I AM!

My life long dream - to find and know true love - ended at 3:45 am on December 7, 2002, when the Lord awoke me and said:

"I AM."

Those two words, "I Am," melted my heart on that chilly morning (see "I Am Love" in the June 2007 archives for more on my revelation). The light I received was blinding. It took me a long time to fully comprehend what had happened that morning.

A few months after my revelation - now living and breathing as a "new creation" - I was soaking up Scripture like a sponge and came across a passage in 1 John that confirmed the truth of my revelation:

God is love. (1 John 4:8)

God is love! Yes! Everything I saw on December 7, 2002 - as if in the blink of an eye - made complete sense. I was searching for God my whole life and didn't even realize it. Religion had separated me from true love at an early age. But several decades later, I found my way home. At the darkest moment in my life, God reached out, through Christ and His spirit, and revealed Himself to me. I knew true love at last! Hallelujah!

I still marvel at the revelation. Each day I travel along the narrow path I see a little more light. It's wonderful.

Not long ago, as I was walking further along the narrow path, I came upon a passage of Scripture from the Gospel of John that spoke to my surrendered heart in a glorious way. In Chapter 8, Jesus is speaking to the religious leaders of Israel. The Lord was explaining the eternal nature of Christ to them, but they weren't having any of His truth. They were questioning how a man so young - "you are not yet 50 years old" - could know Abraham. It was at this point when the Lord spoke an eternal truth. He said:

"Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."
(John 8:58)

Upon hearing this eternal truth, the religious leaders picked up stones and began throwing them at Jesus. (John 8:59)

The irony is rich. Jesus, unfathomably deep in the Spirit, reveals the truth about the nature of Christ and the religious leaders pick up stones, throw a fit, and attempt to extinguish Him. We should not be surprised at their behavior. Religious hearts will always try to kill God's never-failing love. They believe God has vested all power to them (they are, after all, self-proclaimed "Men of God"). But the truth is, all power is vested with and in Christ. He is the Alpha and the Omega. This title will never be bestowed upon a religious man. Never!

"... before Abraham was, I AM."

His never-failing love was around long before man existed and will be around long after man is gone.

May you see the Lord as the Alpha and the Omega - the beginning and the end.

Agape,

Steve

Believing

I've been meditating a great deal on the importance of believing and how it relates to walking in love. The Lord has shown me much about this subject recently, and I want to share a few of the insights with you today.

I would like to state at the outset that believing in the Lord and His love is not optional when we walk in love. It is absolutely essential. Believing, like faith and trust, is required if we are to imitate God and walk in love.

There is a wonderful passage of Scripture from Chapter 9 of the Gospel of Mark that illustrates the importance of believing. Let's take a look at it:

"O unbelieving generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me." So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the boy's father, "How long has he been like this?" "From childhood," he answered. "It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us." "''If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes." Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. "You deaf and mute spirit," he said, "I command you, come out of him and never enter him again." The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, "He's dead." But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up. After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer."

(Mark 9:19-29)

I just love the part of this story when Jesus says "If you can?" The Lord has such a wonderful way of dealing with unbelievers. And, of course, he didn't mince any words. He simply stated the truth:

"Everything is possible for him who believes."

Can you see the power in that statement? The light is blinding. Believing is oh so important to walking in love. If you don't believe in His love, it is impossible to walk in it. It cannot be done.

Of course, the enemy will try to do everything it can to fill your mind with doubts, questions and distractions about the Lord and His love and word to make you try to not believe. This happens all of the time with people. Some people need to have evil spirits driven out of their hearts in order to remove the impediments to believing. I will have more to say about this in a moment.

We must remember that God uses the darkness to purify our hearts. It is a cleansing process that is intimately related to the work we do with Him on the Cross. Pure hearts see God. (Matthew 5:8). God is love (1 John 4:8). Pure hearts see love. Pure hearts are capable of walking in love.

The other interesting thing about Mark 9:19-29 is the importance of delivering evil spirits out of people's hearts. The darkness in people's hearts prevents them from believing. It must be cast out. Jesus told us that certain kinds of darkness can only be cast out with prayer and fasting. There can be no doubt about the centrality of prayer and fasting in casting out certain demons.

The other thing to note about this passage of Scripture is how Jesus commanded the evil "deaf and mute spirit" to never enter the child again. It is important to state clearly when delivering evil spirits out of hearts - even the heart of a child - that we command it to go away and never return, just as the Lord instructed.

The convulsions and shrieking associated with delivering evils spirits is normal and to be expected (note: this act can scare and freak some people out who are witnessing the deliverance if they are unfamiliar with the process). These things are merely indications that the Lord's power is at work. After all, there is a battle raging in the spiritual realm, and the darkness will not go down without a struggle. But it cannot win. It will be defeated every time in the heart of a believer. The Lord is undefeated and cannot lose. Christ is preeminent.

After the evil spirit is delivered, there is a peace that can be mistaken for death ("the boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, "He's dead.") The peace you observe is a sure sign that God is present. Peace is what the Lord gives us when the battle has been fought and won. It's a peace that only He can give.

I will hopefully, Lord wiling, be writing more about dealing with evil spirits and healing. I've been asking the Lord to illuminate the power of His love in these two areas. For now, I would only like to note that believing is critical to walking in love. Please remember that dealing with evil spirits is part of the purification process. It must be done. The end result of this effort is always beautiful - more light and Spiritual fruit.

May you believe in His never failing love with all of your heart, mind and soul.

Agape,

Steve

Loving Enemies

I've been meditating for a while on why people find it difficult to love their enemies. It is natural for people to hate their enemies. Look at the world today. Hatred is everywhere. Spirit-filled hearts - hearts filled with Christ - do not hate. Instead, they love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them. The Spirit provides the energy necessary to love enemies. How wonderful!

What lies behind the natural inability of people to love their enemies? I believe there are several reasons, but perhaps one of the biggest reasons is that people expect to get a positive return for the energy they expend. When there is no expected return or perhaps even a negative return, they refrain from expending energy. After all, why love somebody when you do not expect to get any love back in return? It is far easier to hate somebody and expect perhaps an argument or heated exchange of words - perhaps even a fist fight - than it is to love them and expect nothing.

What people fail to understand is that when we do not love our enemies, God and His never failing love isn't on our side. And that is not a good thing. Not a good thing at all. If God isn't on our side, we leave the door wide open for the enemy - the prince of darkness - to attack. And attack he will. Satan loves battling himself. He wins every time. The only time Satan loses is when he battles Christ. That is a battle he can never win - EVER!

When we love our enemies, God is on our side. We don't need to expect to receive love back from our enemies. When we love our enemies, we have the power of God's love and Christ on our side. We can't lose! His love rejoices with the truth. (1 Corinthians 13:6)

Spirit-filled hearts do not require love from people - whether family, neighbors or enemies - or from things. We give the love we receive from God freely to others expecting nothing in return.

Jesus gave God's love freely to others all of the time. The only thing the Lord required was for people to believe in His never-failing love. Believing is key. Paul preached Christ crucified, but only after he believed in the power of God's love to raise Jesus back from the dead. Saul of Tarsus had no idea of how powerful God's love is. It was only after he saw the Lord through revelation - an event that transformed Saul's heart -that he was able to comprehend the power of God's love.

I know several people that have gone into deep depression because they gave somebody love expecting to receive love in return, and did not get anything. This kind of behavior is a sure-fire recipe for a broken heart.

The only love Spirit-filled hearts require is God's love - what the ancient Greeks called Agape. There is plenty of God's love to go around. His love is in infinite supply. His perfect love casts out fear (1 John 5:18). There is no greater love in the universe.

May you love your enemies and may God's never failing love be all the love you ever need.

Agape,

Steve

Where the Real Power Lies

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me." (Matthew 28:18)

and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. (Colossians 2:10)

From time to time, I hear Christians - even ministers and pastors - talk about Satan and the forces of darkness having authority over us here on earth. Every time something goes wrong in their life or with something in their church, they are quick to blame Satan. But Satan is not to blame. Satan is only doing what Christ allows him to do. To believe otherwise conflicts with God's word. The truth is very simple:

Christ is in charge of everything.

The Scriptures above - Matthew 28:16 and Colossians 2:10 - make this abundantly clear. Satan only has power to the extent that Christ has granted him. There is and can be no doubt about this fundamental and eternal truth.

So, you may ask, why all the darkness in the world today?

Well, the darkness we see has one purpose. It is designed to bring us closer to Christ. The only purpose the darkness serves is as contrast to His light. Darkness (you can substitute the word 'evil' for darkness) provides the contrast that enables us to recognize and experience God's never-failing love.

Consider what would happen if the Lord wrote a message to you with white chalk on a white chalk board. No matter how hard you tried, you would not be able to see it. Without the blackboard of darkness/evil, all the love and light the Lord is trying to illuminate to us could not be seen or recognized.

We can look at the Gospels and see how effective the darkness/evil is to the Lord. Consider the relationship between Jesus and his disciple, Judas. Judas certainly betrayed Jesus, but it turns out that in doing so, he became the Lord's best publicity agent. By his dark act, Judas made Christ eternally famous. Hallelujah! If you ever doubted the brilliance of the Lord, consider the relationship between Jesus and Judas and doubt no more!

Jesus knew the role He had to play, and all that was going to happen to Him in order that He might demonstrate the love and greatness of God. A villain was necessary for Christ to increase mightily on earth. We all know what happened to Judas. God dealt with him in an appropriate manner. Jesus was exalted as the Christ, not Judas.

Take a look around today. Is there darkness in your life? Has somebody done something to hurt you, perhaps even though you think you have done nothing wrong to deserve the pain you are experiencing? Well, the darkness we experience has one purpose and one purpose only - to bring us closer to the Lord.

He must increase, but we must decrease. (John 3:30)

God's eternal plan is summed up in John 3:30 - in a simple sentence containing seven words. The Lord's love must increase in our hearts and whatever is not of Christ must decrease. The place this happens in on the Cross. The Cross is the foundation of our love walk. Without the Cross, we cannot walk in His love. It is simply impossible.

Christians celebrate the power of the Cross every Easter. Followers of Christ celebrate the power of the Cross every single day. The Cross is the foundation of everything in the kingdom of God.

The Lord told us very clearly that we must all carry our own crosses daily if we are to follow Him. Each day, more of us has to die. When we go to the Cross and allow the Lord to crucify what is not of Him in our hearts, He replaces the darkness with His love, light and life. It's a beautiful exchange. We may not feel worthy of His grace and mercy at all times, but He desires for us to have it. That is the divine nature of His never-failing love. It is given freely to those who take up their crosses daily and follow Christ.

Beloved, on this day of Easter, 2008, let this little note be a reminder of where the real power lies in the universe. Christ is the head over every power and authority. Satan's purpose is to serve Christ, as much as the prince of darkness hates doing so. The power Satan has over us is the power given to him by Christ.

If you are upset with the way the Lord is dealing with you through the darkness in your life, it is a certainty that the Lord is trying to take you higher in His love. After all, HE MUST INCREASE!

The pain you experience during times of darkness is associated with the Lord increasing in your heart, and in the process, you (self) are decreasing. Remember another thing: There are no padded crosses. As the old saying goes, no pain, no gain. There's a great deal of truth to this in the spiritual realm.

Christ has all authority in the universe. Never forget this eternal truth.

May you see Christ as Lord of Lords and King of Kings.

Agape,

Steve

His Never Failing Love

This weekend we recognize the crucifixion (Good Friday) and resurrection of Christ Jesus (Easter). It may seem odd to some people that we designate the day of the Lord's crucifixion as a "Good" day. I'm fairly certain that Jesus' mother and His disciples did not think there was much of anything "good" going on while they were watching their beloved and faithful servant of God being strung up and nailed to a cross - in a word, murdered. But Jesus said it must be so:

"You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be handed over for crucifixion." (Matthew 26:2)

Jesus knew what He must do. I find it rather strange and unsettling when I hear Christians spit venom and hate at the disciple Judas for handing Jesus over to the Roman authorities. The roots of anti-semitism appear to have evolved out of a complete lack of understanding of what was really happening. Everything that transpired was part of God's plan. Read Psalm 22 and the Book of Matthew if you don't believe me. To think that the Lord didn't know what was going on is just plain ludicrous.

The Lord most certainly did not instruct us to hate Judas for doing what had to be done according to God's will. The crucifixion was designed from the beginning to illustrate an eternal truth: Man, try as he might, cannot kill God's never-failing love. That Jesus is more alive today than ever before is proof of this eternal truth. Hallelujah!

It is God's never failing love that resurrected Jesus. There is no more powerful force in the universe than God's love. It is a love that never fails. That's why Easter is so special. It signifies the power of God's love - a love that is eternal and cannot be extinguished. A love that is powerful enough to bring the dead back to life.

Although many Christians celebrate God's love twice a year, I celebrate it every single day. There isn't a day that goes by when I am not praising God's never failing love. I am in awe of His love. It is a love that knows no depths and cannot be fully comprehended by the human brain. His love is so vast and so great that it cannot be known in full while we are here on earth.

Paul tried to comprehend God's love in his first letter to the Corinthians. The Spirit was moving greatly through Paul as he described God's love:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

How many hearts do you know that have a love like this? Is your heart filled with this love?

The love described by Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 is the heart of Christ. It is a love like no other. As Paul stated, His love:

never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:8)

Oh, the mighty power of a never-failing love. Can you fathom it? Even Paul, who was filled greatly with the Spirit, could not:

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:10-12)

Paul only knew God's love in part on earth. That is all we can know. We cannot know the depths of His love until we are fully One with Christ. But not fully comprehending God's love should not deter us from walking in His love. There is nothing greater than walking in His love, even if we cannot fully understand the power of His love. As Paul said:

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
(1 Corinthians 13:13)

We can have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and we can have a faith that can move mountains, but if we have not God's never-failing love in our hearts, we are nothing. Without His love, with our nothing. His love is the greatest!

It's God's never failing love that raised Christ Jesus from the dead. God's love cannot be extinguished. With God's love, we can all rise up from the dead and have eternal life with Christ in the heavenlies. We are here to love. We live each day to have our hearts filled with His never-failing love.

Christ Jesus has risen from the dead. God's glorious love has conquered death. With His love, there is only eternal Light and Life. Hallelujah!

May your heart be increasingly filled with His never failing love.

Agape,

Steve

Focusing on Things Above

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-3)

Walking in love requires that we focus - at all times - on things above. The forces of darkness are constantly bombarding us with earthly things in the hope of distracting us. I cannot tell you how many times after my revelation of Christ (as Love) I was distracted by earthly things. I was attached and attracted to many things before I became a new creation.

After my revelation of Christ, a battle raged inside of me. I knew something was not right with my heart. Over time, I realized that the Lord wanted me to get rid of my attachment to earthly things. The things had to go. I had to let go of earthly things and focus on Christ and His glorious fruit, just as Paul told the Colossians.

Letting go is a painful process. It's part of the Cross. It is a process that takes time. On a few occasions when the Spirit said "Let go!" and I was reluctant to do so, the Lord would unleash more darkness so that His light would become more visible. Those have been the most painful experiences in my love walk.

Walking in love requires letting go of earthly things and focusing on those things above - the fruit of the Spirit. Letting go is part of the freedom that comes from being in Christ. Like babies, we are reluctant to give up our earthly things. But the Lord requires that we do so. If we desire to walk in love and imitate God, we must let go.

Whatever comes back to us through Him after we let go is real and blessed. What we receive from the Lord after we let go is what He wants us to have. It is truly meant to be.

May you learn to let go and focus on things above.

Agape,

Steve

Strong in the Lord

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
(Ephesians 6:10-12)

I used to believe that all my struggles were against people and things that I could see. I would trust my eyes. Today, over five years after having a life-changing revelation of Christ as love, I know better.

The truth is now plain for me to see: Darkness and evil lurk in the hearts of people everywhere. Everywhere means even in the hearts of people you love dearly - your family, children, and best friends.

This darkness - the dark world - is real, and it is powerful, as Paul noted in his letter to the Ephesians.

The source of the darkness is found in the heavenly realms. We cannot see this darkness with our natural eyes. It has to be discerned through the eyes of our hearts. The Spirit has eyes to see this darkness. The Lord has overpowered and conquered it through the Cross.

The key issue for us is whether we are strong enough in the Lord. If we are, we can have His victory over darkness, and His Spiritual fruit. It is ours if we see ourselves in Christ and see ourselves seated with Him in the heavenlies. It is ours if Christ is preeminent in our hearts.

Darkness has no place in the kingdom of God. Beyond the Cross, there is only Love, Light and Life.

It is no surprise that praying for the darkness to be removed from our hearts is part of the Lord's prayer. Jesus was explicit in telling us how to pray:

"And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen]."
(Matthew 6:13)

Deliver us from evil.

Four words, but oh so important. We pray that we are delivered from evil. We pray that the Lord, through the Cross, purifies our hearts so that His light - His never-failing love - can shine through us. Satan is no match for the Lord's never-failing love. The Lord's love conquered darkness.

Christine and I have been experiencing some intense spiritual battles recently. We have seen the forces of darkness that Paul described in Ephesians 6:10-12. We have also seen how being strong in the Lord is critical to the battle against evil. Darkness will make you question the Lord and His word. Unbelief and disbelief will creep into your mind and wreak havoc with your love walk. Satan will try to convince you that the Lord is not Truth. Don't listen to his nonsense. He is pathetic. Anybody devoid of the Lord's love, as Satan is, is nothing. Nothing! (1 Corinthians 13).

Here's an eternal truth: You cannot walk in love unless you have complete faith and trust in the Lord - unless you are strong in the Lord.

It is no surprise that Paul's discussion about the spiritual forces of darkness follow his discussion of walking in love.

"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love."
(Ephesians 5:1-2)

Walking in love requires being strong in the Lord. This is not optional! Being strong in the Lord is an absolute necessity to our love walk.

Walking in love requires great faith and complete trust in the Lord. We know this is true. For it is written:

"The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."
(Galatians 5:6)

The only thing that counts is faith, in the Lord, expressing itself through love. THE ONLY THING!!! That is true Christianity in a nutshell.

May you be strong in the Lord and may you always express your great faith in the Lord through love.

Agape,

Steve

Freely Give

I am constantly stuck by how Christianity has become a giant business in the 21st century. Anybody that has read the Scriptures knows that the Lord was not a proponent of doing things for people and receiving money. Chapter 10 of Matthew makes this abundantly clear:

These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: "Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans;but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, ' The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. "Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts;" (Matthew 10:5-9)

Freely you received, freely give. Do not acquire money when you are out in the world using His powers to heal, cast out demons, etc. They are, after all, His powers, not yours.

Christianity has, like many other things, become corrupted by money as well as power. Somehow the Lord's teaching got lost. It's a crying shame.

Next time you see a Christian asking to get paid for his/her work (oh, how Christians love their titheing!), ask them if they have read the Bible. Chances are they have not meditated on Matthew, Chapter 10, verse 5-9.

Now, there is nothing wrong with receiving offerings from people, as the Lord often did. But there is something profoundly wrong with demanding payment in return for something that Jesus is doing through you.

May you freely give to others and ask nothing and expect nothing in return.

Agape,

Steve

Walking in Love

Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. (Ephesians 5:1-2)

"Walk in love." What does this mean?

What is love? How do we walk in love?

God walks in love. God is love (1 John 4:8). When we walk in love, we imitate God. We are urged by the Spirit to imitate God and walk in love.

When we are brought into the world, we are born with hearts that are capable of walking in love. Sadly, many people never learn how. They don't teach us how to do this at school or university. You cannot get a Ph.D. in 'Walking in Love."

Even more tragically, many people throughout the world who call themselves Christians and attend church regularly have no clue how to walk in love. They do things for the Lord, but they do not possess His heart of love.

There is only one way to walk in love and that is through Christ.

Only when our hearts are pure and we see Christ Jesus do we enter into Him and His love. Our faith in His love allows us to begin walking in love. Walking in love requires faith - faith expressing itself through love.

"The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." (Galatians 5:6)

Most people have no idea what love is and how powerful it is. Many think love is an emotion or feeling. Love is not an emotion. Love is what God is!

Love is a powerful energy - a force, a light. Love is far more potent than any technology in the universe. God is love, and there is nothing more powerful than God.

So we ask the all important question: What is love?

Scriptures tell us clearly what love is:

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

With love in our hearts, nothing is impossible. With His love, we become potent technology capable of performing supernatural feats and acts. Our love threatens those that have not this love. Indeed, when we walk in God's love - the powerful love described in 1 Corinthians 13 - we become a menacing threat to Satan and his dark world. Love defeated Satan. Love triumphed over evil. It always does and always will. Contrary to what you may have read in the New York Times or some other publication in the past, God is not dead. Satan will die, as he must, but Christ reigns for eternity. You cannot kill God's love. It is Eternal Light.

For ages, people have tried to extinguish God's love from the planet. John the Baptist was beheaded, but they could not kill his heart of love. Try as they might, through murder, crucifixion, and other means of evil, people have tried to kill God's love.

Silly humans...

Walking in love is a battle because there are so few people on this planet that do it. Evil lurks in the hearts of men, women and children everywhere in the world. That said, when we enter into Christ and His love, we have victory over evil and darkness. The Lord is undefeated. He cannot lose.

We stand our ground with shoes of peace, armed with our shields of faith and powerful swords (God's Word - His truth). The battle continues, but the outcome has already been determined. Love wins. It cannot lose. In fact, loving hearts pray for evil hearts to be delivered from the evil one and purified. Why are pure hearts necessary? Because, as the Lord tell us, pure hearts see God. (Matthew 5:8)

It is ironic that Satan - through the dark hearts of men and women, and yes even some precocious children - have many people on the planet concerned about "global warming" in the atmosphere, when the real problem in the world is global cooling in hearts around the world. We should not be surprised at the global cooling we see with respect to love in the world. The Lord told us that the future would see love turning cold:

"Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold."
(Matthew 24:12)

The solution to "global warming" (whatever that means) and every other problem on this planet is Love - walking in love. Imitating God. It's not more government this or government that. It's more love in the hearts of people everywhere on earth!

Satan does not want people to know that if everybody walked in love, there would be no problems in the world. Life everywhere on earth would be a practical expression of heaven. Hell on earth (and there can be no doubt most people are living in hell here on earth) would be extinguished.

"and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer by any mourning, or crying, or pain." (Revelation 21:4)

Walking in love reproduces heaven on earth - precisely the kind of world God intended in the beginning.

There is a glitch in the Matrix. God's program for human hearts got corrupted through the free will He gave us. God is all about freedom. But freedom in Christ is not free. There is a cost. That cost is what the Cross is all about. There is no freedom in Christ except through the cross.

Tragically, many Christians view the Cross as something that Jesus did for them. They are saved when they recognize Jesus died for their sins. Note this conventional view of Christians is all about them - not Christ. They are saved.

However, it is not about us at all. It is about Christ Jesus. If you are walking in love, you have been crucified with Christ. You are dead and He is alive in your heart.

"I have been crucifed with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." (Galatians 2:20)

There is a time for lawlessness to increase, as the Lord told us, but this cannot continue indefinitely. There is a patch for the corrupted software that prevents people from walking in love. The software patch is intimately tied together with God eternal plan - Christ as all in all. Christ as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Jesus came, died, and rose again with God's love because Christ must increase, and we must decrease.

He must increase, but we must decrease. (John 3:30)

He must increase! His love must increase. He will increase no matter how hard people try to prevail against His love. Lawlessness will rise up, but eventually it will be defeated. In the meantime, while this global cooling of love continues throughout the world, rest assured the Lord has those who choose and are chosen to walk in love covered:

"Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
(Matthew 5:11-12)

"If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you." (John 15:18)

We receive His heart through faith in Him and the work He does through us on the cross. The Cross is the place where our hearts are filled with His never-failing love and Spiritual fruit. The Cross is the gateway to the Kingdom of God. Satan cannot go beyond the Cross. There is no place for evil and darkness in the Kingdom of God. We walk the narrow path to eternal life through the Cross.

Our faith in Christ and His love connects us to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the light that powers our hearts. With the Holy Spirit, we shine. We become lights of the world. (Matthew 5:14).

The Spirit connects us directly with an open heaven. With an open heaven, there is nothing in the way of our hearts and the Lord's heart. Nothing - no things, no man-made churches, priests, pastors, ministers, evangelists, tithes, or rituals. Nothing!

An open heaven is a heart connected directly to God's heart through Christ via the Holy Spirit. With His Spirit in our hearts, nothing is impossible. All the miracles recorded in the Scriptures were performed by the Lord through the Holy Spirit or by Him directly. Every single one of them! We don't perform miracles. HE DOES!

The Church that the Lord is building is built on love. A love that never fails, cannot fail, and will not fail. Nothing can overpower this love. With His love, nothing is impossible. If we have not His love in our heart, we are nothing. Hell cannot overpower His church.

"I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it." (Matthew16:18)

We walk in love because that is our purpose in life. Love the Lord Your God with all your heart. Love your neighbors as yourself. Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

Before the Lord went to the Cross, he commanded His disciples to do one thing. The Lord said:

Love one another. (John 15:17)

When we walk in love, the Lord is with us. Always. We are One with His loving heart.

Walking in love requires a heart of Christ. We must see Christ first before we can walk in love. Seeing Christ requires a pure heart. Pure hearts see God (Matthew 5:8). When we see God, we believe His word. When we believe Him and trust Him, our faith grows. As our faith grows, and we express this faith through love, we become fruit on His vine. We become One with the Son. One with Christ.

There is a conflict in the world: Lawlessness versus Love. Darkness versus Light. Evil versus Christ.

Walking in love guarantees victory over lawlessness - over darkness and evil. The Lord's love cannot be overcome. It cannot fail. He has secured victory for us. All that is required is that we walk in the light of His love. The world is against us but God is for us. We press in and we press on into the Great Life - into Christ.

It is a battle, but we have won. Stand your ground and live to love.

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
(1 Corinthians 13:13).

The greatest of these is love.

May you have great faith in the Lord's love and may you learn to walk in His never-failing love.

Agape,

Steve

A Divided House

Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: "Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall." (Luke 11:17)

There are an estimated 40,000 Christian denominations in the world today. There is only one Christ.

The Lord tells us truthfully and clearly that it is just a matter of time before the walls separating Christians come crashing down.

Let Luke 11:17 be a reminder to us today of the eternal wisdom of Christ Jesus: A divided Christian religious house cannot stand. It will be ruined.

He is the Alpha and Omega. The beginning and end.

May His peace, which surpasses all understanding, reign supreme in your heart.

Agape,

Steve

The Unshakeable Kingdom

I've noticed a great tendency among many people that call themselves Christians to want to take something spiritual from God and make it an earthly thing - a religious thing. Today, as I was doing some morning reading and meditation, I came across a passage from one of T. Austin-Sparks' books that talks about this issue. Sparks, as usual, goes right to the heart of the matter. Here's what TAS says (bold added for emphasis):

This universal shaking is said to be in order that there shall be nothing left but what God Himself has established. This letter (Hebrews) is a comprehensive comparison and discrimination between the passing and the permanent, the shakeable and the unshakeable; and it is important to recognise that it was written to a people who for a long period had held the position of a people whom God had taken out of the world unto Himself, showing that even such a people may make their separation an earth-bound thing and have to be warned that that kind of separation is not God's kind of separation. God took them out of the world to be a people for Himself, and then in the course of time they gravitated earthward, so instead of being a heavenly people in the earth they became a religious people on the earth, and there is a great deal of difference. And such a letter as this had to be written to them to tell them, the people who were once taken out of the world for God by God, that they are to have their whole foundation shaken and their whole system of things, in the shaking, removed. On the other hand, the letter is a statement of permanent and final things, and the things which constitute the Kingdom which cannot be shaken.

We can see the problem clearly. Trying to make something spiritual from God an earthly and religious thing will separate us from the Lord. It is in direct conflict with the Kingdom - with the purpose of God through Christ Jesus. Every time somebody tries to make a spiritual thing from God something earthly and religious, we see the same result: it fails. The Lord has no choice but to move on.

The truth is the Lord is building His church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18).

I would urge all those people that are seeking the Kingdom to resist the temptation to take a gift from God and try to make it earthly and religious. It is wasted time and energy. You will fail. It's just a matter of time. The Lord guarantees it.

May you see Christ as all in all.

Agape,

Steve