Loving God

1. We are connected to the God who is love. His love has transformed our lives through the work of Christ on the Cross. His love is poured out into our lives through the Holy Spirit. We can cry, "Abba Father!" At the heart of our experience of faith is this reality of the presence of the God who loves without condition except that of the sacrifice of His Son at the Cross. The work of the Cross brings us into relationship with Jesus. We have access to the Father and the Holy Spirit empowers us to live out His love.

"God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them." 1 John 4:16

Love is evidence of His presence! God now!!

This life in Christ connects us to the ocean of His love.

a) It is so wide that He embraces all of creation and all eternity. His love embraces the whole world. Let's move from the shallow water experience of His love to the depth of what he has given to us in Christ

b) It is so long that it stretches to eternity past and to eternity future over our personal lives. Nothing can separate us from this love. Our debt is paid in full at the Cross. Our sin is removed as fare as the east is from the west. We are free to hope and live in righteousness because he has redeemed us through His blood.

c) It is so deep that it reaches to the deepest need of our heart and can bring healing and deliverance. We have seen that here in Deenmark. Ann and I had lunch with a couple today who have experienced traumatic pain in their family and now know miraculous healing. They said that there is poverty of the heart in Denmark and that it is a need that only Jesus can fill.

d) It is so high that there is nothing that cannot be overcome by this love. The love of God is higher than the mountains that you face today.

"Perfect love drives out fear." 1 John 4:18

"I pray that you being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the Lord's people, to grasp how wide, and long, and high, and deep is the love of Christ, and know that this love surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:17 - 19


2. We now have the ability to make the choices of love. This love transforms our attitude and enables us to rely on His Holy Spirit to bear fruit.

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." 1 Cor 13:4 - 8


What are the choices of love that you are making today? Does your relationship with Jesus define those choices? Or do you tend to justify your actions and blame others. The power and presence of Christ is with us to transform our attitudes in a miraculous way,. We can love our enemies.


3. We now have the capacity to love others.


"A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34 - 35

Jesus did not say that we should try to love. he definitely did not say we should pretend to love. The command is to believe in Him. We now have the capacity to love through the power of His presence in our lives. We have a new capacity to show good news through the way that we live together.


This love is the dynamic energy released in our lives through the presence of Christ. This love motivates us to be involved in the ministry of reconciliation

"For Christ love compels us, for we are convinced that one died for all and therefore all died. And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again.2 2 Cor 5:14 - 15

The Cross is our motivation and power. We have capacity to love. He can bring transformation to others through our surrendered lives.

My prayer for us today is in the words of Paul to the Philippians church:

"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight. So that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ - to the glory and praise of God." Phil 1:9 - 11

As we pray His life will increase. As His live in us increases, our love will grow. Take one step at a time into the depth of His love or take the plunge and dive into the ocean, He can be trusted.