By Brother Tobi Thompson
13th June 2022
Good day everyone. Tonight, we’ll be discussing briefly on LOVE.
Father, I ask that tonight we grow in the understanding and expression of love in Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.
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The kingdom of God is hinged upon two powerful things and they are so important that if we fall short of one or both, it will be difficult to enjoy the grace that has been given us through salvation.
Falling short of either or both can also block the flow of the power of God through us to other people.
These two things are FAITH and LOVE.
So, we can say, loving God is also the same as having faith in Him.
Paul says to us in Gal. 5:6 that faith gains expression through love and we also see that Jesus’ Ministry is based on faith and love.
Jesus will say things like, “if only you believe” and He also summarized the whole Old Testament by saying “Love God and love your neighbours as yourself”
In the Old Testament, Faith was expressed a lot but sometimes the expression didn’t come out of love.
For example, God told Moses “speak to the rock” but anger led him to hit the rock and it greatly displeased God.
Elijah was a man that walked in power but most times we see that it never flowed from love, in 2 Kings 1 we see how he burnt men to ashes. Unfortunately, he passed the same thing to Elisha.
Great guys but love was lacking in the expressions of their faith.
In Luke 9, James and John were ready to also express their faith in calling down fire from heaven to destroy people but Jesus rebuked them!
Not because calling down fire from heaven was wrong but because Love was lacking in the expressions of their faith.
He then showed them a better way to express it in Luke 10. Faith works faster through love, in fact, love also gives you a clear conscience towards God.
Love is not exactly an emotional thing, in fact, it is more of a spiritual thing because God is love, that’s what 1 John 4 tells us.
In the Old Testament, it was very difficult to express love because the Spirit of love never dwelt in any man.
But we have a greater testimony in Romans 5:5 “for the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us”
The implication of this is that now WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO LOVE AS GOD LOVES.
In fact, we have come into a covenant that demands that we love men at all times!
I’ve heard people say that no one is perfect and some even say perfection is impossible. I boldly say it, that’s a very big lie and it’s an insult to the Spirit in us!
As a matter of fact, God’s standard of perfection is not about you getting things right all the time – He creates allowance for us to make mistakes and that’s how He expects us to mature.
Now, what is God’s standard of perfection? God’s standard of perfection is LOVE.
“Ye have heard that it hath been said, thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”
[Matthew 5:43-48 KJV]
People would usually quote vs 48 only, but that’s only a fragment of the whole picture Jesus was painting about our Father.
The full picture starts from vs 43 where He says “you have heard it said that love your neighbour and hate your enemy”.
But He said no! That’s what imperfect people do, That’s not the way of the Perfect God!
At the time Jesus was teaching, the Spirit of love that makes a man perfect and complete had not yet been given.
Now that the Spirit has been given, the weight of that teaching is easy to carry and live out.
Now that we have the Holy Spirit, God demands us to reveal the perfection that we are, and that is Love.
Through love, faith gains expression.
Through love, burdens are lifted.
Through love, intimacy begins and deepens.
God needs us to express love more to Him and to people around us.
From personal experience, it’s easier to minister to believers and unbelievers when we walk in love.
The Holy Spirit once said to me, that many will rather soak themselves in the blood of Jesus than in the love of God.
There’s a lot to say but tonight I just want you to choose to express love always, choose to walk in the perfection that you are. Let love overwhelm you always.
The prayer fast is a great door to let the love of God overwhelm and consume you, please take advantage of it.
Love lives inside of you, give expression to it with the help of the Holy Spirit.
God bless you.