Love Has a Name - Purity 966

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of a pretty sky and a placid river comes to us from Lisa Sharp, who shared this photo from somewhere along the Hudson River in Germantown, New York, that captures the peaceful stillness just before twilight time on social media this past Sunday. When you see a sight like this, you just want to share its beauty with someone you love, so I am sending it to you as a Valentine's Day reminder that no matter what your relationship status is today, you can be assured that you are loved by God because He expressed it by sending His Son to save us. His love has a name: Jesus, which reminds me of the Jesus Culture song that begins by saying, There's a space in every beating heart. There's a longing that reaches past the stars. There's an answer to every question mark. There is a name. There's a hope flowing through these veins. There's a voice that echoes through the pain. There's an ember ready for the flame. There is a name. We will fix our eyes on the one who overcame. We will stand in awe of the one who breaks the chains. Love has a name, love has a name, Jesus. I'm sharing, uh, I'm sharing a link to that song on the blog today if you don't know it, because it shows us that Jesus shows us God's love and our victory, our joy, and our hope. This triumphant worship song speaks a fundamental truth of our faith: that God is love, sure, but God is more than just a feeling. God is a person. As hard as it may be to understand that he is one God in three persons existing in unity as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we can be confident of his love for us because of our Savior who has the name of Jesus. I'm particularly sensitive to the importance of this truth today because I'm— I recently talked to an old friend who has veered off the path of Christian discipleship into error and was expressing his false belief that God was an impersonal force that indicated that, uh, that pantheistic ideas had corrupted his understanding. His emphasis being that God that God is light, which was extremely ironic because he obviously was coming from a place of darkness and confusion as he posed the question of what is God and followed it up by asking the question, would that make Jesus wrong, after trying to reduce God to some mystical feeling. Frankly, I didn't entertain his questions very, very much because they revealed that he was missing something. God has a name, several in fact, and they all describe his personhood. God is not a what, God is a who. God is a person. And to entertain that idea that Jesus was wrong clearly demonstrated that my old friend wasn't in his right mind, because Christ is the truth, the way, and the life. Jesus doesn't get it wrong. So why would someone try to craft God into the impersonal forces of light and feeling of love that was some all-inclusive swarming feeling of surface sentimentality rather than relating to him as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit? Probably because impersonal forces of light and swarming feelings of love and and unconditional acceptance wouldn't call us to be holy as God is holy. Light and worldly love wouldn't call us out of our sin and call, call us to repent. We don't have to be accountable to live as God's word calls us to if we translate the Bible to see some false Gnostic belief that God isn't what his word says he is. That we would— that we have to see past God the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit to get some special revelation that we are perfect the way we are and that we are gods in ourselves. This man's life has been defined by addictions, broken relationships, and lies. In his attempts to share this latest revelation, he forgot who he was talking to. I know enough truth about God to know Satan's counterfeit, no matter how sweet and nice you try to make it. My friend's presentation of God as light and non-judgmental love was clearly a product of the evil one who disguises himself as an angel of light. So this morning I'm going to share the My Father God list resource from the Freedom in Christ course to renounce the lies and to emphasize the truth about our Heavenly Father, because I feel that in this modern age there is an increasing tendency for people who knew the truth about God to be led astray. The resource says, my Father God, I renounce the lie that you, Father God, are distant and uninterested in me. I choose to believe the truth that you, Father God, are always personally present with me, have plans to give me a hope and a future, and have prepared works in advance specifically for me to do. I renounce the lie that you, Father God, are insensitive and don't know me or care for me. I choose to believe the truth that you, Father God, are kind and compassionate and know every single thing about me. I renounce the lie that you, Father God, are stern and have placed unrealistic expectations on me. I choose to believe the truth that you, Father God, have accepted me and are joyfully supportive of me. I renounce the lie that you, Father God, are passive and cold toward me. I choose to believe the truth that you, Father God, are warm and affectionate toward me. I renounce the lie that you, Father God, are absent or too busy for me. I choose to believe the truth that you, Father God, are always present and eager to be with me and enable me to be able to be all that you created me to be. I renounce the lie that you, Father God, are impatient or angry with me or have rejected me. I choose to believe the truth that you, Father God, are patient and slow to anger, and that you— and when you discipline me, it is a proof of your love and not rejection. I renounce the lie that you, Father God, have been mean, cruel, or abusive to me. I choose to believe the truth that Satan is mean, cruel, and abusive, but you, Father God, are loving, gentle, and protective. I renounce the lie that you, Father God, are denying me the pleasures of life. I choose to believe the truth that you, Father God, are the author of life and will lead me into love, joy, and peace when I choose to be filled with your Spirit. I renounce the lie that you, Father God, are trying to control and manipulate me. I choose to believe the truth that you, Father God, set me free and gave me the freedom to make choices and grow in your grace. I renounce the lie that you, Father God, have condemned me and no longer forgive me. I choose to believe the truth that you, Father God, have forgiven all my sins and will never use them against me in the future. I renounce the lie that you, Father God, reject me when I fail to live a perfect or sinless life. I choose to believe the truth that you, Father God, are patient toward me and will cleanse me when I fail. I am the apple of your eye. If you realize that you have had a faulty understanding of God, Reading this list out loud every day for 6 weeks or so can dramatically help you heal, help heal your emotional pain that resulted from your wrong view of God and to attach emotionally to our Heavenly Father. We are to be in a relationship with God, and we need to make sure our relationship is based on the truth of who he is and who we are in Christ. So enjoy your Valentine's Day by expressing your love to the people in your life. And by telling God the Father, the Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit that you love him for leading you out of the darkness of the world's lies about him and for giving you his love, victory, joy, and hope. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verse is 1 Peter 4:14, and it says, so be happy when you are insulted for being a Christian, for then the glorious Spirit of God rests Peace be upon you. Today's Bible verse reminds us that we are not alone in our sufferings. Yesterday in the comments on Acts 5:17, I shared the preceding verses in 1 Peter, so I would say we are right on track with the, with the Holy Spirit, who apparently wants us to know that we are not alone in our sufferings and encourages us to be happy when we are persecuted for our faith. Because in those moments he draws close to us to comfort us. Christ called the Holy Spirit the Comforter, after all, and the Apostle Paul assures us that God's Spirit rests upon us when we are hated, rejected, and insulted for our faith. Paradoxically, when we would think that we have been abandoned by the Lord because we are being treated badly for our faith, God's word assures us that he has not left us or forsaken us.— that He is with us in our sufferings in times of trials and tribulations. So don't believe the enemy's lies that God has left you when you are attacked for your faith. The Word tells us the opposite is true. When we abide in Christ in those times, we will experience the truth of this Word through the supernatural strength, guidance, and comfort we will receive from the Holy Spirit. As always, I invite all to go to mtforchrist.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians, counselors and counselors from theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue for sharing from A.W. Pink's The Sovereignty of God as we continue in chapter 6, sharing from, uh, The Sovereignty of God in Operation. Today we share the last point of God's method of dealing with the righteous, and we begin with God's method of dealing with the wicked. With the first point from that. So if you want to see, um, what the last point of God's dealing with the righteous is according to A.W. Pink and the Word of God, and see what the first point of God's deal method for dealing with the wicked is according to A.W. Pink and the Word of God, go to mtforchrist.org to check out that resource at the end of today's blog post. As always, we, we encourage people to follow the Lord in spirit and in truth. And it's very important to have both. We need to be grounded in the truth of what God's word tells us about our faith and not just come up with our own ideas or, uh, or to take on ideas that are shared by the world that God is some impersonal force that permeates everything, that doesn't call us to do anything, and it's just sort of disembodied and, and, um, you know, out there, and he's just light and love. But, um, you know, that doesn't— that doesn't— that picture doesn't include Jesus. You know, that picture doesn't include the word of God that tells us God is holy. Um, we don't want to be spiritual or religious. We want to be in a relationship with the living God that draws us to be more like him, and that gives us a hope and a future and a purpose on this— on this planet to share and show the love of God by trying to share the gospel, give people new, new life, and encourage them to walk in the new life they receive when they put their faith in Jesus Christ. So yikes. I'm sure if you've, you know, and, and lately I've seen more than one person that I've known from my, from past churches, past Christian affiliations, um veer into error. Rather than sharing the truth of Jesus Christ is Lord, they're sharing general truths and sentimental sayings from other spiritual streams that are corrupted because they deny— as nice as they may be, they deny the supremacy of Christ to save, the exclusivity of Christ to save. Yeah, we can all get along but, uh, here on this earth. But there's great consequences. And when we don't share the love of God by telling people about the truth of Jesus Christ and the way they can be saved, we're actually not being loving. We're allowing people to go to, uh, go to hell in their own way. And we at least need to speak. We need to tell people. They can make their own decisions. But when people are, you know, posit God as, as a what and, and ask the question, is Jesus wrong, um, without that being a rhetorical question where he insists that Jesus is right, you know, you've gone astray. And usually we can tell people by their fruits. And unfortunately, my friend, um, it's not a good place mentally or spiritually. And, uh, he not only forgot who he's talking to, and because I know the Lord, but he forgot who I was personally because I knew him. He was— he made claims that just weren't true about his past that I knew weren't true in this long diatribe of, uh, trying to posit how the church might not be right, how the word of God is misunderstood. Um, you know, when you, when you, when you think you've got a special revelation of the Lord that would separate you from the body of Christ, you need to know you're not going the right way. Um, you know, that would contradict the word or twist the word even worse. Um, you know, you're, you know, you're playing into Satan's hands and, uh, you need to repent, um, especially if you have sin in your life, as I suspect my friend does. So we pray for him today that he would— his eyes would be open and then he would turn back, turn back to the Lord. Because I'm quite frankly shaking the dust off my feet with people increasingly from my past who have veered off, as I'm just not going back anymore. I'm not returning to old faith communities that I'm not a part of anymore. Not that I'm I left them behind, but because my past affiliations are not going to draw me away from what the Lord has for me in my life, which, you know, a big part of it is my marriage. And frankly, I'm not as available for discipleship as I used to be. Why? Because I'm investing myself in my marriage. That's where my love is found. The Lord has brought my wife into my life, and I'm not going to sacrifice time with her to entertain error. Um, you know the truth, you need to follow it. And I'll encourage you as much as I can, but it doesn't mean I'm gonna, you know, walk with you as you try to tell me about how Jesus is wrong. Um, I don't have time for that, quite frankly. And, um, and, and, and quite frankly, it's not just about my wife. I have other ministry opportunities here in the, you know, with the blog where I want to share the truth and in the work I do for Freedom in Christ Ministries and to build myself up in my faith through my studies with Deeper Walk International. So I got a busy schedule, and when I get contacted by somebody who's obviously, you know, walking in error, I can't help but see that this might be the enemy trying to distract me from what I'm doing. Because he's alive and well in this, you know, in, in leading this person astray. Am I gonna take the bait of Satan and be led astray as well? Well, quite frankly, I think the answer is no. Um, if you come to me, you know, honestly, and not try to correct me, um, but instead ask for help to, you know, hear what the word of God says Um, then I'm with you. So there's that. So, so love the people who are with you, try to show them the truth, and, uh, let's, let's go get it today for the Lord. Yeah. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, thank you for the love that you showed for us that has a name and who is a person, who is Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Lord, We thank you that you're not just some invisible force that we can try to manipulate, that you're alive and well and exist in three persons. And even though that's very confusing at times, Lord, and we won't properly understand it, we've experienced the truth of it, um, in our lives and through our study of the word. We see that it is true, and we know that you are good, and we know that you are love and light And you call us to repentance because you are holy. You have more for us to do than just to forgive us. You have more for us to do than just to, uh, comfort us. You encourage us to follow you, Lord, and we just ask for that today. Um, Lord, as we go about our day, we just ask for you to, to, to show us the things you want us to see and guide us in the things you want us to do. We pray for the people who may be reading or listening to this message, Lord, that they be encouraged and that they would know you in truth and follow you in truth and relate to you as the— as, as God the Father, Christ our brother, and the Holy Spirit our comforter, uh, who leads us into all truth. Lord, thank you for your, your your care and concern for us and your love for us. Um, Lord, so we, uh, we just— we— all we want to do is, is follow you and build our love for you. Um, so we just pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.