This morning we continue our series entitled, “Power of Fellowship.” I woke up this morning meditating on something the Holy Spirit was sharing with me. This is one of the most important messages I have shared. I will do my best to communicate what the Holy Spirit is saying to me.
Let’s look at two statements Jesus made. Carefully and prayerfully read the following:
(John 13:34, 35 NLT)
“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
(John 15:12 NLT)
“This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.”
So what does this mean to you today? I will attempt to share it the way I received it.
1. God is perfect and we are not. Our perfect God is willing to deal with imperfect people. He does this simply because He loves us. God has no ulterior motive. There is no selfishness in Him. God goes out of His way to deal with us because He loves us. That’s it.
2. God is perfect and we are not. So if our perfect God is going to deal with imperfect people, He has to make concessions for our imperfections. This is where grace comes in. By grace God treats us as if we were perfect, although we are clearly not. Thank God for His grace. Grace is amazing!
3. The relationship between God and man is complicated. It’s not complicated because of God. He is perfect, holy and flawless. The complication comes with man. People are complicated. Our imperfections often make it difficult for us to have meaningful relationships. But since God is holy and perfect, He is willing to look past our faults, flaws and failures, in order to have a committed and meaningful relationship with us. God’s only motivation is His love. He loves us. So He is tirelessly committed to us and the plans He made for us before the world began. We are often so flawed that it takes us a long time to believe God’s love, to open our hearts to His plans, and to finally pursue them by faith. It’s not that faith is about you convincing God. NO! Faith is what happens when God convinces you of the plans He made for you before the world began and you start living the life He planned. It is at this point that our faith accesses God’s grace and we are able to become the men/women we are destined to be. None of this happens because we are so good. All of this happens because God is good and He took the time to convince us of His best. So in the end we have nothing to boast about. If we do become the men/women we are called to be, and we change the world, our only boast can be in God.
4. We are the creation. God is the Creator. We are imperfect. He is perfect. When we come to God and accept Jesus as Lord, God comes INSIDE of us. He takes us up residence IN us in the person of the Holy Spirit. He puts His perfection inside of our imperfection. God then takes the time to work with us to get us to the point where we are capable of dying (or getting out of the way) enough to let the Holy Spirit be seen in us. God works with us, day by day, to get us to the point where our desires are actually His desires, where our will lines up with His will, and where our actions are actually His actions being performed through a human conduit. At this point we become human conduits of the divine. At this point we become earthly reflections of heaven. At this point we start living “As Jesus is, in this world” (1 Jn 4:17). This is the goal of our fellowship with God.
5. While it is hard enough for an imperfect person to have a meaningful relationship with our perfect God, God takes it one step further. After we open our hearts to God’s love and we believe in a God who loves us despite our imperfections, God requires us to love others THE SAME WAY He loves us. Wow! It’s hard enough for an imperfection human to embrace our perfect God, but God commands us, despite our imperfections, to reflect His perfection towards others. God wants imperfect people to love other imperfect people the way He loves us. This is not a suggestion. This is not just a good idea. This is a commandment. We are commanded to embrace God’s love and perfection, and to then reflect it to others in this world. Jesus basically said (John 13:35) that when an imperfect person can experience the same love IN YOU that they experience IN GOD, that person will know that you are a disciple of Jesus. The proof that you are God’s child is when an imperfect person can come to you and experience what they get when they go to God. That’s the goal, and this why God requires us to fellowship. God wants His perfection and love to be on display between imperfect people.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for Your goodness. You are perfect. Outside of You I am not. You placed your perfection inside of me in the person of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is perfect and He is the personification of love. The goal is for me to die enough, to get out of the way enough, for the Holy Spirit to be seen, felt and experienced THROUGH me. I declare that I get to that point. I die to me and You live through me. I die to selfishness so Your love can be seen in me. I die to my imperfections so Your perfection can be on display. And as I allow Your Spirit to live IN me, WITH me, and THROUGH me, I am able to love others THE SAME WAY You love me. When people come in contact with me, they are coming in contact with You! When an imperfect person comes to me, they may expect imperfection, because I am a human, but what they will see is Your perfection on display. They will encounter the same thing they encounter when they go to You. They will see Jesus IN ME! Because I love them THE SAME WAY You love me. I don’t do this in my humanity. Because I can’t. My humanity is flawed. But I do this in my divinity. I am a human conduit of the divine and Your love is on display IN me and THROUGH me every day! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
