Jesus loves His Church

It’s as if I’m innocently floating along in the freshwater stream of a good Christian life, doing nothing visibly or consciously wrong; and then without warning I find myself hurtling down a fast-moving river of delicious temptation, heading straight for the falls of misery. I feel no power to reverse direction, no will strong enough to paddle over to my nice Christian way of doing things. And worse, at that moment I don’t want to . Flying over the falls seems more exciting than dangerous, more necessary than wrong. The thrill blinds me to the risk. And whatever love is within me dries up. I don’t care about anyone or anything else, including You. The only sense I have as I think about You is a guilty anger. – Crabb

Why is it so hard to see the different characteristics that make up what it looks like to follow Jesus or Satan? While it may seem harsh to admit that I am following Satan, I am pretty sure that I know when I am not following Jesus. Consequences that follow will confirm.

The 10 horns you saw, and the beast, will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, devour her flesh, and burn her up with fire. Revelation 17:16 HCSB

I know that Jesus loves His Church and Satan loves no one. Jesus is motivated by love for me, love that was willing to suffer humiliation and death that I deserved. Satan is only motivated by love for himself. He does not love those who follow him – he actually hates them.