We little understand the love of God. Many talk about it and repeat the fact "God loves me," without ever feeling the touch of heaven's embrace around their lives. God's love is so awesome and huge it goes beyond our human comprehension. BUT through the SPIRIT, we can embrace the love of God and feel His tender mercies towards us as His children so we can then go out and share with others the good news that God is not angry with man, He has come to redeem man from his fallen nature through Jesus Christ. No wonder John wrote, "What manner of LOVE!"

By Chris McDonald

TEXT: 1 John 3:1  - Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knows us not, because it knew Him not. 

Divine love is "the very flame of the Lord (GOD)," the burning, all consuming, everlasting passion of His heart {Song of Songs,8:6: Jer 31:3) We little understand the love of God for us. Sadly, when someone inquires whether we know God loves us, we all quickly answer "yes." But that yes is a mere mental assertion that somewhere in our lives we heard someone tell us that God loves us so we assumed that it must be true. Very few believers have ever embraced the revelation of God's love for them. As a result, their faulty view of God's love for them has caused them to operate in a spirit that hinders the flow of God's love from them to others. Many who are spiteful and unforgiving are like that because they have not come to the realization that God has forgiven them. Many who are cold in their love to others are like that because in their view of God's love for them, they are only loved when they perform, not just because love is what God is and love is what God does - PERIOD. 

God's love has many facets. It is full of mercy and grace, compassion and peace. Yet another side of God's love is rooted in His utmost holiness and righteousness and will never allow Him to wink or pass over sin. Sin bears a price and if we willfully disobey God we will pay that price. Be not deceived, God is not mocked. We can throw ourselves on His mercy but we will reap what we sow in the flesh. Love always chastens. Love that doesn't confront and chasten is not love. 

Another aspect of God's love is through the gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit. Whenever the Spirit of God moves and He releases a gift of healing upon an individual who is sick - that's a testament or testimony to God's love. God does not put sickness on people. He may allow it to occur or tarry in the person's healing but it is ALWAYS God's will to heal. In another journal, we may take a look at divine healing, but know that if you are battling sickness and disease right now, your Heavenly Father is watching over you and it is not HIS WILL that you are suffering. The suffering may go on for a season without remedy but it will ultimately result in the will of God being done in your life and the lives of those around you.

The unction we have as Christians is another gift from the Lord that also testifies of His love for us. Just as a parent who truly loves their child warns that child of impending dangers around them, our Heavenly Father has given us the witness of the Holy Ghost to quicken and convict us of sin when we are headed for peril in our spiritual lives. We may turn aside from that check or even ignore it, but let NO MAN say that God doesn't care because we fall into temptation and sin. God will go to HELL and get you backslider to bring you back to Jesus if He has to. That's how much He loves us. I heard it said not too long ago like this - God loves you the way you are, but He loves you too much to let you stay that way. His Spirit has been given to us to quicken and to guide us and keep us on the path of life. The key is us listening and obeying.

Yet another aspect of God's love is the great salvation He has provided for us through Jesus Christ. Paul, the writer of Hebrews, said we are in eternal jeopardy if we neglect so great a salvation. That salvation brings blessings and benefits with it. God just doesn't save us through Jesus to take us to heaven - He saves to bring us life and bring it more abundantly. The salvation He gives us is free but not cheap. We cannot embrace this reality and live in sin. If we say we are saved and still decide we want to live in sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. God's love keeps us from Hell but it also keeps us from the sins that will take us there. Grace is the power and operation of God's Spirit, not just a free ticket into the pearly gates. We must depend on God's grace if we are to experience the fullness of our salvation. This is  the theme of this journal. Behold, what manner of LOVE! And yes, that love sir reaches even to YOU!

God's Love is Manifested To Us Through Salvation

1 John 4:6-12  - We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.  - [7] Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loves is born of God, and knoweth God. [8] He that loves not knoweth not God; for God is love. [9] In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. [10] Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. [11] Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. [12] No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwells in us, and his love is perfected in us. 

John 3:16-17 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. [17] For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

The gospel according to John and the three epistles which bear his name each indicate that first, God is love and second, that love is manifested to us through salvation in Jesus Christ. For God SO LOVED the world, that HE GAVE. It's the principle that drives Agape, or God-type, LOVE. We little understand this concept anymore in the church. The message of the Cross has been pushed back and back and back to the point that we no longer embrace the power of its sacrifice in our lives. Love is sacrifice. God is love and because He is love, He paid the ultimate sacrifice to redeem fallen creatures. And the depth of that love screams at man's selfishness and self-righteousness because it was not while we were GODLY that God did this - He did it while WE WERE YET SINNERS!

Romans 5:8  - But God expressed and showed his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 

John 15:13  - Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 

1 Peter 3:18  - For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 

John said greater LOVE hath no man than to lay down his own life for his friends. But Jesus didn't lay down His life for friends. He laid down His life for drug addicts, prostitutes, thieves, the religious, the blind, the poor, the hurting, the dying. The worst man had to offer God was not enough to keep God from loving man - and the worst we have today is not enough to keep God from loving us either. The church has made a mockery of this in the way we treat those outside our walls. We dance, shout, speak in tongues, boast of our accomplishments and a hurting, dying world languishes in sin awaiting a touch from heaven. Jesus is their only hope and our churches should be cathedrals of that hope. We are the LIGHT. As the moon reflects the sun's glory, we as "moon" (S. Solomon 6:1) should be reflecting the GLORY OF THE SON!

Why are we so quick to judge people and condemn people before they are saved? John said the Lord didn't come to condemn the world, the world is condemned already. When we go fishing in the natural we don't scale our fish before we catch them. But so many of us want to scale the fish we catch in the spiritual without allowing the Holy Spirit to do His work in their lives. For this reason many of our fish are lost out to sea before they can receive the fullness of ministry the Lord has entrusted us with.

I can assure you two things about the fish we catch. One, they will stink. God has never saved any one who did not need saving. Some stink a little more than others but before we came to Jesus - WE ALL STANK! (if that is the proper word, forgive me Ms. Ann) None of us can boast when the Lord saved us that He got a "winner" for His Kingdom. Friend, we all were LOSERS! No exceptions are living among us. I met a man the other night who was begging for money on the side of the road in Knoxville, TN. He was dirty, needed a bath and to be quite frank with you smelled something awful from the stench of alcohol. He told me he was trying to get to Oklahoma City, OK to reach his mother. I asked him where he was sleeping that evening and he said "under this bridge here." I said "No you're not!" Lisa and I put him up for the night and ministered to him both spiritually and physically. As I prayed with him I couldn't help but wander and think, "Lord, would this man be welcome in our churches here in Knoxville?" Are we really SERIOUS about wanting revival. Friend, when revival hits its going to hit with those out there in the seas of sin who will probably be very offensive to many at first. But if we will love them with the love that only Jesus can birth in our hearts we will see harvest.

Secondly, the Holy Spirit will do a much better job at scaling the fish than we EVER WILL. God bless our ignorant hearts and arrogant heads sometimes in the church. People come in with habits such as cigarettes, drugs, alcohol, and we're very quick to become their doctor and physician all at once telling them how to quit. We're very quick to point out to someone who don't dress like we do that we have a "dress code," and "standards" in our church. Then we'll let some arrogant, self-righteous bigot sit on our church board for 40 years just because he owns the local bank downtown and tithes so he can control the church and never deal with those issues. Friend, we are not the judge of others. I don't care how much we think we can do the work of the Holy Spirit in someone else's life - WE CAN'T! That goes for pastors just as it does for laymen. We can only obey God with what we say and do to those who have came into the fellowship of the Lord. No matter what we think though, the end result will only be done RIGHT if we allow the HOLY SPIRIT to do it!

God's Love Is Revealed Through His Blessings

James 1:17-18  - Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. [18] Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruit of his creatures.

God not only shows us love through His salvation but He also shows us love through His blessings. We cannot buy these blessings nor can we earn them. The only thing we can do is obey. When we are obedient children we can be assured our Heavenly Father is going to give us the Kingdom of God. It is His GOOD PLEASURE to do so. We are in the world, but NOT OF IT. Our confidence and faith don't rest in the world system to provide our needs. Yes, the Lord has given us the POWER to get wealth. YES the Lord directs us to work and make a living to earn our provision as men. But there are times when the Lord directs us to just trust Him for provision. If a person has been called into the ministry then he should live of the ministry. God only asks obedience, then the blessings will come.

Ps 51:18 - Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

Luke 12:32 - Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Eph 1:5 - Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

Eph 1:9 - Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:

Phil 2:13 - For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

II Th 1:11 - Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power:
 

There are many type blessings. Some are financial, some are spiritual, some of physical healings, others are just comfort and assurance when we are discouraged. But no matter the blessing He is doing this for us to KNOW HIS LOVE for us. Blessings are never and have never been given by God to make us greedy and cause us to love the blessing instead of the blessER! The church has become just that sad to say in this hour. We have become a "bless me club" that meets every Sunday wanting to receive receive receive receive receive. Friend, this is the hour the Lord is calling us to GIVE GIVE GIVE GIVE GIVE. When we GIVE we then put our selves in a place to truly RECEIVE!

When we receive from our Father's hand, we are receiving His love to us. He does not OWE us a thing. If God never gave us another thing in our lives - HE HAS GIVEN ENOUGH! BUT IT IS HIS GOOD PLEASURE TO REVEAL HIS LOVE FOR US THROUGH HIS BLESSINGS.

           

God's Love Is Revealed By His Correction,

Hebrews 12:5-13  - And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: [6] For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receives. [7] If ye endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? [8] But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. [9] Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? [10] For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. [11] Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. [12] Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; [13] And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
 

I can never remember a time in my life I've enjoyed getting a whipping! We all remember the infamous words of every parent when we were kids that "this will hurt me more than you." HA HA HA. Yea, right. That's how I felt when I was younger but as I have gotten older and have children of my own I realize that is so very true. And friend when the Lord's mercy has to reach out to us in chastisement as children, it hurts His heart as well. But He does it because of HIS GREAT LOVE for us as His children. Whom the Lord "LOVES" He chastens. Jesus reiterated this to the church at Laodicea - "as many as I LOVE I rebuke and chasten."

God chastens those whom He loves. Sometimes this chastening can make us feel like He has left us but that is not so. God never leaves His own. Just like a loving Father brings correction to His children to keep them on the path of life so will our Heavenly Father do the same to us if we stray. I've come to learn this much about God's correction. He is a gentle corrector. His Spirit will deal with us about a certain matter for a period of time before God moves in this type of love. His dealings are always just and longsuffering. His mercy runs deep. But there comes a time when the Lord's mercy reaches a point He must move in judgment. It's not His first nature-it's always His last. And even when judgment comes it's to separate the things in our lives that are hindering OUR LOVE for Him and producing barriers to His loving blessings to us. That's powerful!

Even in judgment God is showing us His love.  His love is wrapped up in His mercy.

Psalm 85:7  - Show us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation.

Psalm 85:10  - Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
 

Friend, we ALL need mercy. To state it another way we need ALL the mercy and grace we can get. We cannot survive without His mercy and grace! Mercy and grace have met in Jesus Christ - and through His words of chastening at times we are seeing the Lord's concern for us and deep love and passion for His children.

God's Love Is Revealed By The Gifts of the Spirit -

1 Cor. 12:7-8  - But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. [8] For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;

Ephes. 4:9-16  - (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? [10] He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) [11] And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; [12] For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: [13] Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: [14] That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; [15] But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: [16] From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, makes increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Paul tells us the purpose of the manifestations of the Spirit are for our PROFIT. In Ephesians he takes the revelation farther saying that the ministry giftings are for the "effectual working in the measure of every part, making INCREASE of the body unto the edifying of itself IN LOVE." In other words, when the gifts of the Spirit are allowed to operate in a body God's love is being revealed.

 What better way for God to reveal His love to us than through healings, prophetic utterances over our lives, exhortations, edifying, encouragement, deliverance and grounding us into the truth? My God help us in the church. Of course Satan don't like the gifts of the Spirit. Of course Satan has blinded us to the gifts of the Spirit. Of course Satan has drove a wedge between the church that does believe in the supernatural of God and the church that does not. Of course Satan has done all he can to inspire men of "so-called" education and higher learning to do everything they can to keep the HOLY SPIRIT in check and out of their churches. WHY?

Because when Satan deceives us into hindering the work of the Holy Spirit, he is hindering God's LOVE in our lives. And the opposite of love is FEAR. Fear has torment. (1 John 4:17-18) Show me a church where there is no move of the Holy Spirit and I will show you tormented people. Show me a church where the gifts of the Spirit are allowed to operate in their fullness and I will show you a church where there is a powerful covering of LOVE! But when the HOLY GHOST is rejected or resisted we cut off that love from our people and ourselves. There is coming a day very soon before Jesus comes that the part of the church that continues to reject the Holy Spirit will given over to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. They will dry up and blow away. God is tempering His body right now with an outpouring of Grace that will keep the part of the church that believes in the gifts on the path of life and truth. God's love will do these things. But if we through unbelief and fear reject His Spirit, we are rejecting HIS LOVE. Neighbor, we can ILL afford to do that in these last days.

God's Love Is Revealed By the Unction and Anointing He Gives -

I Jn 2:20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.

God's love for us as His body is revealed through His revelatory work through His Spirit. God does NOT want us to be in the dark about the events facing us as the church. If we are in the dark it's because we have either chosen to be or we have rejected truth. Neighbor, when you reject truth the only alternative is a lie. That is a sign of the last days. MANY will believe a LIE and be damned because they received not the LOVE of the truth. The truth has come to us in the PERSON of Jesus Christ, NOT in the form of our doctrinal statement from our church. THE TRUTH will set us free. Satan may counterfeit doctrine, but he cannot counterfeit CHRIST. THERE iS A REAL move of God in the earth today the enemy is trying hard to counterfeit and make into a lie. When he can't get sinners to take up his cause, then he turns to backslidden saints. Many fight against the things of God while happily supporting the things of Satan - ALL IN IGNORANCE because they have believed a lie.

What horror will it be in the end when we stand before ALMIGHTY GOD and see the lies we have believed on this earth from the enemy. Neighbor, the HOLY GHOST has come to us to REVEAL the Lord Jesus to us - the TRUTH. He is called the SPIRIT OF TRUTH. If we reject TRUTH, then we will believe a LIE and be damned. The choice is really ours. God has give us all as believers an UNCTION from the HOLY ONE where we will KNOW all things. We don't have to sit in darkness. That is part of God's love to us in these last days.

1 Cor. 2:10-12  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God. [11] For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. [12] Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

God's Love Is Revealed By the Communion and Embrace of the Holy Spirit -

2 Cor. 13:14  - The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

Paul closed out the second letter to the Corinthians by stating three things that are vital to our survival in these days that are ahead: - the grace of the Lord Jesus, the LOVE OF GOD and the communion of the Holy Spirit. We cannot know the Love of God except through the grace of the Lord Jesus and that grace and love have been revealed to us BY THE SPIRIT.

2 Cor. 1:20-24  - For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. [21] Now he which establishes us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; [22] Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. [23] Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth. [24] Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.

1 Cor. 2:6-9  - Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: [7] But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: [8] Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. [9] But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

I have not even scratched the surface on such a subject as this. I hope the Holy Spirit has planted some seeds and will water them in your heart and life to embrace God's love in even a deeper way today. The days that are ahead of us are going to be days when we will need all of the love of God we can get. Jesus warned that in the last days the LOVE of many would wax could because sin would abound. We are living in those days right now. Things are not going to get better but worse. Seducers will seduce even more and deceivers will they themselves be deceived more and deceive others more. Darkness will seek to cover the earth but the LIGHT and the GLORY OF God's love will shine too. BEHOLD, what manner of love has been shown to us in these times. Neighbor, it's getting late and if you don't know the Lord's love today in reality in the person of Jesus Christ - NOW IS THE DAY of salvation for you. Time is short. We need GOD. Shalom.