Love

Healing of The Heart

Bethel Music – Jesus We Love You

During the time when my husband and I were separated, I was on the phone with a relative. I commented to her, “Even though my husband and I are separated, I really do love him.” She immediately shot back, “No you don’t. You’re not foolin anyone.”

I was so mad, I could have spit nails at her through the phone. Angrily, I raised my voice and said, “What do you mean I don’t love him, how can you say that? You don’t know anything. I have spent the last five years in recovery, working on myself, cleaning my heart out, taking ownership of my part in this marriage and YOU say I don’t love him. How dare you say that to me after all I have done.” We ended the call angry at each other. I wanted to claw her eyes out. Immediately, I went to my knees, because anger was consuming me. I stayed there until I felt the need to go to my Bible. As I was reading, I saw a vision. Standing before me was Jesus, as if He were a human barrier, shielding me from the arrows of anger. He then said to me, “But Beth, you ARE unloving.” Without hesitation, I confessed, “LORD you are RIGHT, I AM unloving. And peace began to flood my soul. It was as though the anger was blinding me to see what Jesus could see deep in my heart. And when he shielded me from the arrows of anger, then I could see too.

“She was right, I have to call her back and tell her,” I realized. Quickly, I called her and confessed that she was correct, “I had been unloving toward my husband.” I was so thankful to her for her rebuke and asked for forgiveness for my anger.

After that, a miracle happened. All of the walls fell. Walls that had been built in this relationship for years, now crumbling. She began to apologize for her criticalness to me and her criticalness and lack of love towards her own husband. That precious day, we both confessed our inabilities to love and then found ourselves filled with mercy and grace for each other. Compassion for the other for the sins we both bore.

With my heart laid bare before Him in all of my anger and bitterness, Jesus' love and mercy for me gently revealed the sin in my heart. Even in the midst of my lack of love and mercy for others, His love broke down walls.

THE ACCUSER TOOTIN THE FAKE-LOVE HORN

I am so grateful for what my relative told me. It was a much needed rebuke.

However, there is a big difference between loving rebuke and accusing.

In our society today, we toot the fake-love horn and accuse people or groups of not being loving towards others. We hear it from the pulpit, schools, religions, friends, family, social media, T.V., medical groups, social justice movements, signs, books, t shirts etc.

The accuser throws stones with the message, “Look how loving and tolerant I am, but you are unloving, intolerant, non-inclusive, phobic and racist. What??

We can't stand before another with rock in hand as the Accuser himself and then proclaim our love for people.

It's called speaking out of both sides of our mouths. We are lying to ourselves, others and to God.

SO don't be fooled by this fake love message.

Because if we really loved, we would not be standing before another with a critical, accusing spirit, stoning people with our words, embracing the Accuser himself.

To accuse someone of wrong doing is to really possess self righteousness - you are the sinner, but look how righteous I am, look at all the good I am doing. The Pharisees accused Jesus of wrong doing but failed to look at the sin in their own heart all the while appearing and promoting their own goodness.

Interestingly, this is what is really in the heart of the accuser:

- When we accuse, we are really just confessing our own sin , because the reason WHY we accuse is because our hearts are guilty of the exact same sin we are accusing others of possessing.

As they say in Thailand - same same!!

- We accuse in order to HIDE this same sin which swims within our own hearts but often we are blind to it.

We can’t stand before others and accuse them of sin and then claim to possess love. “Look at you how unloving you are, but look at me how loving I am.” That's what's really being said. For to stand before another as their accuser is to hate them. Because that’s what the Devil does.

The answer to all of this "lack of love" is - look at your own heart and not others. Embrace Jesus and not the Accuser.

We are not responsible for the condition of someone else’s heart (unless parenting), but only our own before the throne of God.

Since Satan has been hurled down to the earth and kicked out of heaven, he can no longer accuse our brothers and sisters before God, BUT NOW he wrecks havoc on the earth by getting the brothers and sisters to accuse each other.

Satan was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down (the devil).

But woe to the earth and sea, because the devil has gone down to you. He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.

Revelation 12:9b,10, 12b

THOSE DIFFICULT TO LOVE

All of us have someone in our lives that is difficult to love. I am often reminded of the verse in Matthew 5 - What are you doing more than others? Even the pagans love those who are easy to love.

Are we going to step up, stop the accusations and look at the sin in our own heart?

Unfortunately, it is easier to accuse another of their sin, rather than look at our own sin. It costs us NOTHING to accuse (just words), but costs us EVERYTHING to die to ourself and let Jesus reveal where our own lack of love lurks in the darkness.

Our inability to love those who are difficult comes from the sin we EACH possess deep in OUR OWN hearts. There is a strong reason why we can't love them...and it usually stems from a host of "lovelies"...bitterness, anger, un-forgiveness, resentment, pride, jealousy, self-righteousness, harshness, impatience, rebellion, gossip or maybe sexual sin.

When these sins are purged from our hearts, then Christ’s love can fully come forth in us for others. And no amount of good works prove that love; it is only Jesus’ righteousness in us. That's why the Fruit of the Spirit has to do with the heart, not works. That's why good works follow a righteous heart.

Our repentant and blameless heart before God ushers in the Fruit of the Spirit so that we are empowered to love those who are difficult to love.

Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

Matthew 3:9

LOVE GOD FIRST

The world is pushing and guilt tripping people with a fake love message. Love others, love love love. No need to love God, just love others. The world would be a better place if we all just loved each other. NO IT WOULDN’T!! The world would be a better place if we FIRST loved God, THEN we could truly love others. The reason the world is such a mess is because the world does not love God.

So don't be fooled by this fake “love” message. A message promoting love and tolerance of humanity, all the while cursing, rejecting and turning away from God and bonding with the Devil.

It is a lie from the enemy if we think we can love others and be in rebellion to God.

It is IMPOSSIBLE to love thy neighbor as thyself without loving God FIRST. For He is love and void of Him there is no love. For love comes through Him, for Him and by Him. NEVER without Him.

Do not trust this guilt-tripping message that we are not loving our fellow man enough, when this message does not emphasize the first commandment and does not demonstrate the willingness to first own our own sin before God. Be on guard with the message of promoting love without loving God first! For to love God is to love Him with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength. A heart of humility and meekness willing to be taught, corrected, rebuked and disciplined, - a wisdom seeker.

The second commandment cannot be fulfilled without first following the greatest commandment - love GOD with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength.

THIS is what births love to our fellow man. It is a meek, humble, repentant heart before God.

Jesus declared, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the FIRST and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Matthew 22:37

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

The Ten Commandments ARE love - love for God, then love for others.

So when America threw out the Ten Commandments, they threw out love.

It's pretty simple.

You don’t love God...you don’t love others.

You love God...you love others.

For no one can truly love another without fully loving God first.

He knew we could not do the second without the first and since God is love and created love, then it can ONLY come from God.

If we are having trouble loving others, then the root cause is we are really having trouble loving God...somewhere sin lurks in the darkness of our hearts. If someone is struggling to show us love, it's because they are first struggling to love God or fully grasp His love for them. He is NEVER second. It is always love Him first and THEN you will be able to love others.

To truly love another, our hearts must be purified with fire. To give someone love is to give them our pure heart. To let God judge OUR hearts first of the sin which blocks us from loving, is to love God first.

We all struggle with love. I burned with hatred for those who took the life of my child. My hatred could not have been removed if not for the Blood of Jesus.

We all have wounds and we have all wounded others. When we point the finger at other people for their lack of love then we are just self-righteous hypocrites.

It is only the Almighty God and His Word that takes our hatred away and replaces it with His love.

When our love is devoted to God and our hearts are meekly submitted to KNOW and love Jesus, He purifies our hearts to be ABLE to reflect that love to others and follow His commands by His grace.

SPIRIT THEN FRUIT

HE is the one who pours love in our hearts for people. It is produced ONLY by Him when we love Him first. It is His Holy Spirit that gives us compassion, mercy and love for another.

And you will know them by their fruit. The first fruit is love and that love can ONLY come from the Spirit of God himself, poured out upon our hearts to love as He loves. So if we claim love, but do not love God, we have not love. And if we claim to love God, but then stand as another’s accuser, we have not love.

If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

1 Corinthians 13:2

The virtues of love in 1 Corinthians 13 must FIRST be towards God, then they will be for man.

And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Romans 5:5

Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.

Luke 6:44

HOW WE LOVE GOD FIRST

To fear God is to love Him with all of our heart:

1. Thank and praise God for His great love for us.

2. Obey His commandments.

3. Believe His infallible Word.

4. Repent as the Teacher reproofs and disciplines.

5. Trust Him, not your own understanding.

6. Flee from evil.

7. Praise and thank Him. Stop grumbling and complaining.

8. Take safety in His presence, His word, His Name, His flesh and blood rather than other things. Believing His word, declare it and acknowledge His presence and talk to Him. Trust in His broken flesh and sacrificed blood for your healing.

9. Delight in Him.

10.Obey Him.

11. Ask Him to reproof, discipline and correct your heart before Him.

12. Commit your ways, your plans, your troubles to Him.

13. Wait for Him.

14. Turn from anger and wrath.

15 Ask for His wisdom.

16. Seek Him with your whole heart...like a hidden treasure.

17. And if we can't do any of these, then cry out for His Holy Spirit night and day.

May we love others through the power of His Holy Spirit, because we love God, because Christ loved us first, while we were sinners, He still died for us.