I‘ve been thinking about how we need to see God’s power more in our lives, to see signs and wonders happening all the time.
God wants us to walk in power. But He wants us to use that power in love. He wants to know that we won’t take it and mix it with judgment and criticism.
Imagine if you had everything you said just like John 15:7 says “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you”.
God wants to use us to bless this world, to bring heaven to earth, but can He trust us? Too often if He gave us what we desired we’d get on the freeway and blast someone off the road.
The Power of God without love is dangerous.
The Bible teaches us that the greatest commandment is, “To love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind and to love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37)
Our Faith works by love.… (Galatians 5:6)
That is, faith forgives, faith lets go of things, of offence, and hurt.
Jesus teaches us that… “What things you so desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them. And when you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone: that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses” (Mark 11:24-25).
Others hurt us, but Jesus teaches us to walk in love and forgiveness.
We can do that, because we have God’s love in us.
Don’t let anyone keep you sick, in lack, mentally hassled. Emotionally beaten up and without joy because of un-forgiveness. Why let them ruin the rest of your life by short-circuiting your faith through un-forgiveness?
“If I [can] speak in the tongues of men and [even] of angels, but have not love…I am only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers…and if I have (sufficient) faith so that I can remove mountains, but have not love [God’s love in me] I am nothing—a useless nobody. Even if I dole out all that I have [to the poor in providing] food, and if I surrender my body to be burned…but have not love…I gain nothing.” (1 Cor 13)
God asks us to “STAY IN LOVE”. That’s our one commandment. Why? because love makes everything else work.
1 Corinthians 13 makes it quite clear that faith without love is going nowhere.
How is it that our faith is so tied into love? I Corinthians 13:7-8 tells us….
“Love bears up under anything and everything that comes…its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances and it endures everything [without weakening]. Love never fails—never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end…” (1 Cor: 7-8).
God wants us to walk in love because love never fails. He wants the best for us, and the best is found in love.
That’s why Jesus instructed us to forgive when we pray. He wants our prayers to be powerful, and that when we pray we will receive what we ask for. But we have to stay in love for that to happen. The one thing that makes it all work is Love.
We cannot pick and choose what we want to believe from God’s Word and disregard the rest. It’s all connected, and it all centres around love.
As long as we’re on this earth, we will have plenty of opportunities to forgive people.
Make love your focus, pursue it, practice it, and study it. Let Love and the one who is love, be your focus. (1 John 4:8) “God is Love”.
Love never fails!
Prayer: Lord I forgive those who have hurt me, and I ask for your love to fill those places in my heart. I choose to walk in love knowing that “my faith works by love.” In Jesus Name. Amen.