Everyday Church
God Is Love
(upbeat music) - Hello, friend. Welcome to today's podcast, Everyday Church, with Pastor Jason Keefer. Everyday Church is a daily podcast where believers learn together, grow together, and serve together. (upbeat music) - Hey, my friend. What's great to be with you today again, on the Everyday Church podcast. And I'm so thankful that you join in with us each day or as often as possible. And I know some of you may be you're headed to work possibly, or you're getting ready for work, trying to get kids out of the house, and whatever it is, I know we all live busy lives, and I'm just, I'm thankful that many of you, you've already said, man, this is a help to me, this is an encouragement to me, and I'm thankful that we can be a help to one another. So I would encourage you to pass this on, share it, be sure to subscribe to the podcast, and to like it, to share it, to repost it, help get the information out there. It doesn't take long, just a second to do that. And then also, you know, astatooababdas.com is a great place to get other information, go there, check it out if you haven't already done that, so that we can get better connected. Hey, if you have any questions, any way that we can help, or be an encouragement, do you a pray for you? Everydaychurchabc@gmail.com is a great place to get connected as well. You can shoot something through there at that email address, and we'll be glad to be a help to you. So hey, we're gonna pick up, yes, last time we were together, we were talking about how you can know, how you can know you're saved, how you can know you've been born again, and it's through the spirit of God that lives within you. And then, as John continues, he makes this statement in verse 16, and that's gonna be the thought for today. He makes a statement, God is love. Man, what a great statement. God doesn't have love, God doesn't show love, friend, God is love. That's who God is. And I just, every time I read that phrase there, and John 4 and 16, I'm just so thankful for it. So John 4 verse 16 through 18 is what we'll be at today. He says, and we have known, so remember, excuse me, remember, last time we were together, here's how you know, you know, here's how you know. Well, verse 16, he says, we have known, we have known and believe the love that God have to us. So we've known the love of God, and we believe the love of God that he asked for it us. So remember, John was there when they crucified the war. John was there whenever Jesus said, no man takes my life, I give it. I'm here to do the Father's will, because my Father loves you. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. And so John was there whenever Jesus displayed his love for all of humanity, all of mankind. He was there, and so he understood that. He knows, so he says, we have known the love of God. We've experienced the love of God. We'll be a good way to say that. And believe the love that God have to us. And I would just say this today, have you experienced the love of God? Have you experienced the transforming power that comes through the love of God? And because you have seen it, and you know it, you believe that, and so he makes this statement. He just stops and says, God is love. Man, I love that. And he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God of him. So he that dwells in love, dwells in God. Why? Because God is love, and God dwells in him. So, so loved dwells in him. Well, hearing as our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out all fear, because fear hath torment. He that fearth has not made perfect in love. So I want to just real quick today, just three things about love. I think we can see in these verses that may encourage us. I think we can see the position of love, right? God is love. And he says that he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God. And God in him. So there is a place, there's a position where we are in God, and God is in us. I think Paul very clearly describes this in Ephesians, chapter one and verse three, when he says this, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, in Christ Jesus. There is a position for the believer, and it's in Christ Jesus. It is in heavenly places. There's a place in Christ, a, we are positioned, we are seated with him. In fact, he says in Ephesians two, six, and hath raised us up together and made us to sit together in heavenly places, in Christ Jesus. Well, we know that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father. It's where he's seated at. Remember, when Stephen was stoned, he opened his eyes and he looked into heaven and he said he saw that, he saw Jesus standing there at the right hand of the Father. So Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father. And so the Bible says that we are seated in Christ in heavenly places. And so we're positioned, there's a position of love. Again, I bring your attention back to first John three, verse one, behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. There's a position there, that position of the child of God, the son of God, that can't be changed or be altered. That's an amazing thing, isn't it? That's not based on what we do or what we don't do or how we act or how we don't act or it's not based on what you know or what you don't know. The believer is a child of God positioned in him and that cannot be changed. So we see the position of love. But then notice as we continue reading, he says in verse 17, "Herein is our love made perfect." Now the word perfect there isn't really probably as much the way you are. I would use perfect when we think of something it is without error, but it is more to be this. It's complete, we're complete in him. We're completed in him. So what do we know is there's perfection in love, perfection in love, perfect love is perfect because God is perfect. So complete love is complete because God is, he's whole, he is loved. John's already established that. God is love, that's who he is, right? It's not a character trait of God, it is who he is. And so what do we know is that our love is made perfect. It is made perfect. There's two, there's the perfection of love and the process of love would be the third one we would talk about today. I think perfection and the process kind of go hand in hand. So I don't want to get ahead of myself. So our love is made perfect. The idea that something is made perfect would let us know that there's a process there, right? There's a beginning of my love in Christ and it is made perfect. It's made perfect. And he even goes on to say this, it's made perfect so that we may have boldness in the day of judgment. I think the reason why it's so important that we grow in him, that we grow in Christ and we grow in his love for us and our love for him is that as we're growing in him, we're being perfected, we're being completed and as we're completed, we have courage in him, we find strength in him. To the point that the Bible says that the one who is in perfect love, when he stands in the day of judgment before Christ, he stands without fear and he stands with great confidence. Confidence in what, his own ability? No, confidence in the love of our Savior, confidence in the work of our Savior that was carried out through his love. Confidence in the compassion of our Savior that failed not, confidence in the mercies of our God that has, he's bestowed upon us. And it's not of works that we have done. It's nothing that we could have accomplished, but it does only by his grace, confidence in that. And what great hope there is, as I grow in God's love, I have greater confidence in that. As his love rose in me and I begin to rise, man. You know, God's love is, it's not earned, it's not merited. I didn't do anything to obtain it. I can't do anything for him to love me anymore. Here's a thought for you, on your worst day, God's not gonna love you any less. And on your best day, he's not gonna love you anymore. I mean, he has displayed his love for you and that he gave Christ for you. Man, what a great thought. As I grow in that and I realize, wait a minute, God's love for me is really only based on his ability on his ability to love me. And God is not gonna fail in his love. God is not gonna fall short in his love. I fall short in my love for people, for my kids, for my wife, for my friends, for my church. I fall short in that. I have these great intentions and I find it hard to follow through sometimes. God has never fallen short in his love for you. He's never had this great intention of he was gonna love you with all of his heart and everything he had. And then he just was unable to fulfill that. God has always fulfilled his promise and his promises of love he fulfilled through the work of Christ. So we know that we're perfected in love, we're being perfected in love. But look what he says in verse 18, "There is no fear in love. "There is no fear in love, "but perfect love casteth out fear." Perfect love casteth out fear. We reverence God, we fear God in a sense that he's a holy God and we're just these fleshly beings that are being, we've been made righteous, we've been positioned in righteousness. So there's this part of us that will always fear God because that's the right thing to do. We're told to do that. Fear the Lord and keep his commandments. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and proverbs it says. So, but we're talking about fear of the enemy. In fact, he goes on to say it this way, "There is no fear in love, "but perfect love casteth out fear." Watch this, because fear has torment. Torment is that that just really just tears your mind apart. It's empty of peace, there's no peace in it. It brings in that anxiety that just is oppressive to the point that you physically begin to feel it. You know, you can't sleep at night, you can't eat right, you're just constantly bombarded with fear from the enemy. And it can be because of our inadequacies, it can be because of our failures, it can be because of a number of different things. But as we grow in the love of Christ, man, those other things are just ushered out of our life. As I grow in the love of Christ, I realize that my inadequacies, they are what they are. Do I strive to do better 100%? But in striving to do better, does that make God love me more? No, it does not. I strive to do better because he loves me and that's just part of the Christian life. I strive to be more holy because he's positioned me in holiness. I don't do that, I don't strive so that I can obtain that or I can become that. I am that because Jesus made me. I'm loved because Jesus made me love. I'm cherished because Jesus made me cherished in the eyes of God. I'm holy because Jesus made me holy in the eyes of God. And I think sometimes we get those reversed. And so what do we know? He that feareth is not made perfect in love. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. I didn't plan on doing this, but I'm gonna do it. That last verse there, 19, we love him. I think it's fitting this verse all, these verses all could together, of course. That last verse says we love him because he first loved us. I have written in my Bible. I don't know if you're right in your Bible or not. In the margin of my Bible, I have written, I cannot influence God's love for me. I cannot influence God's love for me. I cannot make him love me more and I cannot make him love me less. I am his child, he is perfect love, and he is maturing me or growing me or perfecting me or completing me in his love. And from that I'm learning to love him more, but the more that I love him does not cause him to love me more. He loves me with everything. He's given everything for me. What a great encouraging thought today. God is love, God is love. And so today, if you're going throughout the day, you feel discouraged. You come up on a moment and you're just like, man, I blew it today. I got mad at my boss and yelled at him and whatever. If you do that, I hope you don't get fired. Better yet, just don't do that. Maybe you got mad at your kids and maybe you, I don't know, I don't know. Could be a number of different things, but you walk away and you feel guilty, you feel overwhelmed with guilt, all those other things. You feel like you're not measuring up. That's what we do. We feel like we're not measuring up. How does not calling us to measure up his not? We are seated in Christ. That's why we know. That's how we know, but we also know because of the love he's bestowed upon us. God is love. I hope that'll help you to encourage you today. The position of love, the perfection of love, the process of love, there is a process and it is a painful process at times. A friend, he's grown us in he own. I love what the last part of verse 17 says, it says that we may have boldness in the day of judgment. The last part says, because as he is, so are we in this world. We can be in Christ in this present world, experiencing the love of God, positioned in him. He's so good to us. Man, I love him. I could talk all day about him, and especially when it comes to his word. So I hope this is an encouragement to you and a help to you today. Hey, I'm praying for you. And if I can do anything for you, please let me know, reach out. Everydaychurchavc@gmail.com's a great way. Share these podcasts, encourage one another, lift one another up in the name of Jesus. And let's continue growing together in Christ. Father, thank you for your love, for your mercies, for your goodness to us. Father, would you have your way? In all that we say and do today, Father, that you may be glorified. Father, in that moment today where we feel unloved, where we feel like we've not measured up, Father, may we be reminded that it's you that loved us first. And Father, you love cast out all fear. It's perfect love, it's complete love. And Father, you will never fail to live up to your love, to your promise of love. Father, thank you, thank you, thank you for your precious word. Have your way, we pray, in your name we pray. Amen. (upbeat music) - Thank you for listening to Everyday Church, a daily podcast where believers learn together, grow together, and serve together. If this episode was an encouragement to you, be sure to hit like, share it, and subscribe for future content. (upbeat music)