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Radical Love
by Melissa Fisher
Study includes:
A. Prophetic EncouragementBrothers and sisters get ready for a major shift in your revelation of the Love of God! God wants to pour out His love on you as you have never experienced it before. His love is the most powerful force that has ever existed and He wants you to know it, to experience it and very importantly to give it away!!!
B. Devotional TeachingGod has put a message on my heart for the body calling us to a place of radical love. A radical love for Himself, our brothers and sisters, our neighbors, enemies and ourselves!! When you think about it, the only command that we were left with, because we are under grace, is to love!!! When we put this into perspective, we have to ask ourselves how well we have obeyed this command. I think of the story that Bob Jones shared, where he describes his experience of going to heaven. When he came face to face with Jesus, he was asked only one question, “Did you learn to love?” If we were to stand before God right now, what would our answer to that question be? First, it is good to define what radical love looks like. I think we can all agree that the most radical display of love is Jesus dying on the cross for our sins. However, let’s examine more deeply the magnitude of His love for us. Just picture the godhead planning “the world” as we know it. They saw each and every one of our lives in its entirety. They saw every mistake we would make, our disobedience, how we would curse God and keep others out of the kingdom by our behavior. Yet, He still chose to fearfully and wonderfully make us (Psalm 139:14) and create a plan to prosper us and give us a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). Moreover, He saw the lives of people such as Hitler, Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, and Saddam Hussein, yet He still chose to create them. And then He made the decision to come and lay down His life for us!! Isn’t that amazing!!! Think about it. If you saw the lives of your children (for example) laid out before you and saw the trouble and pain they would bring, you may have thought twice about having them. Some of us would decide against becoming parents altogether! However, Gods ways and thoughts are so far above ours! (Isaiah 55:8) His love for us is not based on our actions but because of who we are. That is radical love! The Greek word for the love we are commanded to display is Agapao. This kind of love is defined scripturally in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. It’s funny. Most of us can recite these verses forward, backward and in our sleep. However, if we were truly honest with ourselves, the way we currently love falls very short of what this verse defines. Let’s examine: Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. This is sobering, especially the portion of the verse, “love thinks no evil” (NKJV). As Christians, we have gotten really good at saying all the right things. Yet on the inside we may be thinking something totally the opposite. Unfortunately, we have been content to say the diplomatic thing even though it does not line up with what we are really thinking. However, the verse reads, “love thinks no evil.” Think of this. When those whips were hitting Jesus’ bare back, He could not even think thoughts such as, “I hate you,” or “I wish you were dead,” lest He would have been in sin, and you know what that would mean for all of us! This is astounding, and it further illustrates the radical love that Jesus had for us! If we challenged ourselves, and began to truly use this verse as our “plumb line” for how we love God, ourselves, and others, we would begin to see radical transformation in our lives. You may be thinking, wow, I really thought that I was a very loving person. The truth is, you have probably loved others according to your personal understanding of how love is defined. Love nowadays is very conditional, and we as Christians have unfortunately made the world our plumb line for love rather than the example of Jesus being our plumb line. Our love is supposed to be “uncommon” or “other-worldly.” It should make people take notice and want to know why we are the way we are and why we want what we want. Consider the following verse: John 13:34-35 reads: A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” We are called to love our brothers and sisters as God has loved us! I was recently on a trip where I began to cry out to the Lord about a “disconnect” I was feeling in my relationship with Him. During this trip, what He revealed to me was so incredible. I knew that God “loved” me, but I didn’t think that He “liked” me or “enjoyed” me. I didn’t even realize it. However, it uncovered the reason why I was so critical of myself. Why my every mistake condemned me. Why I would put myself on “spiritual probation” from the presence of the Lord when I made a mistake. This revelation brought me such freedom, but it also uncovered one very important thing. It revealed why I tended to be so critical of my brothers and sisters. I loved them the way I thought God loved me. Wow! Could it be that we all experience this same thing? Could this be a reason why we have been unable to unify in the body of Christ, for example? If we were to examine other love-related Scriptures, for example, “love your neighbor as yourself.” Could it be that the love you have for your neighbor currently reflects the love you have for yourself? The bottom line is – love is to be our greatest aim (1 Corinthians 14:1). In the end, we will stand before the Lord and be held accountable for this. The good news is that the love of God is absolutely FREE and available to you! When we experience and get a true revelation of His love for us, it will compel us to really love others. We must remember, however, that even though God’s love is a free gift to us, love is also a fruit of the Spirit, which means it must be grown (Galatians 5:22). It must be tested on all fronts (as it was with Jesus), because it doesn’t happen automatically. But our faithful God always has a plan to make us successful in all that we do in Him. This is especially true in the area of love, as it is our most powerful weapon against the enemy. He knows we are not capable of this radical love in our own strength, but if we seek Him (the One who IS Love) we will become radical lovers and be victorious in this life. So, let us begin to love as Jesus first loved us, and by this the world will know we are truly His disciples. C. Weekly Scripture MeditationAlong with these Scriptures, I pray that you will ask the Lord to give you a fresh revelation of His love for you. All over the world He is pouring out His Spirit. Many are receiving a fresh revelation of the Father’s love, exposing things like self-hatred, religious bondage, and insecurity. The more we know and experience the precious, indescribable love of God, the more we will be able to reach out to a world that is literally dying to know Him. D. Resource Corner
Behold, What manner of love is this that one would not only lay down His life for His friends, but also for His enemies. For it was while we were yet sinners that he died for us and not for us only, but for the whole wide world so that all who believed in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life. This is love *GOD* and He loves YOU with an everlasting love.
There is no greater power than the love of God. There is no mightier weapon than His heart revealed. And God is longing to unleash this awesome might through you! God wants His believers to rise up in the power of His love and change the world around them. He wants you to become a love warrior that unleashes the fullness of heaven everywhere you go. In this two-CD teaching, Patricia King shares on how God is drawing you fully into His heart and fully into His power. All you need is love … and the Lord is waiting to fill you to overflowing with His heart and passion. Declare a love war today. And see the power of God flow through you as never before!
Looking for songs that will take you into His presence, then this is the CD you need to get. Check out "What Does it Sound Like", "Here is Love", "I Need You More" and all the rest. You will not be disappointed! These items can be ordered on line at our Store or by calling our toll free order line at 1-866-765-9286.And remember, God loves you with an everlasting love! |
