The Experience of His Love..Craig Denison Ministries

 

The Experience of His Love

Craig Denison Ministries

Weekly Overview:

To know God is to experience God. Just as we experience aspects of one another as we grow in friendship, we experience the wonders of God as we seek to simply know him. God is calling us to a life of seeking him with all we are. He is calling us to value relationship with him above all else that we would love no other but him. May you encounter wonderful aspects of relationship with your heavenly Father this week as we wholeheartedly seek to know him with all we are.

Scripture:“And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:5

Devotional:

There is nothing in this world like experiencing the unconditional love of God. His love extends farther than the width of the skies. His love goes deeper than the deepest sea. His love is more powerful than a raging fire, and it is closer than the heartbeat within your chest. Experiencing his love is like becoming new again and again. With each taste of his affection, the wounds of the past become healed and restored that one no longer regrets pain but rejoices in the opportunity it gives to experience the love of a good and near heavenly Father once again.

When we seek to know God we gain experiences with his love because it’s who he is. 1 John 4:8 says, “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” To know love is to know God because every bit of true love comes from him. 1 John 4:16 says, “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” It’s time for you and me to “believe the love that God has for us.” It’s time that we cease questioning whether we are loved and instead seek the face of our heavenly Father that we might know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he loves us.

Almost all of my energy goes toward being loved. I look for love everywhere. I look for it from my wife, friends, coworkers, acquaintances, and total strangers. I constantly concern myself with whether I am, moment by moment, loved or not. But Jesus came that we might no longer ask ourselves that question. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). God already loved us so much that he died for us (Romans 5:8). There’s nothing we have to do to earn his love. If we need a fresh reminder of it, all we have to do is simply seek his face and love will come as the result.

We have unlimited access by the grace of God to the love of God. Unconditional, limitless love awaits us at every turn if our hearts will simply seek his. Scripture says in Psalm 27:8, “You have said, ‘Seek my face.’ My heart says to you, ‘Your face, Lord, do I seek.’” May we be children who constantly seek the face of our loving heavenly Father. May we be a bride wholly wrapped up in the love of our Bridegroom. And may we experience as the result of simply seeking God the powerful affections of a God who laid down his own life for the sake of his creation.

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on the love of your heavenly Father. Allow Scripture to stir up your desire to seek God and as a result experience an encounter with his love.

“Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:8

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” 1 John 4:16

2. Where are you seeking love? To whom or what are you turning for love other than God?

3. Take time to seek the face of your heavenly Father and encounter his love. Open your heart to him and simply desire relationship with him. He will take care of the rest.

“And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:5

“You have said, ‘Seek my face.’ My heart says to you, ‘Your face, Lord, do I seek.’” Psalm 27:8

1 John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” We have no reason to fear seeking God. All that he would say to us, do in us, and lead us to comes from a foundation of his perfect love. There is no reason to fear in this life. There is nothing here that can separate us from eternal, unbound relationship with our heavenly Father. Allow his love to cast out any reservations you have today. Receive an awareness of his perfect love and rest easy in his kindness.

Extended Reading: 1 John 4

God is Near, Even When He Feels Far Away..Brenda Rodgers

 God is Near, Even When He Feels Far Away

By Brenda Rodgers

BIBLE VERSE OF THE DAY: "It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed..." - Deuteronomy 31:8

Often when I feel God is far away, shame takes over. We have this idea that low points in our relationship with Jesus equate to a lack of love for Him. Sometimes well-meaning churches or Christian environments support this belief.

However, most people in the Bible felt like God was far away from them at one point in their journey. Think about Hannah whose only hope in life was to have a baby. Or Joseph who was sold into slavery. What about Moses who never got to enter the Promised Land? Even though the Bible may not articulate that these people felt far from God, I imagine that their circumstances created that tension. And then, of course, there was Jesus Himself who asked, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46).

In many ways, our relationship with God is like our human relationships. There are times we feel closer to God than in other times, just like there are times we feel closer to people in our life than other times. This is natural. There's no reason for it to cause shame or make us question our love for Him. In fact, we need to guard against doing that because it is a tactic of the enemy. Satan wants us to feel shameful about our relationship with God, and the longer we wallow in that belief, the more opportunity he has to build a foothold in our lives.

Remembering that my feelings aren't my reality is hard for me. Everything I feel is reality for me. But the Bible tells us differently. We may feel that God is far away but the truth is He never leaves us and He's always with us. Let's look at some of the promises from the Bible that tell us God is always with us:

"Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).

Feelings are powerful and important, but we do not need to depend on them to guide us. When we're tempted to believe our feelings instead of what is real and true, we need to meditate on these promises from God. Reality is what the Bible tells us, not what our feelings say.

An Advent Prayer for Hope..Emma Danzey

 An Advent Prayer for Hope

By Emma Danzey

Isaiah 9:6 says, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Advent is a time of year celebrated in the preparation for Jesus’ birth. It is the last 4 Sundays which lead to December 25th. As a four-part series, we will pray through the meaning of each candle as we prepare our own hearts for Christmas. Actual Advent goes from Sunday, November 27th through December 24th this year. For more information about Advent, you can visit Christianity.com Justin Holcomb shares that “The most common Advent candle tradition, however, involves four candles. A new candle is lit on each of the four Sundays before Christmas. Each candle represents something different, although traditions vary. The four candles traditionally represent hope, faith, joy, and peace.”

Today as we pray through the first candle, hope, may we be reminded of the fulfilled promise of Jesus as the Messiah long awaited by the people of God.

Let's Pray:

Our Great Messiah,
Thank You for being the fulfillment of the promise of eternal life to come. Thank You that You came down to this earth to die for our sins. Jesus, please help us to reflect on Your faithfulness through and through. You give hope to this dark world and You show us how to live with eternal perspective. Help us today and this week not to live with worldly eyes, but to see through Spiritual eyes and know that You are over all and working everything out according to Your purposes.

God, You humbled Yourself to come here and live the life that I could not life. Thank You for standing in my place and taking away my sins. Help me not to go a day without being thankful for that. Lord, I confess areas in my life where I feel hopeless or doubtful for You to work. Would You please remind me that just as You have worked in the past, throughout the Bible, that You are still working today. Remind me that the hope that comes from You does not disappoint. Help me feel confident to trust in the One who never fails.

Lord, You say in Romans 5:5 “And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.” You have given us as believers the gift of Your Spirit in us. Hoping in You will not disappoint us. Thank You for your overflowing love.

As we look at the world around us, everything is falling apart. Sin is rampant, lives are broken, people are confused, and the enemy appears to be winning in so many ways, remind us how You have already won the battle and that Your name and Your word prevail and are living and active. Please change hearts, redirect lives, and heal what has been broken.

Where there is distrust and doubts, replace them with faith and hope. As we all come into this season of Christmas with different experiences and various kinds of years, would You meet us where we are? Would you please show us Your glory and draw near to us as we draw near to You?

We pray over those in our lives who need extra hope right now. Give us the words to say and prayers to pray over them and with them so that they would know the freedom and the joy that they can have in You. Whether it be grief, loneliness, anxiety, depression, illness, etc. We ask for discernment how to be love them and point them to Your hope this Christmas season.

God we pray that we are passing on this joyous hope to the next generation. You say in Psalm 145:4, “One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.” Help us to declare this hope that we have because of what You have done Jesus. If we are ever tempted to hold it back, move in us to act and to share this hope that we have. You say in 1 Peter 3:15 to always be ready to give an answer for the hope that we have, may we not neglect telling those younger than us and encouraging them in faith. Amen.

Listening to Learn..Meg Bucher

 Listening to Learn

By Meg Bucher

“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.” - James 1:19-21 NLT

Silence is: “the absence of any sound or noise; stillness …the state or fact of being silent; muteness …absence or omission of mention, comment, or expressed concern.” The silent treatment has turned into ghosting. To ghost someone is to “suddenly end all contact with a person without explanation, especially in a romantic relationship.” 

James says, in the verse above, “be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” Anger is a necessary emotion, but the way we handle it is important. James tells us why: “human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” Then, he says, “humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.” In other words … listen. Tempers are lost and people are ghosted because we are disobedient to the Word planted in us. The Holy Spirit is faithful to convict us when we’re about to cross the line in anger … but it’s our choice to listen. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, 

“'Don’t sin by letting anger control you.’ Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.” - Ephesians 4:26-27 NLT

God created us to need each other. No where in Scripture does it say we have the right to give someone the silent treatment, ignore a brother or sister, or ghost someone out of anger. (Special side note to this article: In situations of abuse, please get help.)

Intersecting Faith and Life:

“Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends.” - Proverbs 17:9 NLT

Matthew recorded a conversation between Peter and Jesus:  “Then Peter came to him and asked, ‘Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?’ ‘No, not seven times,’ Jesus replied, ‘but seventy times seven.’” - Matthew 18:21-22 NLT

The Bible equips us with steps to repair relationships. God is faithful to place people in our lives purposefully. When we have responded in anger, and wreck a relationship, there are three things Scripture tells us to do:

1. Own our behavior. 

“If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two other with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. Then if he or she won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector.” - Matthew 18:15-17 NLT

2. Apologize.

Hurt people, hurt people. We can have forward loving compassion for others who are hurting by choosing to walk the road of forgiveness before we receive an apology. However, when we are responsible for hurting another person, it’s important to acknowledge the hurt we have caused, whether or not it was intentional. James wrote, 

“Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” - James 5:16 NLT

3. Lead with Love. 

“Always forgiven, never loved less.” It’s a phrase I have said to my daughters over and over, and taught to communicate to their friends as well. Jesus’ command on how many times we are to forgive someone in the verses above (Matthew 18:21-22) allow us to safely assume He means, always forgive. Why? Because we are always forgiven.

“But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins …”  - 1 John 1:9 NLT

There is nothing we can do to outrun the love of God. The Bible says,  “…nothing can ever separate us from God’s love.” - Romans 8:38 NLT

Learning to listen is hard. We are by nature very offend-able. Though it may seem easiest to ghost someone out of our lives, the truth is they were put there on purpose. Cutting them out only robs us of the reason they were there in the first place. Instead of running from the inevitably difficulty that is relationships with other people …let’s aim to stay, and learn to listen.