Love Like Jesus

Once we’ve received God’s love then nothing can separate us from it.

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John 13:34-35 ‘A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.’

Have you ever wondered what Jesus meant by this, and do we see this love within the church for fellow believers? Also, is it possible for us to love each other the way Christ loves us?

Let’s start by considering Jesus’s love. 

Firstly, we see in Romans 5:8 that His love is unconditional ‘But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us’. We don’t have to become perfect or reach a certain grade before He forgives us, we don’t have to do amazing or kind deeds. No! it was while we were still steeped in our sin that Christ died for us.

Secondly, in Romans 8:38-39 we see that His love is powerful and inseparable. ‘For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ Once we’ve received God’s love then nothing can separate us from it, even when we continue to get things wrong He still loves us. He may show this by disciplining us at times but as we turn to Him He embraces us with His love.

Thirdly in 2 Corinthians 5:21 we see that His love is sacrificial. 'God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.' Isn’t this amazing, that even though we were lost in our sin and deserving of death, we are the righteousness of God because Jesus became our sin and defeated it through His blood on the cross. 

Fourthly in John 13:12 we see His love is to serve. 'When He had finished washing their feet, He put on his clothes and returned to His place. ‘Do you understand what I have done for you?’ he asked them.'

Now let’s think about the church. Do we see this love within the body of Christ?

For instance, what causes church splits, arguments, angry outbursts and egotistical desires such as a need to lord it over our brothers and sisters, or to get the best job in the church (whatever we consider that may be), unforgiveness, selfishness and insincerity. It certainly isn’t the love of God. People who act this way live in the flesh not the Spirit. In fact Paul describes such people perfectly in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 ‘But mark this: there will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.’

Unfortunately we do see these things within the church, but if we want to see change and see the Love that Jesus commanded us to have for one another in the body of Christ, then we need to do something about it. God says in 2 Chronicles 7:14  ‘If My people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.‘ So how about it, are we ready to do this?

Finally, is it possible for us to love each other the way Christ loves us?

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Well the answer to that is Yes it is! We have the Holy Spirit within us so we have the Love of Christ within us too. John 4:7-11 says ‘Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.’ And 1 John 4:20-21 says  ‘Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And He has given us this command: anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.’

We’re never going to always agree with each other, we’re never always going to see eye to eye, we may from time to time fall out with each other. But if our love for each other is greater that our own opinion or the need to be right, then we have a chance. I think we need to ponder on what Jesus said to His disciples in John 13:12 and ask ourselves the same question. ‘Do you understand what I have done for you?’ He then went on to say ‘You call me “Teacher” and “Lord”, and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

I believe this has nothing to do with washing each other’s feet, but has everything to do with a servant heart and a heart that loves as Jesus loves. Brothers and sisters in Christ; ‘Do we really understand what He’s done for us’?

May God bless you.

Author: Kevin Hunt

May God bless and enrich your life

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Repairing and Restoring

What we perceive as failure, God sees as opportunity.

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Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins; 

you will restore the age-old foundations; 

you will be called Repairer of the Breach, 

Restorer of the Streets of Dwelling. (Isaiah 58:12) 

This passage from Isaiah explains the kind of fast that pleases the Lord, that which results in practical acts of mercy, justice, generosity, hospitality and family loyalty. That kind of humble  attitude gets God's attention.

Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; 

you will cry out, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ (Isaiah 58:9)

Isaiah could see that disaster was coming (Isaiah Ch. 22), but that the city would be delivered (Ch. 37), and eventually prosper again (Ch. 60). He could foresee a time of rebuilding, partly fulfilled a couple of centuries later under the leadership of Nehemiah.  Repairing the breaches in the city walls took humility but also gained honour. Their names are recorded in the Bible. (Nehemiah. 3).

Life can be tough and stressful. Like those walls people get hurt and damaged by the circumstances of life. God calls us to be builders and repairers, restoring one another to wholeness in the Name of Jesus. Our tools are the Word and the Spirit of God, applied through faith, hope and love, in prayerful encouragement of one another.

To me the concept of being a 'repairer of the breach' is the ministry of mending what has been broken in the life of an individual, bringing them back to wholeness and purpose in Christ. This naturally leads to being a 'restorer of streets', bringing whole communities back from chaos and despair to peace and prosperity. Sustained revival leads to social restoration. It is said that Paul's three years in Ephesus affected the religious and social fabric of the city for the next century. A brief study of revivals reveals subsequent positive changes beyond those who respond for salvation, touching whole communities.

Some time ago at a prayer day we received the following prophetic word:

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“I want you to know that I see beyond what you call broken, damaged or beyond repair. When I formed the world, I called it forth from nothing. When I made mankind, I created him from a handful of soil taken from the land.

What you call damaged, broken or beyond repair are simply the component parts of something new that I am planning and preparing to create.

So, bring those things, those people, those situations to my re-creation workshop and let me teach you how to see things in the light of my creative ability and power.”

When we see things falling apart, with no apparent remedy, God is putting it all together in His 're-creation workshop'. He is using the rubble of broken dreams and projects and using it to build a highway of holiness (Isaiah 35). He is clearing a way in the wilderness so that the glory of the Lord will be revealed (Isaiah 40) What we perceive as failure, God sees as opportunity. The God who repairs and restores invites us to join Him in this glorious work of renovation.

Author: John Plumb

May God bless and enrich your life

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