Compelling Love

Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:14-19 is one of the deepest, most comprehensive and powerfully transformative prayers in the Bible.  In verse 18, he prays that believers will comprehend the dimensions of Christ’s love — width and length and depth and height— a topic we shall explore after examining the prayer as a whole:

Ephesians 3 (NKJV)
¹⁴ For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, ¹⁶ that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, ¹⁷ that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— ¹⁹ to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

In verses 14-15, Paul gives a striking picture of the eternal relationship between the Son of God and the Father “from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named”.  The eternal Fatherhood of God implies that the Son of God also is eternal!  The love that is shared between the Father and the Son is the essence of what relationships should reflect across “the whole family in heaven and earth”.  In John 17, Jesus prayed that his followers would enter into this eternal love relationship:

John 17
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.”

Next, in Ephesians 3:16-17, Paul prays that believers will be “strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man” so that “Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith”.  Thus “rooted and grounded in love”, we will “be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— ¹⁹ to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge” so that we “may be filled with all the fullness of God”.  God wants His entire family to be overflowing with the fullness of His love!

What are these dimensions of Christ’s love that Paul prays we may be able to comprehend – “the width and length and depth and height”?  Jesus’ description of the two greatest commandments offers a clue:

Mark 12
⁸ Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?” ²⁹ Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰ And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. ³¹ And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

He says that first, we are to love God with all that we are, and second, we are to love our neighbors as ourselves.  He gave a further command to the disciples regarding their relationships with one another:

John 13
³⁴ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. ³⁵ By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

A “vertical relationship” speaks of relationship with God, whereas the term, “horizontal relationships”, speaks of our relationships with others.  This may help us to understand the dimensions of Christ’s love listed by Paul, “the width and length and depth and height”.  Bear in mind that both the horizontal and the vertical love relationships are meant to be two-way streets!

The “depth and height” dimensions speak of a two-way relationship with God in which we love Him wholeheartedly, and we experience the fullness of His love for us.  The “width and length” dimensions suggest giving love to others and receiving love from them.  The focus is on giving, but the receiving also is blessed.  The “length” could also be thought of as the dimension of time, representing the lasting faithfulness of true love.

Thus, to “know the love of Christ which passes knowledge” includes faithful two-way love relationships with both God and others.  In John 15, Jesus speaks about love and joy being perfected:

John 15
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. … ¹⁷ These things I command you, that you love one another.

Paul declares in Romans 5:8, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 1 John 4 goes on to describe knowing God through love:

1 John 4
⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸ He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹ In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

The family of God is perfected as love is poured out and received, vertically and horizontally. Paul exhorts in Acts 20:35, “remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”  Yet these two are connected.  The love we receive from brethren we pour out to others.  Then both are doubly blessed, and the promise of Romans 5:5 is fulfilled: “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.”

Paul completes this beautiful prayer by praying that in all these ways we may come “to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge” and “be filled with all the fullness of God.”  Amen.

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, https://compellinglove.net/  10/23/2016

Last weekend was a special time of ministry at our church and at the care centers.  Saturday, I had a short visit with a young woman in a care center whose mental condition causes her to be emotionally isolated much of the time.  Somehow, as I spoke simple words to her about the abiding love of Jesus, her face became alive and radiant with new understanding, with light and joy and love.

Sunday morning, Pastor Caleb gave a stirring message about Restoration.  During the prayer time, a young sister in Christ blessed me with a gesture of love and acceptance, and with a prayer, that I gratefully received as unmistakably from the Lord.  Leaving the church, and later when preparing to visit another care center, I hoped and prayed I would bless others the way this young friend had blessed me.

At the care center that afternoon, I was able to gain the attention of a longtime friend with extreme Alzheimer’s disease who seldom makes eye contact with anyone. This day he held my gaze as I reminded him of the love of Jesus, and his need to receive Him and be born again.  His attention was riveted to my words, and the Holy Spirit was clearly ministering to his spirit.

Later at the same facility I visited with another longtime friend who suffers from an extreme muscular disease preventing him from speaking or even moving his facial muscles.  He also maintained eye contact with me as I shared extensively from the Word of God, with emphasis on 2 Cor. 4:17, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory”.  He too was receiving a new wave of encouragement directly from the Spirit of God.

Paul exhorts in Acts 20:35, “remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”  Yet the two are interconnected.  The love we receive from brethren we pour out to others, and both are doubly blessed.  In so many ways the promise of Romans 5:5 is fulfilled: “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.”

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, https://compellinglove.net/   10/19/16

For those seeking God, He is our light, our salvation, our strength and our glory.  As Paul declares in 2 Corinthians 4:6, “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”  David, who looked forward to the coming of the Messiah, exuberantly declares his hope and faith in Psalm 27, where he describes how he seeks the Lord wholeheartedly, desiring to be in His presence continually, and encourages others to do the same.

Psalm 27 (NKJV)
An Exuberant Declaration of Faith
¹ The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?

⁴ One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple.

⁸ When You said, “Seek My face,”
My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”

¹³ I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
¹⁴ Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!

The writer of Psalm 43 exemplifies enduring faith by commanding his soul to “hope in God”.

Psalm 43 (NKJV)
Prayer to God in Time of Trouble
⁵ Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
For I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God.

Isaiah 12:2 declares with this same hope and faith, “For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.” The Hebrew word translated “salvation” in this verse is “Yeshua”, which is also the Hebrew name of Jesus.  Understanding this sheds a deeper light on the account of the naming of Jesus in Matthew chapter 1, where an angel of the Lord directs Joseph, the adoptive father of Jesus, to name his son Yeshua (Jesus), meaning “salvation”, “for He will save His people from their sins”.

Matthew 1
¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. ²⁰ But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. ²¹ And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

In John 8:12, Jesus gives an enduring promise to those who follow him: “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.’”

In Matthew 5, Jesus commands believers to let their light shine, so that people “may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Matthew 5
¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

In John 17, Jesus prays that believers will share the love and the glory that he shared with the Father before the world was.

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.”

Paul and the other Apostles took the good news of Christ to the world.  As mentioned, in 2 Corinthians 4:6, he describes how God “has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”  He then explains the promise of the Resurrection, and in verse 17 declares, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory”.

2 Corinthians 4
⁶ For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

¹⁴ knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you.

¹⁶ Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, ¹⁸ while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

In 2 Timothy 2;1, Paul urges Timothy to “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus”, and in verse 10 gives this testimony of his own endurance and its glorious results: “Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.”

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, https://compellinglove.net/
10/9/2016

If we put God at the center of our lives, being born again by faith in Jesus Christ, and walking steadily with Him by the power of the Holy Spirit, we will do well.  In Psalm 37, David, looking forward to the coming of the Messiah, gives keys to living victoriously as God created us to live:

Psalm 37 (NKJV)
³ Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
⁴ Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
⁵ Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
⁶ He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.

Paul enjoins in Colossians 3:23, “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men”.

Jesus Christ’s atoning death and resurrection gives us power to not only be forgiven and cleansed from sins, but to “go and sin no more”.  After speaking these words to the woman in John 8:11, he then declared, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

This forgiveness and deliverance is available to every person who comes to Him in faith.

1 John 2:1 (NKJV)
My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. ² And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

If we stay connected with Christ, he promises in John 15 that his joy will remain in us, and our joy will be full.

John 15
⁷ If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. ⁸ By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
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.

Hebrews 12 teaches that anything in our lives that hinders us from putting God first and staying connected with Him is a weight that we need to lay aside, along with the sin that so easily ensnares us.

Hebrews 12 (NKJV)
The Race of Faith
¹ Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Pastor Mike Taylor comments on these verses:

“Anything can become a snare to us when we allow it to become more important than God himself. … Whatever is placed ahead of God will trip us up. Jesus’ letter to the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2 finishes with this simple, clear call:
Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. — Revelation 2:5
… What God wants from us most of all is not [even] our hard work or our perseverance, but our love, devotion and worship.”
(www.miketaylor.org.uk/xian/godcentral3.html)

Jesus invites us all to give to Him the weight of every burden that hinders us, and we will find rest for our souls:

Matthew 11
²⁸ Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Peter gives this encouragement to believers in 1 Peter 5:6-7:

⁶ Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, ⁷ casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

We do well to remember that God created all things by His will, and for His pleasure as Revelation 4:11 (KJV) declares:

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

God promises to Israel, and  also to all who trust in Him, that He has good intentions toward us, to give us “a future and a hope”.

Jeremiah 29 (NKJV)
¹¹ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

In Psalm 57, David, pursued by the murderous King Saul and his armies, calls out to God for mercy and safety, and then declares prophetically, “He shall send from heaven and save me”.

Psalm 57 (NKJV)
² I will cry out to God Most High,
To God who performs all things for me.
³ He shall send from heaven and save me;
He reproaches the one who would swallow me up. Selah
God shall send forth His mercy and His truth.

 Paul writes in Romans 8:32 that the greatest demonstration of God’s love is that He “did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all”. In verse 39 he declares that nothing “can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, https://compellinglove.net/
9/25/2016

God is the source of all light – in the Creation, in the Incarnation, and in the victorious lives of believers.  In the beginning, God spoke light into the world:

Genesis 1
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

³ Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. ⁴ And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.

The Word of God, who became incarnate in Jesus Christ, gives life and light to every person who comes into the world:

John 1
The Eternal Word
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. ⁴ In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

John’s Witness: The True Light
⁶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. ⁸ He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. ⁹ That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

Through Jesus Christ, God’s light shines in the hearts of believers in a wonderfully personal way:

2 Corinthians 4
⁶ For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Jesus makes the light of God available to all who seek him in truth:

John 3
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.

¹⁸ “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. ²¹ But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

He promises that all who follow him will have the light of life:

John 8:12 (NKJV)
¹² Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

⁴⁴ Then Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. ⁴⁵ And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. ⁴⁶ I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.

Jesus, the light of the world, is fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 42:

Isaiah 42
¹ “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold,
My Elect One in whom My soul delights!
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.

⁵ Thus says God the Lord,
Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it,
Who gives breath to the people on it,
And spirit to those who walk on it:
⁶ “I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness,
And will hold Your hand;
I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people,
As a light to the Gentiles,
⁷ To open blind eyes,
To bring out prisoners from the prison,
Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.

Jesus commands all who follow him to “let your light shine”:

Matthew 5
¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Jesus keeps his promises.  He said in John 10:10, “… I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” This is fulfilled in the life of every person who walks in his light. Looking to the future, in John’s vision of the New Jerusalem, paralleling Isaiah’s, “the Lamb of God is its light”, and “the nations of those who are saved walk in its light”.

Isaiah 60
¹⁹ “The sun shall no longer be your light by day,
Nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you;
But the Lord will be to you an everlasting light,
And your God your glory.

Revelation 21
The Glory of the New Jerusalem
²² But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. ²³ The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. ²⁴ And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. ²⁵ Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). ²⁶ And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, https://compellinglove.net/  9/11/2016

The Bible consistently teaches that true wisdom from above comes from trusting the Lord, not putting confidence in man (Psalm 118:8) and not leaning on our own understanding:

Proverbs 3 (NKJV)
⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.

James 1 promises that if any person prays in faith asking God for wisdom, it will be given generously:

James 1 (NKJV)
⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. ⁶ But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

James also declares that our heavenly Father gives good and perfect gifts, including bringing us forth into new life through his word of truth:

James 1 (NKJV)
¹⁶ Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. ¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. ¹⁸ Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

In 1 Kings 3:9, King Solomon asks God for “an understanding heart to judge Your people”, and God responds by giving him “a wise and understanding heart”, as well as other gifts for which he did not ask:

1 Kings 3
¹¹ Then God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, ¹² behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you.  ¹³ And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days. ¹⁴ So if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”

In Matthew 12:42, Jesus declares, “indeed a greater than Solomon is here”.  He was responding to the unbelief of the Pharisees, who demanded “a sign”, after accusing him of healing and casting out demons “by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”  Jesus then promises “the sign of the prophet Jonah”, predicting that he will rise from the dead after being “three days and three nights in the heart of the earth”.

Matthew 12
²² Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. ²³ And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”
²⁴ Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”

³⁸ Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”

³⁹ But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. ⁴⁰ For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. ⁴¹ The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. ⁴² The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.

Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man, satisfied the law by living in perfect obedience, honoring God with every aspect of his life.  In his conversation with Nicodemus he declares his identity: “No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man” – John 3:13 (NIV).  In John 3:3 (NKJV), Jesus tells Nicodemus, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Sharon Lindsay, in her book, “The Son of God Series: Book 3” amplifies the next part of their conversation as follows:

“Again let me say that I am not talking about the travail of women that produces a child. I am talking about a work of God through his Spirit. I am talking about an internal change in your thoughts and your emotions. It is a change that connects you with the heart of God. This change is demonstrated by righteous words and just deeds. The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. They naturally live by the law of God. Everyone who has experienced this internal change is a citizen of the Kingdom of God.”

True wisdom from above includes believing in the One whom God has sent so that “the world through him might be saved”:

John 3 (NKJV)
¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 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.

Being born again, and allowing Jesus to direct our paths, is true wisdom from above that leads to ever greater light, as Proverbs 4:18 (NIV) describes:

The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day

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

The promise of God’s spirit dwelling in the hearts of His people is a central recurring theme in the Bible.  For example, David, a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22), exhorts God’s people in Psalm 24:

⁹ Lift up your heads, O you gates!
Lift up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
¹⁰ Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
He is the King of glory. Selah

David’s prayer of sincere repentance in Psalm 51 includes a request that God will bring transforming changes by the presence of His Holy Spirit.

Psalm 51 (NKJV)
¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.

Jesus encourages believers to ask, seek and knock, and especially promises that our heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him:

Luke 11 (NKJV)
⁹ “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. ¹¹ If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? ¹³ If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

In John 14, Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit, the Father, and the Son of God will make their home in those who love Him and keep His word:

John 14 (NKJV)
Jesus Promises Another Helper
¹⁵ “If you love Me, keep My commandments. ¹⁶ And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

Indwelling of the Father and the Son
¹⁹ “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. ²⁰ At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. ²¹ He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

²³ … “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

Paul writes often of God’s Spirit dwelling in believers, and the hope and promise that He brings.  For example, he writes in Romans 8:11:

“… if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”

The mystery that was hidden for ages is now revealed: “Christ in you, the hope of glory”, as Paul declares in Colossians 1:

²⁶ … the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. ²⁷ To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

The indwelling Holy Spirit enlivens hope for eternal life and empowers us to live here and now for God’s glory, as  Paul describes in Romans 5:

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.

In Romans 12, Paul speaks further about being transformed by the renewing of our minds when we give ourselves as “a living sacrifice” to God:

¹ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. ² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

In Ephesians 4, Paul describes this transformation as both being “renewed in the spirit of your mind” and putting on “the new man which was created according to God”:

²² … put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, ²³ and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴ and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

John 3:16 declares God’s gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, His Son.

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.

Paul describes the problem of sin and its solution in Romans 3:23 and 6:23:

“ For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Jesus declares in Revelation 3:20, “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.”

This is a personal invitation for an ever increasing depth of love relationship with the Son of God, who is “Christ in you, the hope of glory”.

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, https://compellinglove.net/
8/14/2016

The gospels recount how Jesus continually saved and healed people in response to their faith, either their own faith or that of others.  He would afterwards commend their faith with words such as, “Your faith has made you well” (Matthew 9:22, Mark 10:52) or “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace” (Luke 7:50).  Faith is a precious gift from God for which we can pray, a gift to be kept diligently and exercised often.  David describes his own saving faith in Psalm 27, urging God’s people to stay strong in the Lord:

Psalm 27
“¹³ I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
¹⁴ Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!

Hebrews 11:1 describes faith as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”, starting with a simple faith in Creation:

Hebrews 11
¹ Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
² For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.
³ By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

1 John 5 teaches that faith is “the victory that has overcome the world”:

1 John 5 (NKJV)
⁴ For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. ⁵ Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

The Asbury Bible Commentary comments on this verse:

The world is the world of darkness, antagonistic to the children of God. In his death on the cross, Jesus entered into mortal combat with the powers of darkness and overcame them in his death. When by faith we appropriate the benefits of his atoning work, we enter into the power by which he gained this victory and thus in him we have (and do) overcome the world.  … “To believe that Jesus has been victorious is to have the power that enables us to win the battle, for we know that our foe is already defeated and therefore powerless” (Marshall, 229).”

The IVP New Testament Commentary on this verse notes,  “Faith is the victory, … not because of what faith is in itself but because it is directed to the Son, through whom God wins the victory for us”.

Faith in the Son of God connects us with the One who gives eternal life:

1 John 5
¹¹ And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. ¹² He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

The song “Faith is the victory”, written by John H. Yates in 1891, exuberantly portrays this triumphant faith in Christ:

Faith is the victory!
Faith is the victory!
Oh, glorious victory,
That overcomes the world.

To him that overcomes the foe,
White raiment shall be giv’n;
Before the angels he shall know
His name confessed in heav’n.
Then onward from the hills of light,
Our hearts with love aflame,
We’ll vanquish all the hosts of night,
In Jesus’ conqu’ring name.

Faith, hope and love work together in a believer’s life to glorify God.  Proverbs 23:17-19 illustrates the relationship between faith and hope:

Do not let your heart envy sinners, but be zealous for the fear of the Lord all the day; for surely there is a hereafter, and your hope will not be cut off. Hear, my son, and be wise; and guide your heart in the way.

Darlene Deibler Rose exemplifies living, triumphant faith in her book, “Evidence Not Seen: A Woman’s Miraculous Faith in the Jungles of World War II” (Paperback – November 25, 2003).  She relates how when Mr. Yamaji, the stern commander of the women’s Prisoner of War camp, informed her of her husband’s death, she was able to tell him through her tears that she was not “as others who have no hope” (1 Thes. 4:13), and that she would one day join her husband, alive in God’s presence, because Jesus has overcome death.  The mean commander later repented of his cruelty and became a strong believer, giving glory to Christ in his testimony over Japanese radio.

Hebrews 12, describes the “race of faith”, where Jesus is both the author and the finisher of our faith:

Hebrews 12
¹ Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

We have the victory as we live by the faith in Christ that God has given us, as Paul describes in Galatians 2:20:

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Paul explains the relationship between faith and works in Ephesians 2:

⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast. ¹⁰ For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. 

Paul exemplifies a living, triumphant faith in Christ in Romans 5:

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.

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

Paul declares in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”  We have so many reasons to give thanks to God: for Creation, for His provision and His guidance, for calling us into a love relationship with Him through Christ, for putting His love in our hearts for one another, and for giving us hope and faith for eternal life!

Thankful for Creation

First of all, let us be thankful that He created us, and that His goodness and mercy are everlasting, as Psalm 100 declares:

Psalm 100 (NKJV)
¹ Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
² Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
³ Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
⁴ Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
⁵ For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.

Thankful for God’s Provision and Guidance

Psalm 107 urges people to give thanks for God’s goodness, mercy and wonderful works: “¹ Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
⁸ Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
⁹ For He satisfies the longing soul, And fills the hungry soul with goodness.”

James 1:5 encourages, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”

In Psalm 23, David praises the Lord for many blessings, declaring in verse 3:  “He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” 

Psalm 23
¹ The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
² He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
³ He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever.

Thankful for Faith, Hope and Love, and Eternal Life

Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 13:13, “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

In 1 Thessalonians 5:8, Paul encourages believers to be “putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.”

John 3:16 declares,
“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.”

John’s gospel and epistles teach how God demonstrated His love for us by sending His Son to take the judgment for our sins, opening the way for us to have an eternal love relationship with Him.

1 John 4
⁹ In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

John 17
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.”

Thankful for Friends and Brethren

Following Paul’s example in 1 Thessalonians 1:2-4, we give thanks for our friends and beloved brethren: “ We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father, knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God.”

God has poured out His love in our hearts, so that now we can love one another with His love, as  Romans 5:5 declares, “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.”

1 John 4:7-8 urges us to express the essence of God which is love:
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸ He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

In  Philippians 4:6-7, Paul exhorts us to pray with thanksgiving in everything:
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, https://compellinglove.net/   7-17-2016

The prayers of David and Asaph both speak of living life in the presence of God, leading to eternal glory.  David prays in Psalm 16:11, “You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”  Asaph prays in Psalm 73:23-24, “Nevertheless I am continually with You; You hold me by my right hand.  You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.”

The prayers of Jesus in John 17 reveal the way to eternal life and everlasting glory.  In verse 3, he declares: “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”  He prays that the Father will glorify His Son, so the Son may glorify the Father, “with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”

John 17 (NKJV)
¹ Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, ² as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. 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.

Redemption of believers through His Son was God’s plan even before Creation.  Paul in Titus 1:2 speaks of the “hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began”.  Jesus describes this priceless gift of God’s love in John 3:16, “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.”

Referring to those who believe in Him, Jesus declares in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”  He goes on to describe how as the good shepherd he will lay down his life for the sheep, not only those “of this fold” but of others to come, “and there will be one flock and one shepherd.”  He then explains that he is laying down His life for them willingly “of Myself” and that He will rise again, according to the command of His Father.

John 10
¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.  … ¹⁴ I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. ¹⁵ As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. ¹⁶ And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
¹⁷ “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”

Continuing in John 17, Jesus prays for a deep unity in his disciples, that they may be one as He and the Father are one.  He prays that they would be sanctified – consecrated and set apart – by the truth, just as He is set apart and consecrated for them.

John 17 (NKJV)
⁶ “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. ⁷ Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. ⁸ For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.
⁹ “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. ¹⁰ And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. ¹¹ Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. ¹² While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. ¹³ But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. ¹⁴ I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁵ I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁷ Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. ¹⁸ As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. ¹⁹ And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

Finally, Jesus prays for all believers that they may share the love and glory He had with the Father before the foundation of the world.

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 is speaking of a love and glory which we can begin to experience right here and now, because of the gift of the Holy Spirit who lives in every true believer.  In John 14:17 and 23, Jesus teaches that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit will make their home in those who love and obey Him.

Paul likewise speaks in Colossians 1:26-27 of “the mystery which had been hidden from ages and from generations”, which is “Christ in you, the hope of glory”.  In Romans 5:5, Paul declares that “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us”.

Truly, He guides us with His counsel and afterward receives us to glory.  He shows us the path of life; in His presence we have fullness of joy;  at His right hand are pleasures forevermore.  (Psalm 16:11; 73:24).

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, https://compellinglove.net/
7/3/2016