Spiritual Simplicity - What the World Needs Now is Love, Sweet Love, Part 1

Are you tired of trying to find love or maybe you just trying to keep love alive in a relationship could be you're missing the key ingredient in your life. Could it be that love is actually more available than you today, discover the secret of finding, keeping and giving love away like never before. Stay with welcome to this Edition of Living on the Edge with shipping group Living on the Edge features the Bible teaching on this daily discipleship program. I've been through today Chip continues a series spiritual simplicity doing less loving more by sharing what actually fuels our love life or may not be what you expect after the teaching trips always with us here in studio to bring some of personal thoughts application message, so be sure to stay with us for that because what is yours today is something you don't want to miss Ellis get going, and joint your for part one of his talk with the world needs now.

Do you realize you were created in your soul and your heart in your mind, even in your physical body you were designed and created by God to be loved and want to tell you you have a receiver built into your heart and building your soul built into your thinking actually building the fibers of your physical body and you are from the moment you come out of the womb, and you make eye contact with your mother. There is something inside of you, reaching up and reaching out to get connected and what you need and what you are made for was to be loved, to be affirmed to be cared for to be held to be valued not what you do, not for what you accomplish, not for how you look, but for just who you are and that journey begins with the first breath and it'll end at your last breath and that demand and that drive for love never ends. But if you don't get it right. And if you end up spiritually and emotionally. Like a lot of people spend their whole life just looking looking looking looking looking for love and there's only one place to find it where you will be loved and that way that's were to talk about because that simplifies life.

There's a song we got very popular. If you came here little bit early. You heard it and that's what the world needs now is love sweet love and we had to make it from one city to another. It was hard to stay awake and so have a low rent car had the XM unit like a zillion station so like every 20 seconds.

We changed to a new station and what you know for a visible song we knew that would sing along, but I mean we went to like 50 stations and two and half hours just to stay awake and 49 of the stations had songs that were about love finding it losing it, getting it wanting it, finding it getting it losing it, wanting it, love, love me with heard country club we heard hip-hop level. Your alternative love.

We heard easy listening, what we heard love love love to what what the world wants is love.

If you will open your notes. I want you to read along very carefully with me because if were designed and made for love and we don't get it deeply, unconditionally and authentically some really bad stuff happens and that bad stuff is why a lot of our lives are very complicated from the front of your notes. It says we are not deeply and personally love in ways that make sense to us.

We will settle for any number of pseudo-love substitutes pseudo-meeting false substitutes.

The idea is I want lot you want loved. I've got that little thing going on Sunday will click click click click click click looking looking looking and if you don't get it deeply, authentically, unconditionally, in a way that makes sense to you, you'll settle for substitutes like affirmation we received from success.

It feels a lot like love you good at that. We appreciate that, while you score a lot of points you made a lot of money, you're good, you're smart, affirmation to cheap substitute for love doesn't mean that we don't need affirmed, but is not love or things like adulation that you receive from Thane. Everyone wants their 15 minutes of fame because you were on TV you're a celebrity you're important you matter. We seen your face somewhere and there's this adulation, but is not love people falling in love with an image or like the temporary intimacy we experience from illicit sex.

When loneliness and pain and struggle and the connections don't make it.

Some people log on the Internet. Some people have affairs. Some people do all manner of things trying to fill the whole and there's this temporary sense of connectedness. This temporary sense that I'm loved and this feels good. Followed by lots of really bad stuff through illicit sex of all kinds were sometimes we look for love and the attention it received from our appearance and our possessions. We think of the energy that goes in the multi-multi-billion-dollar makeup business multi-multibillion-dollar fitness business.

You know what you possess. How you appear you get attention, and it feels like love but what the attention is focused on is not who you really are is just happens to be on, what you look like today or what your driving what you wear for the temporary things like a steam that comes from physician oh, you're somebody now you got a corner office you're somebody you know you're the star on the team. You're somebody you made the cheerleading squad you're a somebody because you have this position were finally the security that we perceive from wealth. So we get up early and we go laden we move and we get complex driven complex lives because we feel like if we get more money will be security for secure security feels a lot like love. Look at the bottom of the page is critical. This is why our lives. Get complex. Our quest to be loved deeply and personally create fast-paced overextended complex lives driven to obtain success, fame, sex, looks, position, power and wealth. In the desperate hope that someday some way will be loved. But notice the last line just for who we are. Everything in this list when you get done even if you receive it. People aren't loving you for who you are there loving you for the position that you have for the appearance you have for the possessions that you have any of that little….That little search engine inside of you that wants to connect you and I and every single person on this planet of all backgrounds of all races, of all cultures want and need to be loved. So if love is what the world needs three questions emerge where you find it. How do you get it and how to give away where you find it how you get it and how you giveaway let's start with number one where you find the source of love. That's unconditional that's focused on who you are, not what you accomplish is God listen to first Johnson's dear friends, let us love one another Y for love comes from God. Everyone who loves God is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God.

Why, because God is love Johnson is the source of the love that you need in your soul. The only thing that ever fill you up is the love of God and he says when you know him. When you are loved by him. One of the evidences will be that you will naturally overflow in love relationships to others and most attractive people on in the world. The people that I want to be around and you want to be around or what loving people no one wants to be around selfish jerks. We all want to be loving people, but it's just hard and it raises the question, what would it look like to be loved by God to me that so ethereal. God loves you heard that all my life. I did have a clue of what it meant. What would it look like if you could understand and feel and see and know that you are the object of God's affection. I put it in your notes Zephaniah 317 is to me one of the greatest pictures of getting a grasp of God's love. Forceps is the Lord your God is with you part of man love to someone that won't abandon you. Is someone that hangs with you and not only is he with you.

He is mighty to save, and you might brighten your notes about that word save write the word deliver mean of course we know that he saves he forgives our sins, but especially in the Old Testament when you see the word save as the idea of deliverance when someone loves you and here in a jam. They show up and they help you get out of the jam coming. That's who I call when I'm in a jam to be loved by God, the Lord your God is his covenant name, it's his personal name Yahweh is with you. He is mighty to save and look at the he will take great delight in you underline the word in you.

It doesn't say he'll take great delight in how you look to take great delight in your position you take great delight what you can accomplish your take great delight in your success. He'll take great delight in you, the one that created the galaxies in the billions and billions of stars after he created everything he created man and they said the pinnacle, the most important apex of all of his creation.

You not if you do something, not because you've accomplished something.

But you as you are created by God made in his image he takes delight in you like to spend time with you. He'd like to bless you. He like to talk with you he'd like to develop you. That's what love does it always brings out the best in others. So he's with you he delivers you he takes great delight in you notice he will quiet you with his love.

There's one thing I hear from people all the time, Christian or non-Christian in a high stress complicated world is. I wish I had some peace. She does have some peace in this marriage was or had some peace in my heart you know when you get peace when you can unload all the issues and all the concerns and all the cares and when you have that sort of sense that no matter what's going on out there.

It's okay for many of us that happens in a human relationship there's times I get completely overwhelmed that I write down all these different things and you know I'm really struggling but it's over a cup of coffee sitting with Teresa usually sang honey, I know I'm not supposed to be anxious and I know I'm not supposed to be this, but I'm feeling all this, and in what I've I've I've laid all this out my journal with God. I I need to sit down and will come to talk it through and there's a quieting of that relationship and you know what that's what God wants to do.

He wants to quiet your heart, with his love. He wants to tell you, you know what yeti economies, rough right now and the marriage has some struggles right now you been single a bit longer than you like right now and you know there's some physical payments that you would get better right now but you know something I like. Got it all taken care of like you're made to live forever, which relax we mean, if God is for you who can be against you if he's got unlimited resources near the object of his affection.

You know you cannot. Most of our anxiety is always focused on what might happen someday, some way and he says I got that someday covered, and finally notice. I love this last line. He says he will rejoice over you with singing. This is a picture literally of God and for some of us men. This is sort of a hard picture because it's a picture of God holding you like you're a little helpless baby like you've ever seen a mom, I watched Teresa do this when our kids were small, and now when she puts her grandkids to bed.

I can hear in the other room and she will hold the little ones, and shall sing over them and it's just sort of this. I just want to quiet down.

I rejoice over you, God's presence. God's power. All of God's pride. You are his delight he just want you know that that's how I feel about you. Can you imagine what would happen and how free your life could be and how you could simplify and begin to push some of the stuff on the front page these notes to the side, if you honestly in your heart of hearts believed that's how God actually feels about you at this moment and are you ready nothing you can do can ever change that. Now you can you can you can have Windows a blessing through obedience.

But even when he disciplines us is because he loves you. That's why Paul would pray to the Ephesian church he would pray. Since God already loves you. I pray that you might be strengthened in your inner man, so that you might comprehend the height and depth and length and breadth and to know the love of God that surpasses knowledge or comprehension.

That's a great thing to pray for one another for your kids while it raises a question okay let's can we all agree at this point that's true God really loves me and he loves me like that will how do you make the connection. The fact that he loves you and how do you get it operational in your heart and your life in your experience. Notice what the Scripture says says God deposits his love and his followers hearts through his Spirit.

The same passage first John. He goes on. He says we know that we live in him and he in us because he's given us his Spirit put a circle around live in him, and then another circle live in us and you might put little arrows and connect them.

We know he says it's true that we live in him connection and he in us connection because he's given us or he's deposit us in us his Spirit and then explains how that works. He says, and we have seen and testify that the father has sent his son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges literally the word is confessed agrees with that Jesus is the son of God.

God lives in him and he in God.

He says there is a condition to experience and receive God's love. Christ died on the cross fully God and fully man to pay for your sin, my sin, the sins of all people of all time. He's arson substitute. He says if you confess and acknowledge it's not your good works is not your religiosity, Christ died in your place is your substitute and if you turn from sin receive his forgiveness. He says the spirit of God comes into your mortal body, and you live in him and he lives in you and he takes up residence inside of you and he will then manifest the power and the presence of the living God. And now you have that connection all my little iPad a good like this.

It depicted to addicted to that than it connects and then a bunch of stuff downloads and he wants to download adoption and forgiveness and place you in his family and grace and seal you with the spirit and give you spiritual gifts and create a new path in the same power that raised Christ from the dead dwells in you mom.

You do that now.

He goes on to say that when were filled or controlled by the Holy Spirit, the outcome or the overflows. Let soak the spirit lives inside of you the spirit. God, the second person of the Trinity is the means by which God's love gets from out there in here and then look what it says in Galatians 522 and 23 the fruit singular. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness goes on to say, self-control.

So that love that I just described about his presence is power in you being the object of his affection.

All of that is available but there's only two reasons why you can experience it. Reason number one would be living like I did my first 18 years outside of Christ.

I intellectually was aware of God's love, but I'd never turn from my sin asked Christ to forgive me and come into my life.

If you've never done that.

Today's a great day to do it is called being born from above are being borne by the spirit.

The Bible calls it salvation is when you experience forgiveness in the spirit comes into your life and you are justified your declared righteous before God because of what Christ did for you now. The second reason you can be a believer and his spirit lives in you. But what I found is I can have this thing and not to mention which carrier that it is, but there's times where I can turn this baby on and I can be working in all the sudden cannot send mail cannot receive mail. It drops into just like have a drop call it dry can get anything and maybes because there's too many buildings. Or maybe it's what a dead spot, but basically there's interference. There's times where interference from whatever signals come on that little pad and I can't get anything.

I've got the pad I'm connected to pay my bill but there's interference and you can have the spirit of God living in you.

But if he's not in control. If there's interference like sin like you know exactly what God wants you to do what you say no. If your priorities are out of whack. If you get so busy and so inundated doing other things and pursuing other God in his great love doesn't bless there's interference so he says if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So some of you are here today that you desperately need to experience God's love and intellectually are saying you I really want that piercing I know I'm really Christian and you're saying that my life is crazy and I'm not experiencing that will guess what part of how you experience it is he wants to give you grace and he wants to speak to you but it's been a while since you really talk to him and he wants you to stop and simplify your life and quit chasing the wind and be quiet before him and he's going to bring people into your life if you slow down and get connected to one where you get together and he's going to show up in the physical bodies of other people and love you through their words and their arms and their feet and their kindness is all I want to get to is to know one thing you were created to be loved.

The source of love is God's means of experiencing that love is depositing his spirit inside of you and third years, his spirit can live inside of you, but you need to surrender to and be in alignment and obedience to that spirit. So what he has for you. You can actually receive so if you want to note the question where you find it God by what means the spirit as you walk in obedience to his want to tell you. Knowing where to get love and experiencing it is two very different things. I mail everything I've said you can agree with me and say to yourself I still feel lonely. I'm really kind of discouraged I feel kinda depressed. I don't feel very loved at all and I'm a Christian and in fact I'm gosh I read the Bible some imprints on the more those small groups and it's okay but I'm not.

I'm not get what you're talking about. So let's now ask and answer the question, how do you get it Heidi experience love, you can be deeply love and yet not experience it many many years ago, a member reading article. Maybe some of you can member about the bubble boy. He was born without an immune system and and this little boy grew up, and he was in it and a bubble literally a bubble in his parents.

They would have to put things in through this he never got touch his parents loved him and they cared for him but he never got touched by him. He lived literally in a plastic room bubble because if he came out he would die and I think is a lot of Christians that on the outside. There's this God longs to connect with you and touch you and love you and encourage you but there's this bubble many times by our own creating sometimes by the work of others and God wants to break through that and connect your heart to his CU experiences. Love, let me give you the two major ways that God has designed for us to experience his love. God designed love to be birthed and modeled in our families. Ephesians 518 through chapter 6, verse four encourage you to follow along and I don't usually read a long passage, but this one is one.

You just need to lean back and here's what I want you to listen as I read knows notice. We said love comes from God spirit notice he's gonna talk about you surrendering or allowing the spirit to control you and I'm going to show you from Scripture that God has a very clear design that where he wants us to learn about love is in our families.

He actually designed the family system to work in such a way that little boys and little girls would grow up feeling love affirmed, cared for, not for what they do, but for who they are picking up with me in verse 15 the apostle after telling us all this great stuff we have in Christ says be very careful in how you live not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil. Therefore, don't be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is and he says what's the Lord will don't be drunk with wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled and the word means controlled with the spirit of your filled with the spirit will what what happens will speak to one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the father for everything the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the way, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. When your filled with the spirit, there is a joy in your heart. There's a melody there's a perspective where you realize God's in control needs good and you choose to give thanks and this is not to talk about relationships and how love works when the spirit and control places the baseline is no one steps up and says I gotta have my way on my terms submit or surrender one to another. In other words, God, you, the great choreographer and you put relationships together.

You show me my part of the dance you show me my role so that I can get and receive your love and then give it in the way you want me to do so.

Then he starts and says okay family relationships wives submit to your husbands as to the Lord. The husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church's body which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so wives should submit to their husbands in everything and just before the women go.

Are you kidding Jesus husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church what he died.

Your start to get the point guys and gave himself for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing of the water with the word to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless in this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He loves his wife loves himself.

After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for just as Christ does the church for members of his body. For this reason a man leave his mother and father be united to his wife and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery. But I'm talking about Christ and the church. However application. Each one of you must love his wife as himself, and the wife must respect her husband, children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother respect from talk listen to them, obey them, why will this is the first commandment with a promise that it may go well with you and you may live and enjoy a long life on the earth. Fathers do not exasperate your children's dad bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord is good to go on and talk about slaves and masters. But here's what he says the spirit of God contains the love of God, the Spirit of God comes into a human heart to say need to be resistance or you can surrender and say I want to do like your way will be right back.

But if you're just joining us, you're listening to Living on the Edge with shipping room chips talk today with the world needs no is from his series, spiritual simplicity, doing less loving more spiritual simplicity challenges. The norms were pressured to assume are healthy and it reveals the reasons behind our complaints that there's never enough time for ourselves for the people we love. For even God.

Spiritual simplicity paves the way to living a simpler, wiser, more connected life that something you'd like to learn more about, you'll find the discounted spiritual simplicity resources on our website LivingontheEdge.org for more information just give us a call at 1-888-333-6003 spiritual simplicity doing less loving more attribute a lot of people spent more time at home recently ever before. So it's been hard and challenging but real for a lot of people.

These have been great days of fun and loving connection with family. They maybe not about before all day. That's really true. I don't know how many people of either talk to me emailed me you not been on the phone, where they said things like, you know, I can't remember the last time I slept in the same bed or didn't travel or ate so many meals with my family and not that was all smooth and wonderful and everything was going great but as one man said you know I have two preteens in my house and we spent two or three months together at a level that I don't think I'll ever get the rest of my life and I've learned to listen I were more connected I we had some challenges but even in our marriage is been so much better. How do I not lose that and really this series is about how not to lose it is called spiritual simplicity, how to do less and love more and it's a classic passage first Corinthians chapter 13. But it's actually a brilliant exposition that shows us how love responds to hurt. How love response to failure. How love responds to differences how love perseveres and how to actually experience in your closest most intimate relationships, the things that we all long for its moving the clutter and the busyness and the secondary things out of our life and learning how to make that which matters most relationships loving at a deep level a reality in our life as we wrap up today's broadcast just a quick but important thought Living on the Edge depends on listeners like you to help us continue broadcasting right here in your area.

Would you consider partnering with us on a monthly basis so people in your area can benefit from a ministry of chip and Living on the Edge of a set of recurring donation. It's easy. Just call us at 1-888-333-6003, or if you prefer to give online just go to LivingontheEdge.org and thanks in advance for doing whatever God leads you to do what next time. Chip continues a series spiritual simplicity doing less loving, more should make plans to join us for all of us here, this is Dave really saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge