We Have Been Conditioned Against Father's Love

 There is one very important thing about Father’s love that we have been conditioned in this world to not understand. It has to do with conditions and measurements. Everything in this world is limited by conditions and comes with some kind of measurement to define level or quantity. Because of that, there is nothing in this world that we can use to try to describe Father’s love.

Many of us struggle with the concept that Father’s love is not dependent on our behaviour. His love does not increase or decrease according to my thoughts or actions. His love is a constant. It is impossible for him to love me less or to love me more. He always desires the best for me. He always hopes that I will take what he gladly offers. His design is not to destroy me but to increase me. He has loved all of humanity since the beginning of time because he decided to, and he has never broken a promise. His word is the most solid thing in all of eternity. This removes the idea of measurement from his love.

The only thing we can measure with Father’s love is our revelation of it. Paul had written his hope that believers would be able to grasp how high, and deep and wide it is. This is very difficult for us to grasp because love in this world increases and decreases and often requires some kind of catalyst to increase or decrease.

Sometimes we compare Father’s love to a mother’s but this example falls very short. It is true that due to his love for us he will discipline us to increase us. Punishment takes away from us but discipline (correction) moves us toward a change that increases us. Mother’s don’t always get that right, nor do fathers. Sometimes we spend far more time punishing our children for our sake than we do correcting them for their strengthening and increase..

It is often the imperfections of a parent’s love that cause us to struggle with the understanding that there is no increase or decrease with father’s love and there are no conditions attached. Father loves the atheist as much as he loves me. Jesus went to the cross while we all were “yet sinners”. His death on the cross gave everyone the potential to become the children of God. The difference is that I accepted that free gift whereas others have rejected it. But neither of those decisions changed how much he loves each of us.

Love is not what is going to keep people out of hell. It is only the belief in and acceptance of Jesus’s loving act of redemption that will keep us from that fate. Father’s love also preserves our freedom to choose because love can only exist in the place of freedom of choice. The sad part about this is that the only limits on Father’s love is what we put on it.

Even with those who say they believe and accept Jesus’ loving act of redemption there exists a poverty of love because they are not willing to imagine that his love for them could be so great and constant. They limit him by their self-condemnation for their past and close themselves from receiving the greater part of the blessings he has prepared for them. Paul stated if Father did not withhold the Son from us, what lesser things would he deny us? This self-condemnation comes from people’s experience with punishment over correction, no matter if Jesus said differently.

It’s not always going to be sunshine and daffodils. We require a lot of discipline and building up. But even in those moments he wants us to live in the mindset of the “quiet waters” and “meadows” of where we walk with him in relationship. Paul tells us that discipline should never be a source of discouragement for us because it is actually proof of our “sonship”.

If you really want to walk in all that he has planned for you, trust that his love is unchanging, constant and unconditional. Such a mindset won’t change Father but it will certainly change you and allow you to see the Kingdom as it truly is, because trust is the mark of a loving child. Don’t allow the conditioning of this world to cause you to live a lesser blessing.

Increasing The Power Of The Spirit In You

We all have this great desire to know Jesus. Our longing is to be close with him, to sense his presence all the time, to be filled by his power and to represent him to those around us. We want to express our love to him over and over again. We want to make him our everything. These are great desires but if they only stay as desires they will have no eternal purpose. Our desires need to take on flesh.

Every person in our Holy Scriptures who was blessed and used by Yahweh were those who had a great relationship with him. This relationship came from time spent in prayer and the Scriptures. There are no short cuts. I have just finished spending time with Daniel and I am once again impressed by this man of faith and loyalty. The angels told him that he was "treasured by Yahweh". He had a great relationship that came by huge amounts of time in prayer and fasting. Out of these times came great visions and understanding. He had what we want yet he did not have the Holy Spirit in him and we do.

David also understood this great fellowship and it caused his heart to yearn for Yahweh. He was a man full of faults but the motivation and desire of his heart pleased Yahweh. He was blessed, favoured, protected, corrected, broken, built up, encouraged as he constantly fellowshipped with Yahweh. David gave us this treasure of understanding in Psalm 1:

Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
    Nor stands in the path of sinners,
    Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; (Psalm 1:1)

That's what he doesn't do, which is also important. He doesn't allow himself to be tempted by the shortcuts of life, listening to Satan's invitation to bow down to him for perceived success. This is not our measure of success. But now consider what the blessed man does do:

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
    And in His law he meditates day and night. (v. 2)

He gives priority to Yahweh. He is consumed by him. Daniel was consumed by prayer. Three specific times of the day were set aside exclusively for prayer. He fasted, which is suppose to be an intense period of prayer. Daniel stood loyal to Yahweh no matter the cost. He petitioned for his people, in prayer. Look at the result David speaks of when we become consumed by our relationship with Yahweh:

He shall be like a tree
    Planted by the rivers of water,
    That brings forth its fruit in its season,
    Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper. (v. 3)

This is seen in Daniel, the most favoured man in the captivity of Israel. Every king of his day turned to Daniel for help and everyone of them heaped great blessings and favours on him. This favour did not come because of Daniel's intelligence but because of his relationship with Yahweh.

Those who have rich fellowship with Jesus Christ, who are consumed by prayer, worship and the Word, have a river of life flowing through them. Everyone who accepts Jesus' invitation, is spiritually born a second time, and is baptized by the Holy Spirit, has this river of life flowing through them, but those who make themselves sensitive to Jesus are made aware of it. Because of this fellowship, the desire of their heart, their submission to Father's will, their obedience and loyalty; because they talk with Yahweh all the time, fruit will be produced through them, they will always contain life and whatever they put their hand to will succeed. We are possessed by the power of the Spirit.

Too many of us are in love with the idea of this kind of relationship but most of us are not willing to put in the time. We have lots of excuses but if Jesus was honestly our "everything" we would find a way to spend time with him. I am not talking about the fifteen minutes we set aside for our quick list of requests. I am not taking about a conversation throughout the day - although this is important too. I mean the same attitude that Daniel and so many others of the greats had. The same attitude as Jesus. Time set aside for complete concentration on Jesus will bring us to the place where we want to be in our relationship. There are no short cuts.

Examine your life and make a list of the things that contribute to your walk with Jesus and the things that do not. Then start reducing the "do not" list and you will be amazed how quickly you find time for Worship, prayer and the Word every day. When you do this you will find your relationship with Jesus and the desire of your heart rapidly changing. May you discover the warrior he has called you to be. Pray!

In This New Year Continue To Live In Jesus

Happy New Year! It has arrived. Do you feel any different today? Other than feeling a bit tired from staying up so late, probably not. But here it is, a brand new year and this is the first page of your story in this year. But the thing is, it's not a new book, only a new chapter. This year will only build on what has already been written.

That's the thing, we always seem to be looking for the "new" in our lives. I want to put before you the thought that we should not seek the "new" but instead the strengthening of the current. This is of course assuming that you are already living through Jesus. Too often we want to move on to something new before we have finished where we are and often where we are leads us naturally into a greater form of where we are. There is something to be said about consistency in our relationship with Jesus.

Be honest, the times when we have grown weak is when we have set aside the constant. We fail to understand that Jesus has given us everything we need; we only need to mature in it. It's like a child riding a bicycle. He learns all the basic skills on that very first day but he will increase, mature, perfect those skills. We shouldn't be looking for new experiences in Jesus but a deepening of the present ones.

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. (Colossians 2:6-7)

This is an awesome desire for 2013: To continue to live in Jesus. I think most of us long to get back to the first days we came alive in Jesus, to have that passion for the Name once more, but now with a greater maturity of understanding. Our problem is that the years take a toll on us. We forget the principles, the practices, the practical living in Jesus and we allow the stresses and strains of life to bring caution to our living. But living in Jesus has nothing to do with caution.

Don't look to new experiences but instead look to the rooting and being built up in Jesus. Take what you have been given and make more out of it. Go deeper, higher and wider; enrich your experience with Jesus; see vibrant colours added to your already fantastic testimony. Instead of new, expect increase. Seek increase. Live each day with expectation. Looking for the deepening in each moment.

It's not new faith that you need but a strengthening of the faith you have already been given. Stop trying to live your life with Jesus through other people. I love biographies but Jesus and I are busy writing my own and I want it to be brilliant with his glory. This means I must live. I must take risks in faith, if we can even call it risk. It means I need to take Jesus at his word and explore this thing called faith, throw myself with great abandon into his loving embrace. Not just talk about it but live it. Live that love that never fails. Love without thought of self. Allowing God to pour out his blessings to others through me. Making this a year of faith strengthening.

Let's not let go of the old chapters in the hope of starting a new story. God has allowed us to have the testimony of our past for a reason. Don't shut the door on the things God has done but instead be thankful for everything; for desert times and moments of plenty. See the story as God is telling it and be thankful for all things and you will discover a greater richness of praise exuding from every fibre of your being. Make every day a day of thanksgiving and you will soon discover that the complaints of your lips are replaced with the praises to our King.

Realize that God has already given you everything you need, now you have to live it for his glory. Don't set aside what you have been given for the desire for something new, instead look for a deepening of what already exists. Write a new chapter but in context of the previous ones. And above all else, continue to live in Jesus. Continue friends and do it will all your passion. Make sure you are doing more than living for Jesus; live through Jesus and this year will be like no other.