Thoughts on Reducing Gun Violence

I don't own a gun but I do consider myself a pro-hunting, pro-self-defense conservative.  I would not support a constitutional amendment to repeal the Second Amendment, but I don't think that is necessary to make significant progress in reducing the unacceptable danger from illegal and unsafe guns in America.  We should put reasonable restrictions in place like H.R. 308, which would prohibit the possession or sale of large capacity ammunition magazines.  The rate of firearm homicide deaths among people age 15-24 is four times that of people over age 25.  A 21 year-old can't rent a car from Avis but they can purchase a handgun.   More importantly we need to have a long-term strategy to reduce the supply of guns available to criminals, provide more non-lethal self-defense options and make guns safer for those who own them legally.

Just as we tax tobacco products to discourage its use and counter some of its costs to society we should be able to do the same with guns. For example, a tax policy could be created to both discourage gun purchases and push purchasers toward safer weapons. We have the technology to sell songs on i-Tunes that can only be used on a couple iPods. We can use similar technology to reduce the chances that a gun falls into the wrong hands.

“Personalized” firearms, also known as “smart” guns, are firearms that can only be fired by authorized users. Personalized guns are designed to prevent shootings, both intentional and unintentional by children and other unauthorized users. A 2003 study analyzing data from seven years of unintended firearm deaths or deaths of undetermined intent found that 37% of the deaths could have been prevented by a smart gun. Personalized guns also render firearms useless to thieves and criminals who gain access to law enforcement weapons during the course of an arrest or other encounter. (from LCAV.org)

Taxes on gun sales could fund a national weapons buy-back program.  Local buy-back programs have limited impact because they don't stop the flow of illegal weapons into the city.  Only a national program would be effective.

Why are there so many guns?  Among those who own handguns, 75 percent reported in a national survey that self-protection is the primary reason for owning a firearm.⁷  Is there a misconception about the risks of crime and the need for self-protection?  In our 24/7 news cycle we are soaked in stories of crime even in places where the crime rates have declined significantly.   What percentage of gun sales are the result of news media programing that is equivalent to shouting "FIRE" in a crowded theater?  What can we do to drive down the price and increase the adoption of non-lethal alternatives to guns?  How about a stun-gun pistol that makes a loud bang like Colt-45 but fires a stun projectile?  Maybe we can get it featured in a remake of "Dirty Harry" and pay the top rappers to promote it.

How do we cut off the supply of illegal guns? The Washington post reported that 60 percent of the 6,800 guns sold in Virginia in 1998 and later seized by police could be traced to just 40 dealers (out of thousands of licensed dealers).  The majority of illegal guns are obtained through illegal straw purchases in which someone with a clean record buys guns on behalf of someone who is unable to purchase firearms legally.  

Here is an opportunity to bring accountability to the dealers and straw purchasers.  A national law to attach stiff criminal penalties for making straw purchases and require "at risk" dealers to carry large/expensive liability insurance policies. Pass a "whistle-blower" law that rewards anyone who reports an illegal sale.

The lack of a comprehensive national gun policy is costing us lives.  As Larry-the-cable-guy says, "Let's getter done."

Friendship with God Consists of...

Week 1 – Communion with God

When I was a freshman in high school I had two best friends.  Bryan was a sophomore, and Raimer was a junior.  The three of us did a lot of crazy things together because each of us believed that the other two would be there if things got too dangerous.  We bought a hang-glider and took turns jumping of the biggest hills we could find in western Kansas until Raimer crashed and broke his front teeth. … Mr. Shirley was the owner of Control Systems International, an engineering firm in KCK, one of the first places I worked after college.  He had a deep voice; he worked long hours and never smiled.  When he walked into a room everyone was instantly quiet, waiting for him to speak.  I was scared of him and hoped he would not ask me any questions about the project I was working on.  I was sent to Gladstone, Australia for three months to install our project.  The company rented an apartment for me to live in with another engineer…and Mr. Shirley.  I thought it would be my worst nightmare.  Within a week I found that I had made a new friend.  I still deeply respected Jim Shirley but I was no longer afraid of him. Because I had lived with him I got to know him and found that that he was a man of integrity, and humor, and that he asked questions not to instill fear, but because he wanted to learn.

Do you have a best friend?  Is your relationship with God like your relationship with your best friend? Or is it more like how you feel about your mom or dad, or does God seem more distant than any of these people?  If you could have any kind of relationship with God, what would it look like?

God wants to have an intimate friendship with you, but how do you do that? We have been taught that God is a “trinity” – there is only one God and the one God is three distinct persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

ß [see diagram]

Relationships are between persons.  You have a relationship with each person in your family. In the same way we have a relationship with God by relating individually to God the Father, Jesus Christ who is God and man, and the Holy Spirit who is God living in each believer.

Our goal over the next 3 weeks is to explore how we can have an intimate friendship with each person of our Triune God. 

We often use “communion” as another name for the Lord’s Supper, the time during worship when Christians eat the bread and juice.  But communion with God has a larger meaning.

Communion with God means:

·         experiencing and enjoying intimate friendship with our heavenly Father,

·         experiencing and enjoying intimate friendship with Jesus Christ our Savior and King,

·         experiencing and enjoying intimate friendship with the Holy Spirit, our Comforter & Counselor.

Listen to: Jason Gray - More like falling in love   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUykOG0xhEk  

What does this lyric mean to you? “It ought to be, more like falling in love, than something to believe in. More like losing my heart, than giving my allegiance.”  What would it look like to be swept off your feet in love with God?

When spiritual communion happens both persons delight in each other (not in what the other can give them.).  This is only possible when there is a real union of love and commitment (e.g., family, close friendship, marriage.)  Listen for the delight that Jesus has in his communion with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Luke 10:21 At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.”

Being united in love is the bridge that makes communion possible.  Communion is the traffic that crosses this bridge.  God has enjoyed perfect eternal communion – giving and receiving – between the three person God.  Joy and praise and delight are given and received between the Holy Spirit, Jesus and the Father who are united in perfect love.  Listen to the Father express delight in Jesus after his baptism saying, "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." And God, Father, Son and Spirit together declare their delight in you in Zephaniah 3:17  “The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”  John Owen, a pastor and teacher wrote, “Faith, love, trust, joy, and all other spiritual graces are the way we have communion with God,”

The bible gives us another example of love and communion in the friendship between David and Jonathan.  This friendship began when Jonathan saw David’s faith and courage in battling Goliath.

1st Samuel 18:1-4  “Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself.  And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself.  Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.

David and Jonathan were “one in spirit” – they loved each other.  Their communion was in words and actions.  See how Jonathan gave David all the symbols of his position as the son of the King. When Jonathan died in battle, David wept for him and said, “I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women.”

The Father’s desire is for you to receive his love and to love him in return.  Have you ever wanted to show kindness or affection to a small child, (or maybe a cat or dog), but she was afraid and ran from you?  In the same way, our Father-God’s heart is broken if you do not believe that he loves you or if you believe that your sins or anything can cause him to love you any less.  This is the great discovery of the gospel: that God’s wrath and anger against sin is never directed at his children.  The shocking news of the gospel is that the Father’s great motivation is love for you.  He does not love you because Christ died for you – no, it was because he loved you that he sent Christ to take your sins upon himself and die for you.

How does our love for God grow?  Our love for God grows only when see more of God's love for us.

Ephesians 1:16-19  “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,  that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,  having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,  and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might.”

QUESTIONS:

·         In this passage, what do the eyes of the heart see?

·         What does Paul mean by “the eyes of your hearts”?  How do these eyes differ from the eyes of your head?

·         Is it possible to see something with the eyes of your head but not see it with the eyes of your heart? Provide an example.  What can your heart see that your eyes cannot see?

The eyes of your heart give you a true sense of the love of God.  That is a revelation for every Christian - a new way of seeing God.  Your heart no longer sees the Father as a harsh judge who is waiting for your next sin so that it can be recorded as evidence against you.  Your heart sees the Father's love for you and you receive his love with joy and you treasure it.  You have fallen in love and your desire is to express that love in words like when was filled with joy and said “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth.”  And you want to love God with your actions as Jonathan loved David and gave him everything Jonathan had of value.

2 Corinthians 13:14 (Dave’s Paraphrase) 

The overflowing riches of grace and kindness of the Lord Jesus Christ, the breath-taking, extravagant love of God the Father, and the intimate, unbreakable, soul-satisfying friendship of the Holy Spirit, is with you all!

Do you want a deeper love and a closer communion with your heavenly Father?  John Owen, wrote: "Friendship is most maintained and kept up by visits without any urgent business.”  Make a promise to Him that you will set aside time each day this week to meet with Him.

< A separate handout suggests verses, meditations, prayers for each day of this week.>

Friendship with God

God is beyond our comprehension - the creator and sustainer of the universe, the eternal being, the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. How can we have real friendship with God? The answer: because God desires it and makes it a reality. Our friendship with God cannot be lost because it cannot be separated from our salvation and the gift of eternal life.

What does friendship with God look like? How does it work?

There is one God who exists as three persons. Friendship with God must mean friendship with the Father, friendship with Jesus, and friendship with the Holy Spirit. Within the Trinity there is the deepest and greatest love and enjoyment of each other. The greatest of human friendships (David and Jonathan, Abraham and Issac, Ruth and Naomi, Yet it is a friendship that all believers are drawn into so that they can experience it by participating in it. Jesus said,

"If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. - John 14:23

The root of true friendship is mutual love. A love that motivates us to enjoy the other. We admire what is best about them and enjoy what they say and do. In fact we enjoy their success more than our own - as a dad I enjoy my children's successes more than my own. By the way, "friendship" is not a separate category from family; friendship encompases family and marriage.

But how do you exercise and enjoy your friendship with your heavenly Father, Christ your brother-King, and the Holy Spirit, your counselor-teacher? We do this individually by learning how each of them relates with us. Paul helps us with this when he describes key elements of how each person of the Trinity touches us in friendship.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:14)

The Father's love - oh how he loves us

Some Christians are unsure of the Father's love. They have learned that "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the bible tells me so," but they may fear the Father and believe that Christ stands between them and wrath of the Father. Jesus disciples may have wondered the same thing until he set them straight:

In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you... (John 16:26-27)

How would you feel if there is someone you love deeply, but they refuse to believe that you love them? Nothing grieves the heart of your heavenly Father than for you to believe he does not love you. Yes, it breaks his heat that someone he loves with so great a love, does not receive that love.

Do you want to experience joy of a friendship that makes your heart soar heavenward? Then you must receive the love of you Father in heaven. "Abba" the intimate name that a child calls its father, as we might call our fathers "Dad" or "Daddy." Jesus called out to his "Abba" when he was in the garden of Gethsemane. And our heavenly Father wants us to see him in the same intimate way. Paul writes to the Romans saying,

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." (Romans 8:15)

So recieve, and do not doubt, the Father's love for you. It is not a general love for people, it is a personal, one-to-one love for you. Believe it and receive it continuously. Believe most when you sin. The devil wants you to think that the Father withdraws his love and punishes you when you sin. That is a LIE. The Father's love does not waiver like the flame of a candle - it is constant and powerful like the blazing sun. Christ has born all that justice demands for your sins (past and future.) The Father will discipline us in love, with a discipline that always results in joy for us (though it may take time for us to reach that result.) Know that the Father greatly desires for you to see and enjoy all the ways in which he pours out his love to you. Think often on all of the ways he has loved you. Look around you at all the tokens of love that he lays out before you. Believe his promise that he will work all things together for your good - that is what a true firend does.

Friendship is a two way street. Receiving, embracing and enjoying the love of the Father is the first part of that friendship. The second is responding with love to your heavenly Father. He not only longs for you to receive his love, he also longs to be loved by you. He delights in the love of his children. Yes, you bring joy to God (Father, Son and Spirit) when you love the Father. How can we love our Father? We love him by seeing and enjoying him as he truely is. We seek to know him, looking upon his beauty and glory as he reveals to us in his own words preserved in the bible. We love him by seeking him and asking him to lead us daily through prayer and by obeying the clear commandments he has given us in his word. We obey not out of fear, or out of desire for reward, but because we love him and we know our obedience (an imitation of Christ) gives him joy. We love him by being satisfied and content in him, by being careful that nothing and no one comes into our life to take even the smallest part of the love we have for God.

Tell him you love him. Tell him with words and actions.

How He Loves
- David Crowder Band

Bhutanese Refugees in KC

Finding work is the greatest challenge. Most of the Bhutanese over age 35 arrive not able to speak any English. Most that are 25 or younger learned English in the education system setup in the UN refugee camps. They may speak with a heavy accent but their understanding is very good and they also have excellent math and reading skills. (Many of the teens are ahead of their American peers in math.) Many in KC have found employment in smaller manufacturing companies or with UPS. The key being that younger workers with good English get in first and prove their worth, then older workers with less English may be hired where the younger workers can interpret for them. These are minimum wage jobs and sometimes the work is part-time or temporary. Still, two or more adults from an extended family can work part-time and earn enough to meet family living expenses until more/better opportunities can be found.

Transportation to get to and from work is the next challenge. KC has a very limited public transportation system - entirely inadequate for those that may be working late shifts. Fortunately, there have been opportunities to boot-strap a solution. Initially a not-for-profit organization help locate jobs and then provided transportation. Once people are working with an income stream other volunteers provided some drivers training and/or helped the Bhutanese get into a driver's education course offered by local for-profit companies. Again the younger adults with better English skills led the way getting licenses and buying used cars. One driver with a car can take 4 non-drivers to work if they work in the same place.

The Bhutanese are very resourceful (as were previous immigrants). They quickly learn how & where to buy good food at low prices (e.g. rice in bags of 20-30 pounds that is much higher quality than they ate in the camps, tea, raw vegetables and fruits, they even buy milk and make their own yogurt.)

Perhaps the greatest challenge is the acute anxiety associated with such a radical change in culture. Its a natural human reaction. Any US city can be a confusing and difficult environment for an immigrant. I think the key to reducing this anxiety is found in community support. Their first community is the other Bhutanese refugees in the same city. Catholic Charities is helping most of the refugees and they are doing a great job of keeping the Bhutanese people reasonably close together. There is also a small community of people from Nepal that immigrated to the US some years ago and they are also helping the new arrivals -- just seeing their success gives the new immigrants real hope that they will also succeed. The greater KC community is also helping by reaching out to the new immigrants. Organizations like Mission Adelante (www.missionadelante.org) were already reaching out to Hispanic immigrants and now are expanding to support the Bhutanese. Volunteers from local churches are working to teach English, driving and offer advice and help with work, car buying and many other topics.

I have been blessed to find many new friends among the Bhutanese. One friend, Gobar, was among the first to come to US. In 1989 he was 9 when his family was forced from their home and walked three days to the Bhutan-India border. He grew up in the refugee camps, but he did not give up. He studied hard in the camp schools, earning the equivalent of a BS degree in mathematics and earning money tutoring other students. He came to the US alone eighteen months ago. He almost despaired at the loneliness, the struggle to find work and the pressure to establish himself before his parents, brothers and sisters and his fiancées family came to the US But he didn't give up. A Christian (rare among the largely Hindu Bhutanese) he visited our church. Our pastor and his wife had recently returned from working overseas for two years - they understood the anxiety of an unfamiliar city with a strange culture. Friendship and encouragement was what Gobar needed most, the rest he accomplished by his own hard work. Gobar's Fiancée, her mother and brother were relocated to Boise, ID (not by choice). Gobar saved his money until he could go to Boise and bring them back to KC. I picked them up at the airport. His future mother-in-law is completely paralyzed and I watched as Gobar lifted her into his arms and placed her in my van.

Now, Gobar and his family are working, saving, pursuing more education, and helping other Bhutanese. His sister Laxmi worked 2 jobs (70+ hrs/week) to save money for a car and tuition. She has recently been accepted at the University of Missouri in KC and her goal is to become a medical doctor -- no one doubts she will accomplish that. Yesterday I attended Gobar's wedding in our church where vows were said in Nepalese and English and we all celebrated the blessings of a growing community.

There are still Bhutanese that are fearful and struggling in KC, but they see that others who arrived before them are finding a way and there is a path for them to follow. My prayer is the Bhutanese in Portland will come to find the same joy that Gobar and his family have found in KC.Finding work is the greatest challenge. Most of the Bhutanese over age 35 arrive not able to speak any English. Most that are 25 or younger learned English in the education system setup in the UN refugee camps. They may speak with a heavy accent but their understanding is very good and they also have excellent math and reading skills. (Many of the teens are ahead of their American peers in math.) Many in KC have found employment in smaller manufacturing companies or with UPS. The key being that younger workers with good English get in first and prove their worth, then older workers with less English may be hired where the younger workers can interpret for them. These are minimum wage jobs and sometimes the work is part-time or temporary. Still, two or more adults from an extended family can work part-time and earn enough to meet family living expenses until more/better opportunities can be found.

Transportation to get to and from work is a challenge. KC has a very limited public transportation system - entirely inadequate for those that may be working late shifts. Fortunately, there have been opportunities to boot-strap a solution. Initially a not-for-profit organization help locate jobs and then provided transportation. Once people are working with an income stream other volunteers provided some drivers training and/or helped the Bhutanese get into a driver's education course offered by local for-profit companies. Again the younger adults with better English skills led the way getting licenses and buying used cars. One driver with a car can take 4 non-drivers to work if they work in the same place.

The Bhutanese are very resourceful (as were previous immigrants). They quickly learn how & where to buy good food at low prices (e.g. rice in bags of 20-30 pounds that is much higher quality than they ate in the camps, tea, raw vegetables and fruits, they even buy milk and make their own yogurt.)

Perhaps the greatest challenge is the acute anxiety associated with such a radical change in culture. Its a natural human reaction. Any US city can be a confusing and difficult environment for an immigrant. I think the key to reducing this anxiety is found in community support. Their first community is the other Bhutanese refugees in the same city. Catholic Charities is helping most of the refugees and they are doing a great job of keeping the Bhutanese people reasonably close together. There is also a small community of people from Nepal that immigrated to the US some years ago and they are also helping the new arrivals -- just seeing their success gives the new immigrants real hope that they will also succeed. The greater KC community is also helping by reaching out to the new immigrants. Organizations like Mission Adelante (www.missionadelante.org) were already reaching out to Hispanic immigrants and now are expanding to support the Bhutanese. Volunteers from local churches are working to teach English, driving and offer advice and help with work, car buying and many other topics.

I have been blessed to find many new friends among the Bhutanese. One friend, Gobar, was among the first to come to US. In 1989 he was 9 when his family was forced from their home and walked three days to the Bhutan-India border. He grew up in the refugee camps, but he did not give up. He studied hard in the camp schools, earning the equivalent of a BS degree in mathematics and earning money tutoring other students. He came to the US alone eighteen months ago. He almost despaired at the loneliness, the struggle to find work and the pressure to establish himself before his parents, brothers and sisters and his fiancées family came to the US But he didn't give up. A Christian (rare among the largely Hindu Bhutanese) he visited our church. Our pastor and his wife had recently returned from working overseas for two years - they understood the anxiety of an unfamiliar city with a strange culture. Friendship and encouragement was what Gobar needed most, the rest he accomplished by his own hard work. Gobar's Fiancée, her mother and brother were relocated to Boise, ID (not by choice). Gobar saved his money until he could go to Boise and bring them back to KC. I picked them up at the airport. His future mother-in-law is completely paralyzed and I watched as Gobar lifted her into his arms and placed her in my van.

Now, Gobar and his family are working, saving, pursuing more education, and helping other Bhutanese. His sister Laxmi worked 2 jobs (70+ hrs/week) to save money for a car and tuition. She has recently been accepted at the University of Missouri in KC and her goal is to become a medical doctor -- no one doubts she will accomplish that. Yesterday I attended Gobar's wedding in our church where vows were said in Nepalese and English and we all celebrated the blessings of a growing community.

There are still Bhutanese that are fearful and struggling in KC, but they see that others who arrived before them are finding a way and there is a path for them to follow. My prayer is the Bhutanese refugees everwhere will come to find the same joy that Gobar and his family have found in KC.

Loving Much Without Loving Well

Have you ever thought you loved someone  very, much but, in truth, you did not love them very well? Love of ice cream is not real love; it is self-indulgence.

Dan Allender suggests that real love is when you care more about what is best for the other person, than you care about the benefits you get from the relationship. If you are not willing to risk the relationship for what is best for the other person, then you do not love them.

Dancing with God

 A friend sent me the short meditation below on how our relationship with God is like a dance.  I've added the song link because it fits the meditation.  

I Hope You Dance by Lee Ann Womack

Play song Greatest Hits - 2004 - 4:54

Dancing With God

When I meditated on the word  Guidance,

I kept seeing 'dance' at the end of the word.

I remember reading that doing God's will

is a lot like dancing.

When two people try to lead, nothing feels right.

The movement doesn't flow with the music,

and everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky.

When one person realizes that,

and lets the other lead,

both bodies begin to flow with the music.

One gives gentle cues,

perhaps with a nudge to the back

or by pressing lightly in one direction or another.

It's as if two become one body, moving beautifully.

The dance takes surrender, willingness,

and attentiveness from one person

and gentle guidance and skill from the other.

My eyes drew back to the word  Guidance.

When I saw 'G': I thought of God,

followed by 'u' and 'i'.

'God, 'u' and 'i' dance.'

God, you, and I dance.

As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust

that I would get  guidance about my life.

Once again, I became willing to let God lead.

My prayer for you today is that God's blessings

and mercies are upon you on this day and everyday..

May you abide in God, as God   abides in you.

Dance together with God, trusting God to lead

and to guide you through each season of your life.

This prayer is powerful

and there is nothing attached.

If God has done anything for  you in your life,

please share this message with someone else.

There is no cost but a lot of rewards;

so let's continue to pray for one another.

And I Hope You Dance !

Love & Obedience

(Which is the chicken and which the egg?)

Which comes first, love or obedience?  In John 14, Jesus describes love as the motivator for obedience and obedience as the evidence of love.

• Verse 15, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments."
• Verse 21, "He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me."
• Verse 23, "Jesus answered him, 'If a man loves me, he will keep my word.'"
• Verse 24, "He who does not love me does not keep my words."

Obedience is the test of true love.

Obedience to the commandments of Christ is the test of love to Him... for there are certain qualities of obedience, which are to be found in every lover of Christ, and which are never found in any one else, and it is to these we must attend, if we would know what is our character. Every lover of Christ keeps His commandments implicitly: that is, he does what he does because Christ bids him. The doing what Christ commands may be agreeable to my inclinations or conducive to my interest; and if it is on these grounds I do it, I serve myself, not the Lord Jesus Christ. What Christ commands may be commanded by those whose authority I acknowledge and whose favor I wish to secure; if I do it on these grounds, I keep man’s commandments, not Christ’s. I keep Christ’s commandments only when I do what He bids me because He bids me. If I love Christ, I shall keep His commandments impartially. If I do anything because Christ commands me to do it, I shall do whatever He commands. I shall not ‘pick and choose.’ If I love Christ, I shall keep His commandments cheerfully. I shall esteem it a privilege to obey His law. The thought that they are the commandments of Him whom I love, because of His excellency and kindness, makes me love His law, for it must be excellent because it is His, and it must be fitted to promote my happiness for the same reason. If I love Christ I shall keep His commandments perseveringly. If I really love Him I can never cease to love Him, and if I never cease to love Him, I shall never cease to obey Him" (Condensed from Dr. John Brown).  (from A.W. Pink, Exposition of the Gospel of John)

Obedience is hard.  I sin daily and deliberately.  That does not mean that I do not love God.  He knows that I do love him and desire to love him more.  Failure in obedience does not prove an absence of love.  I know that I long to love God through obedience. I do the things God commands me not to do and I fail to do the things God commands me to do because my love for God is weak.    The proof of genuine love for God then is a ever growing desire to obey and our actual increasing obedience.  This progress in love and obedience is the evidence that we are in Christ and the Holy Spirit dwells in us.

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. - Philippians 2:12-13

God initiates and I respond.  With Augustine I pray "Command of me, Lord, what you will and will what you command."

(See also: Piper on John 14:15-24 )