Compelling Love

May God fill you with His light, love, joy and peace this day and every day!

Joy and peace go together, as seen in this prayer of Paul’s, and in this promise from the prophet Isaiah.

Romans 15:13 (NKJV)
¹³ Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Isaiah 55 (NKJV)
¹² “For you shall go out with joy,
And be led out with peace;
The mountains and the hills
Shall break forth into singing before you,
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”

Love, joy and peace are the first three fruits of the Spirit listed by Paul:

Galatians 5:22-23 (NKJV)
²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

If we love one another we will abide in God’s light, as John explains in his first epistle:

1 John 2:9-11 (NKJV)
⁹ He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. ¹⁰ He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. ¹¹ But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Erika Mathews comments on this passage:

“The true Light now shines! Jesus Christ is living and here within us, shining eternally through our lives!

“Because of this, He gives “a new commandment,” and, once again, this new commandment centers around love.

“Love and light go together. God is love; God is light. Throughout Scripture, these two concepts are often discussed together. Without light, there can be no love; and where there is no love, there is no light.

“This passage is clear that hating one’s brother and walking in light cannot coexist. Yet the new commandment that Jesus gave was “Love one another, as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” Jesus laid down His life in love for us – how can we possibly love each other as Jesus loves us?

“The answer is that it is only Jesus who can love as Jesus loves. No one else can come close to meeting that standard. Trying to love like Jesus in our own strength will only reveal how incapable we are and how far we fall short.

“Instead, to love one another, we must receive the very life and love and light of Jesus Himself into our beings. He died and rose and ascended to His Father that He might live His life through us – that He might live inside us – that it may be no longer I who lives (no longer I in my failing flesh), but Christ who lives in me! And He is 100% capable of loving others through us exactly as He loves us!

“Receiving His love and allowing it to flow through us to others isn’t a passive activity. It doesn’t mean we just sit back and let Him do it, all the while excusing our own laziness. It’s actively living WITH Him, loving WITH Him, acting in kindness and gentleness as He leads, listening to His voice and following His word – it’s true life with Him!

“When this is our lifestyle, resting and yet actively living in Him as our Keeper, there is truly no occasion for stumbling. He is our Elohim – our Strong Leader who keeps our lives hidden in His care. Walk in the light, as He is in the light, and receive the joy of true, selfless, giving Love!”

(Erika Mathews, http://restinglife.com/)

As declared in verse 2 of the hymn, O Holy Night, “Christ’s law is love, and His gospel is peace.”

Truly He taught us to love one another
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother,
And in His name all oppression shall cease.

Love and joy are perfected together, as Jesus teaches in John 15.

John 15 (NKJV)
Love and Joy Perfected
⁹ “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. ¹⁰ If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

¹¹ “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. ¹² This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. ¹⁵ No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. ¹⁷ These things I command you, that you love one another.

David Krause, dhkrause2@gmail.com, 2/4/2019, https://compellinglove.net/

Photo credits:
(1) https://www.pinterest.com/pin/540291286524066663/
(2) http://restinglife.com/2018/04/how-to-love-as-jesus-loves/
(3) https://www.heartlight.org/gallery/5455.html
(4) https://www.gbcdecatur.org/sermons/NoGreaterLove.html