In this particular end-time season - TO LOVE with the Agape:
1. Is what God requires us to do
2. We need grace to do
3. Will be automatic, if we are filled with God's love
4. Is sacrificial
5. Requires dedicated continuous commitment
We know God's standards and we pray that God will
help us to be able to love the unlovable.
But do we know what that really means?
I think all of us may have been taken by surprise with the rise of lawlessness and the lack of compassion by even those who say they are of Christ. In fact we have to say a prayer for the short sightedness and even the SELF-ishness of those we see around us. They have become lovers of themselves, users, takers, slanderers with no second thought of how displeasing to God their actions have become. They have progressively grown in these mindsets of me mine and my.
Yet our focus should not be on what others do, we are responsible for what we take in, how we react in these situations and what we put out.
God is our only source and when our roots grow deep in the love of God then we become unmoveable, unshakeable, stable and steadfast. We will be unmoved by injustice, criticism, any kind of opposition, insults and persecution. We recognise the source these come from - the kingdom of darkness and therefore we set our face as flint, having a mindset that these ploys will not distract, affect, move or cause us to stumble.
Let's do a check, have we been replaying the wrong things that have been done to us. Let's stop right away and admit it, we have become offended.....truth will begin the process of freedom in Christ.
Let us take this a step further:
We do not love because someone is good, right or even perfect.
If we are focusing too much on the wrong that has been done to us,( no matter how deep the wound or how "bad" it was) we have lost focus. Ask God to clean that offence from our heart, help us to let go and ask him to heal us of that wound. We are responsible for ourselves (not the other person). We can with the fruit of the Spirit choose to shake of offences, wounds, hurt and pain and continue in love. True Christian maturity means we COVER the multitude of sins. We even refuse to talk to someone else (but God) about it. However, we need to set boundaries in our relationships though, feel free to say no and practise conflict resolution as outlined in Matthew 18 as of verse 15.
Let us have a made up mind that the enemy's sting will not take root, his darts will only skim the surface if God's love has truly overtaken our hearts and filled our soul, we will not be moved or distracted.
It requires great grace and strength to remain unmoved in the face of adversity.
Let us ask God to purify our hearts today to remove any stench of the old hurts, wounds and pains that has taken root in our souls as offence, bitterness, resentment and unforgiveness. if we allow any of these to take root, it will then begin to "ooze" into our lateral relationships.
We have such a Father who will help us where we need help, if we say the truth Lord I feel so hurt, wounded or offended, help me, heal me, restore my soul - he will. The process of letting go, begins when we take it to God in prayer, lets leave those old "things" at the alter
Abbah Father
Perfect us in your love, so we can represent you here on earth effectively, they will know we are Christians by our love. Keep us steadfast and unmovable rooted and grounded in your love. Clean our heart and soul and fill us afresh with your love
Lord perfect us in LOVE
And enable us how to LOVE perfectly with the Agape
Amen
Walk good in Christ
Till we meet again
Pastor J
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