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Topic : GOD IS LOVE
Another scripture that I find very helpful is this: “And we know (understand, recognize, are conscious of, by observation and by experience) and believe (adhere to and put faith in and rely on) the love God cherishes for us.
God is love, and he who dwells and continues in love dwells and continues in God, and God dwells and continues in him. In this [union and communion with Him]
love is brought to completion and
attains perfection with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment [with assurance and boldness to face Him],
because as He is, so are we in this world.
There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect)
love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror!
For fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and [so] he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love [is not
yet grown into love’s complete perfection]” (1 John 4:16–18 AMP).
Love goes to the door, opens it, and commands, “Fear, you go out!”
This doesn’t mean you are not a Christian if you have anxieties and fears. It just means that you need to grow a little bit more and learn more of God’s Word.
“We love Himbecause He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). God is a great big wonderful God. We cannot put Him in a corner and say, “This is all there is to God.” There are so many scintillating, marvelous rays of the divine personality that we could never capture themall.
But one of the richest is this: God
is love. There are two forces in the world—fear and love.
Dread, terror, and fear bring sickness, sorrow, trouble, and anxiety.
On the other hand, there is the kingdomof love. This flow of love brings life, health, and peace.
The enemy would make us believe that the burden of dread and fear that he places on the human heart is sent from God.
He tries to make us think that we are trembling at the voice of God, when all the time he is the one who is causing
our anxiety.
Some people say, “I can’t understand the difference between the voice of God and the voice of the enemy.” There are some areas where this may be true in a sense, but usually you will find it is the enemy who brings fear, and it is God who brings love.
I never become frightened when my wife says to me, “Darling, I love you.” This doesn’t disturb me. It doesn’t make
me tremble or run to a counselor and say, “I amdisturbed because my wife says she loves me.” That would be foolishness. It brings comfort and joy to my heart to know that my wife loves me.
Love doesn’t bring fear and torment. Satan does!
When the enemy comes along with his bag of fear, we shake and tremble. “I was afraid” was the excuse of the man
who buried his talent in the earth (Matthew 25). Fear caused him to bury his talent rather than use it.
God is not the author of such fear. God is love!
There is a way in which we should fear God, and this kind of fear is more than just reverence, which is the way we usually
think of fearing God. When God tells us to do something, we must do it. Otherwise, we will have to accept the consequences
of disobedience to His commands.
There is no fear in love, but full-grown love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror!
As for me, I amnot going to fool around with God, because there have been times when I’ve had to learn the hard
way. God will put you through one of His grades in the schoo of life, and you’ll be sure to graduate, because you won’t want
to go through that a second time!
God loves those who tremble at His Word. We should be ready to listen to Him. But this is a different kind of reverence
and fear. The fear that the enemy brings has torment.
The deepest desire of my heart is that I might please Him who counted me worthy to be called into His service and to be
a useful instrument in His hands. But even greater than my desire to be used by God is His desire to use me. He wants us all to be fruitful Christians, and He wants to help us be fruitful.
