May 30 2009
The Miraculous Power of Love
I’ve been meditating on the Scripture in 1 John 4:18-19: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love because He first loved us.”
Because I don’t have a good handle on this concept, I’ve asked God to reveal to me the truth of these verses. If perfect love casts out fear, I obviously need to better grasp the notion of “perfect love.”
It helps to be able to visualize tough concepts, which is probably why He always brings me back to the picture of the little child with his dad. As a toddler whose father dotes on him, fixing all his hopes and dreams on that child, the child can be assured that he is treasured and cherished. And when he is confident in the love of his father he can rest, knowing dad will move heaven and earth to care for him. Knowing that means he will need to have no worries whatsoever.
That’s exactly what God does for us. He leans down, inclining His ear, to hear every word we say. And He takes our requests seriously, knowing our very heartcries, and what’s behind them. He never laughs at us or waves us away, or turns His attention away in distraction, to look at something else. His eyes are always on us, watchful and smiling in tenderness. Isn’t that an incredible thought?
And if this is so, and our sins are forgiven, our hurts are healed, and we are made whole by His perfect love, we can live in power and hope, blessing others because we have been blessed. But do we live this way?
As times get harder I believe this lesson is going to be more vital than ever to living as believers. We must not be worried and depressed like those who are in the world. Instead we must simply say, “My Father is in charge. He has what I need, so I’ll just ask Him for it.” It’s really as simple as that. And once we ask, we need to drop the subject, confident that He will work it out without our fear, worry, anxiety, or manipulation. Scripture says worry is futile and changes nothing, so we need to choose to let go of it entirely and instead choose to trust God.
And when we are secure in God’s love, we will know that His supply is endless, so we can open our hand in generosity to others instead of hoarding things for ourselves. I think this will also be an important notion to have fixed in our hearts. There is no lack with God. In fact, I was intrigued to read Proverbs 28:25 and 27 that say this: “He who trusts in the Lord will prosper…He who gives to the poor will never want.”
The second half of verse 27 says this, however: “But he who shuts his eyes (to the poor) will have many curses.” So from this passage we can surmise that our fear of giving to others when the chips are down will hinder us from receiving God’s blessing. I am blown away by this notion. In essence God is saying, “If you doubt Me, I will give you reason to doubt, but if you trust Me, I will more than fulfill every expectation and every need.” Wow!
Remember that Scripture that says, “You have not because you ask not? Well, perhaps if we’re asking but not receiving, it’s because we’re holding on too tightly out of fear and doubt! What a revelation!
Let’s start living as though our Father is King of Kings, lacks nothing and finds us totally irresistable.
Because of His great love,
Nancy
