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The Power Of Love
In (Jno. 14:23-24),
Jesus explains the true love of God to Judas (not Iscariot); ---
"Jesus answered and said
to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My
Father will love him, and
We will come to him and make Our home with him.
"He who does
not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is
not Mine but the Father's
who sent Me."
Of all the
forces of God's great universe; --- LOVE is the most powerful. What can
possibly be more powerful?
In 1 Cor. 13:13, Paul plainly says; --- "And now abide
faith, hope, love, these
three; but the greatest of these [is] love." Hate is powerful,
but LOVE overpowers HATE!!
Where physical force, the brutal sword, the biting
tongue have miserably failed,
LOVE steps right in and works wonders to behold!!
I would like to observe love's power from three viewpoints.
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1. The power of love on
OURSELVES:
Every emotion,
GOOD or BAD reacts on us. The person we HATE suffers to some
degree because of that hatred;
--- but not to the degree we do!! The spirit of hatred
and revenge actually hurts
the one possessing such a spirit more than those who might
be it's target.
Bitterness,
animosity, feelings of mistrust; --- all these are nothing more than a
cancer eating away at my
soul. I would rather have a physical cancer or even a
paralysis and be RIGHT with
God; --- than to die from spiritual cancer and leave this
life separated from the
God of heaven and Jesus Christ eternally!!
Remember; ---
bitterness equals cancer to the soul!!
But on the
other hand, how blessed is the individual, as a result of MY love and my
devotion toward him or her.
My wife: ---
I love and honor her = her submission.
My children:
--- I raise them up in the ways of God = they most likely will not depart.
My brethren:
--- I'm devoted to and serve them = I will be great in God's kingdom.
The lost: ---
In love, teach others = in doing this you will save both yourself
and
those who hear you. (Eph. 5:21-31; Prov. 22:6; 1 Thess. 4:9-10 and
Mt. 20:26;1 Tim. 4:16)
These individuals
are in so many ways blessed, because of my love for them. But dear
friends (not from selfish
pride or wrong motives); ---I'M the one who stands to come out
the real winner in every
case. We are forever reaping what we sow!
Sow hate ---
reap hate! Sow love --- reap love!!
Let us consider
for a moment; --- Paul's tear filled farewell to the Ephesian elders; ---
Beginning in (Acts 20:17);
--- Paul had several things to say; --- (The shortened version)
"With great
humility and tears, I kept back nothing that was helpful, but for three
long years I presented to
you the whole purpose of God, both publicly and from house
to house."
"And now I'm
on my way to Jerusalem, and according to the Spirit of God, the best
I can hope for is to be
put in chains and undergo many afflictions. And whether or not
my life will be spared,
I do not know; --- but I'm ready!!"
(Vs.. 28-31);
--- Paul warns these elders of the extreme responsibility they were to
be
strapped with in providing
spiritual nourishment to the local church; --- and how that
savage wolves would possibly
come from among this very eldership, not sparing the
flock.
But to me,
one of the most touching, powerful and practical lessons on the power of
love and how love reciprocates
begins in (Vs. 33f); --- Paul says; --- "I have coveted no
one's silver or gold or
apparel. Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have
provided for my necessities,
and for those who were with me. I have shown you in
every way, by laboring like
this, that you must support the weak. And remember the
words of the Lord Jesus,
that He said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' "
It's more blessed
to GIVE; ---!!
Now, Paul loved
these brethren very much and demonstrated it constantly in their
own homes as well as the
public assembly!! He taught them ALL of God's counsel !!
He warned them of apostasy!!
He shed many tears and prayed diligently for them and
with them!! He blessed
them in so many ways; --- But I want you to notice the
RECIPROCAL power of this
kind of love.
(Vs. 36); ---"And
when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them
all." Then they all
wept freely, and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him," (O how they
literally suffered the pain
of grief); --- "sorrowing most of all for the words which he
spoke, that they would see
his face no more." Just imagine the anguish in these men's
voices; --- "Does this really
mean we'll see your face no more, Paul?"
Oh! The great
swelling joy of pure fervent love Paul must have delighted in as these
faithful men of God accompanied
him down to the ship! --- Yes, friends, we truly do
reap what we sow.
And even though my love may not touch and tenderize the hearts
of some; --- My love and
your love will never be in vain!!
It helps us
in so many ways; --- For instance, it makes me more like Jesus; --- more
Christ-like. And it's through
love's power that we are fitted for a much higher state, a
higher existence; --- Love
makes us SONS OF GOD, because God IS LOVE!!
Jesus spoke
thusly, in (Mt. 5:43f); --- "You have heard it was said, 'You shall love
your neighbor and hate your
enemy!"; --- (Not so, never has been, just a tradition of
man.) "But I say to you,
love your enemies, (Love then, NOT hate them!) pray for those
who persecute you." ---
Love them? Pray for them? WHY??
"In order that
you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven"!!
If you can honestly think
of one person that you harbor bitter and hateful feelings over,
even one; --- dear soul,
you can not be God's child so long as you hate that person; ---
Makes no difference who
he or she is, or what they might have done!!
Now I didn't
say we're not to hate sin, that's a must!! And that's the power of
love on
ourselves! --- Remember,
it's more blessed to GIVE than RECEIVE!!
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2. The power of love on
OTHERS:
A. Love's Conquering Power
We might call
this love's CONQUERING power! --- The Christian can never win the
victory over anything or
anybody by bitterness and hate; --- The battle, the war, the
very crown is won only through
the demonstration of love!!
In (Rom. 12:9f)
we read; --- "Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor (utterly detest)
what is evil. Cling to what
is good. Be kindly affectionate (devoted) to one another
with brotherly love, in
honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence,
fervent in spirit, serving
the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing
steadfastly in prayer;--"
--- Then Paul says that one way of showing love's conquering
power is to "contribute
to the needs of the saints"; (Vs. 13) --- Another is by
"practicing hospitality";
--- And still another and perhaps a little more difficult; ---
"Bless those who persecute
you and curse not." (Vs. 14) --- He continues; --- "Rejoice
with those who rejoice,
(and when the time comes) weep with those who weep. ---
Be of the same
mind toward one another"; --- Don't be haughty in mind, but rather
associate with the lowly."
(Accommodate yourself to lowly things! --- Humble, not low
down!)
Paul is telling
you and I that; --- Pure love is not wise in it's own estimation; ---
Pure love never pays back
evil for evil to anyone! --- Respect what is right in the sight
of all men! --- And if at
all possible so far as it depends on you, you be at peace with all
men!! --- Pure love conquers
by never seeking it's own revenge; --- (there will be
revenge and O' the terror
of it!!) ---"Vengeance is MINE, I will repay, says the Lord"
(Vs.. 16-19)
Now listen
to God's great conquering principle of love; --- "If your enemy is hungry,
feed him, and if he's thirsty,
give him a drink!!" --- Why should I give the necessities
of life to someone I consider
my ENEMY, Paul?? --- "For in so doing, you will heap
burning coals upon his head."
(Vs. 20) --- Pure love cannot be overcome (conquered)
by evil, but rather the
opposite; --- pure love conquers evil, --- even my worst enemy; -
by doing good for him!!
(Vs. 21)
Inspiration
is telling you and me that instead of retaliation, blow for blow, lick
for
lick, angry words for even
more angrier words;---instead of worldly vengeful attitudes
such as this; --- You reach
down from the depths of your heart and repay his evil with
GOD'S good; --- God's love!!
---And when you do, one of two things are going to surely
happen; --- 1. Either you
will win his respect and confidence, and possibly his soul; ---
Or 2. He will wind
up being even a worse enemy! --- Might even kill you!! (Which is
highly doubtful)!
But in either
case you have literally reached down and piled heaps of Hell's burning
fire on that enemy's soul;
--- And he stands judged by God Almighty, if he does not
repent!! --- Where drastic,
sarcastic methods fail, (as they always do fail); ---
Pure love wins!!
I'm reminded
by the oft quoted words of Solomon, in (Prov. 15:1-2); --- "A gentle
answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise
makes knowledge acceptable,
but the mouth of fools spouts folly."
Brethren, love,
pure love, disarms the enemy and puts to silence the cynical
doubters of this world!!
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B. Love's Drawing
Power:
Through out
the gospel of Jesus Christ we are many times humbled by the drawing
power of unfeigned love!
In (Jno. 12:32-33) We read; ---
"And I, if
I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself." (John
says)
This He said, signifying
by what death He would die."
Friends, it
was the deadly sins of hate, greed, jealousy and pride which are all based
on selfishness that had
the sinless Son of God nailed to that wicked cross. --- Oh, it's
every sin, all sin, MY sin
and YOUR sin which Jesus bore; --- But it was pure selfish
hate-filled pride that was
directly responsible!!
But while hatred
repels; --- love, pure love draws people to us like a strong magnet
attracts metal filings!!
--- UNSELFISH SACRIFICIAL LOVE makes people our
friends as nothing else
will. --- And when we can make that person OUR friend; ---
We can make him GOD'S friend!!
Just remember; --- Love draws; --- Anger, coupled
with bitterness and hate
ALWAYS repels!! --- But beloved, that's not all; --- Love not
only DRAWS men unto us,
but BINDS them to us!!
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C. Love's Binding
Power:
How often we
have sang that grand old hymn; "Blest Be The Tie", while looking
about ourselves seeing streams
of tears flowing down over the departure of some
brother or sister. --- Loves
binding power sings with joy when those who are mutually
united in that love are
brought together; --- But in great sorrow, tears are shed when
we are broken off from one
another; --- And how bitterly sad are those tears when it
is sin and love for this
present world that causes that broken bond!!
Love is the
"cement" that holds the members of Christ' body closely together.
The apostle Paul insured
the Colossian brethren, (Col. 2:1-2); --- "For I want you to
know what a great conflict
I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as
have not seen my face in
the flesh, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit
together in love, and attaining
to all riches of the full assurance of understanding,
to the knowledge of the
mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ,"
Oh! How my
soul cries within me when I see some dear brother or sister who claim
to love one another, but
by their actions (fruits), the sincerity of that professed love is
obviously lacking. --- The
"tie" which once bound tightly and securely together has
become threadbare!! ---
And brethren this happens so easily, if we're not careful.
Peter explains
one of the primary objectives for our obedience to God's truth; ---
(Listen closely!!) (1 Pet.
1-22); --- "Since you have purified your souls in obeying the
truth through the Spirit
in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with
a pure heart," --- That's
a commandment, brethren; ---
FERVENTLY LOVE one another
with a PURE HEART!!
I'm not much
for "story telling", but think this one is highly appropriate: ---
This story is about two
brothers who lived on adjoining farms. It so happened that one
was single and the other
one married.
One year their
wheat crop was cut short by a sever drought, so that each man barely
had enough for his own needs.
--- One night the married brother lay awake, thinking of
his brother. The poor fellow
(he thought) is single and lacks the comfort and happiness
of a home such as I'm blessed
with. --- He's worried about his harvest, so I'll just get up
and carry some of my sheaves
into his field; --- How happy he will be!!
On the same
night, the bachelor was tossing sleepless in his bed as his thoughts turned
to his brother. --- I feel
so sorry for my brother, the poor guy's married and has a host
of burdens and cares which
I do not have, and no doubt he's worried sick over such a
small wheat yield. --- I
think I'll get up and sneak some of my wheat into his field and
when he sees it, he'll be
so happy.
So, out into
the darkness of night both brothers went; --- each lugging bundles of
wheat into the other's field.
--- Then the moon came suddenly from behind the clouds;---
And there they stood, two
brothers facing each other with wheat sheaves (bundles of
love), tucked under each
arm!!
Makes me wonder;
--- Why can't we be a little more like that in our everyday lives??
One little act of kindness
and consideration has great BINDING POWER!!
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D. Love's Ennobling
Power:
This word "ennoble",
though seldom used means just what it implies; ---
1. To make noble 2. To make a person better 3. To edify
And in (1 Cor.8:1), Paul
says; "Knowledge makes arrogant (puffs up); but love edifies."
And what this
says to me; --- Love's ennobling power purifies; --- it brings out the
very
best in people! --- Love's
ennobling power encourages the down-hearted, giving them an
incentive to "Go on" and
do their best for the cause of Christ.
You know; ---
It's only when men and women get to thinking they are friend-less, not
loved; --- unwanted, that
some began to count life itself as worthless and contemplate
suicide; --- and in too
many cases every day love-less individuals "END IT ALL"!!
Let me tell you something;
--- suicide is NOT a NOBLE act at all!!
Have you ever
considered the possibility; --- that showing genuine Christ-like love to
another, just might make
life worth while? --- Just might even lead them to seek God's
truth?? (Or perhaps make
them a stronger Christian?)
Paul reminded
the Corinthian brethren, (1 Cor. 1:26); --- "For you see your calling,
brethren, that not many
wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble."
Love's ENNOBLING POWER;
--- Makes one a better stronger person.
Love's BINDING POWER; ---
"Blest Be The Tie".
Love's DRAWING POWER; ---
Hate repels, but God's brand of love attracts.
Love's CONQUERING POWER;
--- "If your enemy is hungry, feed him,
and if he's thirsty, give him a drink!!"
All these are
avenues that the pure love of God might be expressed to others through
you and me, as God's faithful
!!
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3. The power of love on
GOD: (Or our love towards God)
Love is powerful;
--- So great and reaching is it's power that it actually causes the
greatest Spiritual force
the universe has ever known or ever will know to be stirred and
kindled; --- Pure love causes
that heavenly force to operate in our favor!! ---
Love reaches
the very throne of Almighty God and moves it; --- bringing down rich
and wondrous blessings!!
You and I possess
the ability and power to stir the heavenly Father and Jesus Christ
up to the point they will
seek to dwell in us; --- What is this power, you ask??
Love --- pure
obedient love; --- the kind of love which engulfs ALL my heart, All my
strength and ALL my soul!!
In (Jno. 14:23),
our Lord had this to say; --- "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My
word; and My Father will
love him,(now listen!) and We will come to him and make
Our home with him." ---
This kind of love dear friend, is the kind of love (from man)
that exhibits itself in
humble submission and complete obedience!!
Again, Jesus said;
---"If you love Me, you will keep My commandments!" (Jno. 14:15)
(1 Jno. 4:7-9); --- "Beloved,
let us love one another, for love is from God; --- and
everyone who loves is born
of God and knows God, --- For GOD IS LOVE.
BY THIS the
love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten
Son into the world so that
we might live through Him. ---
IN THIS is
love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be
the propitiation for our
sins."
(Vs. 19-21); --- "We love,
because He FIRST loved us. (God took the initiative)! ---
If someone says, 'I love
God', and HATES his brother, he is a LIAR; --- for the one who
does not love his brother
whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. ---
And this COMMANDMENT we
have from HIM, --- that the one who loves God should
love his brother also."
Also, we need
to be consciously aware of love's capability to refresh Divine memory.
(Heb. 6:10); --- "For God
is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you
have shown toward His name,
in that you have ministered to the saints, and do
minister." --- How is one
way the writer says we show our love for God's name? ---
By ministering to the saints,
or serving our brethren in whatever way we can.
In doing as
well as hearing; --- this keeps God's memory of us filled with joy! ---
It's
not that the Father has
a poor memory; --- HA! --- But what kind of things does He
remember about you?
Does God act today in response to our love for Him? Does He??
The Bible says He most assuredly
does. Paul declares in (Rom. 8:28); --- "And we know
that God causes all things
to work together for good to those who love God ---."
Again, in the
same context (Vs. 31-32); --- "What shall we say to these things? If God
be for us, who is against
us? --- He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him
up for us all, --- How will
He not also with Him freely give us all things?" --- (All things
to perfect our salvation).
(2 Pet. 1:3f)
Certainly,
these passages are to be taken in light of the context of the things under
consideration; --- But my
point is that the wonderful promise is for those who truly love
the Lord!!
Brethren, let
us not grow weary of loving God, loving His Holy word, loving one
another, loving the souls
of the lost; --- and loving our own soul enough to render it to
our God in faithful, obedient
and humble service!! --- Let us not for one instant question
the tremendous power of
love!!
(1 Jno. 5:1-4),
John wrote; "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God,
and everyone who loves Him
who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this
we know that we love the
children of God, (HOW?) when we love God and keep His
commandments. For this is
the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His
commandments are not burdensome.
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world.
And this is the victory
that has overcome the world -- our faith.!!!"
Lovingly submitted for your encouragement;
Earl Wilburn
Questions or comments welcome:
ewilburn@austin.rr.com
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