Know How Much He Loves You

The AA cult teaches people that they have to keep working.

They have to remain vigilant, so that the disease of alcoholism does not rear its ugly head and take down the alcoholic.

What kind of a life is that? It is not a life.

In fact, a habit of constantly looking at one's thoughts and feelings creates nothing but pain and frustration, followed by the depression of handing your peace away to someone else every time someone says or impresses you with something that offends you.

For a program which seeks to rid people of self-centeredness, AA makes people more self-centered than ever. How can one escape from oneself if you are still looking at yourself?

I had written in a prior blog post that the last person we need to be looking at is. . .ourselves.

We are invited to look on Jesus, the author and Finisher of Faith, and when we look at Him, we are transformed from glory glory by His Spirit (2 Peter 3: 18)

Now, today, or rather yesterday, I have begun to understand the importance of looking at Jesus, not thinking about Him, not conjuring Him up, but recognizing Him as alive and well in my life, regardless of how I feel or what I think.

We are released from dead Adam to serve Christ Jesus in the newness of the Spirit.

This Spirit is a real power, a true force, the same Spirit who brooded over the face of the waters, like a mother hen warming and comforting her chicks.

This Spirit does not depend on our thoughts and feelings. This Spirit is alive and well, and He wishes to abide in us.

Today, we do not have to pray the prayer that David had prayed: "Take not thy Holy Spirit from me."

Today, we know that Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13: 6)

This security has nothing to do with what we feel.

Now, the focus needs to focus on knowing how much God our Father loves us.

I had some misplaced understandings about God's love for me. I had confused love with feelings. Many of  us do.

Yet Paul is very clear about understanding God's love for us:

"14For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." (Ephesians 3: 14-19)

Many people ignore that this prayer was Paul's Number One prayer: That we would have the strength to understand God's love for us. That Jesus would feel at home in our hearts, not feel left out or restricted.

Many Christians get saved, but then they lock Jesus up. Instead of allowing His life to flow, we stifle His life through our efforts.

Paul warned against this return to self-effort based Galatianism:

"20I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." (Galatians 2: 20-21)

We do not understand how much He loves us, and we do not understand how widespread is His love for us, either. That is why so many Christians struggle with "the Christian Life". There is no way that anyone of us can live this life. Jesus is our Life, and He is alive!

Today, the goal of our walk with Christ Jesus is not doing more for Him, but rather letting Him do more through us.

Still struggling with this revelation? We all do. That is what it means to grow in grace!

Faith is all about seeing what is not visible to our eyes, yet it is there nonetheless. Not by feelings, because we know that there is a sun, even on cloudy days. If we could see God, then we would be God, and that was the very temptation which brought down Adam:

"No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us." (1 John 4: 12)

Now, do not think that you need to start loving so that God will abide in you. That is not what it's about. John clears up that potential misunderstanding very quickly:

"9In 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. 10Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4: 9-10)

Then

"17Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 18There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 19We love him, because he first loved us." (1 John 4: 17-19)

God is Love, and He manifested this love toward us, then perfected this love with us thorugh His Son, then we in turn love others.

If we want to love others, we need to know how much God loves us.

This love cannot rest in our minds as a static understanding, but a dynamic revelation outside of us. Just as the sun is shining in the solar system, just as the strong force holds all molecules together right now, so too God's love toward you and me is red hot, and we need to understand more of it.

While the AA cult claims love and tolerance is its code, the truth is the God's love does not tolerate any substitute but Jesus as our Savior, at the Cross and at the Father's right hand.