A Believer’s Foundation for Power is Love.
And, it is so important for each one of you to embrace the revelation of God and Christ’s love for you.
Why is it important to know and believe the love God has for us?
Because…
We work FROM God’s love, not FOR God’s Love.
Have I received His Love
so I can Love?
John, the disciple of Jesus, is an example. He loved Jesus, because Jesus first loved him, and he had realized this.
He originally penned I John 4:19:
“We love Him, because He first loved us.”
John could write this because of his own personal revelation of Jesus’s love for him.
Knowing Christ as a friend “closer than a brother” caused John to be the only disciple of the twelve who was able to go to the foot of the cross with Christ. He had the love within him to “involve himself” in that which concerned Jesus.
Why was he there? Because he loved Jesus! The bond between them was LOVE, not duty, servitude, or expectation. He loved Jesus more than he was concerned of his own safety and security. It was an unselfish love.
Christ knew that John’s same love toward him would go outward toward others, and his mother was considered one of those others. Christ, in fact, in turn, entrusted his own mother to John, even from the cross.
John 19:26 says:
“When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son, and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.”
Interesting to note, that John is the one who is writing this narrative, so truly he had a revelation that he was loved BY JESUS. Therefore, HE LOVED Jesus.
In John 13:34, Jesus gives this command to his followers:
“…that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you may also love one another.”
In looking at this verse another time, I realize Jesus could have just said, love one another as I have loved you.
But notice, added to this are the words, “that you may”. To me, this is the language of empowerment. I perceive that this is indeed the secret of our “ability” TO Love.
This ability to love outwardly comes from an awareness and experience of Jesus’s love for us individually first.
He who knows me best, loves me… so I can then risk loving others, no matter what the cost.
Do you think John thought of the risks associated with him being at the cross with Jesus?
OR…
Do you think he thought of Jesus’s need to have his friend’s support during his time of pain and suffering?
I believe he thought of both, but the latter, his desire to be there FOR Jesus, caused him to die to self-preservation. He wanted to LOVE Jesus back… Not only receive that which he needed FROM Christ.
I believe this is the same motivation that will reside in martyrs during these end times. We will stand up WITH Christ! We will become desirous to be in defense of Christ’s honor, and fellowship in His sufferings, for we LOVE Him and believe in all He lived for. We understand that it is His Life that gives us eternal life, so we will not Deny Him.
I think of even small ways we may show our love for Christ: For instance, when I hear a person using the Lord’s name in vain, this bothers me… not because I’m judging that person for using bad language. No! It bothers me because I love Jesus so much! I hate hearing His Name so dishonored. It’s a love FOR Jesus that activates my righteous indignation. Yet it’s also my love FOR Jesus, and knowing Jesus’ love FOR that person, that keeps me from losing my cool and being unkind to that one who speaks his name in vain ignorantly. Love for Jesus is demonstrated in both reactions… the internal and the external. My love for Jesus may cause me to be silent, or sometimes cause me to kindly say to that person: “Could you refrain from using Jesus’ name that way, for I love Him dearly. He is so worthy of us all giving honor toward His Name.” When I’ve spoken that lovingly and respectfully to coworkers in the workplace, my coworkers in turn respected my love for the Lord and did not speak his name in vain… at least, not in front of me. Love went full circle. They realized, somehow, that I wasn’t judging them, but was LOVING Jesus.
LOVE is the foundation for all God and Christ did, and continue to do, in our lives.
Laying his life down and enduring The Cross was Jesus’s “demonstration” of his love for you and me. God’s demonstration of love was to give His only son for us all.
Romans 5: 8 says:
“God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
So too, our love for God and Christ comes from the true revelation of the Cross. Thus, making the cross the centrality of Christianity. There is no being a Christian without the cross. The blood spilled by Jesus was necessary to buy us back from the Kingdom of Darkness and place us into the Kingdom of Light… an act of pure love and great grace.
Once IN the Kingdom of Light through acceptance of Christ into our lives, we abide there in the intimacy of relationship… the relationship of love… which motivates our lifestyle, our focus, and our responses in life.
We experience LOVE every day as the Lord answers our prayers, gives us knowledge of Himself, and fills our lives with blessings and goodness.
Now, as I share these two verses in closing, I ask you to ponder every single word of this scripture:
I John 4:16-17
“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.”
Can you see that the believer’s foundation for power IS Love?
The result will be boldness! …And the ability to represent God and Christ to this world!
He is Love.
So, we love…
One Sunday morning, the Holy Spirit quickened a new song, that I sang spontaneously during Worship. There were just four lines, but the message goes deep. It’s worth mentioning here in this article, for this instruction, albeit received in music, is worthy to be pondered and obeyed, considering its source. Clearly our focus is to be on the Lord’s Love for us, first and foremost. His love will then beget love in us. Give it some thought before you move on within this chapter:
- Rest in My Love
- Rely On My Love
- Rejoice In My Love
- Reflect On My Love
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I want to now speak a little more about John… and give you insight into a level of love and intimacy… possible with Jesus.
Scripture tells us that John laid upon the bosom of Jesus. This… the chest area, with his ear to the heartbeat of Jesus, and close enough to whisper in his ear, and receive back confidential information… is a picture of intimacy with Christ that is possible to you and I, as Believers.
It is a place of close intimacy. Let’s speak of it…
John 13:23, tells us about The Last Supper, and says:
“Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.”
This disciple was John…and Jesus had just told the disciples that someone there would betray him… so Peter whispers from a distance to John, “Ask who it is!”
John 13:25-26 tells us John, close enough to whisper in Jesus’s ear, indeed asked the question, and the Lord confided in him.
“He then lying on Jesus’ breast saith unto him, “Lord, who is it?
And Jesus told him, “He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it.”
Friends, note… Jesus didn’t give this information to everyone in the room. Jesus told “him”… John.
If we realize we can draw close enough to have the ear of our Lord, we, too, can ask and receive intimate confidential information!
Interestingly, later on in the Gospel of John, Peter was asked by Jesus, “Do you love me?” and told “Feed My Sheep”… was told of what death he should glorify God, and Jesus ended with “Follow Me”. But then this took place…and we read this in John 21:20,
“Then Peter, turning about, seeing the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? (i.e. Peter was looking at John!)
Peter seeing him (i.e. John) saith to Jesus, “Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry til I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me!”
Basically, Peter was told, worry about you, not John!
We see another thing about “intimacy” from this interchange… for it’s not just about Peter. John was revealing something to us — for it is he who is writing the Gospel of John. He was letting us all know, that when someone is “intimate” with the Lord, “confidences” are kept! Jesus protects us back! Love “covers”! Love doesn’t “gossip” or give out information! Jesus wasn’t mentioning anything about John, for what concerned John was He and John’s business, not other people’s! Not even Peter’s!
Some of you may look back, as I do, and see how God has “protected you”, by not making it “public”, when you’ve fallen into sin, in your honest desire to live for Him. You had your heart right with Christ, but you slipped. But He helped you get right back up and didn’t “expose” you to the world.
A “relationship” with the Lord is two-sided…not just one-side, your love to him. You can love him, because you’ve realized how much he loves you!
Do you see?
Now I will take you to yet a deeper insight:
Do you know that John fulfilled Old Testament scripture when laying on the bosom of John?
Duet 33:12 says,
“The beloved of the LORD shall rest in safety by him; and the LORD shall cover him all the day long, and he shall rest between his shoulders.”
Take a listen to a song the Lord gave me to record from this passage. Let the words take root! Maybe even sing with me the second time through, from your own mouth! I know it will speak to your heart, now that you’ve read this far! It is to be “revelation” for Today’s Believers!
Here is the link:
Rest Secure in Him – Elizabeth Ann Smith – Receive From Me
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Now, that you’ve returned after listening to the song, I want to take you a step further in the revelation of A Believer’s Power is Love.
John, grew in love for Jesus as he began to discover more about Jesus, the man… the Son of God… and so will we…
The scripture tells us Jesus had an inner circle made of Peter, James, and John. These men were the most intimate with Jesus during his time on earth. One day, he took them with him into a high mountain, and was transfigured before them! His face did shine as the sun and his raiment was white as the light! Moses and Elias spoke with him. Matthew 17:5 tells us:
“While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him.”
“And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.”
“And Jesus came and touched them, and said “Arise, and be not afraid.”
Friends, an awareness of the power and majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ, also puts “A Fear of God” into our lives. An awareness that we are receiving a great privilege to love Him, receive from Him, and serve Him… will enable us to love Him fuller and deeper, and to live for Him in front of others.
When God Himself finished His Speaking with the words HEAR YE HIM, referring to Jesus… I believe John took his new awareness of God’s own witness of Christ being God’s Son… and His direct instruction to “Hear ye Him”… to heart!
This intimate experience CHANGED JOHN!! FOREVER!
No wonder he wanted to lean on Jesus’ bosom! He wanted TO HEAR HIM! He respected him for He knew Who He Was! …The Son of God!
He didn’t give a hoot what others thought! His love propelled him to Jesus! John’s love held onto Jesus!… and he didn’t want to let go! He was of the same mindset as Peter expressed… He knew Jesus had the words of life!
John 6:68 tells us:
Then Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.”
“And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the Living God.”
When God manifests Christ to us, this too, will change us forever. Many modern-day believers have experienced supernatural workings, wherein they were “made aware” of who Jesus really is.. a Living Savior and a Reigning Lord! And as a result of their encounter with the Holy Spirit, they received Jesus and became changed forever!
We LOVE HIM for because HE FIRST LOVES US! We love others because He loves them. A Believer’s Power is Love!
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Now one more insight before I close this chapter:
John is said to be the only apostle that was not martyred. Tertullian, the 2nd-century North African theologian, reports that John was plunged into boiling oil from which he miraculously escaped unscathed. He did, however, suffer greatly for his faith, and while exiled to the isle called Patmos, for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus, was given Revelation, which is an account of all he saw and heard, and it is our last book of the bible.
God preserved John for this purpose… Man could not “take him out” until his purpose and calling was fulfilled.
God “entrusted” this great work, to John. Why? Because He knew John loved him. He knew John could be trusted to carry through with what he was given to do. He had already entrusted his mother to John’s keeping, so I assume that John “proved faithful”, and was thus, “given more” as is taught in scripture. I’m sure Mary was deceased by the time he was exiled on the isle of Patmos. This shows we go through seasons in our Christian walk. We won’t always be doing the same things. We won’t always be “entrusted” with the same things. But LOVE is the power behind all we do for the LORD… or in this case of John writing Revelation, with the Lord.
Let me clarify that:
One thing… taking care of Christ’s mother… he was doing “for the Lord”; and another thing… the writing of Revelation… he was doing “with the Lord”.
When we Believers show ourselves faithful, we are given more from the Lord. I see this true of my own life. The more faithful I’ve been, the more I have been given. All is from Love for the Lord.
These are Jesus’s words of Luke 16:10-12…
“He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much…
And he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much…
If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
And if you have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?”
John, the man, is a picture to modern-day Believers, of what this scripture means.
John was first being entrusted with something that was “another man’s”, Jesus’s mother… This required him to give up space in his household, to put out the money for another mouth to feed, to provide her clothing, give her conversation and attention to her emotions (imagine how after that day at the cross she needed loving and someone to talk to?)
John’s love for Jesus Christ gave him “the Power to Love”… He clearly was faithful to this charge, or God would have never entrusted to him the “true riches”… the giving of the Book of Revelation to all future generations!
All the while an apostle, John was faithful to do as he was told to do! He wrote the Gospel of John, and the letters found in 1st-2nd-and-3rd John (books incidentally about love), and Revelation! The man was a busy man, folks! He lived a life of faithfulness! Of Love!
In closing, I exhort you to pray.
Yes, pray.
Ask God to reveal to you “your faithfulness”.
Ask God to reveal to you ” your unfaithfulness”.
Ask God to put awareness of His Love for you, within you. Think about his love, and ways He has expressed it to you.
Then,
Ask God, to enable you to Love Others with the Love you have grown to have for Him.
Seems like a lot, I know; But we Believers are in a season of time… that God wants to accelerate things! He wants the harvest brought in! Souls saved! Prodigals returning! and Lives committed to faithfulness!
Why? He is coming soon! There is no time to waste.
Testings of our past were to make us ready for the assignments of our lives!
But all these assignments, that God has for His Saints, must come FROM LOVE!
No other motive. Our Power is love. We won’t be entrusted to do anything, if you don’t walk in love.
I’m hoping this first chapter shows up in the “preview” of my book online; Then, the Holy Spirit can impart to you life-changing truth even if you don’t invest in the whole book…
Yet as you read on, more and more truth and insight will be given…
Remember, these are Exhortations from The Spirit!