NO GREATER LOVE! Kay Keith Peebles October 12, 2018 18.29
God IS Love and He LOVES you! Oh it took me so long to believe that eternal truth. Everything God has done and will do is defined by the word Love (Agape). Agape means selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love. Even when He judges, His judgments are framed by Agape Love because everyone is without excuse. See Romans 1:18-25.
Every person has been born into a fractured world that has two kingdoms operating at the same time. One is the kingdom of darkness (evil), ruled by Satan, the devil. The other is the Kingdom of Light which is ruled by God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). The language of the kingdom of darkness is accusation, condemnation, rejection, cursing and blame. The language of the Kingdom of Heaven is encouragement, affirmation, adoption, blessing and personal responsibility.
The devil’s kingdom produces a climate of discouragement, hopelessness, depression, perversion, rejection, and hatred of self, others and God. God’s Kingdom produces a climate of love, hope, faith, forgiveness, righteousness, truth, and adoption into the family of God.
The fruit of the kingdom of darkness is fear, injustice, death, destruction, torment, bondage, guilt and shame resulting in eternal damnation. No one wins in this kingdom! They will live in eternal torment, which is the devil’s DNA, in complete separation from God forever. Everything good, beautiful and life-filled will be gone. Because the Spirit of God is in the earth today, no one will ever know the deep depravity of a world without any sense or reality of God’s presence until they reach the bowels of hell. Even though many reject God, they can experience blessings which come from heaven. Conversely, the believer can experience tragedy and loss because of a fallen world. “He is kind to all by bringing the sunrise to warm and rainfall to refresh whether a person does what is good or evil.” Matthew 5:45b, The Passion Translation (TPT).
The fruit of the Kingdom of Heaven is love, mercy, justice, life, restoration, freedom, joy, hope, peace, goodness, blessing and favor resulting in eternity in heaven with God. All who dwell in the Kingdom of God not only walk in victory on earth but they will dwell in God’s presence in heaven forever! There will be no tears, fear, torment or sickness in heaven. Heaven will be filled with life, beauty, joy, wholeness, love and celebration. Heaven is the “utopia” people have longed for but will never experience on earth.
Everyone who has ever been born (or will be) emerged from their mother’s womb into this fractured world and we all received the propensity to sin. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23, NKJV. None of us has been sinless, but the plan of redemption was conceived long before we had the need!
The Lord Jesus is the source and only source of everything that is good and lovely, that has life and hope. He is Love and is therefore the only source of true love. “This is love: He loved us long before we loved him. It was his love, not ours. He proved it by sending his Son to be the pleasing sacrificial offering to take away our sins.” 1John 4:10, TPT. Human love is conditional but God’s love is unconditional. He loved us even when we were fighting against Him! “But Christ proved God’s passionate love for us by dying in our place while we were still lost and ungodly! And there is still much more to say of his unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration ‘You are now righteous in my sight.’ And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, we will never experience the wrath of God. So if while we were still enemies, God fully reconciled us to himself through the death of his Son, then something greater than friendship is ours. Now that we are at peace with God, and because we share in his resurrection life, how much more we will be rescued from sin’s dominion! And even more than that, we overflow with triumphant joy in our new relationship of living reconciled to God—all because of Jesus Christ!” Romans 5:8-11, TPT.
“For this is how much God loved the world—he gave his one and only, unique Son as a gift. So now everyone who believes in him will never perish but experience everlasting life. God did not send his Son into the world to judge and condemn the world, but to be its Savior and rescue it! So now there is no longer any condemnation for those who believe in him, but the unbeliever already lives under condemnation because they do not believe in the name of God’s beloved Son. And here is the basis for their judgment: The Light of God has now come into the world, but the hearts of people love their darkness more than the Light, because they want the darkness to conceal their evil.” John 3:16-19, TPT.
The reason I struggled with the love of God for so many years was multi-faceted. The devil is a liar and he lies to us the minute we are born and then he uses others to re-affirm his lies. My concept of God before salvation was an angry old man waiting for me to trip up so he could punish me. As we have clearly seen in the Bible Scriptures above, that is definitely NOT the case! I still struggled with condemnation and rejection after becoming a Christian because I was trying to please the Lord but failing miserably. I began to know and experience His great love for me after learning that it was not our works that pleased God but our devotion to Him and a surrendered life.
Christians aren’t perfect but they are being perfected. Those who have been set free from the prisons of addiction, immorality, depression, rejection, fear and hatred will gladly testify to the great love of God. It’s hard to imagine not having the comfort and peace of God when a loved one dies, especially if one doesn’t believe they’ll ever see them again. One of the greatest misconceptions of many is that heaven is for all people. It is not! Heaven is the eternal resident home of all who believed in, trusted in and relied upon the sacrifice of Jesus. Through His death and resurrection they received the forgiveness of their sins through repentance and have faith in the Holy Spirit’s guidance through the sanctification and consecration of their soul and body.
Life without purpose is vain and empty. True purpose comes from God. Believers discover their purpose when they continually grow in their love for and trust in God. By doing so, their fears evaporate as they rely on Him and His power to keep and sustain them no matter what they confront in life. When they discover their purpose and as they step into their destiny, they will find no greater satisfaction in life. “For I know the thoughts and plans I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome. Then you will call upon Me, and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear and heed you. Then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require Me [as a vital necessity] and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11, AV. See also Deuteronomy 4:29-30.
The Lord God created man and woman for fellowship and spiritual intimacy with Him. He established the family as a source of fulfillment and love, maturing and growing while building a larger community (Church) of believers with Christ at the center. The Lord is the source for all our needs. The community re-enforces our faith and love for Him and moves as His voice, hands and feet supporting one another and touching the world. When all are completely surrendered to the Lord, the Church provides an atmosphere for spiritual growth in a climate of the 9 fruit of the Spirit. See Galatians 5:22-23.
Division, gossip, slander, immorality, un-forgiveness and rebellion in churches are the result of unconsecrated lives operating in the flesh (souls) realm. Without a re-commitment to the Lord and surrendered, consecrated hearts given to God, these will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. They are among the “lukewarm” who have lost their passion to follow the Lord. See Revelation 3:14-22.
Today, we stand at the precipice of the “end times”, the judgement of God of all nations, and the second coming of our Lord Jesus. There is no more time to waste. Our world is quickly moving toward the beginning of the Great Tribulation described in the Book of Revelation. The period of Grace which began after the resurrection of Jesus Christ is drawing to a close. We are at the passage of Matthew 25 which describes the Parable of the 10 Virgins. See Matthew 25:1-13. The time to buy oil is running out!
We must let go of every hindrance, idol, activity and group that pull us from the presence of God. It is time to re-evaluate everything in our lives and re-prioritize our time with God. When the Lord returns to call forth His bride (the church) she will be without spot or wrinkle. Like the 5 foolish virgins, those who have not prepared themselves for the wedding by keeping their lamps (hearts) filled with oil (the Holy Spirit, fire and passion for Him), will not be allowed to enter in. His words to them were: “I solemnly declare to you, I do not know you [I am not acquainted with you].” Matthew 25:12. They had called Him Lord! He also warned us, “Watch therefore [give strict attention and be cautions and active], for you know neither the day nor the hour when the Son of Man will come.” Matthew 25:13.
God is Love and He loves us. Those who receive His love and His sacrifice will run with the fire of passion for their Bridegroom. They will fulfill their call (His plan for their lives) and they will enter Heaven when their life is over. The invitation goes out to all. He died for all, His grace is for all and there is room in heaven for all who will lay down their lives because of their love for Him!
