A group of children were once asked, “What does ‘love’ mean?” Here are some sample answers:
Rebekah, 8, said, “When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time—even when his hands got arthritis, too. That's love.”
Billy, 4, said, “When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.”
Tommy, 6, says, “Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.”
Cindy, 8, says, “During my piano recital, I was on a stage, and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me, and I saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. And I wasn't scared anymore.” (Mark Buchanan, in the sermon “The Greatest of These,” www.PreachingToday.com)
I love these descriptions of love, especially that last one, because it is a picture of our Heavenly Father’s love for us. His perfect love casts out our fear (1 John 4:18) and gives us the courage to overcome any obstacle. God’s love gives us the strength to succeed at anything He calls us to do.
Is that what you want? Then turn with me to 1 John 2, 1 John 2, where we see how God’s love makes us overcomers.
1 John 2:12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. (ESV)
John addresses all believers as “little children” seven times in this little book. Every one of you, who have put your trust in Christ, are children of the Heavenly Father. You are children in God’s family, whose sins are forgiven. Literally, your sins are sent away. They are dismissed or divorced from you forever.
A pastor’s six-year-old son once used super glue on a model airplane he was building; but in less than three minutes, his right index finger was bonded to a shine blue wing of his DC-10. He tried to free it. He tugged it, pulled it, and waved it frantically; but he couldn’t budge his finger free. Soon, his dad found a solvent that did the job and ended their little crisis.
Later, that pastor visited a new family in their neighborhood. The father of the family introduced his children:
“This is Pete. He’s the clumsy one of the lot.
“That’s Kathy coming in with mud on her shoes. She’s the sloppy one.
“As always, Mike is last. He’ll be late for his own funeral, I promise you.”
Thinking about his own son’s experience with super glue that morning, the pastor thought, “This dad has done a thorough job of gluing his children to their faults and mistakes” (James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited, 1988, p.200).
Let me tell you. You’re Heavenly Father is NOT like that. He never glues his children to their mistakes. On the contrary, He divorces your sins from you and declares you righteous the moment you put your trust in His Son. That’s because Jesus already paid the price for your sins.
So if you want to overcome the evil one and live in victory, start there. Realize that your Heavenly Father has freed you from your sins. Accept the fact that God no longer holds your sins against you. Welcome His forgiveness!
Then enjoy fellowship with your Heavenly Father. Relish the relationship you have with the Eternal God! Appreciate your companionship with Him.
1 John 2:13a I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. (ESV)
The old men in the church know One far older than they. The fathers have a relationship with their Heavenly Father, who has no beginning. The older believers have a bond with God that has only grown deeper over the years. Every believer has a personal relationship with God, but those who are more mature in the faith have grown to appreciate that relationship.
Dr. Larry Crabb, a Christian counselor, writes about a friend of his who was raised in an angry family. Mealtimes were either silent or sarcastically noisy. Down the street was an old-fashioned house with a big porch where a happy family lived. When Dr. Crabb’s friend was about ten, he began excusing himself from his dinner table as soon as he could without being yelled at. Then he would walk to the old-fashioned house down the street. If he arrived during dinnertime, he would crawl under the porch and just sit there, listening to the sounds of laughter.
Dr. Crabb asked his friend to imagine what it would have been like if the father in the house somehow knew he was huddled beneath the porch and sent his son to invite him in. Dr. Crabb asked his friend to envision what it would have meant to him to accept the invitation, to sit at the table, to accidentally spill his glass of water, and hear the father roar with delight, “Get him more water! And a dry shirt! I want him to enjoy the meal!” (Larry Crabb, Connecting, Word, 1997; www.PreachingToday.com)
That’s your Heavenly Father! He sent His Son to invite you in, and He laughs with delight at having you at His table, even when you mess up. He doesn’t condemn you. Instead, He cleans you up so you can enjoy your relationship with Him.
That’s what we who are older in the faith have discovered. God is not angry with His children. He delights in them, so we have grown to relish our relationship with Him. And that’s what you must do if you want to overcome the evil one in your life. Welcome God’s forgiveness. Enjoy fellowship with Him.
Then live in the victory He provides for you. Overcome the evil one in your life. Move forward and conquer.
1 John 2:13b I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. (ESV)
The children in God’s family know they are forgiven. The mature in God’s family know the Lord, and the young people in God’s family conquer evil. That’s because of the forgiveness and fellowship they enjoy with their Heavenly Father. Being close to God gives you the ability to conquer the enemy.
Fred Craddock, a seminary professor, was on vacation with his wife in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. One morning, they were eating breakfast at a little restaurant, hoping to enjoy a quiet meal together; but while they were waiting for their food, they noticed a distinguished looking, white-haired man moving from table to table, visiting with the guests. The professor leaned over and whispered to his wife, “I hope he doesn't come over here.”
But sure enough, the man came over to their table. “Where are you folks from,” he asked in a friendly voice.
“Oklahoma,” they answered.
“Great to have you here in Tennessee,” the stranger said. “What do you do for a living?”
"I teach at a seminary," Dr. Craddock replied.
"Oh, so you teach preachers how to preach, do you? Well, I've got a really great story for you." And with that, the gentleman sat down at the table with the couple.
The professor groaned and thought to himself, "Great... Just what I need... another preacher story."
The man pointed out the window and said, "See that mountain over there? Not far from the base of that mountain, there was a boy born to an unwed mother. He had a hard time growing up, because every place he went, he was always asked the same question, 'Hey, boy, who's your daddy?'
"Whether he was at school, in the grocery store or drug store, people would ask the same question, 'Who's your daddy?' He would hide at recess and lunchtime from other students. He would avoid going into stores because that question hurt him so bad.
"When he was about 12 years old, a new preacher came to his church. He would always go in late and slip out early to avoid hearing the question, 'Who's your daddy?' But one day, the new preacher said the benediction so fast he had to walk out with the crowd.
"Just about the time he got to the back door, the new preacher, not knowing anything about him, put his hand on his shoulder and asked him, 'Son, who's your daddy?'
"The people around him got deathly quiet. Now everyone would finally know the answer to the question, 'Who's your daddy?' This new preacher, though, sensed the situation around him and used discernment that only the Holy Spirit could give.
"'Wait a minute', he said. 'I know who you are. I see the family resemblance now. You are a child of God.' With that he patted the boy on his shoulder and said, 'Boy, you've got a great inheritance. Go and claim it.'
"The boy smiled for the first time in a long time and walked out the door a changed person. Whenever anybody asked him, 'Who's your daddy?' he'd just tell them, 'I'm a child of God.'"
The distinguished gentleman got up from the table and said, "Isn't that a great story?"
The professor responded that it really was a great story.
As the man turned to leave, he said, "You know, if that new preacher hadn't told me that I was one of God's children, I probably never would have amounted to anything!" And he walked away.
The seminary professor and his wife were stunned. He called the waitress over and asked her, "Do you know who that man was who was sitting at our table?"
The waitress grinned and said, "Of course. Everybody here knows him. That's Ben Hooper. He's the former governor of Tennessee!" (Marshall Shelly, editor, Leadership)
When you know that your Daddy is God, you're able to overcome any evil and become all that your Heavenly Daddy wants you to become.
Do you know that your Daddy is God? If not, then trust Jesus, God’s Son, with your life; because the Bible says, "To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12). Then, as a child of God, move forward with the confidence to overcome any obstacle and become all that He wants you to become.
You know God personally, and that relationship gives you the strength to conquer the evil one.
1 John 2:13c-14 I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. (ESV)
At both ends of the spectrum, child or parent, every believer in God’s family knows Him personally. That includes those in the middle, the young people, who find the strength in God’s Word to overcome the devil.
So if you want to overcome the evil one in your life and live in victory, welcome your Heavenly Father’s forgiveness, enjoy your fellowship with Him, and live in the victory He provides for you. To put it simply…
ACCEPT GOD’S LOVE FOR YOU.
Receive His devotion with all your heart. Appreciate that He is passionate about a relationship with you. And please, whatever you do, don’t reject God’s love to pursue another love.
DON’T LOVE THE WORLD, WHICH HATES YOU.
Don’t pursue possessions, pleasure, or power, which will ruin you. Don’t devote your life to acquiring this world’s wealth or amusements, which will only rob you in the end.
1 John 2:15a Do not love the world or the things in the world. (ESV)
In light of God’s love for you, how can you pursue another love? It’s like cheating on your spouse or your lover.
I shared this a couple of years ago, but it’s worth sharing again. In their book, The Sacred Romance, Brent Curtis and John Eldredge describe the way many people treat the Lover of their soul. They write:
“Have you ever had to literally turn a lover over to a mortal enemy to allow her to find out for herself what his intentions toward her really were?
“Have you ever had to lie in bed knowing she was believing his lies and [being intimate] with him every night?
“Have you ever sat helplessly by in a parking lot, while your enemy and his friends took turns [taking advantage of] your lover even as you sat nearby, unable to win her heart enough so she would trust you to rescue her?
“Have you ever called this one you had loved for so long… and asked her if she was ready to come back to you, only to have her say her heart was still captured by your enemy?
“Have you ever watched your lover's beauty slowly diminish and fade in a haze of alcohol, drugs, occult practices, and infant sacrifice until she is no longer recognizable in body or soul?
“Have you ever loved one so much that you even send your only son to talk with her about your love for her, knowing that she will kill him?
“All this and more God has endured because of his refusal to stop loving us.” (Brent Curtis and John Eldredge, The Sacred Romance, Thomas Nelson, 1997, p. 106; www.PreachingToday.com)
How sad to reject such love for an abuser. Yet people do it all the time. They reject God’s love to pursue the world, which only uses them up and throws them out when it’s done. Please, don’t do that. Don’t love the world.
Don’t love that which ruins your intimacy with God.
1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (ESV)
It’s not that God stops loving you when you love the world. No! Nothing you do would ever make God stop loving you. However, when you love the world, you stop loving God, because you cannot love both at the same time.
James 4:4 says, “Friendship with the world is hatred towards God” (NIV). And Jesus Himself said, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24, NIV).
I like the way John Piper put it in his book A Hunger for God. He said: “The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night. For all the ill that Satan can do, when God describes what keeps us from the banquet table of his love, it is a piece of land, a yoke of oxen, and a wife (Luke 14:18-20). THE GREATEST ADVERSARY OF LOVE TO GOD IS NOT HIS ENEMIES BUT HIS GIFTS. And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replace an appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable and almost incurable” (John Piper, A Hunger for God, Crossway, 1997, p.14; www.PreachingToday.com)
When a man falls in love with a woman and they decide to get married, he gives her a diamond ring. It’s a wonderful gift! There’s nothing wrong with the gift, but if she loves that ring more than her man, then there is something drastically wrong. In the same way, there is nothing wrong with enjoying the good things God gives us in this world. The Bible says, “God… richly provides us with everything to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17). But when we love His gifts more than we love Him, we’re in trouble.
The Bible says, “Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” – or griefs (1 Timothy 6:9-10).
My dear friends, don’t love the gifts; love the Giver of those gifts. Love the Lord God Himself, who delights in being generous with you. Don’t love the world. Don’t love that which ruins your intimacy with God.
And don’t love that which ruins your victory over sin. Don’t love that which only leads you back into lust and pride.
1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. (ESV)
God does not make you a prisoner of your appetites. The world does! It creates desires within that leads you back into sin.
Thomas Costain’s book The Tree Edwards describes the life of Raynald III, a 14th century duke in what is now Belgium. Grossly overweight, Raynald was commonly called by his Latin nickname, Crassus, which means fat.
After a violent fight, Raynald’s younger brother, Edward, led a successful revolt against him. Edward captured Raynald but did not kill him. Instead, he built a room around Raynald in the Nieuwkerk castle and promised him he could regain his title and property as soon as he was able to leave the room. This would not have been difficult for most people, since the room had several windows and a door of near normal size – none of which were locked or barred. The problem was Raynald’s size. To regain his freedom, he needed to lose weight.
But Edward knew his older brother. Each day he sent a variety of delicious foods into the room. Instead of dieting his way out of prison, Raynald grew fatter. When Duke Edward was accused of cruelty, he had a ready answer: “My brother is not a prisoner. He may leave when he so wills.” Raynald stayed in that room for 10 years and wasn't released until after Edward died in battle. By then his health was so ruined that he died within a year – a prisoner of his own appetite. (Rich Doebler, from his sermon Grace with Its Sleeves Rolled Up, www.PreachingToday.com)
That’s what the world does to you. It makes you a prisoner of your own appetites – the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life.
Please, don’t love the world or the things in the world. Don’t love that which ruins your intimacy with God. Don’t love that which ruins your victory over sin.
And don’t love that which ruins you in the end. Don’t devote your life to things which will not last. Don’t go after worldly pursuits, which are only a waste of your time.
1 John 2:17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
Do you want your life to count for eternity? Then, more than anything else, pursue God’s will for your life. It’s like C. T. Studd once put it: Only one life twill soon be past; Only what’s done for Christ will last.
There’s an old fairy tale about a wicked witch who lived in a remote cottage in the deep forest. When travelers came through looking for lodging, she offered them a meal and a bed. It was the most wonderfully comfortable bed any of them had ever felt. But it was a bed full of deep magic, and if you were asleep in it when the sun came up you would turn to stone. Then you became a figure in the witch’s statuary, trapped until the end of time. The witch forced a young girl to serve her, and though she had no power to resist the witch, the girl had become more and more filled with pity for her victims.
One day a young man came looking for bed and board and was taken in. The servant girl could not bear to see him turned to stone, so she threw sticks, stones, and thistles into his bed. It made the bed horribly uncomfortable. Every time he turned, he felt a new painful object under him. Though he cast each one out, there was always a new one to dig into his flesh. He slept only fitfully and rose feeling weary and worn, long before dawn.
As he walked out the front door, the servant girl met him, and he berated her cruelly. “How could you give a traveler such a terrible bed full of sticks and stones?” He cried and went on his way.
“Ah,” she said under her breath, “the misery you know now is nothing like the infinitely greater misery a comfortable sleep would have brought upon you! Those were my sticks and stones of love.” (Timothy Keller, The Prodigal Prophet: Jonah and the Mystery of God’s Mercy, Viking, 2018, pages 143-145; www.PreachingToday.com)
Sometimes God puts hardships in our lives to keep us from getting too comfortable in this world. They are His “sticks and stones” of love. Please, don’t hate Him for it. Instead, accept God’s love, and don’t love the world, which only wants to turn you to stone.
