Decide to Love

This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture that reject fear and champion faith. Fear is a spiritual force used by Satan to keep people down. Instead, we should have faith in God and accept His word as truth. Jesus prayed for unity among believers and desired that they be with Him. Love is a decision to put someone else above yourself, just as Jesus loved us. We need to prioritize our relationship with God in order to have successful love relationships with others. Love is a choice that doesn't fade or dissipate. It is a gift from God and can end strife in relationships. We are called to love as God loves us. God's love for us is revealed through Jesus, who was sent as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. God's love casts out fear and there is no end to the things about us that He loves. We have worth and are precious to Him. Welcome to Fear No Fear. Grace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit embrace you today. This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture. We reject fear in any and all forms. Fear is a spiritual force, the currency of darkness and ignorance. It's what we inherited when Adam gave up his faith and Satan uses it to keep people down. His only weapon is words. If he can get you believing or looking at words of fear, he's got you. Instead, we champion faith as an allegiance to God, as a belief and trust and loyalty to the Lord God Almighty. We accept the evidence of His word as unvarnished truth, as is, just as it's written. We get close to His perfect love through the word, and perfect love casts out fear. 1 John 4.18 All scripture is taken from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Visit eBible.org John 17 20-26 Not for these only do I pray, but for those also who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. The glory which you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one, even as we are one, I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one, that the world may know that you sent me, and loved them, even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, be with me where I am, that they may see my glory which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world hasn't known you, but I knew you, and these knew that you sent me. I made known to them your name, and will make it known that the love which you loved me may be in them, and I in them. Ephesians 5, 25, then 28 to 29 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the assembly, and gave himself up for her. Even so, husbands also ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself, for no man ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord also does the assembly. When it comes to love, Jesus is the gold standard. He decided that he would die for you before creation. John 17, 23, 24 He set his mind to love us. Deuteronomy 7, 7 He loved us when we were at our worst. Job 11, 5 to 6 And before we could even try to do anything to deserve it. Ezra 9, 13 Which we can't anyway. Ephesians 2, 4 to 5 And Jesus brought us into the family. Romans 8, 19 And placed us in himself on the throne beside his father as a gift to the father. Ephesians 2, 6 to 9 That is a powerful love. One we have no hope to achieve in our human selves. Romans 8, 8 Now we opened with Jesus words of prayer over his disciples and those who would come after us. He doesn't pray about power. He doesn't pray about gifts or anointing. Not that he hasn't prayed about those things. But here his focus is on relationship. The father to Jesus and Jesus to the father. The father glorified Jesus and gave him glory. What does Jesus do? He turns around and gives it to us. After that, it's all about us being brought into Jesus and into the relationship of the father and the son. That it was a relationship established before the foundation of the world. A righteous relationship. A relationship of love. The father's love in Jesus and Jesus passing the love into us. Putting us in him and himself in us. Now, the father grants all of Jesus' prayers. Why? Jesus only prays according to the will of the father in perfect righteousness and without any selfish agenda at all. Ephesians 1, 11 to 12 Which means that if you believe in Jesus and he is your savior then the love of the father that the father has toward Jesus is in you and directed at you and through you at those around you. Jesus gave us his nature. That gives us the ability to love like he loves even as it lets us believe as he believes. Wait you say, I don't believe like God does. Well if you're a believer, you do. You believe in Jesus. The father believes in Jesus. You believe in the Bible. The father believes in the Bible. The father believes both are true and have power, authority, and more potential than can be imagined. He believes all this because he made it. He knows it. He is fully persuaded that they are the truth. When we believe the same, we are believing as the father believes. That's why getting into the word is so important. It reveals to us God's mind, heart, and his will. It gives us the inside track on what the father believed. We get the inside track through Holy Spirit who can quicken the word to our minds and spirits. To bring it to life. To give us insight and wisdom to understand what is written in a way the world can't. In a way the devil can't. Spiritually, the world is dead. So is the devil. They may learn the words, but they can't see the meaning. That is revealed by the father through Holy Spirit. Ephesians 1, 8-9. We don't have to rely on ourselves or our human definitions of love. And what are they? Strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties. Attraction based on sexual desire. Affection and tenderness felt by lovers. Affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests. An assurance of affection, warm attachment, enthusiasm or devotion. Unselfish, loyal, and benevolent concern for the good of another. And it goes on and on. Sexual embrace, amorous episodes, and objects of attachment. Not only do we use love for what in reality is only passion or kindness. We dilute the word by using it for inanimate, everyday, and ordinary things. Have you ever loved a show, a food, a treat? Once you start thinking about it, it gets ridiculous. But love is so much more than we say it is. It is not an emotion, a feeling, a tingle in the nether bits. It isn't an orgasm. It isn't a good show. It isn't something that makes you feel good, accepted, soothed, or at peace. It isn't a taste, a feeling, a touch, a scent. It isn't admiration or kinship. At its core, love is a decision. It is a choice to put someone else above yourself. Not because we're being unselfish. Not because we have benevolent concern for them. No. We choose to love another as Jesus loved us. How did Jesus love us? He sought to bring us into fellowship with him because he was in perfect fellowship with the Father. For Jesus, love was all about getting us back to the Father. It was a decision, a choice, and one made with free will. One that he did not back down from because of how he felt or what he wanted. It was a decision that he made and then walked out. Right to the end. And we are called to do the same. Revelations 12, 11. How does this affect us day to day? I mean, we can't all run around throwing our lives down for everyone, right? Right. But we are called to love each other, purely, with real love. The more you are walking with Jesus, the easier that gets. Because we can see what Jesus sees when he looks at them. It can even hit an advanced level where you stop seeing them and just see Jesus in everyone and love them the same way. I'm still working on that one. But our personal, private relationships are often different from our relationships with the world around us. Those we choose as our mates is a whole other ballgame. Our relationships should be modeled on how Jesus loves us. We don't need to fall in and out of love. We don't need to have an expiry date. We don't need to base it on what our partner does for us or what we do for our partner. We don't need to base it on chemistry or sexual compatibility. We don't need to base it on looks or accomplishments. We can simply choose to love our partner. Period. No matter what. Because God loved us first. 1 John 4.9. We can just love. God can bring someone into our lives that is right for us, and we can love them because we choose to. That also covers the people that we just chose and didn't let God have anything to do with deciding for us. Now either way, on our own, this is going to have a lot of problems. In fact, on our own, we will in all likelihood fail. Just look at the marriage stats and the choices we make. I've made some doozies in my life. But with God, we can do it. Matthew 19.26. We can do it as we abide in God. John 15.5. Which means that to have a truly successful love relationship, we need to have God at the center and in the most important position of that triangle. You're putting a relationship with Him before a relationship with your spouse. In turn, God will bring you and your spouse together because that is how he designed things to work. Were two or more gathered in his name, things happened. Matthew 18.20. Two people working together to accomplish things was always his plan. Genesis 1.27.31. Genesis 2.18.24. If we are in him, then he will be in us and bring us together with our mate. Sound familiar? It's the principle of the Trinity. God the Father. God the Son. God the Holy Spirit. Three but one. We are a shadow and a type of that. God. Man. Woman. Three but dwelling as one. 1 John 4.13-15. Now I know there is a lot of human drama and baggage that we can throw in here. Relationships, partnerships, marriages, divorces, betrayals, sexual and gender roles. This is not the place to deal with it. We don't have that kind of time. But if you believe Jesus' words in John 17.17, Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. Then you have to believe what the Lord laid out in the scriptures. You may not like it, but it is true. There is only one truth. There is no my truth, your truth, my interpretation, your interpretation. There is what you think, feel, and believe in regards to the truth. But the truth is the truth is the truth. Period. No explanations needed. It's just true. There is a standard of righteousness that exists in the universe. It is constant. It is immutable. It cannot be compromised. It cannot be denied. It is and it will always be. It is the presence of the Lord God Almighty and there is no arguing with it. God tells us what it is. He states it. He doesn't argue, threaten, or cajole. He says what it is. Now you can move into his yard and walk in his righteousness and be blessed. You can stay out of his yard, walk on your own, and be at the mercy of the curse. It is and always has been our choice. Free will, restraint on our part, and glory, honor, power, authority, and blessing on his end, given to us in heaps and piles based on how righteous we are willing to let him make us. Because we can't even a little teensy bit be righteous without abiding in Jesus and inhabiting his spirit in total obedience. Okay, that was a lot and a whole other message right there. But there is a truth and we are to hold to it. His truth. And the truth is that love is a decision, both as a lifestyle and in our spousal relationships. It doesn't just happen. It doesn't dim, fade, or dissipate. It is a choice we choose to love. Our relationships can be a love choice. Love in God and through God. We can have an intimate, open, tender relationship as full of feeling, healing, and warmth as we can handle. Emotional and spiritual love with our partner and with God side by side. Three working as one. It is possible. It will end strife in your relationship. For perfect love casts out all fear and strife is a fear baby. 1 John 4 18 Aside from giving of the sun to die from our sins, John 3 16, this is the single greatest gift God has given us. To love as he loves. By choice, by grace, through faith in him. Perfect fellowship with one another on whatever level we are dealing with that human being. Spousal, dating, family, friend, workplace, acquaintance, or total stranger on the street. We can do it. Jesus said so and he cannot lie because he only says what the father tells him to. John 5 19 and 12 49 And because Hebrews 13 8 tells us Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We know that is still true. Amen. Our daily affirmation of God's love is Ephesians 2 4-10. Other than everything else we have said today, God loves us so much that he doesn't leave us to mess things up. But as a loving father, he guides us and teaches us because he made us in his perfect son Jesus. So that we also may be perfect. Through Jesus' righteous nature, which he gives us by grace, through faith. He really, really, really wants us with him forever. God is a good God. As we close, remember that you have worth. You are precious and valuable. Declare this. Today, God loves that I now you fill in the blank. Was it a meal you made? A smile you gave? Did you get out of bed? Read? Put on socks? There's no wrong answers here. There is no end to God's love. And no end to the things about you that he loves each and every day. Pick one. And remember, the Lord loves you. Just because you're you. First John 4, 9 to 10 tells us, By this, God's love was revealed in us that God has sent his only born son into the world that we might live through him. And this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. His perfect love turned away God's wrath because of sin. And it casts out our fear too. See verses 18 and 19. We love because he first loved us. He just loves us. He can't get enough of us. And amen to that. See you next time.