God’s love - Spiritual Situations
Even though at times you may ‘feel’ like you are far from the love of God you are not! Don’t let your emotions dictate to you what is really going on. God’s love is enduring, unconditional, powerful, and as born-again believers we cannot be separated from it.
~ Dr. Wanda Hudson
My topic for today is entitled: “God’s Love”
As children growing up on Green Street we had love all around us. We had Carters next door, Carters on the opposite corner, Carters up the street and Carters within walking distance across town. I know I had an abundance of human love! What I didn’t know at the time was that I would later know a better unconditional type of love.
Downtown we had this record store named Sol Kessler’s and since my mom was responsible for keeping the juke box at the Elks full between the store and Soul Train as kids we were always up to date with the latest and greatest songs that came out.
Throughout the years we heard may songs with the word love in them. Some of my favorites were:
Teddy Pendergrass – Looks Like Another Love TKO
Luther Vandross – There’s Nothing Better Than Love
Lionel Ritchie & Diana Ross – Endless Love
Beetles – All You need is Love
Tina Turner’s – What’s Love got to do with it?
A common denominator in these songs are that they are talking about love. Human love but Love nonetheless! But that is not the same as God’s love.
In the 90s Whitney Houston had a major hit song – I Will Always Love you. In it there’s a line that states, “If I should stay, I would only be in your way, So I'll go, but I know, I'll think of you every step of the way and I will always love you.”
My question always was: If you love me, why are you leaving?
From Deuteronomy we know that God never leave us. Leaving us goes against what Moses stated in Chapter 31 verse 6 when he told Israel to “Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid of them! The Lord your God will go ahead of you. He will never leave you or forsake you.”
All of these songs were major hits for the artists and projected powerful words of love, but they are not an example of God’s Love; they are merely declaring their love for another person. They are declaring Human Love.
What I want to discuss is God’s Love (Agape Love)
What is Agape – the word Agape is Greek for God’s Love. It is unconditional love – the type of love the Father has for us. It is a selfless Love. Agape is the highest level of love to offer. It's given without any expectations of receiving anything in return. Agape involves faithfulness, commitment, and an act of the will; we choose to Love as the Father Loves. It is God's immeasurable, incomparable love for humankind. Offering Agape is a decision to love under any circumstances!
Now let’s define love
Love used as a noun
1: a feeling of strong or constant affection for a person
2: an attraction that includes sexual desire:
Love used as a verb
1: to hold dear, 2: to feel a passion, devotion, or tenderness for, 3: to fondle amorously, 4: to copulate (have sexual intercourse) with, 5: to like or desire actively: take pleasure in; for example, he loved to play the violin and 6: to thrive in as in the rose loves sunlight.
From these definitions we would determine that love is based on our emotions, our feelings, which when they change they will change the way we love. Breakups, anger, disagreements, misunderstanding, and even stress can change our feelings for a person, no matter how temporarily. Have you ever heard someone use the statement, “I love you, but I don’t like you right now”? First whatever you said before the but is wiped away and what is said after the but is what you mean (that’s Wanda Hudson 101). This statement means that your like ability has changed. With human love – it can be here today and gone tomorrow.
BUT God’s Love, His Agape, will never change.
God’s original plan was to create us for fellowship and relationship with Him. He loves us so much that he does not want to be separated from us spiritually. By His love, he ensured this would be taken care of (PAUSE), while we are in this world and in our eternal life. In John 3:16 (AMP) it states: For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God so loved the world! And the world is a who not a what! It is not the physical planet that we live on – that is not who this is referencing. The World is you and me before we accept the Lord as our Savior. The world is the godless human society. The person that is worldly has desires that are totally out of accord with God’s nature and does not rely on God as their source.
But God loved us so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die.
The love God has for us goes much deeper than feelings or emotions. It’s the most powerful force in the universe because it comes from Him. And He shares it with us unconditionally because He is Love. In the King James Version of 1st John 4:16 it states: 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.
The New Living Translations breaks it down as this: And so, we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
Whatever version you read this scripture and verse in; theses three words remain the same: God is LOVE
1st Corinthians Chapter 13 is known as the LOVE Chapter of the bible.
The Message translation, which I will read from, calls it: The Way of Love
If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.
When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.
We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears, and the sun shines bright!
We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love. [end]
I previously showed you that 1st John 4:16 states God is Love so when we read versus 3-8 we can replace love with God:
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t have God, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without God.
God never gives up.
God cares more for others than for self.
God doesn’t want what He doesn’t have.
God doesn’t strut,
He doesn’t have a swelled head,
He doesn’t force himself on others,
He isn’t always “me first,”
He doesn’t fly off the handle,
He doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
He doesn’t revel when others grovel,
He takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
He puts up with anything,
He trusts in himself always,
He always looks for the best,
He never looks back, But he keeps going to the end.
God never dies. He will last forever!
When we read Chapter 13 we see that God’s love is greater than everything else Paul listed in this chapter. Why? Because one day everything else listed will vanish and pass away, because we won’t need them in heaven. Since God is Love and He is eternal His love will never pass away. It will endure (remain in existence, outlast) everything (not some things but everything) that comes along.
Love endures long and is patient and kind ~ 1st Corinthians 13:4
There are three things that will endure – faith, hope and love – and the greatest of these is love ~ 1st Corinthian 13:13
The Greatest of these is God!
God’s love for us is so great that he chose to come to earth, as Jesus, for our benefit. Jesus came to experience all the challenges, temptations, and trials that we would ever have to face.
Hebrews 4:14-16 (Amp) Inasmuch then as we [believers] have a great High Priest who has [already ascended and] passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession [of faith and cling tenaciously to our absolute trust in Him as Savior]. For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize and understand our weaknesses and temptations, but One who has been tempted [knowing exactly how it feels to be human] in every respect as we are, yet without [committing any] sin. Therefore, let us [with privilege] approach the throne of grace [that is, the throne of God’s gracious favor] with confidence and without fear, so that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find [His amazing] grace to help in time of need [an appropriate blessing, coming just at the right moment].
As a parent or anyone who has loved, we always want to save our children, siblings, spouse or parents from having to face a hardship – we want to be able to share that experience with them or even take it away because we love them. But in the natural we can’t. But because God loves us so much he sent Jesus to experience every and anything we would go through, not to take it away but to ensure when we go through it we will come out victoriously!
When we know God’s love we do not live in fear
In New International Version 1st John 4:18 states:
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
(Remember you can always use God when it says Love)
There is no fear in God. God’s love is perfect and drives out fear since fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in God.
1) God casts out fear. When we trust God completely, becoming fully dependent on Him and not on ourselves, His perfect love towards us will get rid of all fear. We can be confident that he will protect us.
2) When we hold on to fear we are not allowing ourselves to experience God’s love fully – we are still entertaining self-dependence.
3) When God sees us He sees us as Jesus, and Jesus has already paid the price for all our sins. What punishments can man give us that Jesus hasn’t already paid for? He took on all our punishments when he died on the cross.
God’s Love is Unconditional.
What does it mean to be unconditional: Unconditional is defined as absolute and not subject to any special terms or conditions: it'll happen no matter what else happens.
God’s Love is absolute and not subject to any special terms or conditions. He will love us no matter what else happens.
God’s unconditional love is not motivated by or for His personal gain.
1st John 3:16: This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves.
He loves us with no strings attached. He offers His love to us feely. His Love is not based on anything we have done, or even how much we love him in return.
God's unconditional love, never fails (Psalms 52:8)
But I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God. I will always trust in God’s unfailing love.
God’s unconditional love endures forever (Psalms 106:1)
Praise the Lord! Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.
God’s unconditional love is our protection (Proverbs 30:5)
Every word of God proves true. He is a shield to all who come to him for protection.
But keep in mind unconditional love does not mean that God loves everything we do. Even though His love is unconditional He still has expectations and requires things from us. Most importantly he requires us (commands us) to love one another. In John 13:34-35 Jesus states, “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” When we show His unconditional love towards one another we show the world that we belong to Him. Fortunately for us God doesn't stop loving us when we falter or fail. He just expects us to continue to strive to do better next time. He simply loves us!
What can separate us from God’s Love
Romans 8:31-39
31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.” No despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Did you hear that? Nothing [NO THING] can separate us from God’s Love!
We can trust in God’s love.
Even in our disobedience God continues to unconditionally love us!
When Adam and Eve sinned God still loved them
When the Israelites rebelled God still loved and protected them
When Jonah fled from the Lord, He still loved him and saved him from death by placing him in the belly of the whale.
In our sinful state God remains patient and shows us mercy, waiting for us to accept him as our Lord and Savior.
Our salvation is an expression of God’s love. The greatest demonstration of God’s love for us was the gift of his son, who was sacrificed for our sins. (John 3:16). Jesus did not come for only the obedient ones; he came for the world (both the saved and unsaved). He displayed love while he was on the earth through his teachings, healings, and through his humility towards all. He displayed humility even though he was a king (king of all kings). He made salvation available to all – he did not discriminate.
Our capacity to love is empowered through God’s love; he showed us how to love. In 1st John 3:16 it tells us how we will know what love is (this is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters), and in John 13:34 Jesus commands us to love (a new command I give you, love one another as I have loved you, so you must love one another). When we rest and abide in God we will not have a problem loving others as we love ourselves. (as stated in Matthew 22:39 and Mark 12:31).
We can rest in God’s love Matthew 11:28 “Jesus says Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.”
Before God created us, he knew we would be disobedient, so he prepared a path to redeem us from our sins
Ephesians 1:4-6 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.
This allows us to see God as our Father, someone who has a plan and purpose for our life versus seeing him as someone who is out to punish or destroy us, When we see Jesus as an advocate (supporter, backer, promoter) we can rest in the assurance of God’s love.
We can have confidence that God’s love is everlasting:
Jeremiah 17:7. But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.
Let’s read Psalm 136 from the New Living Translation:
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods. His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords. His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who alone does mighty miracles. His faithful love endures forever. [Possibly end]
Give thanks to him who made the heavens so skillfully. His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who placed the earth among the waters. His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who made the heavenly lights— His faithful love endures forever.
the sun to rule the day, His faithful love endures forever.
and the moon and stars to rule the night. His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who killed the firstborn of Egypt. His faithful love endures forever.
He brought Israel out of Egypt. His faithful love endures forever.
He acted with a strong hand and powerful arm. His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who parted the Red Sea. His faithful love endures forever.
He led Israel safely through, His faithful love endures forever.
but he hurled Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea. His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who led his people through the wilderness. His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who struck down mighty kings. His faithful love endures forever.
He killed powerful kings—His faithful love endures forever.
Sihon king of the Amorites, His faithful love endures forever.
and Og king of Bashan. His faithful love endures forever.
God gave the land of these kings as an inheritance—His faithful love endures forever.
a special possession to his servant Israel. His faithful love endures forever.
He remembered us in our weakness. His faithful love endures forever.
He saved us from our enemies. His faithful love endures forever.
He gives food to every living thing. His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of heaven. His faithful love endures forever.
These are only the first five versus of Psalm 136 but if you continue and read all 26 they all state that God’s Love endures forever- it is unfailing.
Let me give you six reasons Why God’s Love is so important?
Because God is Love 1st John 4:8 and 4:16
In 1st Timothy 1:5 When Paul wrote to Timothy, he was explaining his reason for writing, he wrote: The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith.
He wanted us to be filled with Love, God’s Love! Without it we are nothing.
Through His Love we will know our brothers and sisters in Christ
In John 13:33-35 Jesus is talking and says,
“Dear children, I will be with you only a little longer. And as I told the Jewish leaders, you will search for me, but you can’t come where I am going. So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
What is a disciple? Merely a follower of Christ (your brothers and sisters in Christ).
Having Agape love is actual evidence that we are abiding in (resting in) Him. Agape cannot be produced in our strength or ability. It can only come through God. John 15: 7 again Jesus is talking, and it states, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” When you are able to rest in and know that God loves you then there will not be a problem believing in the promises that He made to us in His Word.
Agape shows we are filled with the fullness of God. What does that mean. (I got this definition from and article I read from Holy Trinity Chico, entitled, Live by Faith, Grown in Faith, and Walk in Love). In the article it defines filled with the goodness of God to mean that God is the controlling influence at a given moment governing your feelings, desires, thoughts, hopes, relationships, words, actions, reactions, calendar, check book, etc. At any given time, you may be hungry, sad, lonely, righteously indignant, but you do not allow these emotions to control you. You are conscious of and yielded to God’s presence, strength, care for others, spiritual authority, moral excellence, and character (holiness, righteousness, love). You continue to walk in the Spirit.
Ephesians 3:14-19 New Living Translation 14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Agape God’s love is the only power that enables us to forgive and forget. It brings you peace.
Forgiveness brings you peace and it is an act of obedience and submission to God’s will. Romans 12: 17-18 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
Matthew 6:14-15 “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
As we have already determined nothing can separate us from God. What this means is when you don’t forgive, continue to relive, and rehearse the negativity or slight (imagined or otherwise) you allow a door to be open for Satan to enter, a gateway taking you away from the love of God. Agape cleanses and heals us so that the wounds that we have are not simply buried but they are removed.
Having God’s Love – the Agape type of love proves that we are loving Him.
John 14:18-21 (Jesus is talking again) No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”
Verse 21 in the King James states He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
I want to wrap up with this:
Even though at times you may ‘feel’ like you are far from the love of God you are not! Don’t let your emotions dictate to you what is really going on. God’s love is enduring, unconditional, powerful, and as born-again believers we cannot be separated from it. Additionally, even when we go through hard times, trouble, calamity, persecution, may be hungry, destitute, or in danger, or even threatened with death always know that you are not separated from God. Because of Agape overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
When filled with God’s love, we can understand things that we could not understand naturally. When we rest in God’s love we do not allow our situations and circumstances dictate to us on how we should live. We can endure the pains of this world in God’s love. In God’s love we gain renewed strength daily. We live without fear, instantly forgive, avoid disputes and disagreements. Agape enables us to bless and help others in ways that are surprising even to us.
So, I asked the same question that Tina Turner asked: What’s love got to do with it?
With Love, who is God, we have great victory! We defeat the enemy or opponent in any battle, game, struggle or opposition. Therefore, since God is Love, I will say He has EVERYTHING to do with it.
In closing do you recall the songs that I mentioned when I first began? Well, I would be doing us all a disservice if I forget to mention two songs that may have been directed to the general audience, but God has a way of getting His Love across to everyone no matter if you plan on receiving him or not. In your own time listen to Love by Musiq Soul Child and Jesus is Love by the Commodores. When we sang these songs we thought we were just jamming but in all actuality we were singing about Agape, God’s love for us, and proclaiming who he was, is, and always will be!
Now that’s love!
Father God thank you for Agape – your love!
And now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. In Jesus Name
~ Amen.