Dear Friends,
In Lifebytes
47 and 48 we discussed the four levels of needs that
we’re all driven to satisfy because our Creator made us
that way: physiological, safety, love and belonging, and esteem needs. These four levels of need are part of your
humanity. Your body and soul actively pursue meeting your
physical needs as well as the needs of your mind, will and
emotions.
Lifebyte 49 examined the spirit of cold love and the various ways that people develop this
duty-motivated substitute for the intense agape love of the Holy
Spirit. Cold love is like the spirit of anti-Christ in that
it’s anti the love of Jesus.
When you live by this counterfeit, whether
intentionally or not, your relational interaction is from a
sense of obligation rather than a pouring out of Jesus through
you. You’re unable to experience His devotion to you nor
can you extend that love to others from your heart. When cold
love has a strong hold on you, you dwell within a cave of
self-protection. The authentic love of Christ isn’t
allowed to penetrate you nor can it be lived out with others.
We’ll be discussing in this Lifebyte
a spiritual growth need. Your need for
Christ-like love comes about after
you’re born again. The
indwelling presence of the Spirit
of Jesus produces this need in your
heart.
When you’re born again you need to
stop being controlled by your soul so that you can willingly
yield to His Spirit. If you want to meet your need for
Christ-like love, you can’t go on trying to satisfy your
sin nature-controlled mind, will and emotions. We’ll
address this shortly.
Love of Jesus and for Him is an
internally empowered motivation in-
dicating the indwelling Spirit of Jesus
is accomplishing His work in you.
Our Spiritual Growth Need —
Christ-like Love
It’s important that you understand
this. The sign that you’re truly born again in a Covenant
relationship with our Father is that you are conforming more
and more to the love-based motivation of Jesus. By His loving
grace He’s enabled you to do this by His Spirit at work
in you! In fact, because of the Spirit of Jesus in you, your
need to grow in Him is so powerful that you’re never
complacently satisfied; you want more of His gracious transformation.
The Spirit of Christ in you both draws and
empowers your spirit to be progressively transformed in
character and love like that of Jesus. As a result, you increasingly live as if our Lord Jesus is living through you.
As strange as this sounds to your mind,
the love of Jesus in us is satisfied only as we demonstrate it
to others. It’s in giving His love to others that you
really experience the satisfaction of Christ’s love. Yes,
it’s true that our Lord loves
you completely, and as you cry out
to Him, His Spirit allows you to experience His love for you.
But, if you want to exude the aroma and wonder of His love, let
it flow through you as you give it
to others.
1) Trust in His promise that the love of
Jesus from His Spirit rests in you.
2) Then share that love. As Christ-like
love goes forth from you, your spirit finds joyful satisfaction
and peace.
This spiritual reality isn’t an
original idea! Note the interconnectedness of loving our God as
His chosen vessel and being poured
out as that love onto those
who are near us:
‘Love [agape] the Lord your God with
all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it: ‘Love
[agape] your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the
Prophets hang on these two commandments (Matthew 22:38-40)
The agape love our Lord commands us toward both God and
toward one another is produced by the Spirit of Jesus at work
in us. Don’t gloss over this important call because “all the Law and the Prophets hang on
these two commandments.” He
has graciously shown us His way of living that pleases Him and has given His
Spirit to empower us to do it His way. What a privileged
responsibility!
Paul hammered home how essential agape love is in our
every action and aspiration:
If I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and
surrender my body to the flames, but
have not love, I gain nothing”
(1 Corinthians 13:2,3).
• What do you think the Apostle means
by “I am nothing” and “I gain nothing”?
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• Earlier we wrote, “The sign
that you’re truly born again in a Covenant relationship
with our Father is that you are conforming more and more to the
love-based motivation of Jesus.” Is this your earnest
desire? If not, in what areas of your life are you resisting
change? Ask others close to you for feedback.
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Bible Knowledge Without Life Application Is
A Trap
Are you among the many Christians who are
hindered from pouring yourself out in love as the Spirit of
Jesus would use you? A contributing factor to your reluctance
may be your addiction to sermons and Bible studies which fill up your mind but bring about no change in your heart. Both of these unbiblical forms were adap-ted from
pagan Hellenism which “taught at” hearers but
prompted no course correction in their lives.
Neither sermons nor Bible studies for the
sake of broadening your knowledge have a Scriptural basis. Indeed, they are the opposite of the
Hebraic framework in which truth demands change in the hearer.
Do you recall all those times our Lord
Jesus called on people to have “ears
to hear”? That meant that
those who were receptive to His words would apply that truth by some
sort of response. You have only to look at the worldly people around
you who have vast “Bible knowledge” to recognize
that information in and of itself changes no one.
[For more on the demonic source to sermons
and formatted Bible studies, we recommend “Pagan Christianity?” by George Barna and Frank Viola. The book expands on
the evil influences of Hellenism that we presented in Section 2
of our book Restoring The Early
Church; also see Section 2, Lessons
15 thru 22 of Discussing How To
Restore the Early Church.]
Teaching the Bible without discussion and application only
feeds the mind, not the spirit. Remember: knowledge alone
produces arrogance (1 Corinthians 8:1).
Bible knowledge that your mind has filed
away into its “religious facts” compartment will
never enable you to press on into the character of Jesus. Over
the years you may know more, but you’ll find to your sorrow
that you’re no more like Jesus than you were at the
beginning of your journey.
In fact, you may discover that
you’ve grown in the cold
love we warned you about in
Lifebyte 49. You’ll go through “Christian”
motions but realize that you haven’t the heart of Jesus for
people.
The painful torrents of life WILL come
against you. But only the truth that has been important enough
to you to apply will endure:
But the one who hears my words and does NOT put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground
without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house,
it collapsed and its destruction
was complete (Luke 6:49).
We want to make very clear your vital need
to internalize the Word of God! A born-again person is indwelt by
the Spirit of Jesus and uses the Bible as a powerful resource of life application that is pleasing to our Lord. Without hesitation, the words of
Jesus translate into a trust that obeys their Master’s voice:
I will show you what a man is like who comes to Me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug
down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came,
the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because
it was well built (Luke 6:47,48).
Keep in mind that it isn’t the
extent of your Bible knowledge that makes you pleasing to God,
but what you put into practice because of the love-based motivation behind your actions. If you’re attuned to the
Spirit of Jesus in you, you come to recognize this: He
gives you opportunity to apply the Scripture you do implant in your
heart.
For example, say that you’ve just
read that as a follower of Jesus you must forgive others. How
often we’ve observed that within 24 hours you’re
put into a situation in which you can exercise that truth
you’ve just learned!
Perhaps an event will occur that will hurt
your feelings. One of the ways Christ-like love grows in you is
when at that moment you choose to
forgive rather than harbor
unforgiveness. When you choose to obey because of the love of Christ at
work in you, you become pleasing to our Lord and become more
like Him.
Our Lord doesn’t commend you for
your knowledge of the Word. Rather, you please Him when a
situation occurs in which you can lovingly apply a specific
truth in the Bible. Through that obedient availability
you become more like Jesus.
• Please, train yourself to be
attuned in obedient awareness when you encounter a new truth in
the Bible. See for yourself if it takes more than 24 hours
before our Lord gives you an opportunity to apply it. You may
want to keep a journal. Write the new truth you learned and the
date. Then write down when the opportunity to apply that truth
occurred and how you responded.
• On the scales below evaluate
yourself as to your level of Bible knowledge vs. the love of
Christ you have for others. (Be honest with yourself; solicit
feedback):
Bible knowledge:
very little a fair amount
a lot
0 10 20 30 40
50 60 70 80 90 100
Christ-like love for others:
very little a fair amount
a lot
0 10 20 30 40
50 60 70 80 90 100
• If your Christ-like love is far
less than your Bible knowledge, how does this make you feel?
Really, does it hurt your heart at all? If it does, describe
your feelings. If it doesn’t, why is this so?
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Sanctification Is The Process of
Christ-like Growth
In our Hebraic Article, The Gospel of the Covenant is the Pilgrimage to
Salvation, we share the two
critical parts of your pilgrimage to salvation: justification
and sanctification.
Justification—placing
your trust in, and continuing to trust in, the shed blood of
Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins.
Sanctification—the
lifelong purifying process of the Spirit that enables you to be
conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
The pilgrimage of a Jesus follower:
• Begins with Justification, your
Spiritual Rebirth;
• Continues a lifelong process of
Sanctification;
• Culminates ultimately in Salvation
before the Throne of Christ.
In Lifebyte 33, Do You See As God Sees? we
use an illustration of progressing down a funnel to depict
sanctification into the likeness of Jesus (top of next page).
The sides of the funnel represent where people cling who hold
onto unconfessed sin or entertain strongholds in their soul.
To grow in Christ-like love they must confess their sins and demolish their strongholds in order to return to the center of the funnel.
Only in the center of the funnel does sanctification occur,
drawing them downward to increasingly become more like Jesus
through His Spirit at work in them.
Sanctification is a crucial spiritual
element that’s overlooked by many Christians today. Quite
often Bible knowledge without
application dulls them to their
real need of becoming more like Jesus and serving His Kingdom
purposes. This is especially true when it comes to experiencing
and reflecting His love to others.
Christ-like Love Is Supported
By Mutual Encouragement
Throughout most of our lives we’ve
have been accustomed to the impulse of our sin-nature-dominated
and stronghold-controlled soul. But after we’re born
again, we receive the Spirit of Jesus in our spirit.
We’re no longer vulnerable to that old way — IF we
walk according to the way of the Spirit.
When the Spirit of Christ takes up
residence in you, a battle begins over who will rule your life
(see diagram below). How does the Spirit rule? By your ongoing obedience to confess your
sins to God and demolish strongholds as you take captive every thought to make it obedient to
Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). In
essence, this is what the Bible calls being “filled with the Spirit.” The Spirit of Jesus now is preeminent in not
only guiding you but transforming you to be like Him.
The Spirit of Jesus in you makes you part
of the family of Jesus: “Whoever
does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother” (Matthew 12:50). And one of the loving parts of
being in His family is our desire to encourage one another. His
love in us causes us to both refresh and spur each other on in
our journey in Him (Hebrews 10:24).
As extended spiritual family in a home
fellowship, we must continually encourage each other so that we
not only grow in Christ-like love but help others move up the
pyramid. Remember, just because we’re born again
doesn’t mean our sin nature has totally left us. But we can keep putting it
to death as we yield to the Spirit’s work in and through
us.
In fact, when you’re at the top of
the pyramid you may experience greater assaults by your sin
nature and even demonic forces for that matter. Why? Because
you have become Jesus-in-the-flesh to others. When you’re motivated by love for Him and from Him, you
are a loving, Spirit-empowered threat to the demons.
Christ-like love makes you enemy #1 to Satan and His hoards,
and they will try even harder to trip you up.
The top of the pyramid is not some sort of
“Christian Nirvana” where you can be comfortable
and live at ease. Far from it! It’s your arena of
wholehearted loving service to our Lord. It’s a life of
such humility that your heart’s desire is to do whatever
will bring your Father the greatest glory!
Again, as overlooked as this subject is in
Christendom, recognize that at this level—Christ-like
love—people need encouragement. The person whose motivation is Christ-like
love is responsive to those with whom they share intimate
load-bearing relationship:
Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of
you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness (Hebrews 3:13).
Sin’s deceitfulness not only tempts
you to sin but also labors to pull you down the pyramid,
focused solely on your own physical and soulish needs.
Sin’s deceit causes you to be
discouraged and hopeless. We’ve met many who used to
experience Christ’s love and share it with others but had
descended back to Security needs because others failed to
encourage them. We’ve found them in emotional prisons of
self-protection. Did Jesus fail them? No! Others who neglected
to encourage them did.
Yes,we must take our thoughts captive and
bring them into
obedience to Jesus,
but we’re also commanded,
“encourage
one another daily”.
• On the scales below evaluate
yourself as to your level of bringing your thoughts into
obedience to Jesus, and your actions in encouraging others in
your fellowship. Be honest with yourself; solicit feedback.
Bring your thoughts into obedience to
Jesus:
very little a fair amount
a great deal
0 10 20 30 40
50 60 70 80 90 100
Daily encourage others:
very little a fair amount
a great deal
0 10 20 30 40
50 60 70 80 90 100
• If you’re not a
‘100’ on “taking
captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ”, why are you this way? If you’re not a
‘100’ on being a daily encourager to others in your
fellowship family, why aren’t you?
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Christ-like Love Produces The Dignity of
Belonging To Our Father
The indwelling Spirit of Jesus kindles
your heart to appreciate more and more the reality of being
your Father’s child. Through His Spirit you understand
your holy purpose as His precious one: that you are called out
of the world to fulfill your part in the Kingdom of God.
The Spirit of Jesus in you yearns for you
to fully sense your dignity as our Father’s child,
rejoicing in your ongoing Covenant
union with Him. When this sinks
into your spirit as His living truth, you’re able to
respond with willing determination in your heart to live
with HIS purposes as YOUR purposes.
As you meditate on this passage, hear in
your spirit the longing of our Lord Jesus for the fullness of
union for you with Him and with one
another in Him.
My prayer is not for them alone. I pray
also for those who will believe in Me through their message,
that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You.
May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You
have sent Me.
I have given them the glory that You gave
Me, that they may be one as We are one: I in
them and You in Me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me and have loved them even
as You have loved Me (John 17:
20-23).
[It’s important to note that the union Jesus is
seeking is NOT about ecumenical
cooperation among denominations. A
man-made amalgam overlooks creedal differences in order to
perpetuate an unscriptural organized system. This “wide
net of middle ground” has no basis in the Covenant love
which only the Spirit can produce in those He indwells.]
Before we can walk in unity with one
another as family in Jesus, we need that initial reconciling
work of the Spirit of Jesus in us: a love-based unity first with our
heavenly Father through Jesus:
For you did not receive a spirit that
makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.
And by Him we cry, “Abba,
Father” (Romans 8:15).
Out of this wealth of sonship that we
experience with our Father we can then share authentic biblical
unity with others. Unity with our Father brings an internal peace that’s derived from the confidence you have in your
Covenant relationship with Him.
Remember, your connectedness to our Father
is through the Spirit of Jesus in you. Seek intently for the
Spirit of Jesus in you to fulfill this work of unity
that’s grounded in agape love. Pray, sing, and cry out to Him!!!
Don’t be satisfied until you’re confident of the
love and unity our Lord promises you in His Word.
Intimate confidence with your Father
produces a dignity like no other. “Abba, Father” is a heart-felt expression of your assured
realization that you are our Father’s child. Receiving
this promise with full trust that His
Word has said it and that settles it is the launch pad for you to share His love with
others. Because of the reality of His Spirit at work in you,
you want others to intimately know your Father as you do
— from the heart.
We’ve written many times about
God’s relational command in the Older Testament — to love Him. The Hebrew
word for the love He commands is ahav, a passionate devotion for Him which yearns to
be in His presence and is dedicated to pleasing Him in obedient
trust.
The Hebrew letters for ahav mean “a
window into the Father’s heart.” When you choose to
lovingly relate to Him as the Spirit of Jesus enables you, our
Father reveals Himself to you in a dyna-mic and intensely
personal manner.
Such intensity of God’s love in and
through you pictures the heart of a martyr. A person who
empties himself of dependence on human attachment because of
their love for their ever-faithful God is able to be poured out
for His praise and purpose.
This is neither mental acceptance of
whatever happens nor a fatalistic “whatever God
wills”. Rather, endurance of suffering on all levels of
needs-deprivation, whether physiological, safety, or social,
can only come about through reliance on the love God has shed
abroad in your heart.
The work of Satan is overcome by a
martyr’s trust in the covering of the Lamb’s blood,
by their assured testimony of His unfailing work, and by their
willingness to forsake love of their earthly life in order to
gain that which they can’t lose (Revelation 12:11).
How can anyone do this, you ask? Be-cause
their loving unity with the Spirit
of Jesus in them empowers them to
experience belonging to their
Father. And, when you know you
intimately belong to Him, you have dignity and courage as no
earthly means can generate, even unto death...
• On the scales below, evaluate
yourself as to your sense of belonging to our Father, and how
much of His heart He’s revealed to you. (Be honest with
yourself; solicit feedback.)
Belonging to our Father:
very little a fair amount
a great deal
0 10 20 30 40
50 60 70 80 90 100
Knowing our Father’s heart:
very little a fair amount
a great deal
0 10 20 30 40
50 60 70 80 90 100
• If you’re not
‘100’ in your sense of belonging to our Father,
what is hindering you? If you’re not ‘100’ in
seeing into our Father’s heart for you, why aren’t
you?
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Recognizable Characteristics of
Those Who Live In Christ-like Love
Below, we’ve listed particular
character qualities and attributes we’ve observed in
followers of Jesus who are motivated by Christ-like love. As
you go through these observations, put a number between 0 to
100 indicating how much the characteristic applies to you. Then discuss
your answers with your spouse or close friend, as appropriate.
__ They are fully mindful of the depravity
of their own sin nature. But rather than focus on their
darkness, they maintain a repentant heart and pour themselves
by His grace into growing into a loving representative of their
Lord. (See 2 Peter 1:5-11)
__ They are readily available to obey any
prompting or guidance from the Spirit of Jesus. It isn’t
a battle of will for them, but loving and yielded submission to
the will of the personification of love, Jesus. (Philip-pians 2:
13)
__ The more they mature in the way of
their Lord, the more eager they are to share Godly wisdom to
help others. [Biblical wisdom is seeing life’s situations
from God’s vantage point.] As they age, they grow in the
love of Jesus, and find that solving problems with wisdom
becomes a key focus in their lives. (Job 32:7, Proverbs 16:31)
__ Because the love of Jesus bathes their motivations,
they feel a closeness to others who are also bent on sharing
the love of Jesus with a humble heart. They are
Spirit-compelled to purposefully participate with others in
service to Jesus. People who experience and share Christ-like
love have matured in spirit. They don’t look to satisfy
their own needs, but to represent the love of Jesus in meeting
the needs of others. (Ephesians 6:7)
__ Their lives demonstrate convictions
that are fully internalized as part of their character. Their
hearts are motivated to live a Bible-based life which pleases
their Lord. Their grateful love for their Lord impels them
independent of any desire for reward or fear of punishment. (1
Thessalonians 4:1)
__ They judge experiences, people and
situations in accordance with the internalized Word of God. As
a result they can detect the counterfeit and the dishonest.
While generally kind and patient, they confront boldly the
hypocritical, pretentious, pompous or self-inflated individual,
desiring to lead them to repentance. (Matthew 21:31,32)
__ Because their trust in their Lord is so
complete they’re not afraid of the unknown and refuse to
entertain doubt or uncertainty. They’re not tentative
when facing new or unfamiliar situations or circumstances.
(Isaiah 41:10)
__ They’re not dismayed by the
ongoing battle to crucify the influence of their sin nature.
They can accept their human frailty, realizing that
they’re absolutely dependent on their Lord’s grace.
(2 Corinthians 12:10)
__ Because they’re both experiencing
and sharing Christ-like love with others through His Spirit,
they don’t rely on the soulish comfort of organized
religion and the vicarious spirituality of others. They
don’t give way to conformity, nor are they
anti-conformist for the sake of being so. While they may live a
rather conventional life, they don’t allow convention to
keep them from doing anything they consider important in
service to their Lord. (Romans 12:2)
__ They’re neither externally
motivated nor even goal-directed; rather, out of love for their
Lord they’re “obedience-based”. Instead of
focusing on a perceived outcome, they’re motivated by a
loving willingness to obey as the Spirit of Jesus guides.
Under-girding their motivation is their loving trust in Lord
Jesus and their desire to grow in His likeness to express that
love for Him. (1 John 3:23,24)
__ Because of their love for Jesus and His
love in them,
they can identify with and share sympathy and affection for
those with whom they have close relationship. They’re
also able through His Spirit to show empathy and compassion for
people in general. (Philippians 2:1,2)
__ Out of agape love they can extend deep interpersonal
relationship to others. Through the Spirit of Christ in them
they’re able to extend great affection and encouragement
because ego gratification isn’t an issue. While caring
for many, they may have especially deep ties with rather few
individuals. Their small circle of intimate friends may be like
that of Jesus with Peter, James and John, and then the other
nine. (Mark 5:37)
__ Because of Christ’s love
they’ve cast down any innate prejudices. Nor are they
judgmental about the spiritual darkness in other people, since
they realize they themselves once walked in darkness.
They’re friendly toward all regardless of religion,
education, political beliefs, race. They’re humble in
their childlike status before their heavenly Father, and
respect everyone as beings who are made in God’s image
and for whom Jesus died. (Matthew 18:10)
Resist Both The Devil and
Your Sin Nature With
ALL Your Strength—
Cry Out To The Spirit of Jesus Within You
If you’ve gleaned anything from
these four Lifebytes on Covenant marriage, we hope it’s
this: You’re engaged in a transformational process that
doesn’t come easily! You can’t sit idly by in a pew
while someone else spoonfeeds you knowledge. Nor, if you want
to grow in Christ’s likeness, can you read a few verses
each morning, then set your Bible aside without applying it in
His Spirit.
Individually and
collectively you and your spouse
must be diligent and persistent if you’re ever going to
experience and share Christ-like love. You’ve got to want
it with everything in your being!
Put to death the control of your sin
nature-controlled soul. Its guidance will never serve the
interests of our Lord, nor will it bring praise to His Name.
Your guidance and power to do the will of our Father are
appropriated as your spirit yields to the Spirit of Jesus in
you. Learn to have confidence in
the presence of Jesus within you.
Don’t rely on signs to point the way when He’s
faithful to reveal His love and presence within you (1 John 4:
17).
You have a wonderful privilege and
responsibility as you experience Christ-like love and share it
with others: to daily encourage each other in Him (Hebrews 10:
24)! Your responsive obedience to the Spirit at work in you is
wonderful protection against any foothold either the devil or
your own sin nature might try to lodge to keep you from
continuing down the funnel of Christ’s love.
Work together as a couple and as
extended spiritual family in Jesus to encourage
each other and walk in communal righteousness with obedient
trust in Jesus. What glorious wonder as you hear together that
heavenly proclamation:
“Come, you blessed of My Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world!”
