What is love? This blogger recommends this following series of audio teachings about love by Andrew Wommack, whose own life had been changes and empowered by his encounter with the love of God over forty years ago.
http://www.awmi.net/extra/audio/1055
The Greatest Of These Is Love
You Can't Give What You Don't Have
Could I Be The Problem?
If Not Me, Then Who?
Dealing With Offenses
Dealing With Offenses When All Else
Fails
Forgiveness, Isn't There A Limit?
Self-Centeredness
Jesus Is Our Example
excerpts from his written testimony:
""Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love" (1 John 4:7-8).
Most of us think that we really understand the love of God, but our experience proves otherwise. We feel lonely, depressed, discouraged, and defeated. Every one of these negative emotions would be turned to positive by a proper revelation of God's love for us.
As for loving others, most of us would admit there are some people who are very difficult to love. Since we do not fully understand God's love for us, we fail in loving others. We can't give away what we don't have. If we receive a full revelation of God's love for us, it becomes easy to love others with the love that we have received.
When we struggle to believe that God's promises to us will come to pass, that's unbelief; but the root of that unbelief is a lack of love. Galatians 5:6 says faith works by love. That means love is the driving force behind our faith. Remove or diminish love, and faith ceases to be what it should be. Many of us try hard to believe when we should be seeking a greater revelation of God's love for us. Then, faith would just naturally work.
Most of us think that we really understand the love of God, but our experience proves otherwise. We feel lonely, depressed, discouraged, and defeated. Every one of these negative emotions would be turned to positive by a proper revelation of God's love for us.
As for loving others, most of us would admit there are some people who are very difficult to love. Since we do not fully understand God's love for us, we fail in loving others. We can't give away what we don't have. If we receive a full revelation of God's love for us, it becomes easy to love others with the love that we have received.
When we struggle to believe that God's promises to us will come to pass, that's unbelief; but the root of that unbelief is a lack of love. Galatians 5:6 says faith works by love. That means love is the driving force behind our faith. Remove or diminish love, and faith ceases to be what it should be. Many of us try hard to believe when we should be seeking a greater revelation of God's love for us. Then, faith would just naturally work.
Just a few months after Jamie and I were married, we were in a desperate situation. I had quit my job, believing that the Lord wanted me to go into full-time ministry. The result was that we were hurting financially. It had been days since we had eaten. We had nothing but a few Cokes that a friend had given us and a bag of Fritos that we had been rationing out. Our faith was beginning to waver. We were fighting with all we had, to believe that the Lord was going to supply our needs, but our circumstances and empty bellies were screaming unbelief at us.
One morning, Jamie took our last fifty cents and our car and drove to the laundry mat to do some laundry. While she was gone, I did some serious business with the Lord. I was crying and saying, "Lord, I don't understand. I would give my right arm to feed Jamie. I believe You love us more than I love Jamie, and yet You aren't taking care of us." I had let circumstances blind me to God's love. That's the main reason my faith wasn't working.
The Lord spoke Luke 12:32 to me very clearly. That verse says, "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Suddenly, I realized my unbelief was because I had forgotten how much God loves us. As the revelation of God's love for us came flooding over me, all doubt that our needs would be supplied was instantly gone. When Jamie returned from doing the laundry, I told her that we were going to eat meat that day.
We had Fritos and Coke for lunch. We skipped supper because we were tired of Fritos and Coke. At church, a friend asked us to stop by his apartment after the service. We thought, "Maybe they are going to feed us." We stayed and talked for over an hour, but there was no food. As we were leaving, however, the man gave us loads of fish that he had caught. He also gave us all the vegetables to go with them. We rushed home, and Jamie fixed us a feast. Just a few minutes prior to midnight, we ate meat to our fill. The next day was my birthday, and a woman in the church gave us a large box full of porterhouse steaks. We went from a starvation diet of Fritos and Coke, to having enough steaks for a month in just a matter of hours because love made my faith work....
One morning, Jamie took our last fifty cents and our car and drove to the laundry mat to do some laundry. While she was gone, I did some serious business with the Lord. I was crying and saying, "Lord, I don't understand. I would give my right arm to feed Jamie. I believe You love us more than I love Jamie, and yet You aren't taking care of us." I had let circumstances blind me to God's love. That's the main reason my faith wasn't working.
The Lord spoke Luke 12:32 to me very clearly. That verse says, "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Suddenly, I realized my unbelief was because I had forgotten how much God loves us. As the revelation of God's love for us came flooding over me, all doubt that our needs would be supplied was instantly gone. When Jamie returned from doing the laundry, I told her that we were going to eat meat that day.
We had Fritos and Coke for lunch. We skipped supper because we were tired of Fritos and Coke. At church, a friend asked us to stop by his apartment after the service. We thought, "Maybe they are going to feed us." We stayed and talked for over an hour, but there was no food. As we were leaving, however, the man gave us loads of fish that he had caught. He also gave us all the vegetables to go with them. We rushed home, and Jamie fixed us a feast. Just a few minutes prior to midnight, we ate meat to our fill. The next day was my birthday, and a woman in the church gave us a large box full of porterhouse steaks. We went from a starvation diet of Fritos and Coke, to having enough steaks for a month in just a matter of hours because love made my faith work....
There are many ways that Satan uses to try to block the revelation of God's love for us. One of the most subtle, and therefore the most deadly, ways is that he has deceived us into thinking that God's love for us is tied to our performance. We think we have to do something to earn God's love. We have to merit God's love. That is not what the Bible teaches.
In the natural world, you get what you deserve. Employers don't hire you based on their love for you. You have to perform. If you perform badly, you are punished or fired. The same thing is true in most relationships. I've had hundreds of married couples essentially tell me, "They don't deserve my love." However, the nearly-too-good-to-be-true news of the Gospel is that we don't get what we deserve. Praise the Lord!
God's love for us is unconditional. That is, God doesn't love us because of some virtue we possess. God loves us because "God is love" (1 John 4:8), not because we are lovely...
In the natural world, you get what you deserve. Employers don't hire you based on their love for you. You have to perform. If you perform badly, you are punished or fired. The same thing is true in most relationships. I've had hundreds of married couples essentially tell me, "They don't deserve my love." However, the nearly-too-good-to-be-true news of the Gospel is that we don't get what we deserve. Praise the Lord!
God's love for us is unconditional. That is, God doesn't love us because of some virtue we possess. God loves us because "God is love" (1 John 4:8), not because we are lovely...
We all need a greater revelation of God's unconditional love for us! I have a special series designed just for that purpose. A revelation of God's unconditional love for me is what turned my life around in 1968. It's still impacting me today. These teachings reveal the things God showed me about His love. I believe that if you open up your heart, the Lord will grant you at least as much revelation on this as I have, and it will change your life. Please order the album entitled God's Kind of Love: The Cure for What Ails Ya today." (http://www.awmi.net/extra/article/gods_love)
TV broadcast of
God's Kind Of Love
http://www.awmi.net/tv/2006/week6God's Kind Of Love
the CD: http://www.awmi.net/store/usa/cd_albums/1015_c
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