Compelling Love

The Bible describes many facets and dimensions of faith and love.  One aspect of faith is trusting God to lead and protect and be with us always.  In Psalm 61, David prays for God to lead him, and to continue to be a strong tower for him in the face of the enemy.  He declares his faith that he will live in God’s presence forever, and take refuge under the shelter of His wings.

Psalm 61
¹ God, hear my cry; pay attention to my prayer.
² I call to You from the ends of the earth
when my heart is without strength.
Lead me to a rock that is high above me,
³ for You have been a refuge for me,
a strong tower in the face of the enemy.
⁴ I will live in Your tent forever
and take refuge under the shelter of Your wings.  Selah

The width of God’s love is revealed in Psalm 67, where the Psalmist prays that God’s salvation will be known among all nations, and that all will praise, rejoice and shout for joy as He leads the nations of the earth.

Psalm 67
¹ May God be gracious to us and bless us;
look on us with favor Selah
² so that Your way may be known on earth,
Your salvation among all nations.
³ Let the peoples praise You, God;
let all the peoples praise You.
⁴ Let the nations rejoice and shout for joy,
for You judge the peoples with fairness
and lead the nations on earth.  Selah

Paul (Shaul) explains in Galatians 5 that faith in the Messiah, working through love, sets us free:

Galatians 5
¹ Christ has liberated us to be free. Stand firm then and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery.
⁵ For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. ⁶ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything; what matters is faith working through love.

In Ephesians 3, Paul prays that the Messiah may dwell in our hearts through faith, and that we may be rooted and established in love.  He prays that we may know the depths of God’s love more and more through Jesus (Yeshua), the Son of God who laid down his life for us.

Ephesians 3
¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. ¹⁶ I pray that He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power in the inner man through His Spirit, ¹⁷ and that the Messiah may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, ¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, ¹⁹ and to know the Messiah’s love that surpasses knowledge, so you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

God’s love is wide, reaching to all peoples.  His love is long, never ending.  His love is high, reaching to the skies.  His love is deep, reaching the depths all that we are.  Walking by His power we live for His glory.  Kim Walker Smith in her sermon, “Falling in Love with Jesus”, reminds us that  “We love Him because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)  Her testimony is an example for every believer as she exhorts:

Encounter His love. Nurture and grow your relationship with Him.
Fall back in love with Him daily. The whole Bible is about restoration.
Respond to His love. He tore the veil. Nothing can separate us from His love, so freely given.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=xbzUpByf1hE
In this sermon Kim gives the testimony behind her well-known song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=JoC1ec-lYps)

In Romans 8, Paul describes how those who are in the Messiah are now set free:

Romans 8
¹ Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus, ² because the Spirit’s law of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
¹⁰ Now if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹ And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then He who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through His Spirit who lives in you.

Being led by the Spirit, we are God’s sons and daughters:

¹⁴ All those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. ¹⁵ For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!” ¹⁶ The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, ¹⁷ and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—seeing that we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

Walking by faith, we are heading for glory with God.  He promises to make all things work together for the good of those who love Him.

¹⁸ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.
²⁸ We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.  Even in times of tragedy or martyrdom we are victorious by His power:

³⁸ For I am persuaded that not even death or life, angels or rulers,
things present or things to come, hostile powers,
³⁹ height or depth, or any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!

Walking with the Messiah, we are rooted in love, established in faith, and overflowing with gratitude:

Colossians
⁶ Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him, ⁷ rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, overflowing with gratitude.

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, https://compellinglove.net/, 11/24/13

(Bible Quotations are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible.)