Be safe without fear…

While we marvel at the work God is doing in a certain person’s life, a few friends fearfully say, “Oh, she is not out of danger yet.” I don’t understand that. When someone enters the kingdom of God through faith in Jesus Christ, their lives are in His hands. Any ‘danger’ they face is used for good in their lives. Not only that:

God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. (2 Timothy 1:7)

Power, love, and self-control are works of the Holy Spirit. All Christians have the Spirit who takes us from living by our ideas, whims, or fears to Knowing that God wants the best for us. It is a journey, but eventually He shows us that the power to love is real and it changes us from selfish living to people motivated by love. This includes our prayers.

John Piper explains that if our prayers seem unheard, it could be that they have been motivated by selfish reasoning rather than the love of God. He adds that the reason God answers the prayers of those who believe in the name of Jesus and love others like Jesus is that God loves to magnify Jesus.

Godly love is not a feeling. It is action that involves sacrifice. This is why the NT says this about how I should live: 

No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. . . . Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. (2 Timothy 2:4–21)

God wants me to stick to what He says. Fear is not it. I need Holy Spirit power that puts off selfish flesh and live in love and self-control. This means I must:

Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:23–26)

This is not easy. I read the news and want to hide and not be involved in this messy world. God even tells me to avoid much of what is going on:

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. (2 Timothy 3:1–5)

Instead, I’m to ‘hide’ in God’s Word so I can live in this world as He wants.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16–17)

There is a sense of immediacy to this. “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3–4)

PRAY: Oh dear Lord Jesus, I need not fear, not for myself or for other Christians, even those new to the faith. You give me and all Your children the ability to live for You and You promise: “The Lord will rescue (us) from every evil deed and bring (us) safely into his heavenly kingdom.” This is why I can say, ”To You be the glory forever and ever.” Amen. (2 Timothy 4:18)



 

A new way to define love. . .

Many Bible scholars think there is little distinction between the various words for ‘love’ in the Bible. The main difference is only one of them is used in verses that tell Christians to love one another. This Greek word is agape and its variations. It can mean care, affection and loyalty. This includes the attitude of the Pharisees for about their popularity and prominence; they loved (agape) their privileges. However, it is mostly used in verses like these:

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” (John 13:34)

“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” (1 John 3:16)

In other words, the love I’m to have for other believers is to be like the love Jesus has for me: self-sacrificial, wanting my eternal well-being, thoughtful in every way, even willing to give His life for me. This love is not about anyone deserving it. It is unconditional rather than being about my enjoyment of someone or something. My Bible dictionary says it means to have a strong, non-sexual affection and love for a person and their good as understood by God’s moral character; especially characterized by a willing forfeiture of rights or privileges in another person’s behalf.

Regardless of dictionary meanings, the best way to understand this word is in each context where it is used. John 3:16 says God loved the world and the rest of the verse describes how He demonstrated that love: He gave His Son that we might not perish but have everlasting life.

This is a powerful kind of love. It was in the heart of God before the world was created. Some say He created humanity to have an object for His great love — people made in His image upon which to love!

Most of us don’t love like that. Our love may flow out of kinship or attraction, or from compassion or empathy. It is rare to see anyone willing to die for their friends, never mind make the ultimate sacrifice for people who have rejected them, yet Jesus did that. His love is eternal and knows no bounds. The new commandment He gave was not new as far as agape goes, but it is new in that we have a new way to define it — its meaning is found in Jesus Christ.

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” (1 John 4:7–12)

^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, You are my example of how to love AND my source for the power to be able to do it. I realize my sinful nature is selfish and not interested in sacrificing much of anything for someone else. Without You in my life, this is not merely difficult, but impossible. Giving up my plans and so on is not so difficult when I do it for family or friends, but You loved us and made the ultimate sacrifice that we might have an eternal inheritance — while we were sinners who had no value or qualities that made us loveable. Help me be less choosy and more like You!

Learning to Love

A teenage girl told me that she wanted to have a baby because, “I want someone who will love me.”

While my heart went out to her, an abused and neglected child, how could I tell her that this is not the way it works? Infants are born with the same need for love as their parents. Without being loved, they will be concerned only to have their own needs met. Love for others needs to be developed. No one is born with it.

Yesterday, I was told of twin boys, age ten, whose mother is in jail for abusing them. They have been described as ‘feral’ and without any sense of boundaries. Without loving care, they have no care for others. The only time one of them looked happy was when he was abusing and beating his brother.

Children generally respond to love. If parents care for them, they develop the ability as nurture overcomes that me-first nature all of us are born with. However, as important as this family love is, it is not the same as the love our heavenly Father has for us, or the love that He wants us to have for one another. This love was unknown to me until the day that Jesus Christ came into my life.

On that day, a change of heart happened and astonished me. I’d known the commands to love God and love others, but I did not feel that I was doing it, at least not to the standard the Bible describe. Then, suddenly, that love was there. Many theologians will describe it not as a feeling but as the action of obedience, so perhaps the feeling I had would best be described as a sudden and very real desire to do what God said. I immediately loved Him and immediately became far more interested in others and in the needs of others than I’d even imagined. This happened because God sent His Spirit into my heart.

“And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.” (1 John 3:23–24)

By nature, I am a ‘why’ person, pragmatic and constantly seeking the bottom line, the reason for doing anything. God often obliges this desire and showed me the reason Christians are supposed to love one another . . .

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34–35)

This love is an important way to show the world that I belong to God and follow Jesus Christ. It is also a way of verifying that He is real and that He changes lives.

Not only that, He showed me that the love among family members, or between husbands and wives is not the same kind of love as the love of God. How is God’s love beyond ordinary human affection? John 3:16 is a big clue: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

The love of God cares about others to the point of self-sacrifice for their eternal well-being. It includes taking care of physical and emotional needs too, but isn’t about indulging people or being their resource or doormat. Instead, God wants me to demonstrate all of what He is like in His love for them. This is difficult to describe because it is both an attitude and action:

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:4–7)

As a new Christian, I felt differently, but it didn’t take me long to realize that loving God and loving others is a fruit of the Spirit (see Galatians 5). The Lord produces it, motivates it, makes it happen, but only in the heart of a person yielded to Him in obedience. That is why the Bible says to love God and keep His commandments. It is in obeying God that I can express love to Him and His love to others. As soon as I start putting myself first, love is gone.

^^^^^^^^^^

Lord Jesus, this journey with You is filled with opportunities to love others. It can be little things like making lunch when I feel like having a nap, or being patient when someone is slow to respond to a simple request, or refusing to compare myself with others who are making mistakes. It is also far larger sacrifices such as seen in the actions of your people in times of disasters such as fires, floods, and tornadoes, risking their lives for the good of others. The more I realize how much You love me, the more I’m inclined to drop that me-first attitude that I came wailing with into this world. What can I say? You are an amazing God and from You, I’m learning how to love and obey You, knowing that it is You who makes such love possible.

Why is love a “new” commandment?

Frustration sets in when I try to do something that I have no capacity to do. I cannot move a refrigerator to another room. I cannot sing opera (even if I wanted to), and I have no capacity to learn a new language; the synapses in my brain will not cooperate.

Prior to salvation, I could not love God either, even if I tried. How could I? I could not see Him or touch Him. I didn’t know if He cared about me at all. He was a stranger. However, He took the initiative and entered my life. As I learned of Him, I also learned about loving Him and loving others as well.

Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34–35)

Why is that a “new” commandment? Hadn’t God already told His people to love Him with all their heart and to love their neighbor as themselves? He had, but they had failed. Now He gives them this new commandment along with a new capacity. He gave this also to me.

First, we became reborn people with new hearts and regenerated spirits. We may have loved God prior to this, but my love at least was more of a ‘getting’ or receiving kind of desire. However, the saving grace of Christ turned it into gratitude and a desire to return that love of His as much as possibly can.

John explains it this way: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” (1 John 4:7–12)

Second, this love for others was new because it was a different kind of love. Jesus said, “. . . just as I have loved you.” Prior to Jesus Christ and His death on the cross, the people of God did not know the depths of God’s love. Even if they had a sense of it, they could not do it apart from having God’s Spirit in their lives. Neither can I. Loving God as He loved me is impossible in my own strength.

Third, the disciples and I need the Holy Spirit. We also must be filled with the Spirit and walking in His power, not our own so our lives are producing the fruit of the Spirit: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22–23)

Perhaps the most important capacity for loving God and others is a humility that comes from knowing I am a sinner forgiven, justified freely by His grace and given eternal life as a gift. Undeserving and helpless people who receive this amazing gift from God fall madly in love with this One who so freely loves them. Along with gratitude, loving God becomes a given.

It is also a given to be set free from all that is selfish and prevents me from loving others. No one can love anyone else when wrapped up trying to earn or deserve love from God and love from others for themselves. This is selfishness even as it is felt as one of the deepest needs of life. With that need taken care of in Jesus Christ, I have new life and with it a new capacity and freedom to love others just as He freely loves me.

Halleluiah, He is an amazing Savior!