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Speaking
Engagements •
June 3-5 LEAH homeschool
convention in Rochester, NY. http://www.leah.org •
June 19-25 Homeschool Family Camp
at Camp Spofford, NH. Contact: Tom Oborne oborne@verizon.net. •
July 23-25 Father/Son retreat at
Evangelical Institute of Greenville, SC. There is a limited registration
for this great weekend. If you're in the SE, please join us by registering
online at: http://www.eibibleschool.org/conferences/intro •
July 26-28 Alma will be speaking
at a young ladies retreat at Evangelical Institute in Greenville, SC. You
can join us by going online to: http://www.eibibleschool.org/conferences/intro • July 29-31 Woodlands Homeschool Conference hosted by THSC. Registration online at http://www.thsc.org/convention/General_Information.asp Chariot March 2010 - Norm Wakefield Unfailing
Love, Part 3
There's not another love like God's unfailing love! We've been studying 1
John 4 for the past few months. So far, we've looked at The Love Lesson;
unfailing love is a gift from God to those who know Him and live
through Jesus Christ. The primary evidence that a person knows God and
lives through Jesus Christ is that they have been given the gift of God's
unfailing love. Therefore, obeying God's command to love God and others is
not a burden, in fact, it's a joy.
Last month we discussed The Source Test: the source of idolatry, a
counterfeit love, is the world's kind of love, and unfailing love comes
from God alone. The Apostle John defined love by the love displayed in
Jesus Christ, who was God, incarnate. Therefore, in Chapter Four of his
First Epistle, John suggested that love can be and should be tested by its
source. If you missed the last two articles, please go to www.spiritofelijah.com/chariot and read them. Now I
want us to consider... The Course Test
The world's kind of love, which really isn't love, but idolatry, has a
course or flow very different from God's unfailing love. This shouldn't
surprise us, but because idolatry is so deceptive and masquerades as love
we need to contrast the flow of these two kinds of love. The World's Kind of Love Ends with Self
The spirit of the world or the spirit of idolatry which is at work in
those who are of the world is focused on getting. The world's kind
of love flows from others to self. Self is like a huge reservoir that
drains the life and energy of others and consumes it on self-significance,
self-esteem, self-convenience, and self-adoration. What comes in doesn't
flow out to others except when it is advantageous and beneficial for self.
People under the influence of the spirit of idolatry use "good tools"
(smiles, service, compliments, gifts, rewards, and acceptance) to get
others to give to them what they want. When others don't respond to their
positive manipulations, then they use "evil tools" (anger, malice,
slander, shaming, and rejection) to motivate others to make them happy.
The illustration below captures the idea of the world's kind of love. When
you see the arrow, think "give to". Others "Good tools"
"Evil
Tools" Self
When life is all about you, you can't love with
unfailing love. The question is this: Does this illustrate what God sees
as you relate to others? This is The Course Test. God's Unfailing Love Flows To Others
The course of God's kind of love is drastically
different from the world's kind of love. Instead of looking to others, one
who believes in God's love in Christ, looks to God for all of life. He or
she believes God is setting the course for them in every situation and
relationship so that love can flow from Him through them to others. When
life is about loving God through Jesus Christ, one is free to love with
God's unfailing love. No
one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us,
and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in
Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit (1 John
4:12-13).
We know God lives in us
and we are living through Jesus Christ when God's love is completing its
course in us. Furthermore, that's how people see God. The word perfected
is a Greek word meaning to finish or complete. So the idea John
presented was that when God loves us His love doesn't stop flowing until
it reaches its object, namely, those He leads into our paths. This
illustration below helps us understand the course of God's unfailing love.
God > Father
God > Son > The
Beloved > Others John wrote, "We have come to know
and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one
who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him" (1 John 4:16).
God's unfailing love revealed in Jesus Christ fills us to overflowing so
that others receive the benefit. Not only does God's love impact others,
but it has a powerful effect upon us, which enables us to now
understand... The Confidence Test
By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have
confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so
also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect
(completed) love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the
one who fears is not perfected in love (1 John 4:17-18).
The confidence test also reveals if you have unfailing love. Unfailing
love flowing through you to others removes fear! There is a day of
judgment awaiting you. Think about when you come to stand before Jesus and
answer for how you have loved those God put in your life. Are you excited
for Him to see how you have loved or are you fearful? John taught that
when love completes its course through us, we may have confidence in the
day of judgment because we know that we love with the same kind of love
with which He loved. "As He is, so also are we in this world." When we
love others with His unfailing love, we have no fear to die and stand
before Christ. However, this doesn't mean that all relationships will be
good. Some people will not see the love of Christ in you any more than
some didn't see Jesus' love when He walked on earth. So remember, it's not
what others see; it's what God sees.
Are you afraid to die and face Jesus with your relationships? If so, then
love has not completed its course through you. This calls into question
whether God has loved you through Jesus Christ yet. When God loves someone
through His Son, He reveals His love in the power of the Holy Spirit, and
that person comes to believe in and abide in God's powerful, forgiving,
forbearing, enduring, unfailing love. He actually experiences God's love
because God gives it to Him as a gift.
Let's be clear about receiving God's love. It is not determined by the
choice, acceptance, or worthiness of the object of His love. When God
loves with unfailing love, it is His choice, and He communicates by
the power of His Spirit His acceptance of the person on the basis of Jesus'
sacrificial death and love.
This allows us to more
accurately state the truth about Jesus' saving love and correct the
fallacy communicated in the popular children's song, Jesus Loves Me. There
is no confidence in these words, "Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible
tells me so" unless we mean the Bible tells us that the evidence that I am
an object of His love is that He gives me "of His Spirit." According to 1
John 4, the only way we can have confidence that we have truly experienced
God's love and know Him is that we love others as Jesus Christ loved. I'm
not suggesting that God loves us because we love others as He
loved, but that we love others because He loves us.The only way we can have confidence that we have truly experienced God's
love and know Him is that we love others as Jesus Christ loved. Only Those Who Love with Unfailing Love Know God and Abide in His Love
This statement might be shocking to you. You might think this seems too
narrow and exclusive. Could it be that the broad way that leads to
destruction of which Jesus spoke in the Sermon on the Mount is in the
church and not the world? I think that was Jesus' point! He warned about
false teachers in the church. We should expect the truth to be exchanged
for a lie. The truth is: Only those who love as Jesus loves are born of
God and know God. The lie is: God loves everyone whether they love or not.
Jesus warned His disciples of this very deception.
Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and
the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter
through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to
life, and there are few who find it. Beware of the
false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly
are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits...So every good
tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree
cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit...So
then, you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to
Me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the
will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me
on that day, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your
name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?" And then I
will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice
lawlessness" (Matthew 7:13-23).
I think what John wrote in Chapter Four confirmed what
Jesus said. "We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, ‘I
love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not
love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen"
(1 John 4:19-20). When John wrote, "We love", he meant "We love others
because He first loved us." The basis for the love that true believers
have for others is the love they have first experienced in Christ.
Therefore John could make such bold statements as, "The one who does not
love, does not know God" (1 John 4:8) and "If someone says, ‘I love God,'
and hates his brother, he is a liar" (1 John 4:20). Jesus and John agreed.
It's not what one says, but what one does that is evidence that Jesus
loves (knew) them.
When Jesus declared that only those who do the will of
the Father will enter, what did He mean? I think He meant it is the Father's
will that those who are in the Kingdom love others as Jesus loved. The
true prophets bear the fruit of the Spirit of Christ and love as He loved.
Both the passage in Matthew 7 and in 1 John 4 dealt with confidence before
God. The confidence test then may be understood in a couple of ways. 1.
If I have no fear to die and stand before Jesus, then I am loved by
God, know Him, and love others as Jesus loved. 2.
Because I love others as Jesus did, with unfailing love, then I
know God loves me in Jesus Christ. And if I know God loves me in Christ, I
have confidence before God. But Nobody has Unfailing Love all the Time
Did John mean that those who know God always love with
unfailing love every single time in every relationship? John recognized
that true believers are not perfect (meaning without flaw or
exception) in their love for others. They do have times when they sin, and
they can be confident God forgives them through Jesus Christ and cleanses
them of their sin (1 John 1:9). Furthermore, when they fail, they have
confidence that God knew their sin in Christ and therefore can assure
their hearts of His forgiveness, thus experiencing God's love in Christ
anew and afresh (1 John 3:19-20). We can also know that confidence comes
in practice, not perfection. In 1 John 3:7-10, John made it clear that it
is the habit of one's life, not their perfect performance that gives
confidence before God. This happens because we want to empty ourselves,
humble ourselves to serve, and willingly bear the sins and weaknesses of
others so they might be forgiven and experience God's love through us. Do You Have Confidence Before God?
The purpose of this series of articles was that you
might learn how to know, experience, and express God's unfailing love. To
do that, you needed to know what God's love is. God's love was defined by
Jesus Christ when He came in the flesh and emptied Himself, humbled
Himself to serve us, and willingly bore all of our sin and times when our
love failed. When we learn what God's love is, we see more clearly our own
sin, lack of love, and our need to be forgiven. Forgiveness comes as God
reveals Christ as the propitiation for our sins, and we experience God's
unfailing love. He conquered all our sin and set us free from the
punishment we deserve. Having been loved by God with such a powerful,
forgiving, forbearing, enduring, unfailing love, we also discover what it
means to live through Him. When we love others as He loved us, we
are living through Him. As a result, fear is cast out and we have
confidence before God. Hallelujah!
I want to close on a personal note. The great thing
about knowing God and His love is that it sets me free to love regardless
of the behavior (good or bad) of others. I find great joy when I empty
myself, humble myself, and willingly bear the weight of others' sins or
weaknesses. The joy comes because I know God delights in my living through
Jesus! His joy is my joy and strength. This makes life full and rewarding,
but most important of all, it is the source of my confidence before God. I
look forward with eager anticipation to that day when I stand before
Christ and explode with praise to Him for His love and grace poured out on
me. I want you to experience this joy!
May God use this series on His unfailing love to
encourage you to receive God's forgiveness in Christ for when you have not
loved others as He has loved you. I encourage you to go to them, confess
your failure to love, and ask their forgiveness. May it also motivate you
to love the most unloving and undeserving people in your life with God's
unfailing love. I hope you will be able to say when you come to stand
before Christ, "I have loved because You first loved me. Thank you for the
gift of love which has enabled me to love as You loved when You were in
this world." Would
you like to be on the Elijah Ministries Prayer Team? The backbone of Elijah Ministries is the prayer team who pray diligently for God to turn the hearts of men to Himself, their wives, and their children. Before I leave to speak, I send out a prayer team invitation to those who will intercede for God to work for His glory in us as a team for the Kingdom. Not only is it a blessing to those whom I speak and myself; but it is also a reminder to the team about the direction of their own hearts. If you would like to enter into the labor together with me, you may go to my website and click on "Prayer Team". Has Norm's Chariot or other resources been an encouragement to you? As a nonprofit organization, Elijah Ministries needs support from people like you in order to function. If God has ministered to you through Elijah Ministries and Norm Wakefield, would you consider supporting the work? You can do so here. (Elijah Ministries is a tax-deductible 501c3 and is financially accountable to an overseeing board of 8 non-paid members from around the country.) The Chariot is also available as a podcast. You can automatically receive the Chariot each month in iTunes by subscribing here. (An RSS capable browser such as Internet Explorer 7 or Safari is required.)
If you
haven't visited our website, www.spiritofelijah.com,
please stop by sometime. You'll find: * Resources to equip you and your family * Previous Chariot articles * Norm's speaking schedule *
Free MP3 downloads * Subscribe to the Chariot Podcast here. * Various resources/pages translated and available in Spanish * An online store to purchase resources and make tax-free contributions by credit card
I invite you to be a part of the
moving of the Spirit of Elijah in your church, community, and the world.
How?
1.
Send this article to other men or families that you know would
benefit from it. You might inform them of the previous articles
available on-line at our website.
2.
Share resources from the Spirit of Elijah Ministries with others.
If Equipping Men or Rising to the
Call have been a blessing to you, then you know it will be
beneficial to others. Either share your resources, tell them about the
resources, or purchase a set or two as an investment in their lives. 3. Share with others what you have learned and put into practice in turning your heart to God, your wife, and your children. If God has done this in you, then He wants to affect others through you.
4.
Join the Elijah Ministries email prayer team and make
intercession for others that their hearts would be turned in revival to
the Lord, their wives, and their children. This can be done on-line at www.spiritofelijah.com.
Norm
Wakefield 04.10 To unsubscribe, click here.
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