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ACTS 29 TODAY

coming to the knowledge of the TRUTH

 

 

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PERFECT LOVE CAST OUT FEAR

 

As you clothe yourself with your new man by giving

yourself to the Word and to prayer, the Holy Spirit

through your spirit edifies, purges, and develops your

character until everything you say, think, or do is

governed by agape. Let’s look at First John 4:17,18 to

learn more about this powerful force.

Herein is 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 FEAR: BECAUSE FEAR HATH TORMENT. He that

feareth is not made perfect in love.

That word “herein” points us to the next verse, which

tells us how we will know when love is being perfected

in us. Herein is God’s love perfected in us: Perfect love

casts out fear, for fear has torment. So when we find

ourselves being purged from torment and fear, then

love is being perfected in us.

 

For instance, if you decided to sue me, how could I

extend mercy to you if I had fear and torment about the

outcome of the situation? But when love has been

perfected in me, I know I can’t lose. Oh, you may take

everything I possess at the time, but Luke 6:38 says that

my Father is going to restore it all back to me, pressed

down, shaken together, and running over.He’ll give me

more than I had before!

So what is the sign that I am drawing nigh unto God and

approaching agape love? It is this: Along the way, I am

shedding torment and fear as I enter into rest and

refreshing.

I used to think love was a feeling, but it isn’t a feeling. I

used to think love was an attitude that would help me

survive through dealing with the unlovable. But it isn’t

an attitude either.

Encompassed within agape is an abiding presence of

peace. As you grow close to God and His love is

perfected in you, that peace begins to dominate as fear

and torment lose their hold.That is the first sign that

you are being purged from phileo to agape.

As a minister, I wish I could open up your heart and

just put agape in you in such strength that you would

forever lose all the torment and fear that has plagued

your life. I understand the process by which you can

attain that goal, but all I can do is teach you about it.

I can hammer it into your intellect. As much as

possible, I can teach with the anointing of God straight

to your spirit. But I can’t make that process toward

perfect love take place in your life.

However, if I can talk you into giving yourself to

praying in the Holy Ghost, then you will cause that

process to begin in your own life. You will start to edify

and build yourself up in your inner man through the

power of the Holy Spirit.

Then the Holy Spirit will begin the mortification

process by building up your inner man to purge all

those insecurities, intimidation’s, carnalities, and lusts

that have hindered your life.This is how God’s love is

perfected in you. As the Holy Spirit edifies your new

nature, torment and fear begin to fall off you and you

draw close to agape.

Covet Earnestly Agape Love

To discover more about the role of praying in tongues

in moving us toward a fuller revelation of agape love in

our lives, let’s take a look at First Corinthians 13, the

great “love chapter” of the Bible.

First, let’s look at this chapter in context to the chapters

that surround it. First Corinthians12 is a magnificent

chapter dealing with the eradication of ignorance

concerning the spiritual gifts, operations, and

government of God. Chapter 14 is a most phenomenal

explanation of spiritual forces as pertains to praying in

tongues.

So Paul goes from a discussion of the government of

God to an explanation of the operation of the Spirit and

of tongues. Then he nestles First Corinthians 13 in

between these two chapters. But first, he makes a

profound statement:

But COVET EARNESTLY the best gifts: and yet shew I

unto you A MORE EXCELLENT WAY.— 1 Corinthians

12:31

Paul was saying in essence, “I want to show you a more

excellent way. If you want to save yourself a lot of

trouble, then you need to covet this kind of agape love

with everything in you the same way you covet the best

gifts.”

Just how important is it to pursue agape love? Paul

makes this statement in First Corinthians 13:13:

And now abideth faith, hope, charity [agape love],

these three; but THE GREATEST OF THESE IS CHARITY.

If I had been the one to choose, I probably would have

said that faith is the greatest thing, followed by hope.

Hope encompasses the time you spend feeding yourself

with God’s Word,which causes your faith to manifest.

But Paul says, “Greater than faith and greater than

hope is self-denying agape.” That means there is

nothing more important in your life to covet and

earnestly desire than agape love.

The word “covet” in this verse is just as strong in

meaning as it is in the Ten Commandments, where it

says, “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife” (Exod.

20:17). When this word is used as an emotional

negative, it means a lust so powerful that it consumes a

man, causing him to relentlessly pursue what he covets

until it takes over his entire character.

 

But when “covet” is used in a godly sense, it means

pursuing something God wants you to have with a

heartfelt hunger until you apprehend it.

 

I never had a problem with coveting earnestly the best

gifts. I have fasted, I have prayed— I have done

everything I knew to do in order to be qualified for God

to use me.

So it came as a shock to me when God spoke to my

spirit, saying, “Go ahead and lust after My gifts with

everything that is in you. But I’m going to show you a

more excellent way to covet after the best gifts.”

I said, “God, You have the audacity to say that after I

have spent my life in fasting and praying and coveting

after Your best and highest, You are going to show me a

more excellent way?” The answer to that was yes, God

did have the audacity, and yes, He was going to show

me a more excellent way!

In Paul’s original epistle to the Corinthians, there was

no division between chapters 12 and 13. So right after

Paul’s statement about coveting the best gifts and

showing the Corinthians a more excellent way, he goes

on to introduce the subject of love: Though I speak with

tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity… (1

Cor. 13:1).

In other words, the most excellent way to covet

earnestly the best gifts is to go after agape with that

same intensity. When you do, you will be pursuing and

coveting the best gifts God has for you in the most

powerful manner possible.

What are the “best gifts”? Well, you are called to fill one

of the eight operations of God. For you, the best gifts

are those that qualify you for the office or operation

you are called to fulfill.

 

Until next time

LARRY