Compelling Love

God continually draws and invites people to receive the promise of His love, to drink deeply of His living water, and to walk in the power of His Spirit.

Receive the promise of His love for you.

The promise of God’s love for us is seen in His sending of His only Son, Jesus Christ, through whom we have eternal life.  When we receive Him and believe in Him, He lives in us – “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

John 3 (NKJV)
¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

Paul speaks in Colossians 1:26-27 of “the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints… Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

In Jesus’ prayer in John 17, He declares that we receive eternal life by knowing  the one true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.

John 17 (NKJV)
³ And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. ⁴ I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. ⁵ And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

By faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we stand in God’s grace, and “the love of God is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

Romans 5 (NKJV)
¹ Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ³ And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; ⁴ and perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

John 17 is frequently called “the high priestly prayer of Jesus”.  In verses 1-5, Jesus prays for himself.  Then in verses 6-19, he prays for the disciples.  Starting in verse 20, he prays for all believers – those who would believe in him through the word of his disciples.  In verse 23, he prays that He would be in believers, as the Father is in Him, (I in them, and You in Me), and again in verse 26, that his love may be in us, and that he himself would be in us (that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them).

John 17 (NKJV)
²⁰ “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; ²¹ that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. ²² And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: ²³ I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

²⁴ “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. ²⁵ O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. ²⁶ And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

Jesus Christ, the risen Son of God, invites believers to open the doors of their hearts for an ever closer and more intimate relationship to Him.

Revelation 3 (NKJV)
²⁰ Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. ²¹ To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

Drink deeply of His living water.

Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit whom He would give, using the image of “living water”.  He invites all who are thirsty to come to Him and drink.

 John 4 (NKJV)
¹⁰ Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

¹³ Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

John 7 (NKJV)
³⁷ On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. ³⁸ He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” ³⁹ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Walk in the power of His Spirit.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, the God of hope fills us with all joy and peace, and overflowing hope, as we trust in Him.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Rom. 15:13)

Being led by the Spirit of God, we are His sons and daughters, and joint heirs with Christ.

Romans 8 (NKJV)
¹⁴ For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” ¹⁶ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

God has given us a spirit of power, love and a sound mind.  (2 Tim. 1:7)
He pours out His love in our hearts, by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, 11/18/2017, https://compellinglove.net/

Photo credits:
http://www.godswordimages.com/wallpaper/gentleness/john-3-16/
https://likegoldrefinedagain.wordpress.com/category/memorisation-bible-verses/page/14/
http://www.feedmysheepjerusalem.com/system/files/gallery/
http://bibleversewallpapercreations.blogspot.com/2013/04/
https://missionventureministries.wordpress.com/2016/07/27/what-is-the-meaning-of-hope-in-the-bible-romans-1513/