Quote from Forum Archives on February 8, 2002, 12:03 pm

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

I have a concern that I'd like to share with you today as we
reach the close of a business week. It involves dealing with
loving and taking risks. The Bible is pretty clear that the most
important things of all are that we love the Lord our God
completely, with ALL of our being and that we love our "neighbor
as ourself". An excellent and complete discussion on this can be
found in Matthew 22, starting in verse 34. I encourage you to
read it yourself, particularly if you are not intimately familar
with the passage.

The message below, from the iExalt Insider! makes the statement
that "Too many times we are afraid to love like God loves for
fear that somehow we will be taken advantage of by others, or be
hurt by them. The truth is that you can never lose by loving like
God loves!"

I agree with the concept in principle, but the problem lies in
the fact that few of us actually love the way that God loves. If
we are completely grounded spiritually in God, and we are well
aware of the risks and consequences of our choices to love
others, knowing that some will reject us, others will take
advantage of us, and that these things are realities, not just
concepts - and we're still willing to give, then I say "Go
forward!" But before doing so, I stress that it is of vital
importance to know both the joys and the costs of this journey.

If you are a new Christian, and you have been hurt many times
before, and you are still feeling hurt, I'd add a caution to the
message that follows. I think it is most important to establish
a firm foundation of knowing and appreciating the power of God,
to learn, through experiences how to rely on God in all things
FIRST. Once those skills are cultivated, THEN we are prepared to
go out and take risks, but not before then.

The other caution I offer is that even when you are a Christian,
things that happen WILL hurt. Don't think that because you are a
Christian, somehow everything will automatically work out fine.
In one sense, that's true - our election as believers, if we
REALLY are believers, is assured. But each of us still lives in
the world, and disappointments and struggles abound. Don't think
for a moment that will change. If anything, the Christian faith
brings on new challenges. The Good News is that God is always
there with us to guide us continually.

So don't be afraid to "step out" in faith, but don't do so
foolishly, either. Before doing anything, call upon God for
guidance, direction, emotional and physical preparation, then
take a step, but remain with God continually. Then, and ONLY
then, will things work out as this article claims.

Your Brother in Christ,
Brian

Welcome to the iExalt Insider!

This demand of discipleship is so fundamental to everything about
being a Christian in fact so important that Jesus actually
stated that the entire law of both God and man was summed up in
this one thing - LOVE!

Without love there is no kingdom of God, no faith, no hope, no
eternal life! No empire, no civilization, has ever endured long
that is built on anything else -- indeed, it is the most powerful
thing God has given us.

I was preaching in the Midwest one day, when a woman came to me
with a little girl at her side. This woman showed by the cast on
her arm and some scars on the side of her face that she had been
in the hospital. She said, "I was in the hospital because of a
very serious fire. There were burns over two-thirds of my
body. My husband walked into the hospital room, took one look at
me, and said, 'You're not the woman I married.' " He left her to
marry someone younger and more beautiful. Human love says, "As
long as you stimulate me, as long as I can be proud of you, as
long as you're beautiful, I can love you. If you change, my love
for you changes." -- Erwin Lutzer, "Learning to Love," Preaching
Today, Tape No. 99.

The power of God's love is that it is not born "of perishable
seed, but of imperishable, " Therefore we don't have to worry
about the source or the supply. While it is true that God grants
us His love, we are responsible for the expression of it through
our life choices. What a tragic thing it is when someone accepts
Christ and now bears within themselves the very power of God's
love but yet chooses to treat others in a manner NOT worthy of
God's love! Peter encourages the believers to "rid yourselves of
all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every
kind."

Too many times we are afraid to love like God loves for fear
that somehow we will be taken advantage of by others, or be hurt
by them. The truth is that you can never lose by loving like God
loves!

Christ calls us into the most powerful of forces in the universe
His own love for His followers there are no exceptions to the
rule "love your brothers and your enemies".

1 John 4:16-17 "And so we know and rely on the love God has for
us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in
him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will
have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we
are like him."

One of the clearest demands of discipleship Jesus spoke about was
the issue of love. So powerful and central is this call to love
that Jesus said ALL of the law of God was fulfilled in this one
thing called "love." It was love that moved God to redeem us, so
powerful is God's love that the Bible says, "God is love" - so it
is only logical that those who are truly His disciples show His
kind of love.

2001- 2002 Dennis Marquardt . All Rights Reserved. This
resource and over 7000 others are available at www.isermons.com

=====
--
Brian Masinick, "The Mas", mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: www.geocities.com/masinick/

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