stop working for The Lord.  We should continually seek to be more Christ-like, to help others, to study His Word, and to walk in His way.  If we only focus on enjoying worldly riches, pleasures, and retirement, and lose our focus on Christ, then we are heading towards loss and suffering.  Remember, the Bible states that "All unrighteousness is sin." (1 John 5:17 & Romans 6:13)  Let us always be thankful for what we have, continue to read and study The Word of God, and never lose focus on our kingdom building efforts.  If we are not doing things to give God glory, then we are wasting our time.

Repent And Seek Good Not Evil

"The prudent man keeps quiet in such times, for the times are evil.  Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then The Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say He is."  Amos 5:13-14 (NIV)

After he told the people that they had turned away from God, and sited several examples of this, the prophet Amos told them to repent, turn away from evil, and seek God.

Based upon how well or how poorly we follow The Word of God, our actions suggest that we have also turned away from God.  If not turned away, we do not take Him seriously.  We give Him "lip service" for a limited time on Sundays and ritualistic habitual prayers before we eat and sleep.  However, the rest of the time we are not much different from the lost souls as we imitate their worldly behaviors.  Our problem is that we are seeking everything but Him.  We need to ask God for forgiveness and repent from our sinful worldly ways.  "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33)   We need to pray more, thank Him more, praise Him more, read His Word more, and actively seek to be more Christ-like, and we need to do these things daily.

Don't Talk Too Much

"Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?  For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God."  Ecclesiastes 5:6-7 (NIV)

King Solomon, the son of David and the wisest man that ever lived, said that people should not let the words of their mouths cause them to sin.  People promise things to each other and to God, do not follow through with them, and that displeases God.  Solomon basically said that people talk too much.  He also said that man ought to talk less, listen more, and revere God. (Ecclesiastes 5:1-2 & 7)

It is not a very good idea to make promises and not keep them, especially to God.  We do not want to make God angry.  It is also not a good idea to talk a lot.  Remember, we must give an account for every word we speak, even every idle word. (Matthew 12:36)  The more we say beyond "yes" and "no", the likely we are so say something wrong. (James 5:12)  The words of our mouths can get us into trouble.  "The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body.  It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell."  James 3:6 (NIV)  The less we say, the fewer words we speak, the better off we will be.  If we are not praising God, reading the scriptures, or praying, we ought to spend more time being quiet and listening.

Who Are You Trying To Please?

"Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God?  Or am I trying to please men?  If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ."  Galatians 1:10 (NIV)

In his letter to the Galatians, the Apostle Paul asked the rhetorical question, am I trying to please men or please God?  Acknowledging that he used to try to please men, but he makes it clear that if he were still trying to please men, then he would not be a servant of Christ.

If we are honest with ourselves, we like getting the approval of our fellow man.  We do things for "show" which we feel make us look good in the eyes of men.  The problem is we cannot please man and please God at the same time.  If we would act and speak in such a way as to please God, then pleasing our mate, our boss, and our friends would be taken care of.  People who do not approve of our God pleasing behavior are probable not the kind of people that we should be associating with anyway.  The Bible says that we can't serve two masters; we can't serve God and serve man at the same time. (Matthew 6:24)  It appears that the same it true for pleasing God and man.  We must each choose who will try to please.  My suggestion is please choose wisely.

Repentance Will Bring Blessings

"Return, O Israel, to The Lord your God.  Your sins have been your downfall ... Say to Him: 'Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously ... for in you the fatherless find compassion.'  'I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them ... he will blossom like a lily ... I will answer him and care for him ... your fruitfulness comes from me' ... The ways of The Lord are right; the righteous walk in them ..."  Hosea 14:1-9 (NIV)

After telling the prophet Hosea that He was going to punish Israel because they had turned away from Him, God recounts all that they did that was wrong and sinful.  Then He tells Hosea that if they repent, He will forgive them and bless them, and He describes how He will bless them.

Just like the children of Israel we have sinned and done wrong in the sight of The Lord.  If we confess our sins and repent, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)  Then He will bless us more abundantly and we will be more fruitful.

Do We Really Want To Be Blessed?

"When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, He asked him, 'Do you want to get well?' "  John 5:6 (NIV)

The Apostle John reports the account of Jesus healing the lame man by the pool.  For thirty-eight years this lame man had been suffering, lying by the pool at Bethesda hoping to get into the water first after the angel stirred the waters.  Jesus saw him and asked him if he wanted to get well.  Instead of answering the question that Jesus had asked him, the man began giving Jesus excuses for why he had not gotten into the pool first and therefore was not healed.  Jesus healed him by telling him to get up, take up his bed and walk.

We are so much like this man.  The Bible gives us many examples of what we need to do in order to be blessed, but instead of doing them we offer excuses for not doing what The Bible says.  I guess "No" is the honest answer to the question, "Do we want to be blessed more than we already are?"  The Word of God tell us what we should do to be blessed, all we have to do is change our behavior and follow God's Word.  There are thirteen Bible verses that include the phrase "Blessed is the man ..." and fourteen more that say "Blessed is he ..."  All we have to do is follow God's Word and we would be blessed even more than we already are.  We need to stop giving God excuses for not doing what He says in His Word that we should do.  We are blessed, but we are missing out on additional conditional blessings by not following His Word.

God's Love Is Perfected Within Us

"If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is The Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.  And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.  God is love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.  In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like Him.  There is no fear in love.  But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.  The one who fears is not made perfect in love."  1 John 4:15-18 (NIV)

The Apostle John told the believers that they should love one another.  He said that God dwells in them and they demonstrate this by showing their love for one another.  They were to be God's examples to the world of Christian love, loving everyone and afraid of nothing.

When Christians say "I love you" what they mean is "I love you the way that God intended for us to love each other."  The "old folks" used to say, "I love you in The Lord" to make sure that it was understood that nothing inappropriate was intended.  As we endeavor to love one another as Christ loves us, our love is made perfect or complete.  We cannot attain perfection while we yet live but we can become more Christ-like.  We should not be afraid to show our love for Christ or our love for our fellow man.  In fact, we should not be afraid of anything.  The Bible says "fear not" sixty-three times, twelve of which are recorded in the gospels as the words of Jesus.  With The Spirit of God within us and the love of of God being perfected within us, we should not fear any person, thing, or situation.  God is omnipotent and He is in control.  As long as we walk with Him, everything will turn out for our good. (Romans 8:28)