Christianity Oasis Forum

[kimberly]

Welcome Holy Spirit, welcome Love. Thank You for helping us understand Your Love, for us...Your children. Thank You--Your love is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. In Jesus name, amen.

We've discussed many of the emotions we go through, in this program....and how the Word of God can bring healing and control to all of them. The Holy Spirit has given knowledge and wisdom on these subjects.

During prayer this week, He revealed a subject that, if we can comprehend it....it will resolve any problem we have in our lives. It is this---the Love of God for us.

Now, when that's said, people tend to immediately say--"Oh, I KNOW God loves me!"....Or, "Well, if God loves me so much, why doesn't He fix my life?" There is a problem with these statements. They are based on 'head knowledge' of God's love.

The Love of God FOR us is not understood with our minds...it is known in the spirit, it is heartfelt-- as Paul asked in a most beautiful prayer for the church at Ephesus:

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory,

-- to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height 

-- to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. {Ephesians 3:14-21}

This prayer is a Holy Spirit expression of God's desire that we, his children, would understand and be filled with His love. But it seems there is a contradiction in this prayer.

...'to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge'----how is it possible to know the love of Jesus, if it 'passes knowledge' (or-is beyond knowing)? There is only one way.

'To know the love of Christ'---is to experience it for yourself. This is possible because, as Paul points out, we are strengthened (empowered) by the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. The Holy Spirit enables us to experience the love of Jesus, not just 'know he loves us'.

Here's how it went: The Love that IS God, came to earth in human form. Love, knowing we could never atone for our own sins, became a sacrifice for us. Love went to the cross, bearing all our sins--past, present, future. Love died, and rose again---so that we might also.

Now, when Love is asked to be Lord of our lives, Love comes to live inside us. Love makes it's home in us, and Love waits. Love waits to be first in our lives, Love waits for us to discover the gifts and talents Love has placed in us....Love waits to be loved in return.

Love longs to spend time with us, teach us, renew us, deliver us. Love desires to give us the Kingdom, Love hopes for us to be filled with all the fulness of God.

What would we be like, 'filled with all the fulness of God'? That can be answered in one word:

SELFLESS.

We would concern ourselves more with what God said, how He felt, what He wanted....it would be our hearts desire to do His will. We would rush to Him first, we would slough off sin, we would be fruitful in every good work, and we would love our neighbor well, because we would love ourselves.

The Love of God for us is selfless....He desires we would be all that He planned for us to be. He desires we have all He has provided for us in His Word. And yet, a lot of us struggle---why is that?

To 'know' the Love of God is to be filled with the God kind of love. God's Love for us is total, complete, and lives inside of us. It is meant to be how we operate, and who we are. 'Rooted and grounded in love' is where we come from, from Him who is Love.

How we show that love is directly related to how much we understand that love. The more we understand the Love of God for us, the more we show it to others. The more we operate in God's love, the less we operate in fear.

God created a perfect Love system. He devised a way for Love to never die. He established a Love covenant that makes us heirs to the Love system, and calls us to be sowers of His Love.

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? {1st John 3:16, 17}

God's Love is our calling. Love towards each other, that is knowing God's love for us. Bless God, amen.