1 John 4:7-12
"Dear friends, let us
love one another, for love comes from God.
Everyone who loves has been born of God and
knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is
love. 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. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved
us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for
our sins. Dear friends, since God
so loved us, we also ought to love one
another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his
love is made complete in us."
Matthew 10:16 “I am sending
you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as
shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves."
OK, so our God-shaped insides no longer need to be void.... they can and
are being filled with His love - some even now are overflowing with His love.
Loving others is still a struggle sometimes (OK, most of the time). Granted,
some people are easier to love than others, but we can't be partial in this. We
really can't pick and choose who we are going to love.... Jesus didn't. He loved
the worst of the worst. He even loved those who were killing him as He was
bleeding and dying. Well, 'come on, He was God." No, at this point, He was a
man.... the Father had turned His face away from Him because of all the sin He
was carrying. Talk about heavy burdens, we can't even fathom what it means to
literally have the weight of the world on our shoulders... although we feel like
that sometimes.
I'm not minimizing our struggles, our pain - but sometimes, love is
downright hard! Those who hurt me come to the top of my list... well, they
used to, until I went through that battlefield that raged inside of me for
vengeance or justice and left it in God's hands. I do get angry, but I try to
keep very short accounts with God (so I don't have a list a mile long to repent
of at the end of the day)!
There is a battle waged against all of us who call ourselves Christian
(Christ-like). Our flesh cries out in anger or maybe our hearts just question
why certain things happen they way they do. Some of those questions, God in His
grace and mercy answers through that still small voice inside, through His Word,
through songs and even through nature. Sometimes, He doesn't answer those
questions and we eventually have to just let go of the questions and trust that
God is God and He knows exactly what, when, how and why He does what He does.
God didn't say life was going to be easy. He's teaching us to be more like
Him... to be more like Jesus.
Jesus knew love was a battlefield.... one that would take His life - it
didn't keep it for long, but it was long enough for Him to hurt for those He
loved. What about intercession? Love is a battlefield in prayer for the people
we care about. For people we don't even know who live in different countries...
for our neighbors... for our families. We go to war not only for our friends,
but for our enemies - because maybe, just maybe, they may turn to see the Light
of Jesus shining upon them.
"If we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in
us." He smiles upon us when we get off the sidelines and extend a helping hand
to those who have fallen on the battlefield - sometimes helping them walk to
'triage' - sometimes carrying them when they cannot walk (this may take one, two
or more people) - sometimes just holding their hand when the Lord is about to
take them Home. He smiles because He is make complete in us during those
times. God IS Love. Since He is Love, He is made complete in us. When we
empty ourselves of ourselves, what He's already put inside of us comes flooding
in. See, Jesus gave us everything at the Cross. How empty can we become, to
allow Him to reveal what we already have.
I have a song in my head, most of us know it... 'More Love, More Power,
More of You in My Life'. When we sing that, maybe we should be singing 'Reveal
Your Love, Reveal Your Power, Bring Forth The Life You've Placed In Me.' We
don't need more of Him, we need less of ourselves. So we can be equipped for
the battle - To put on our armor fight (if the Lord did it in Isaiah 59:16-17
then we can also Ephesians 6). When the enemy advances, to have discernment
when to fall back and 'take a breather'. To watch each other's back, not just
our own.
We are sent out into the battle as sheep among wolves. I wonder what a
sheep looks like with armor? Oh, never mind.... I learned from a friend, we
don't have to work harder (or fight harder), we have to work (for fight)
smarter. The enemy is sly and smart, BUT we have the mind of Christ and we can
know what Jesus knows... He said in I Corinthians 2:15-16 "The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person
is not subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known
the mind of the Lord so
as to instruct him?” But
we have the mind of Christ." NIV. I like a translation I just found called The
Voice Bible which says the same thing, but a different way, “Does anyone
know the mind of the Lord well enough to become His advisor?” But we do possess
the mind of the Anointed One. We have the mind of Christ. We can
fight alongside of Him in this war of souls because we possess His mind. Maybe
we just need to exercise it more.
So, yes, Pat Benatar, you were basically right in your song, Love IS
a Battlefield.... But we have the Victory in Christ when we receive the Love
of God that strengthens us to draw our swords, sling our bows and fight.
No comments:
Post a Comment