We need to be filled and flooded with God Himself.
Jesus said (John 14:21) that if we love Him truly, we will obey Him promptly.
Have not (Joshua 1:9) I commanded you? Go in this (Judges 6:14) your might. What might? The might and strength and purpose of God’s command. Every command God gives contains within itself all the strength, wisdom and ability we need to perfectly and fully carry it out to perfect completion It requires only obedience to release every necessary power element we need to fulfill God’s righteous requirements and holy commands. Because God has promised (Isaiah 46:4) to carry us even to old age, we can continue (Psalms 92:14) to bear fruit in old age.
Love is kind (1 Corinthians 13:4) and operates for the good of others, not for personal benefit. Love is not self-seeking. “Love is (Chip Ingram) to give people what they need most and deserve least, at great cost (Matthew 25:37-40) to yourself.” Jesus told us (John 13:34) to love one another just as He loves us and His love is sacrificial love. If we abide in Jesus, the Holy Spirit’s gifts (1 Corinthians 12:1) are made evident in (1 Corinthians 13:1) being expressed and functioning through our love for all people around us. If or when we judge others, we murder love. Criticism, gossip, judging are all rooted in pride because they dangerously deceive us into a higher opinion of ourselves, which is totally false. Such opinions always switch off the Light, the Light of truth, and murder LOVE in the darkness. You cannot put others down without, in so doing, put yourself up. The foul destroying stench of pride is in every deviation from the control of the Holy Spirit. Let us determine that we will live LOVE. Where do we start? Definitely not by trying to drum up a sickeningly sweet phoney false personality for ourselves. Such hypocrisy is like flogging a dead horse. It accomplishes nothing except to turn people off. What I have or don’t have can actually affect what I am and the quality of my character. No matter what I do have, if I don’t have love (1 Corinthians 13:2) I am a big fat nothing, a nobody. BUT - - the Son of God clothed His eternal Divinity with humanity and all that Jesus accomplished His humanity made it possible for born-again Christians to be (Colossians 2:9-10) filled to all the fullness of the Triune Godhead.
We must start by (Ephesians 5:18) continually being filled with the Holy Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit can (Romans 5:5) so lavishly fill our heart with the true pure love of God that it overflows and spills out to richly bless others. If we are offended, criticized, hurt, etc. we will never retaliate. Our response will always be Christ-like – IF – we live the LOVE produced, imparted and empowered by Almighty God the Holy Spirit. Only what is in us can come out of us. The truth will out. God’s gift of love to me is Jesus and my gift of love to others is my witness to the Truth of Jesus Who is both God and only Saviour.
I don’t want (Ezekiel 33:8) God to require any person’s blood/soul at my hand because of sinful, selfish carelessness. Woe be to me (1 Corinthians 9:16) if I do not share and make known the rich treasury of eternal Truth which offers forgiveness of sin, eternal salvation and personal relationship with God through the precious shed Blood and Atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ. All this I have received, a gift from God and (Romans 14):1 I am a debtor to spread the good news of the Gospel.
All of God’s gifts to us must be returned to Him to be used by Him through us for the purpose for which He originally gave them to us. God’s gifts to us are always His own, always belong to Him, and He always has a holy purpose for them. We need to be (Ephesians 3:19) filled and flooded with God Himself.
Our safety is equal with God’s Sovereignty. Within the word Sovereignty, there is the word REIGN. King Jesus reigns far above (Ephesians 1:21-22) all rule, authority, power and dominion. He is exalted universal and supreme. HEAD of the Church which is His body and true fullness of Him.
There is nothing more valuable in the whole universe than a close personal loving relationship with the Living God in and through Jesus Christ. If you have such a relationship with Him, stop and think, consider how fabulously rich you are! You possess the greatest wealth, the most valuable treasure in the entire universe. Why would any Christian be so enamoured with this world that they settle for spiritual poverty???
When trouble or uncertainty or difficulty comes into my life (Psalms 46:1) God is always closer to me than any and every trouble, uncertainty or difficulty. Turn your eyes upon Jesus and (John 14:27) receive His peace. Jesus is never upset about anything and we can receive from Him His very own peace, which only He can give. No foolish dangerous sense of false security. His peace is filled with the knowledge and confident assurance of God’s wisdom, power, love and Sovereignty, all of which cannot change or be diminished.
God is so much greater and far beyond anything we could grasp, comprehend or even imagine. I’m finding it thrilling and profitable to worship before the unfathomable. The following was my first and ongoing journey into the Great Beyond.
I know that the wondrous mystery and limitless scope of God’s “Perpetual Now” is effective over time in prayer. Because it is always NOW with God. His words are completed history instantly when He utters them because it will still be God’s NOW when it happens. But there is more that fills me with speechless awe and wonder. When the Bible says (Genesis 22:11) Angel of the Lord, Angel with a capital A, it is a Christophany, a pre-existing appearance of Christ. The people who were present at those times (Judges 6:12, Judges 13:3) saw Jesus before He existed as man. This the unfathomable mystery of the perpetual now of Almighty God. Even though it is beyond my understanding, it does wonders for my faith and deepening intimacy with the Lord.