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The Character of God

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.  Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God, because God is love.  This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and lonely Son into the world that we might live through him.  This is love:  not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his one and only Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sings.  Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.  And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.  If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

GOD IS LOVE. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.  In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.  There is no fear in love.  But perfect love drive out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.  The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

We love because he first loved us.  If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar.  For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command:  Whoever loves God must also love his brother.”

-1 John 4:7-21

In my first blog, I explored the importance of seeking God’s face as part of our personal relationship with Jesus.  This may seem a little confusing: how can we see God’s face?  God gives us the answer in this passage: LOVE.

Love each other.  Sounds simple, but is it really?  How can we, sinners, really love as God loves us?  We are fallen; we are unworthy.  We can only truly love others as Christ loves us if we first receive love God.   Let me simplify:

1.  God loves ME and forgives my repentant heart from my sins.

“This is love: not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)

2.   God fills my heart with HIS love and drives out fear when I seek his face.

“If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.  And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.” (1 John 4:15-16)

3.  God shows me his heart when I LOVE OTHERS as he loves me.

“No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” (1 John 4:12)  I’ve heard this verse described as this: we see God’s character when we love each other.

Love can be a scary thing.  To truly love another person (and I’m not just talking about romantic love here) means offering your heart and reaching out when you don’t know if they will reach back.  Loving another person puts your heart in a very vulnerable state.  But God gives us this promise:  “There is no fear in love.  But perfect love drives out all fear.” (1 John 4:18)

Now it’s important to realize where this “perfect love” comes from.  Does it come from us?  No.  Only God’s love can drive out fear because only his love is perfect.  And God’s perfect love will drive out our fear!  I’ve said this before: the more we allow God’s love to fill our hearts, the less room there is for fear.

Does that mean that your love will always be accepted?  No.  But that is not an excuse to stop reaching out to others with the love of God.  Does God stop reaching out to us when we turn from him in sin?  No.  Instead, God is patient with us.

You see, on our own we are nothing.  From the moment we are conceived, we are sinful beings to our core.  It is only through God’s love that we can really love one another.  When I think about all of the sins that God has forgiven of me, how can I turn and deny that same love and grace to another?  Am I better than God?  I don’t think so!

This is the challenge I lay before you this week as God has laid it before me: love someone.  It can start as something small; it can even be a few simple words.  Remember that love is a powerful testimony of God’s grace in our hearts.   Ask God to forgive and heal your heart so that you can love another as he loves you and me.   We can’t truly love others on our own: we first rely on God’s love for us.  And then: may God show you his true character in love.

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His Hold On Me

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

            “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13)

            We all struggle with demons.  Deep-rooted anger or resentment.  Lifelong insecurities.  Stress and anxiety, depression and other disorders.  I know a family that has been plagued by alcoholism for generations. 

            Irrational fears haunt me the most.  What torments you?

            Our demons are insidious, creeping in undetected often when we least expect them.  They grip us, can cripple us.  They hold us captive. 

            Sometimes my demons drag me into deep, dark pits that call my faith into question.  How can I be loved by God and suffer so?  How can I belong to Him and feel this way, think this way, be this way?

            It doesn’t make any sense, but in this darkest place I try to hide my condition from the only One who can help me.  I put on a mask, dress myself up in a costume, pretend that nothing is wrong.  I avoid Him.  Deep inside I even blame Him.  Then I start to feel condemned.  My very foundation is shaken.

            Yet all the while Jesus is calling me to come and be healed.  I may have lost my grip, but His eternal hold on me is secure.  That’s all that really matters.  He loves me, and He’s not letting go.  He paid the highest price – His life – for me! 

            Jesus waits at the foot of the cross to forgive me, to strengthen and reassure me, to love me.  He waits to heal me.  He waits for the day when He will heal me eternally, and make me all that God intended me to be.

            At the foot of the cross demons are weakened and flee.  We see them for what they are:  deceiving, a distortion, temporal.  They have no lasting hold on us.  Someday we will walk only in God’s light and be truly free.

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