WHAT HAVE WE DONE TO GOD'S LOVE?
by
Dr. Gale A. Ragan-Reid (May 17, 2015)
“That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God” (Ephesians 3:17-19, King James Version [The great love of Christ]).
Greetings In The Holy Name Of Jesus,
My sisters and brothers, What have we done to God's love? In this letter of Apostle Paul as he sat in prison, generally used as a circular passed around, yes, to the people of Ephesus but also intended to get to the heart of the “believer's exalted position through Christ, the Church as the body of Christ, her relationship to God, and practical implications of the Gospel” (Holy Bible, n.d.). I know getting to the heart of anything touches on corruption of flesh and sounds a lot like I'm judging not just you and you but the activities you indulge in and the people you seek. Most importantly, I elaborate on intimacy in God's love, oftentimes overshadowed and dominated by love of the flesh and feelings of a sinful nature.
The truth still stands---Rahab, Mary Magdalene, and the woman at the well [the woman of Samaria] are beacons of faith in spite of their situations and circumstances, their love of God and faith in Christ Jesus lifted them up out of the dire circumstances poverty cast upon them to struggle and suffer under the authority and power, subjected to man to live life seemingly with no redeeming virtues, yet the love of Christ constrained and sustained them to overcome and escape into a much better life. I am sure you heard the story of the talk show interview when the guest told the world where he lived in Europe and the talk show host elaborated that he visited the small town and boasted of meeting two ladies in the local pub. The guest told him he probably met his aunt. The talk show host said, 'No, no, they were ladies of the night but I liked the other one.' The guest told him, 'That was my mother.'
Recently, another talk show host asked a guest about his latest movie project. His guest told him about his visit to a strip club to decide if they would use the venue in their project. He elaborated that two dancers came out---mother and daughter, both dancers at the strip club. I do not think the thought of women still oppressed in the aged-old trade of human capital shocks any of you to the pit of your heart and causes you to bleed out in anguish---distraught that women suffering, not silent still plagued our society. Is it that women---only women lost their first love [“Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love” (Revelation 2:4 KJV [Message to churches in Asia])?
How broken are we when we divorce our husbands, kill our lovers, friends, wives, and husbands? Is there any rationale of conscious, weak or strong that justifies such an egregious and sinful act? What is the substance of a virtuous woman? What is the substance of a man with redeeming virtues? What makes my faith strong enough to wait on the LORD [Did not Christ redeem?]?
What destroys another person's faith and causes them to cave in denying God's love (Christ Jesus) is truth and saves souls? What does it mean to you in your heart to say that a wife wants a husband to die and vice-versus, what does it mean to say that a husband wants a wife to die? Most importantly, what does it mean to say that a friend wants another friend to die?---even that a friend wants a pet to die? Those thoughts made me seriously ponder, the loneliness of man, woman, and child incapable of living in peace and God's love, deeply feeling that God's love is an impossible love to keep, even to hold on to. Jesus healed you on the sabbath in Jerusalem and said, “But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you,” even though the Jews sought to kill him because he said God was his Father (St. John 5:42; 5:18 KJV). Jesus' relationship with God clearly demonstrated in the healing on the sabbath is a fatherly love, coming out of God's love, as a true father could not and would not leave his children in a
2
dire situation in need of anything willing to do all that is possible even on the sabbath in spite of
judgment and the high risk of betrayal to death.
During the time of the prophet Jeremiah (31:3 KJV) God spoke to Israel: “The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” Do you feel the gentle and tender touch of God's love in your life or do you suffer only to recognize the brutality of the world, which stands against you? How fragile you must be beaten-down under the cruel taskmaster that seeks to enslave and torture you clouding your vision so that you cannot clearly recognize God's love in your life? Do not let the cruelty of the world cause you to decide to give up on all God's promises. Of recent, case and point---there was a man who won $500,000 and he dated a woman who hated her baby's father (The woman could not rejoice that the new man in her life won half-a-million dollars she could only think that she wanted to kill her baby's father and her new man must help her to do it and---he did. Now they both face prison time).
How many of you understand what it means to lay down your life for a friend? Jesus commanded his people as witnessed by John the beloved disciple (15:12,13,17KJV): “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends...These things I command you, that ye love one another.” How dark is your night that you failed to recognize God's love in your life; is it a broken spirit that spiralled you down to the depths of darkness where you feel you must engage in horrendous acts of cruelty to pay back the world for the injustice and broken-hearted sufferings or shattered-hearted sufferings in your life?
Did not God tell Israel in the time of Jeremiah he would draw them unto him. How many billions or millions of shattered pieces were their hearts broken into as the one body---the Church yet God is able to draw you as whole unto him---God's love is present in your life---is it not? John wrote so that you might know the certainty of eternal life: “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God”(I John 4:7 KJV [There is no fear in love]).
Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy.
In The Name Of Jesus. Amen.
