The Heart of the Matter

On Independence Day American Christians must be careful not to embrace the popular culture who seeks to declare independence from almighty God… The culture says that Americans are sufficient in their own power…that they are dependent on no one but themselves. As Christians, we should celebrate each day as “dependence day” for we are not sufficient of ourselves…Our sufficiency is only in Him.

We have been set free from the Old Testament law of sin and death when we walk according to the spirit of life in Christ. This freedom is characterized by loving God above all and loving our neighbor as ourselves. To understand the heart of God, love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind and strength. The Old Testament says that God has wanted all of our heart ever since the giving of the Mosaic law. Jesus said, “if ye love me keep my commandments.” Therefore, may the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart be acceptable unto thee O Lord my strength and my redeemer.

Today our nation is at risk. The war is not in the Middle East. How close are the terrorists? The root of the physical warfare is the spiritual warfare. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness from on high. The adversary convinces the culture that it’s the presence of Christians that causes “people feel uncomfortable.” How do we affect what really matters in this nation? The conscience of the nation is borne by those who uphold the truth of the Word of God. When a man of God speaks, the duty of the Holy Spirit is to “comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable.”

According to Jeremiah 17:8 the heart of man is deceitfully wicked. The context of this verse says, “cursed is the man who puts his trust in man and makes the flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited land. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

Satan has two lies. The first thing he’ll say is “you can do it on your own.” Then he says, “doubt that God can deliver… just trust in others to deliver you.” This brings about the curse of the man who trusts in man and not in God.

Jesus told the church of Laodecea, “you’re rich and you think you have need of nothing.” They had enshrined their “Declaration of Independence” from Almighty God. This is the curse of many churches in America today. They think that they are prosperous and blessed in the physical realm because of their own good works and their own priority to accumulate physical “blessings.” However, the warning of God is “take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he posesseth.” To walk in fellowship with God, we must keep a “light touch” on the things of this earth. To live the abundant life we must seek the Blessor and not the blessings. Therefore, blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and blessed are those who wait upon the Lord. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but looses his soul.

The nature of God is loving kindness and tender mercy. His nature is to bless those who call upon the name of the Lord. How can we walk in love and show the mercy of God? An act of love expects nothing in return. The word of God says, “in everything give thanks.” We can even be thankful in the midst of trials and tribulations. In these times of trial we can rejoice despite suffering when we set our affections on things above. God will change our mind and our mindset when we focus on him and not on ourselves. For tribulation works patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope makes not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us.

According to Corinthians, know ye not that your bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit? American Christians are afraid that they will loose their “dignity.” However, sometimes God calls us to dance unashamedly and unabashedly. Our heart will be set free when our “shame is undone.” For I am not ashamed of the gospel of the cross of Christ. For it is unto those who are saved the sweet smelling fragrance of life unto life.

What is the heart of the matter? The first and great commandment is to Love the lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind and and strength. It’s not about behavior modification. It’s about heart modification. As David said, create within me a new heart O Lord. Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

May God richly bless you!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

To Desire the Lord, Remember KFLO

We’re always looking for men to talk to them about the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. However, the one man we should be looking for is the man in the mirror. What is it that a man of God should desire most? God said through the Psalmist, “delight thyself also in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” In order to desire the things of God we must actively, deliberately, and purposefully delight ourselves in the Lord. Then when our delight is his delight, and our desire his desire God will work in us and through us to will and to do of his good pleasure.

To desire the Lord and to set our affection on things above, remember the acronym KFLO.

The first and highest desire is represented by the letter K: to “Know God deeply and abidingly”…to know his character and his nature. The Bible says repeatedly, rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice. Know him intimately because he’s worth knowing. According to Philippians 3, Paul said, “I consider all things but loss except for the knowledge of God.” Everything else is worthless, detestable, and repugnant except for knowing the Lord. The Lord through the Apostle Paul says, in Ephesians 1:17, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of mercy may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened that you may know the hope of your calling and the riches of the glory of your inheritance in the Saints. This passage refers to the precise and correct knowledge of our Father. We must know correctly who God is according to his rightly divided Word. Prayer cannot come from a depth of fear, rather prayer must come from a confident and faith-based trust in the sovereign Lord. Unless the Lord builds the house it is built in vain. Jesus said, “ye do err, not knowing the scriptures or the power of God.” An intimate knowledge of God is required to appropriate the power of God.

F stands for “following Christ more closely.” In any situation the best course of action is to closely watch Jesus. Our heart’s desire must be to “choke in the Master’s dust.” Jesus said, “if you continue in my word, then shall you be my disciples (disciplined followers) indeed. When we follow him closely there is no distance between myself and my Lord. Follow him in lockstep. He knows the destination and the way. Jesus said, “If anyone comes after me he must deny himself, pick up his cross daily and follow me.” Jesus said to the crowds that followed him, if you want to be my disciples, you will need to “eat my flesh and drink my blood.” They didn’t understand that he was talking about the communion ceremony that would memorialize his death and resurrection to redeem them from their sin nature. They did not follow Jesus around because they wanted to be his disciplined followers. They just wanted to be entertained by witnessing a miracle. At that point the crowds scattered because they didn’t understand the depth of the commitment required to follow Christ.

L stands for “loving him more deeply.” If you profess to love Christ, but don’t do his will, do you really love him? Do we desire to love him the way he asks us to love him? Jesus said that anyone who loves his father or mother more than me does not deserve me, he is not worthy of me. The example of love is that Jesus Christ, even while we were yet sinners, laid down his life for us. To lie down means to appoint or to position ourselves to serve our Lord by serving one another. Jesus Christ said, in this shall they know that you are my disciples in that you love one another.

O stands for “obeying Christ more completely.” In our politically correct culture, the word “obey” is a dirty word. But if anyone obeys his word, truly his love is made complete. Chose ye this day whom you will serve and obey, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Philippians 2:8 says, “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” His obedience resulted in your salvation and mine. Therefore, trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey.

Remember the acronym KFLO: to know him more intimately, to follow him more closely, to love him more deeply and to obey him more completely. The prayer if a man of God is, “Oh for a closer walk with thee… But what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.”

May God richly bless you!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

What about Divorce and Reconciliation?

In Matthew 19. When Jesus had departed from Galilee the Pharisees came unto him testing him saying, “is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?” Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

All married men have marital problems. From time to time because we’re all fallen human beings we will have disagreements. Divorce is always a sad occasion. In times past some churches considered divorce an “unpardonable sin.” However, there is a measure of healing that comes from the love and mercy of God.

Long before Moses wrote the 5 books of the Pentateuch, there was the “Code of Hammurabi,” the law code of ancient Mesopotamia. This code said that a man could divorce his wife at any time and for any reason. If after the man left, the woman developed a farm that prospered, the man could return later and claim the wife’s property. The first of two Old Testament passages about the subject of marriage and divorce resolves this injustice. According to Deuteronomy 24:1-4: When a wife takes a man and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, he writes a certificate of divorce and sends her out of his house, and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, or if he dies, then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the LORD. Do not bring sin upon the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

This passage raises the question, “What does indecency mean?” What is the grounds for divorce? This is the subject of the second Old Testament scripture about divorce. Exodus 21:8-11 says “If a woman does not please her master who has paid for her and selected her as a wife for himself, he must let her be redeemed… If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights. If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money.” The man has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her. This passage implies that the marriage vow includes marriage terms of fidelity, affection and provision. If any of these terms is broken, the injured party can leave and does not annul the right to remarry. According to this passage, there are three grounds for divorce: abandonment which is breaking the vow to provide, abuse, or breaking the vow to love, and infidelity, which is breaking the vow to be committed one to the other.

In Jesus’ day there were two forms of Rabbinical doctrine, about the meaning of the word “indecency.” The group that followed Rabbi Hillel said indecency consists of sexual immorality and any other cause whatsoever. The followers of Rabbi Shammai said that indecency meant adultery and only sexual unfaithfulness was grounds for divorce. The Hillel group was composed only of men. From this man-centered viewpoint, even if the wife burned the toast or dressed inappropriately, either offense could be grounds for divorce. The drawback of Hillel’s teaching was that the certificate of divorce had an explicit condition. If the wife could prove that her husband had committed adultery he would have to pay her a support tax.

The story of the angel’s encounter with Mary results in Joseph considering a certificate of divorce. The angel Gabriel said, “Hail Mary blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.” Mary said to Joseph during their betrothal, “I have good news and bad news, I’m pregnant but I’m still a virgin. I have never been with a man. I was impregnated by the Holy Spirit.” Joseph upon hearing this news said to himself “I’ll put her away privately and obtain a certificate of divorcement so I won’t be obligated to pay her the support tax.”

The two opposing viewpoints regarding the meaning of “indecency” as grounds for divorce triggered the Pharisee’s question to Jesus, “How do you interpret the meaning of indecency in Exodus 21?” Jesus quoted from Genesis about God’s design that marriage is meant to be a permanent commitment. Jesus said, “if you divorce for any reason other than your spouse’s unfaithfulness and marry another, you’re committing adultery.”

In Roman times, Herod the king who was married fell in love with Herodias, his brother’s wife. John the Baptist was politically incorrect when he pointed out the error of Herod’s taking his brother’s wife. Jesus likewise was politically incorrect when he answered the Pharisee’s question, “I’m a Shammai guy: Sexual infidelity is the meaning of “indecency” in Exodus 21.” However, Jesus came not to abolish the law but to fulfill the law. What then, is today’s grounds for divorce? If a wife is abused by her husband, isn’t the wise and reasonable course of action to get out of danger? At that point the husband has broken the commitment to love his wife. The Roman laws about marriage and divorce in the early church were in chaos like they are today. In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul taught the believers that “when in Rome, do NOT do as the Romans do. Paul’s exhortation to Christians is to model the nature of Jesus Christ himself. Willful desertion was already a condition for a certificate of divorcement in Exodus 21. Jesus and Paul both knew the law about abuse, abandonment, and sexual immorality as marriage conditions in the Old Testament.

When there is a defiant attitude against reconciliation, the relationship will be permanently broken. One divorce recorded in the Word of God touches all of us. This is about the covenant that God made with his bride, the nation of Israel. That bride was commanded to be faithful to God. However, the nation of Israel committed adultery and turned their back on a loving God. Jeremiah chapter 3 recounts the sad story about God’s writ of divorce against Israel because of all of her adulteries. However God always makes a way of redemption and reconciliation. God’s divorce workshop was the Cross of Calvary. Hosea 2:19-20 is the prophecy about the future reconciliation or the Lord with Israel: I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion, I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD.

As Christians, we have all divorced our hearts from our Lord. In this respect we are all adulterers. However, God keeps reconciling us back to himself. For if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and forgive us from all unrighteousness. To reconcile with God we must meet our Lord at the foot of the cross. Ephesians 5 says, “husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her.” To reconcile with our wives, we must likewise meet each other at the foot of the cross. A threefold cord is not quickly broken. For he who knew no sin was made the perfect sin sacrifice on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in him.

May God richly bless you!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Love Versus a Critical Spirit

The “charity checklist” in 1 Corinthians 13 says Love is patient and kind, love makes no parade, it gives itself no airs, it is not boastful or proud. Love is never rude, it is never envious, never resentful. Love does not seek to reward itself. Love is not easily provoked. Love thinks no evil of others and keeps no record of wrongs. Love is always eager to believe the best of others. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things… Love never fails.

In any church assembly there are two kinds of people: Christians who know Jesus and non-Christians who don’t. Among the Christians there are also two kinds of people: those who have received salvation and follow Christ casually and those who are committed to follow Christ from a heart of unconditional love. Casual Christians who still think as a child have not grown up into the heart of the love of God. These “baby” Christians love conditionally and have not committed themselves to become like their Lord. Only those committed to the truth will we be set free. Only those committed to follow Christ from a heart of unconditional love will experience the fullness of the joy of the Lord.

If we’re on a performance based system, we will never enter into the love of God. There is nothing that we can do to deserve God’s love. The love of God is unconditional…it is not contingent on our performance. The world’s love is conditional on whether the other person performs… on whether one party hurts the other party. This type of love is doomed to failure. It is here today and gone tomorrow. Conditional love, even in a marriage relationship will fail. However, the love of God keeps no record of wrongs done. The love of God will overcome all obstacles. This type of love requires that we surrender our hearts to our Lord Jesus Christ. To love others unconditionally we must meet each other at the foot of the cross. Love endures only when we love unconditionally with the love of Christ in us. Unconditional love requires that I give up my own “human” rights in order to surrender to the righteousness of God in Him.

A critical spirit will break up any relationship. It blinds our eyes to everything that is attractive in the other person. “Falling out of love” is a deliberate intentional act of the will to turn against the other party. However the love of God thinks no evil of others. It keeps no record of wrongs done. It has the capacity to persist even when there is no reciprocal response from the other person. A critical spirit must be fed.. Focusing on how the other person has “violated my human rights” will result in contempt and resentment. In contrast the love of God gives gladly and its reward is in the pure loving act of giving. The love of God says “forgive her even though she’s done nothing to deserve forgiveness.” God says that the marriage relationship according to his Word is the picture of Christ and the Church. Jesus Christ loved unconditionally those whom God would call and he endured the cross because of the joy set before him… His joy was your redemption and mine. According to Ephesians 5: Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

God has revealed his truth to everyone through the glory of the handiwork of His creation. Romans 1:20 says, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” Even the Devils believe and tremble. However, the devil is the deceiver and the accuser. His critical spirit deceives us to question God and his motives. He distracts from the glory of our sovereign God by telling us that the purpose of our life is to be “self actualized” with the emphasis on self. The original sin is when Eve believed the devil’s lie that “ye shall be as God… God’s not God, you are.”

Although my heart says it’s hard to surrender, the spiritual love of God says that surrendering to his will is my only option. As Peter said, “to whom else shall we go Lord? Only thou hast the words of eternal life.” In Matthew 11 Jesus said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” The ultimate freedom is the ultimate captivity… for ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. From the heart of Christ in us, our first priority is “make me a captive Lord, and then I shall be free.”

Therefore, delight thyself also in the Lord and he will give thee the desires of thy heart. When we “set our affections on things above” and deliberately make his delight our delight, then God will work in us and through us to will and to do of his good pleasure. Prayer is aligning our heart with his heart… aligning our good pleasure with his good pleasure. Our joy is in the the next step in the journey of life: I can’t wait to see what God has in store for me. The joy is to live by faith and to let go and let God work his miracles in our lives. A heart of love and gratitude will defeat the critical spirit in everything we say and do. God calls us to surrender under the shadow of his mighty hand…this is the doorway to the more than abundant life. As the prophet Micah said, but what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God. Living under God’s grace, forgiveness, and loving kindness is living in the joy of the Lord.

The two kinds of Christians are “carnal” Christians who walk according to the flesh and spiritual Christians who walk according to the Love of God in the renewed mind in manifestation. Jesus said, “In this shall they know that ye are my disciples, that they love one another.” The love of God suffers long and is kind. It gives unconditionally and forgives the unforgivable. To know the love of God and the joy of the Lord, I forgave and set the prisoner free only to find that the prisoner was me.

May God richly bless you!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Love Wins, Part 4

The basis of the love of God is goodness and mercy, for loving kindness and tender mercy are the nature of God himself. Unconditional love is to love the unloveable. This is the type of love whereby God loved us. For even while we were yet sinners, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. We cannot fathom the depth of the love of God this side of heaven. In 1 Corinthians 13, we’re reminded that whatever we do, even if we give ourselves to be burned alive, if we do it without the love of God, it will be of no significance, it will profit us nothing whatsoever. The charity checklist says that charity, the love of God, suffers long and is kind; it does not glory in itself; it makes no parade. Love is never rude, never irritable, it is not easily provoked. Love thinks no evil of others; it keeps no record of wrongs. Love rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. It is always eager to believe the best. Charity, the love of God beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Love never fails.

Everything in this life will come to an end, including manifestations of the gift of the spirit. However love will always endure. Our exhortation is to grow up into the heart of Christ in us the hope of glory. For when I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a man I put away childish things. Growing up into the love of God in the renewed mind in manifestation will profit us not only in this life, but also in eternity.

Agape love is unselfish: It does not concentrate on its own well being. This truth flies in the face of our WIIFM (what’s in it for me) culture. Even so-called “churchinanity” is not immune from this insidious worldly doctrine. 1 Corinthians reminds us that the love of God is not about me. Ultimately it’s about Him. In him we live and move and have our being. However, the old man of the flesh is “heavily defended territory.” Only by the love of God can we conquer the God of self. Religion emphasizes the works of the flesh. Religion says that I can approach the throne of grace if I’m “good enough.” However, Jesus Christ said to the religious leaders, “in vain do they worship me, they draw near me with their lips but their heart is far from me.” They think that they can approach God in their own goodness and self righteousness. Religion says that I’m good and that I can really love only those who are “good” like me. The religious Pharisees of Jesus’ time would not “defile” themselves by associating with others whom they deemed were “not good enough.” Their “self righteousness” was the one thing that Jesus opposed the most. He called the Pharisees “whitewashed cemeteries.” They appear beautiful and carefully manicured on the outside, but inside they are rotten and full of dead men’s bones.

Jesus said that if you abide in me, you shall bear the fruit of Agape Love. The characteristic of agape love is that God, through Jesus Christ’s atonement accepts you just as you are. This is the essence of the goodness and loving kindness of our Heavenly Father. The heart of God is love and forgiveness. Jesus said that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the religious leaders, you have no part in the kingdom of Heaven. How then can our righteousness exceed their righteousness? We must shake off “religiosity,” man’s so-called “goodness” which is a form of godliness, in order to enter into the genuine love of God. The nature of “churchinanity” is to squeeze you into its mold of conformity. The opposing factions of “denominations” divide those who think that they’re following the truth of the Word. How do you tell which is the correct road, the right way. Jesus said that there are two trees, one that gives good fruit and one that gives evil fruit. There are two houses, one built on the sand and the other built on the rock. Jesus said, by their fruit you shall know them. What is the foundation of your faith? Upon which rock is the building of your faith founded? Jesus Christ himself is the chief cornerstone, the foundation of our faith.

Jesus did not call us to church, rather he called us unto himself. Jesus said “seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these other things shall be added unto you.” The apostle Paul said, “we preach not ourselves, but Jesus Christ and him crucified.” It’s not about us and our own righteousness, it’s about him. Jesus exhorted his disciples to be “narrow minded.” He said that I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the father but by me. There is a narrow way through the narrow gate. Jesus Christ himself is the narrow way.

Oswald Chambers said that the greatest hindrance to God is the “servants” of God. These “servants” are consumed by their “busy-ness” trying to approach the throne of grace. However, Jesus said, nothing you do is good enough. God is not concerned about your “performance.” He is however, concerned about your heart. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.

Jesus Christ came and redeemed us so that we may receive his righteousness. For he who knew no sin became the perfect sin sacrifice on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in him. Jesus called us to love unconditionally according to the love of God in Christ in us. Our prayer is that we should “hunger and thirst for righteousness.” We need to cultivate an appetite to serve God from a heart of love.

According to the prayer of St. Francis,
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.
O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.

According to John 13:34-35, A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. Do you say, “I love you Lord?” The key to loving God is to love God’s people. Jesus Christ said, “in that ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren you have done it unto me.”

May God richly bless you,
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Love Wins 2

When we first came into the presence of Jesus Christ, no one explained to us what the consequences would be. No one told us that we would need to forgive others even though they don’t deserve forgiveness. No one told us that we would need to love the unloveable. In 1 Corinthians 13, the Apostle Paul penned these word by the spirit of God about the love of God.

Yea though I speak with the tongues of men or of angels…and have not the love of God, I am become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not the love of God, it profiteth me nothing.

Love suffereth long and is kind, love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up. It is never haughty, never rude, never resentful, never seeks it’s own. Rejoices not in iniquity but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never faileth.

For now we see through a glass darkly, but when that which is perfect is come, then shall we see clearly for we shall see him face to face. For now remaineth three things, faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love.

When we read scripture, we often don’t believe it because it flies in the face of the doctrines of this world. The world teaches that we need to seek retribution for those who have wronged us. Natural love emphasizes tough love and demands just retribution. The world says that we will love God only if he helps us… I’ll love God only if he does what I want him to do. An extreme example of this “reciprocal” love was where the pagans sacrificed their children to their God Molech in exchange for favorable weather conditions to raise their crops. Another kind of worldly love in the book of Job says, “God I love you so much that you should just kill me because I’m a sinner. If you kill me at least I can give up my life in service to you.”

However the love of God seeks not her own. It requires that I sacrifice the rights to my selfish self. It requires that I step back and turn from the desires of my human nature to press toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. The cross road of life is the cross of Christ. At the cross, Jesus Christ who knew no sin was made the perfect sacrifice for our sins on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in him.

When a couple comes for marriage counseling, the key to saving the marriage is for both parties to meet each other at the foot of the cross. Surrendering to the Lord’s will is the only way to love one another with the love of God in the renewed mind in manifestation. If you come to a marriage with express terms and conditions for the other party to perform, there will be no grace, mercy, peace and unconditional love. If husbands and wives treat each other like three year olds who don’t know how to control themselves, the marriage is doomed to failure. The key to marriage is growing up into maturity in the love of God in the renewed mind. In Hebrews 5, Paul says that he will not give the Hebrew Christians the meat of the word because they are immature and need milk like babies. Their strife and contention proves that they cannot the handle solid food of the Word of God. An infant doesn’t know how to control himself…he doesn’t understand the difference between good and evil. The root of evil is pride… wanting to be in control instead of allowing the Lord to work in us and through us to will and to do of his good pleasure.

God said through his prophet Hosea, “My people have committed two evils, they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters and hewn out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” They believe that the systems of men are the solutions to life’s problems. However the solution to the problem is Jesus Christ. We cannot approach the cross of Christ on our own terms. The road to the cross is a narrow way through the narrow gate. The world, according to 2 Timothy 3, subscribes toa a “form of godliness” but denies the power of God. However, the Holy Spirit works, empowered by believing faith according to the Word of God activated by the love of God.

Read 1 Corinthians 13 twice this week… Meditate on these things, commit thyself wholly to them, that thy profiting may appear unto all. We must crucify our sense of having been violated by the world. For I was crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. Yet not I but Christ liveth in me, and the life that I now live, I live by the faith of in the son of God , who loved me and gave himself for me.

The fine print about the love of God in 1 Corinthians is the key to living life more abundantly. Giving up my sense of justice and fairness and relinquishing these selfish “human rights” to God will set me free. I forgave and set the prisoner free, only to find that the prisoner was me. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give unto thee… love one another.”

All that I am, All that I have, all that I hope to be…I give to thee. Lord you are all I need… You are my strength, my provision, my righteousness, my grace, my mercy, my peace, my love. You are my best thought, my portion, my sufficiency, my all in all. Oh Lord, only you are deserving of love. May I love others with your love. Thank you that in loving others I can demonstrate my love for my Lord who said, ” in that thou hast done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

May God richly bless you.
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Love Wins

As Christians we often struggle with doing the number one duty of a Christian… loving God above all and loving our neighbor as ourselves. There are many different types of love. However, “agape” the Greek word for the the spiritual love of God in the renewed mind in manifestation, is a rare thing. The ability to love with the love of God requires that we are born again of God’s spirit. Many people in our popular culture emphasize the importance of brotherly love, or “philio” in Greek, which is a natural affection for our friends and loved-ones. Another type of love is “storge” the Greek word for “love of family.” This is also a natural type of love independent of God’s Holy Spirit. The highest form of love “agape” is “the spiritual divine unconditional love of God.” To love with God’s love, we must be born again of God’s spirit for our sinful nature of the flesh cannot love without the spirit of God in Christ in us.

According to 1 Corinthians 13, though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not the Love of God, I’m like a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And though I can prophesy through the spirit and operate the manifestations of word of knowledge and word of wisdom and have not the Love of God, it profiteth me nothing…
Love is patient, love is kind, it is never boastful or proud, it never demands its own way. It rejoices not in iniquity but rejoices in the truth. Love beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things…Love never fails. For now we see through a blurry mirror but then when Christ returns we shall see him face to face… then shall we know him even also as we are known by him. Now abide faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love.
According to 1 Timothy 4:15, meditate upon these things, commit thyself wholly to them that thy profiting may appear unto all.

The context of this passage in 1 Corinthians was Paul’s teaching about the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the abuse of the manifestations of the spirit. The manifestations of the spirit are to be operated in love. The manifestation of tongues in the first century church was as decisive then as it is today. If “speaking in an unknown tongue” is not operated with the love of God in the renewed mind according to God’s orderly process, the result will be “confusion and every evil work.” The Corinthians had no problems with the “doctrines of the faith.” However, they had a problem with loving their brothers and sisters within the body of Christ especially if they were divided regarding the proper operation of the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Believing action according to the Word of God must be motivated by love. If I gave everything to the poor and even if I gave myself to be martyred, without the love of God in the renewed mind in manifestation, it would profit me nothing. All my worldly accomplishments and praise of men are of no value if not accomplished through the love of God. All men need is to be loved. Would you rather be right or would you rather love and be loved? When someone forces you to go the second mile, do you think that your human rights are being violated or would you gladly serve in love? We must die to our “human rights” in order to live and love unconditionally with the love of God. The Apostle Paul encouraged the church to live and love with no regrets. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things. Love thinks no evil…it is always eager to believe the best of others. The key to growing in Christ is to focus on living in and within the love of God.

When you love those who don’t love you, this is a manifestation of the love of God in the renewed mind. An act of love is to forgive and to set the prisoner free… only to find that the prisoner was me. Like the martyrs throughout the history of the Church, the Apostle Paul said, “for me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” The love of God is never offended when wronged by others. The key to overcoming evil with good is to love unconditionally. Although this type of love is rare in the world, this is normal according to the spirit of life in Christ. For I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life that I now live I live by the faith of the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

Contrary to popular opinion, the abundant life is lived by washing feet. This is the example Jesus Christ himself gave to his disciples. He who approaches God’s throne of grace must do so with a humble and a contrite heart. The Abundant life is blessing them that persecute you, despitefully use you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for Christ’s sake. Jesus gave his disciples a new command, to love one another. He said all men shall know that ye are my disciples if you love one another.

From a heart of love, the mouth speaks…therefore, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable unto thee, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.

May God richly bless you.
Your brother in Christ,
Michael