â Today's Promise: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" Jeremiah 17:9Â
Beloved brother,
In this two-part series we have been talking about how we cannot attain the Agape love that is written about in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, without the help and infilling of God through his Holy Spirit. I mentioned how we must âdie to selfâ - meaning that we give up our way of doing things such as striving, arguing, quarrelling, and do what the Lord expects of us in every situation.
God is so good that he is ready to fill us with his own supernatural agape love for these situations if we are willing to stop doing things our way.
John 12: 24-26 ESV
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Â If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honour him.
Romans 12:12 (ESV)
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
When we come back to the Lord, we must have a new spirit, a new heart and a new willpower. We must die to self. The way you have been doing love must change and conform with Godâs way of loving. One singer says âlove is the evidenceâ that we are Christians.
Have you realised that by doing love your own way you have either made things worse or destroyed them? I definitely have! So, Iâm embarking on a journey of âdying to selfâ which means I think about what the Lord wants in every situation before what I want.
I say quietly to myself âLord I do what you want me to do, what you expect me to do before what I wantâ.
We are in the process of change and He is going to put a new spirit in us, a new heart, new thoughts, new ways of doing things. If you allow Him, you become his ambassador in this way! And through this, true healing will be released so that we can walk into the new thing he is preparing for us.
Otherwise, how will you love your enemy? What about all the people whispering and inciting against your marriage? What about when your wife displays wicked actions? What about OM? Can your own willpower give them all grace, peace and love? Itâs very hard!
But ask the Lord to help you and it becomes much easier and rewarding. One brother confesses recently that God Has done an amazing work on forgiveness in his heart that he is able to say OM name without malice. It has all been removed from him! This is what we are talking about! We donât give in to feelings of envy/ anger jealousy instead we repent of them and ask the Lord to replace them with his supernatural agape love.
Only by His grace. Only by his power. Only by asking the Lord to teach you to love others the way He loves.
We can no longer follow what our heart wants because the Bible warns that the heart is corrupt and cannot be trusted. Funny that the world tells us the opposite in all the popular love songs! Yet the Lord says we cannot trust our hearts.
Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
Psalm 21:7
For the king trusts in the Lord; through the unfailing love of the Most High he will not be shaken.
Dying to self means that we are trusting the way of God above our way. Hanging on to your way of doing things means you are trusting yourself only.
~ Tad RESTORED in Australia
If you haven't already done so, please take a moment to read my testimony and then my wife's encouragement.