Note: Before I get into the Word, I want you to know that I will be preaching this week in Killeen, TX at Revive (https://revivekilleen.com/). I share this for two reasons. First, just in case you are close to Killeen and you want to join, I welcome you to do so. The Spanish service starts at 9am and the English service at 11:30am. The other reason is to inform you that I will be flying home early Monday morning. So I will not share Today’s Word. After today’s message, the next message you will get from me will be Tuesday.
Today we continue our series “God is faithful!” The Lord led me to 2 Corinthians 4. In this passage, we are looking at what it looks like to believe God is faithful. Because of God’s faithfulness towards us, we can withstand and overcome anything!
(2 Corinthians 4:1, 7-13, 16-18 TPT)
1 Now, it’s because of God’s mercy that we have been entrusted with the privilege of this new covenant ministry. And we will not quit or faint with weariness.
7 We are like common clay jars that carry this glorious treasure within, so that this immeasurable power will be seen as God’s, not ours.
8 Though we experience every kind of pressure, we’re not crushed. At times we don’t know what to do, but quitting is not an option.
9 We are persecuted by others, but God has not forsaken us. We may be knocked down, but not out.
10 We continually share in the death of Jesus in our own bodies so that the resurrection life of Jesus will be revealed through our humanity.
11 We consider living to mean that we are constantly being handed over to death for Jesus’ sake so that the life of Jesus will be revealed through our humanity.
12 So, then, death is at work in us but it releases life in you.
13 We have the same Spirit of faith that is described in the Scriptures when it says, “First I believed, then I spoke in faith.” So we also first believe then speak in faith.
16 So no wonder we don’t give up. For even though our outer person gradually wears out, our inner being is renewed every single day.
17 We view our slight, short-lived troubles in the light of eternity. We see our difficulties as the substance that produces for us an eternal, weighty glory far beyond all comparison,
18 because we don’t focus our attention on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but the unseen realm is eternal.
Yesterday we looked at Ephesians 3. Let’s go back to it again today.
(Ephesians 3:16-20 TPT)
16 And I pray that he would unveil within you the unlimited riches of his glory and favor until supernatural strength floods your innermost being with his divine might and explosive power.
17 Then, by constantly using your faith, the life of Christ will be released deep inside you, and the resting place of his love will become the very source and root of your life.
18–19 Then you will be empowered to discover what every holy one experiences—the great magnitude of the astonishing love of Christ in all its dimensions. How deeply intimate and far-reaching is his love! How enduring and inclusive it is! Endless love beyond measurement that transcends our understanding—this extravagant love pours into you until you are filled to overflowing with the fullness of God!
20 Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for his miraculous power constantly energizes you.
We will also look at a few more scriptures before we get into the Word. Here they are:
(1 John 4:16 ERV)
16 So we know the love that God has for us, and we trust that love. God is love. Everyone who lives in love lives in God, and God lives in them.
(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? A few things.
1. If you ever get to the point where you fully embrace the love of God, it will change you forever.
— I have been driving home the point that God is perfect, and we are not. It is hard enough for many humans to believe that a perfect God would want to reside inside imperfect people. But if we can ever get to the point where we believe the love God has for us, God’s love will change us from the inside out.
— In 1 John 4, the Apostle John tells us plainly that God sent His Son Jesus to the earth to be the Savior of the world. He tells us that those who believe in Jesus have God’s Son living on the inside of them. We get to experience God daily through the Holy Spirit. John then makes it clear that none of this happens because we are so good. This only happens because God is good. After all, God loves us, and He loved us before we loved Him. For all of this to make sense, John tells us that we have to get to the point where we know and BELIEVE the love God has for us. We have to trust God’s love.
— If you can BELIEVE and TRUST God’s love (believing that our perfect God loves you despite your imperfections), you can then open your heart to God’s love so you can be changed by it. This is where fellowship comes in. You must yearn for an intimate relationship with God. You cannot just know God from a book. You must walk with Him and allow Him to walk with you. The more you walk with God in true fellowship, the more His love will fill your heart and mind. Said another way, the more you know God, the more you will know His love, because God IS love.
— My prayer for you is that you open your heart to the love of God and that you get to the point where you believe God loves you. Once you are there, Paul says, “the resting place of his love will become the very source and root of your life.”
2. Loved people love people.
— Once you get to the point where you know and believe the love God has for you, you are then in a position to become a conduit of God’s love in this world. This is the ultimate goal.
— God does not just want to change you. He wants to make you an agent of supernatural change on this planet. God first produces change IN you, and He then seeks to produce change THROUGH you.
— The more you walk with, God the more you will realize this, and the less your life will be about you and your selfish desires.
— When you truly die to self, your life becomes an offering. You are able to give your life to God (all of it), and God is then able to pour your life into the lives of others.
— The initial goal is for you to fellowship with God. But once your fellowship with God is solid, God sends you out to fellowship with others so He can reach the world through you.
— God is too big of a God and your purpose is too big of an assignment for God to JUST be focused on you and your family. God wants to use you as a change agent within your sphere of influence. Stop fighting it. When you fully embrace God’s love, you will open your heart to do whatever He leads you to do, and you will find that He desires to impact the lives of those around you.
— Get over the fact that you are not perfect, embrace the fact that God loves you anyway. Once you do, you can open your heart to be used of God to change the world.
— If you truly fellowship with God, you won’t have to TRY to make others notice the God in you. It will be natural. People will see God in your daily routine. People will experience God in your normal interactions with them. You don’t have to force anything to happen. If God lives in you and you yield to Him because you know He loves, the same love will flow through you naturally.
— People will hear God in the way you talk. They will feel God’s presence when they are in your presence. They will experience His love when you hang out with them. They will see Jesus in you, all because you opened your heart to God’s love, and you embraced it.
— Hurt people hurt people, and loved people love people. Be the latter and not the former.
— When someone does something wrong to you, YOUR FLESH may want to RESPOND and REACT a certain way. But if you are full of God’s love and you are RESTING in His love, you will hear God’s Spirit, and you will not respond the way this world does. Paul said, “If you are led of God’s Spirit, you will NOT fulfill the DESIRES of the flesh” (Gal 5:18).
— The Holy Spirit will lead you to RESPOND and REACT in ways that don’t always make sense in this world. Why? Because God is love! His love has come TO you. Now God wants to flow His love through you.
— This world is full of darkness and selfishness. I pray you allow yourself to become a conduit of God’s light and love in this world. This is how you are able to withstand and overcome anything. When you are resting in God’s love, you will have unshakable peace, undistractable focus, and unbreakable resolve. You will be so focused on God and His love that setbacks, attacks, and disappointments will not move you! I pray you learn to rest in God’s love.
That’s enough for today. I will release you into the weekend.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, this is a season of LEVELING UP for me. I LEVEL UP by resting in Your love. I know and believe the love You have for me. You are love. I am IN You. You are IN me. Love lives inside of me. I believe and receive Your love. Your love has changed me from the inside out. Now that I fellowship with You, I am open to fellowship with others. My relationship with You is evident in my daily routine. The people I deal with every day will experience You as they deal with me. I am an agent of supernatural change within my sphere of influence. I don’t have to preach to make it happen. I don’t need a pulpit to get the message out. I simply LIVE as a person who walks with You and who rests in Your love. Living this way, when I come in contact with others, they will know I walk with You, they will sense Your presence, and they will be changed by Your love in me and through me. Living this way, I know GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
