How often we try to run ahead of the Lord! We can get so caught up in the thought of being busy for God we run off without Him. Yet, we can do nothing without Him. We cannot witness in our own strength. We cannot get people healed, saved or delivered in our own strength. We can barely get through the day without the anointing that comes to give us grace and strength. It's tiring! We cannot even love those we already love without God's love flowing through us. I know. I've proven it more than once!
We forget sometimes, that God stepped out of heaven and manifested as a human being, so that we could see with our own eyes a demonstration of Divine Love. The world was in such a need of an encounter with Love, that He decided to come to earth and show us how to love others properly. Divine Love took the form of humanity so that when the time was right, it would communicate the Father’s love in a way that mankind could comprehend. Love took on the role of Defender, Protector, Redeemer of the Lost, and Teacher of all things right and good. He took on the role of Healer of our hurts, Deliverer of the oppressed and tormented, and Supreme Authority over heaven, earth and the underworld. Then, when the world was convicted of such a pure and holy Love, we said, “Enough! We can stand no more of this conviction! Leave us with our cold love! Leave us with our judgments!” So we crucified, in the most painful way possible, the One who loved us. We mocked Him, spit at Him, whipped Him in our anger and accused Him of things that weren't true, in order to keep from having to feel the deep conviction that our own ability to love selflessly was seriously flawed and in need of an overhaul.We could not stand to have Him around anymore, but Love took it all without complaint. All the beating, through his flesh was pierced with nails, and He even carried His own cross to His death. Once again, Love demonstrated to the world His selfless devotion to us, even when we did everything possible to show Him we were unworthy of his loyalty and acted as His enemy. He took it, and wore a crown of bloody thorns as payment for our sins.
A disconnect occurs when people lose their love. You see, judgments, criticisms and fault finding come from hearts that are cold and lack love. Those that feel hurt, rejected, abandoned or offended by the harshness of life often have a hard time receiving love. They don’t trust it. They have taken their heart into their own hands and resist vulnerability towards God and others. Real love makes them suspicious. The love-starved heart will run away from the very thing that is needed to heal them, simply because people construct walls out of self-preservation. I'm not just talking about the people who haven't accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. I'm talking to those who are His. When life has worn us down, our strength is depleted, and so is our ability to love. If we're not careful, we can become just as cold in our love towards the Lord as those that don't even know Him.
Our efforts to be helpful to others or our good intentions to offer advice are often shunned by those that we seek to heal, simply because they do not yet understand this great Love. Their eyes have not yet been opened to receive spiritual truth because they lack an encounter with God. How often we get the order backwards, and want them to receive truth before they've ever encountered Love! It can only come through revelation. A heart that is distrustful of others does not know how to truly give or receive love. It sees everything through a filter of suspicion, criticism or judgment rather than realizing there is such a thing as pure, unconditional love and acceptance, and it's found through Jesus Christ.
A heart that has wandered away from Truth becomes a mocker of all that is authentic and divine. All we have to do is turn on the TV and look at how mainstream America has adopted rebellion, debauchery, and evil as the new normal. We look to vampires, devil worship, sexual exploitation and witchcraft as our sources of entertainment. Not because we are necessarily in agreement with all of it, but because we find the supernatural realm fascinating and enticing. A heart that fills itself with darkness can only ever become darker, colder, and less and less in touch with Truth. It will reject Love and Truth because of being immersed in worldly philosophies that say, “Anything is acceptable. As long as it feels ok, justify whatever you want. After all, you are in charge of your own life, right? Don’t you have free will to do whatever you please, and live however you please?” Yes...we do. God will not violate our will. Father will not force us to love Him. But do we really, really want to live estranged from Love? Do we want to live estranged from Mercy and Forgiveness? Are we really asking to live apart from His blessings, healing and the kindness of a Father who loves us? Is THAT what we really want? If it is, then we may certainly have what we insist upon, but if we give it some thought, I don't think that is what anyone really wants.
A heart that is out of touch with their heavenly Father looks for a new version of truth that is not based on love, acceptance and a Holy God that died to take away the penalty of our sins; but seeks to establish a reality based on the lies, deception and rejection they have accepted as truth. And so, because people desperately lack an encounter with Divine Love, they reject the One that came to heal and save them.
We forget sometimes, that it is the kindness of God that leads people to repentance. Abba Father, open our eyes to realize we need more of you!! It’s not all our advice, telling others what they need to do, or what they should do. It’s not an invitation to join us at church, or the fact that we may feel we have the counsel that someone else really needs. That’s going to change their mind about what they think about God. It’s not the form of Christianity, a fish on a bumper sticker, a church program or the size of a church that leads people to seek out this sinner-Savior relationship. It’s Love. Pure and simple. Until we have more of it, we fall desperately short of being the kind of witness that really truly changes a person’s mind about wanting to get to know the God we say we know. It starts with us. You. Me. Because we’re the gospel people see. If our love has grown cold and stale, how can that ever be attractive to someone else? If we have lost our passion, how can anyone else fall in love with Someone that no longer captivates us?
When we have had a long, dry season, it can become easy to become disillusioned to the things of God. He wants to come and refresh us again and give us hope for our future. How often people have asked, "What is my assigment, Lord? Why are we still just sitting here?" Yet, during the trials and the testing, one thing you may not have understood is the fact that the Lord deliberately disconnected one of your battery cables so that your battery would run out of charge. It's a lengthy process as the anointing wanes and your well runs dry. But that too, can be the design of the Lord. You must be emptied before you can be filled. You are like those empty clay jars at the wedding feast of Cana in John chapter 2. Sitting on the sidelines waiting to be used, but in order to fulfill your purpose you must first be filled. The emptier you are, the more He will fill you - when the time is right. He wants to give you a NEW anointing, and He doesn't leave any of the old wine in the vessel. He completely empties it so that what is poured in is brand new wine!! New power comes with a new anointing. The Lord gave me an illustration in a dream about how we as believers keep taking used batteries out of various remotes and things and put them into our controllers, thinking they will keep working. We keep trying to get enough of a charge out of old used batteries to string us along for a little while, when God is saying, "You need a brand new battery, not a recharge!" He has a new anointing for us in this season, and it's an anointing of Divine Love. Only Divine Love is powerful enough to break the stubborn resistance of a hardened heart. Only Divine Love is powerful enough to break the hold of the enemy's grip. Only Divine Love is powerful enough to work miracles like we've never seen before! We cannot give away what we lack. We can only give away what fills us. (That is really food for thought, isn't it?!?) We have to be filled with Love before we can leave such a remarkable witness behind that people will be running to catch up with us and breathlessly ask us, “Wait!! What just touched me? There is something different... about you. HOW do I get that??”
Love is what turns the enemy’s camp upside down. Love is what changes minds and challenges hearts to want to make a new judgment. Love never fails because Jesus never fails. If we do it His way, hearts WILL turn. Love is what causes people to want to receive that Forgiveness and Acceptance for themselves. Love is what draws others closer so that they can change their mind about what they once believed. That is what real repentance is. Only Love can change a heart that has rejected Him and exchanged Truth for a different philosophy. We can’t do it in our own strength. We need a fresh anointing! We need Love to come down and fill us once again with a life-changing encounter that reconnects us to the heart of our Father. Love has a name and He is called Jesus Christ. This is the love that will change the world.
Father,
I thank You for showing me that I need a fresh encounter with You. You said that everyone who asks will receive, and everyone who seeks, will find. You said that everyone who knocks, the door will be opened to them. I come this day seeking You. I seek an encounter with the living God that will fill me with Divine Love. I ask for a new spiritual battery! Let a new anointing and a fresh anointing come over me and reveal new things about you, Lord Jesus. I thank You for meeting me where I am and answering the cry of my heart for more of you. In Jesus name, amen.
