Love is seen in forgiveness because it covers a multitude of sins. Love for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ is evidence of our relationship with God and loving with our actions is proof of our sonship, that we are indeed the children of God. So, what more can be said on the subject of love. Well, in the span of 14 verses between 1 John 4:7-21, love is mentioned 27x!! There is a lot of love to go around in the house of God! IT IS A BIG FAMILY TO LOVE! Here we get to the very foundation of why love makes us real. Love is part of the very nature of God. It is not a forced response, but should become a very natural way to respond in our lives.
It is more that just the love of creation or a beautiful sunset we are talking about here. We can only truly love a person. God is love, and so we come to Him through people. There is no separation between the spiritual and the social. The way you feel about other people is the way you feel about God. This is exactly what we are learning from John here woven through this passages. The way we treat other people is the way we treat God.
It is more that just the love of creation or a beautiful sunset we are talking about here. We can only truly love a person. God is love, and so we come to Him through people. There is no separation between the spiritual and the social. The way you feel about other people is the way you feel about God. This is exactly what we are learning from John here woven through this passages. The way we treat other people is the way we treat God.
God’s love is a releasing love 4v7-9
It isn’t a love that we create and produce. It is a love that is released in us. You can’t manufacture the love of God. This love of God will grow in you and become a constant overflow, a running stream if we let it.
Right now with the ever increasing cost of fuel topping $120- barrel now is spiraling a world food shortage crisis. We will be most likely one of the last countries touched by this crisis since we are well insulated, but a believer in whom the love of God flows cannot turn a blind eye to what is going on in the world around them.
Josette Sheeran, executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme, focused on the crisis Wednesday during a speech at a London summit dedicated to the subject. She said the cost of rice has more than doubled in the last five weeks, and the World Bank estimates food prices have increased 83 per cent in three years.
While there have been restrictions placed on specialty rice in the States, the sad reality is that Dave Toycen, president of World Vision Canada, said Thursday that his organization has to cut back on how much food it can distribute. The international aid organization is cutting back on the vital flow of food it can provide to the world's most impoverished -- saying it can no longer afford to feed 1.5 million of the 7.5 million people that received aid last year. Everything from fuel increases and the loss of food to producing bio-fuels is causing these food pains.
The riots are taking place in the world’s poorest countries and this crisis hits the hardest with the estimated 20 million poorest children.
What is our response to this crisis? Jon takes great pains to tell us to let it flow.
· Generosity to the poor will flow from those who hold fast to the gospel as their profession of faith as we see in 2 Corinthians 9:6-13-15
· Pray for the land. Psalm 107:33,34 He turns rivers into a desert, flowing springs into thirsty ground and fruitful land into a salt waste, because of the wickedness of those how lived there. What is wickedness ultimately? – forgetting the Lord
As our team learned last week at NHOP http://www.nhop.ca/ – the land will bear the effects of our wickedness. God will get our attention with the rice, wheat and corn shortages. We need to 2 Chronicles 7:14 pray for healing on the land because that is not the end of the story for those who exalt His name and give thanks for the Lord for His unfailing love.
V35 He turned the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into flowing springs; there he brought the hungry to live….LET IT FLOW LORD, LET IT FLOW THROUGH ME.
Luke 4:18,19 …Jesus healed and fed while preaching the gospel as foretastes of the coming kingdom
As one writer writes, “Are we paying what Romans 13:8 calls the continuing debt of love? Or do we treat people with the civilized equivalent of killing and beating: ignoring or resenting them, sitting in silent judgment, rationalizing our lovelessness?"
For the loveless Christian to profess that they know God is like saying that you really understand a person whose language you don’t even speak. Love is as much a sign of the authenticity of our faith as righteousness is in us.
It isn’t a love that we create and produce. It is a love that is released in us. You can’t manufacture the love of God. This love of God will grow in you and become a constant overflow, a running stream if we let it.
Right now with the ever increasing cost of fuel topping $120- barrel now is spiraling a world food shortage crisis. We will be most likely one of the last countries touched by this crisis since we are well insulated, but a believer in whom the love of God flows cannot turn a blind eye to what is going on in the world around them.
Josette Sheeran, executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme, focused on the crisis Wednesday during a speech at a London summit dedicated to the subject. She said the cost of rice has more than doubled in the last five weeks, and the World Bank estimates food prices have increased 83 per cent in three years.
While there have been restrictions placed on specialty rice in the States, the sad reality is that Dave Toycen, president of World Vision Canada, said Thursday that his organization has to cut back on how much food it can distribute. The international aid organization is cutting back on the vital flow of food it can provide to the world's most impoverished -- saying it can no longer afford to feed 1.5 million of the 7.5 million people that received aid last year. Everything from fuel increases and the loss of food to producing bio-fuels is causing these food pains.
The riots are taking place in the world’s poorest countries and this crisis hits the hardest with the estimated 20 million poorest children.
What is our response to this crisis? Jon takes great pains to tell us to let it flow.
· Generosity to the poor will flow from those who hold fast to the gospel as their profession of faith as we see in 2 Corinthians 9:6-13-15
· Pray for the land. Psalm 107:33,34 He turns rivers into a desert, flowing springs into thirsty ground and fruitful land into a salt waste, because of the wickedness of those how lived there. What is wickedness ultimately? – forgetting the Lord
As our team learned last week at NHOP http://www.nhop.ca/ – the land will bear the effects of our wickedness. God will get our attention with the rice, wheat and corn shortages. We need to 2 Chronicles 7:14 pray for healing on the land because that is not the end of the story for those who exalt His name and give thanks for the Lord for His unfailing love.
V35 He turned the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into flowing springs; there he brought the hungry to live….LET IT FLOW LORD, LET IT FLOW THROUGH ME.
Luke 4:18,19 …Jesus healed and fed while preaching the gospel as foretastes of the coming kingdom
As one writer writes, “Are we paying what Romans 13:8 calls the continuing debt of love? Or do we treat people with the civilized equivalent of killing and beating: ignoring or resenting them, sitting in silent judgment, rationalizing our lovelessness?"
For the loveless Christian to profess that they know God is like saying that you really understand a person whose language you don’t even speak. Love is as much a sign of the authenticity of our faith as righteousness is in us.
God’s love is a receiving love 4v10
Real love is not that you love God, but that He loved you so much, He gave His Son as an atoning sacrifice. To atone means He paid the ultimate price so that we could have this incredible oneness with God. Sin could not be passed off lightly, it’s penalty had to be met and its power had to be broken over us. It was done in order that we could experience the mysterious union when Christ’s life is being lived out through us.
We learn again that it isn’t man seeking after God, but God who once again is seeking after man.
Isaiah 52:14… 53:2-4, 10
It is a mystery that He has called us to His inner circle to be in full communion with Him, infinite God, as the HS comes alive in us and we participate in that divine fellowship with God, Jesus Christ and His Spirit in us.
God’s love goes full circle 4v11,12
God’s love which originates in Him and which was manifested in His Son,is made complete in US. It is a profound mystery…and it goes full circle when His love is revealed in me.... What did I just do? Did I just tell that person I will look after it? Did I just write that check to that to respond to the world food shortage crisis? Did I just say yes to leading a small group? Did I just say that I will go on that missions trip?
Love must have an outlet. Just like a stream needs an outlet, we will become spiritually stagnant. Case in point is the Dead Sea and it was named this because of that very fact…no outlet. One who keeps taking in, but never gives out will lose their freshness, their vitality and not experience the real Christ life within. It was never meant to just soak in…we need to be SQUEEZED out like a good Florida orange and become the Tropicana of the Spirit in people’s lives!!
Sometimes I am asked, “how do you give a fresh message every week?”. Sometimes I think that too. I wonder can there be anything more to say on this subject? However, I sometimes think, “I’ll save that for next week,” but it rarely or never happens. I’ve learned that when I’m faithful and pour it all out, God refills my reservoir week after week
Craig Gross, who heads up a ministry called xxxchurch was on George Stroumboulopoulos’ The hour this past Monday night sharing about the how they are reaching out to porn addicts, helping even those who feel trapped in the industry and seeing people find true freedom. They have been given opportunities to go to the big conventions and give out 20000 Bibles titled, ‘God loves porn stars’, at a time. What makes someone do that? What makes them face all the hate mail from other Christians….the love of God!
God’s love is perfected in you!
God’s love is a confident love 4v17,18
Perfect love drives away fear. What do we fear? When you really get the love of God, it gives you incredible confidence. What is that cripples you with fear of judgment ‘krisisphobia’. It is often something that in our past that haunts us or it is the future that threatens us. The enemy would love to throw it right back in your face. Real love drives out fear as well as hatred. Agape love, our very capacity to love God and our neighbor is due because of His prior love for us and in us. You can’t help but love when it is generated by Him.
It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. Hebrews 9:27
Romans 8:1 There is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ.
v31 If God is for us, then who can be against us!
Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. 1 John 4:4 KJV
Fear is the beginning of torment and we have nothing to fear when we experience His love in us and through us.
The Takeaway
Give way to love and let it come full circle out of the overflow of the presence of God in you heart.
Give way to love and let it come full circle out of the overflow of the presence of God in you heart.
The more I express God’s love, the more confidence I have.
The more confidence I have, the more I pray
The more I pray and listen, the more I see answers to prayer.
The more I see answers to prayer, the more I get on fire and express the love of God
Questions For Discussion and Small Group
1. Talk about love languages. Gary Chapman has broken these down in his book. They are:
· Words of affirmation – For example, I am so blessed to have you in my life, you make me a better person, you have helped me understand God better…
· Quality time – This is time and attention to detail. Quality time with our family is found within quantity time. We cannot just say, ‘this is quality time now’ Those moments will flow naturally as we spend time together.
· Receiving gifts – we often think this is the easiest way to pass love, but it only becomes meaningful when the gift is thoughtful and meets the need of another
· Acts of service – this is the ability to support and come alongside a family member and lift the load or at the very least share the load and work together.
· Physical touch – We shared a few weeks ago how important meaningful touch is in the lives of our children and it is so valuable to connecting to the hearts of our spouses and family members.
2. Talk about love languages. Gary Chapman has broken these down in his book. They are:
· Words of affirmation – For example, I am so blessed to have you in my life, you make me a better person, you have helped me understand God better…
· Quality time – This is time and attention to detail. Quality time with our family is found within quantity time. We cannot just say, ‘this is quality time now’ Those moments will flow naturally as we spend time together.
· Receiving gifts – we often think this is the easiest way to pass love, but it only becomes meaningful when the gift is thoughtful and meets the need of another
· Acts of service – this is the ability to support and come alongside a family member and lift the load or at the very least share the load and work together.
· Physical touch – We shared a few weeks ago how important meaningful touch is in the lives of our children and it is so valuable to connecting to the hearts of our spouses and family members.
3. What is the love language that you most appreciate?
4. What is the love language that you tend most to communicate?
5. Is there a disconnect between the love language you communicate and the one that your family members receive?
6. How can His love flow more through you?
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