Hey FAM,
I trust our year is going well.

We believe that in this year, God is more interested in our drawing closer to Him and becoming like Him than our acquisitions and accomplishments because those are just additions not the real deal.

We will appreciate that you join us as we journey in this series.

Stay tuned.

Becoming Love – The Standard

One of the truths that God is calling us to focus on in 2021 is to put more attention into who we become as we go through the year instead of putting all our attention on what we want to accomplish and acquire.
In John 1:12, the bible did not say - But as many as received him, to them gave he power to heal the sick, raise the dead, perform miracles, accomplish and acquire great things in
2021, etc ….but the bible says “But as many as received him, to them gave the power to become the sons of God.”
Healing the sick, performing miracles, accomplishing and acquiring great things in
2021 are all resultant effect of becoming - the sons of God. Then why are we so focused on the “effects” at the expense of the “real deal”?
This process of ‘becoming’ will eventually get the right foundation for us to accomplish or acquire according to God’s purpose and design for us in 2021.
God did not leave us without a clue in his call for us to BECOME!
From one of the references we looked at last week from II Corinthians 3:18 “ … beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another…”
God does not want anything less from us than to become an exact replica of him in all ramifications.
One of the ramifications of “Becoming” that God expect us to pay attention to is in his nature of love.
The word “love” has become so misunderstood and misinterpreted. We throw the word love around to mean almost anything. I love my
wife, I love my books, I love travelling, I love pizza, I love my kids, I love my parents, and I love all of you. I love each of those things in different ways, but I describe my feelings with one word – Love.
The best way to get back to the meaning of a word or expression is to go back to it’s origin.
In the Greek language, different words are used to convey love for different things.
First there is Eros, which is a sensual &romantic
love. Second form of love was Philio -the feeling we have for those nearest and dearest to us. This is friendship. This is why Philadelphia is called the city of brotherly love. Then there is
Storge, and this is affection, what you feel for your parents or children –the family. Ultimately we have Agape -the actual word for love used in the New Testament. It is much more an act of the will than an act of the emotions. It is a choice we make. This is why Jesus can tell us to love our enemies. It is deliberate, intentional
and something that we humans can’t achieve except we receive “the power to become the sons of God” or “being transformed into the same image” or nature of God.

This invariably means as we go through the process/journey of becoming love, we must keep our mind on God’s nature and expression
of love as our SOP (Standard Operating Procedure).
The most memorized verse in the Bible established one of the most beneficial expressions of God’s love to humanity: “For God so loved the world . . .” (John 3:16).

Love is God’s nature. An intrinsic component of God’s nature, personality, characteristic and disposition is love.
God does not love because He wants to love or decides to love. God loves because love is His nature. You can’t separate God from love,
because “God is love” (1 John 4:8,16).
God does not just love, it is the fundamental essence of who HE is.
God does not love anyone because that person has earned His love or because of the person’s goodness. Conversely God does not hate
anyone no matter what they have done because it is not His nature to hate. God cannot hate! He loves recklessly - without counting
cost. The love of God is unconditional, unmerited, total, perfect and complete. It is free. God does not demand any price from man for
His love. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. Romans 5:8 (NLT).

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 further reminds us and creates the picture of the Standard of Becoming Love: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does
not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres”.
All these begin to show and establish the standard for us as we go through the process/journey of Becoming Love.

Without the process/journey of “Becoming Love” in 2021and for the rest of our life, we would not be ready to step into the fullness of what God has for us to accomplish and acquire. God’s
love remains the standard for us.

Take out time throughout this week to marinate over God’s love for you.

*Focus for Daily Personal Reflections/Devotion for Monday 18th January, 2021.*

```Focus/Reflection:``` Accomplishing and acquiring great things in 2021 are all resultant effect of who we become. Then why are we so focused on the “resultant effects” at the expense of the “real deal”? John 1:12

*Notes/Prayers:* Dear Father, as I go through this year, help me not to get carried away by my desire to “accomplish & acquire” help me to focus on becoming who You want me to be.

*Focus for Daily Personal Reflections/Devotion for Tuesday 19th January, 2021.*

```Focus/Reflection:``` God did not leave us without a clue in His call for us to BECOME! God does not want anything less from us than to become an exact replica of Himself in all ramifications.
II Corinthians 3:18

*Notes/Prayers:* We need to prioritize spending time in God’s presence, it will help us become His replica. Father, help me give my time with You the topmost priority.

*Focus for Daily Personal Reflections/Devotion for Wednesday 20th January, 2021.*

```Focus/Reflection:``` Agape -the actual word for love used in the bible (NT) is deliberate, intentional and something that we humans can’t achieve except we receive “the power to become the sons of God.”

*Notes/Prayers:* Father in the name of Jesus, I receive the power to become love just like You are love. Help me to stay committed to this process of becoming love just like You.

*Focus for Daily Personal Reflections/Devotion for Thursday 21st January, 2021.*

```Focus/Reflection:``` As we go through the process/journey of becoming love, we must keep our mind on God’s nature and expression of love as our SOP (Standard Operating Procedure). Hebrews 12:2

*Notes/Prayers:* Father, no matter what is the opinion of others, help me to focus on You as my standard of love. Help me to love just like You did.

*Focus for Daily Personal Reflections/Devotion for Friday 22nd January, 2021.*

```Focus/Reflection:``` God does not love because He wants to love or decides to love. God loves because love is His nature. You can’t separate God from love, because “God is love” (1 John 4:8,16).

*Notes/Prayers:* Dear Father, help me to focus so much on Your love until it becomes my standard of expressing this same love to other humans.

*Focus for Daily Personal Reflections/Devotion for Saturday 23rd January, 2021.*

```Focus/Reflection:``` Without the process/journey of “becoming love” in 2021 and for the rest of our life, we would not be ready to step into the fullness of what God has for us to accomplish and acquire.

*Notes/Prayers:* Dear Father, help me to always take delight in the process/journey of “becoming love” that my life will become the expressions of Your love

Becoming Love – The Reason

Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that
He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1John 4: 7-10 (Berean Study Bible).

You are welcome to another episode in this series, Becoming Love. As we have discussed earlier, the focus of this series is to help us set a tone for the year, with emphasis on who we become, rather than what we possess. Last week, we discussed about the Standard of Becoming Love, where we are reminded of the pure, selfless and undeserving nature of God’s love towards us humans. Today we will be interacting on why we should become love.
Why should we even bother to become love?
†Love is an important ingredient in the making of man. When man was created, it was important to God that they were created in His image and after His likeness. This goes beyond just in appearance it includes in essence. God’s plan for man is for man to grow to the point of perfect oneness in essence and form. This includes in
becoming love. At the moment, we are not yet there.
At creation, what God has in mind is a set of people who will grow beyond just their created human form, into the Godly nature of life
and love. This is perfection. At creation, man was innocent not perfect, that is why he could fall to the wiles of the devil. Perfection would mean having the quotient of life, love and light that God
possesses. Jesus was said to have this amount of life in Hebrews 1: 1-3, after his love sacrifice of coming to the world in human form, dying, and resurrecting (Philippians 2: 5 – 11). Therefore, a major aspect of becoming like God is loving, and we cannot be like God without becoming love, just as the Father and Christ.

At birth, all humans are imbued with this seed of love (John 1:9). This seed will germinate to fruition and full-blown expression of God’s life when we expose it to the right conditions.

Why then must we become Love?
‡God is Love:
An important expression of God’s nature is love. That is what inspires everything that he does. Psalms 136. All His acts, words,
and reactions…EVERYTHING is coloured in love.

‡That is who we are meant to be:
God’s desire is to see us become like Himself, and everything that He is investing in us is aimed at achieving this feat. Anything that comes from God is made with love as the constant ingredient. We fall short of our potentials when we fall short of love’s requirements. That is who the Godhead is, and who we are expected to be (Romans 8:29 – 32).

‡It is a major tool for overcoming sin and death:
TO put an effective end to the reign of sin and death among humans, God used LOVE (John 3:16). If He overcame sin and death with love, that is the only tool that we too will use (1Peter 4: 8 and Colossians 3: 14).
The enemy knows these above things and that is what He comes to attack the most. He will do anything to create division, and to relegate love to the background in deciding our life’s motivation.

All these show and establish the standard for us as we go through the process/journey of Becoming Love.

Without the process/journey of “Becoming Love” in 2021and for the rest of our life, we would not be ready to step into the fullness of what God has for us to accomplish and acquire. God’s love remains the standard for us. Take out time throughout this week to marinate over God’s love for you.

*Focus for Daily Personal Reflections/Devotion for Monday 25th January, 2021.*

```Focus/Reflection:``` We must consciously make becoming love our life’s goal because God, in whose image and likeness we are created is love. 1 John 4: 7

*Notes/Prayers:* Dear Father, help me to never be distracted from becoming like You. Help that every day of my life, I become more like You.

*Focus for Daily Personal Reflections/Devotion for Tuesday 26th January, 2021.*

```Focus/Reflection:``` If Jesus Christ could become the exact image and representation of God, that is who He wants us to be too. We must make this our goal. Hebrews 1: 3

*Notes/Prayers:* Dear Father, help me to always set Jesus as my life’s ambition. Help me to grow into becoming like You just as Jesus is.

*Focus for Daily Personal Reflections/Devotion for Wednesday 27th January, 2021.*

```Focus/Reflection:``` Agape -the actual word for love used in the bible (NT) is deliberate, intentional and something that we humans can’t achieve except we receive “the power to become the sons of God.”

*Notes/Prayers:* Father in the name of Jesus, I receive the power to become love just like You are love. Help me to stay committed to this process of becoming love just like You.

*Focus for Daily Personal Reflections/Devotion for Thursday 28th January, 2021.*

```Focus/Reflection:``` We must become love, the way God conceives it, because that is who we are meant to be. Being anything less is limiting our life’s value. That is who God expects us to be. (Romans 8: 29 – 32).

*Notes/Prayers:* Dear Father, please help me to see and know love the way you do. Help me to become love in all aspects of my life.

*Focus for Daily Personal Reflections/Devotion for Thursday 28th January, 2021.*

```Focus/Reflection:``` We must become love, the way God conceives it, because that is who we are meant to be. Being anything less is limiting our life’s value. That is who God expects us to be(Romans 8: 29 – 32).

*Notes/Prayers:* Dear Father, please help me to see and know love the way you do. Help me to become love in all aspects of my life.

*Focus for Daily Personal Reflections/Devotion for Friday 29th January, 2021.*

```Focus/Reflection:``` If God’s plan to overcome the law of sin and death is through the love act of death and resurrection of Jesus, then that is how we too will overcome it in our lives. (John 3:16; Colossians 3: 14)

*Notes/Prayers:* Dear Father, help me to focus so much on your love until it becomes my life’s standard. So that I may overcome the law of sin and death thereby.