The Real God - The Love Of God, Part 2

When I counsel with people. I often hear them say something like this you know Chip I know God loves me but I just don't feel it feels so far away, even though intellectually I know he loves me. I know I get that sense of God's love well that you stick around more than a learning how to experience God's love. Thanks for joining us for this Edition of Living on the Edge with shipping trips or Bible feature of this international discipleship program for studying several key attributes of God's character. Learning how he longs for us to see him trips series the real God in this program. Chip finishes his message of God's love establish some important groundwork in our previous broadcast so if you missed it a great way to catch up later with the chipping remap.

Now it's doing them for part two of his message the love of God. I majored in psychology and graduate school and undergraduate along with education and I had to write a research paper for a thesis that I did and one of the thesis that I did it so I looked up all the things in terms of the effective role and responsibility of a father in the family and so I did all the sociological insight psychological study about what her dad brings in my study. You know you do all this empirical research in all these control studies and read all these papers and is really interesting. The number of studies is been done on juvenile delinquents and they do a interviewing process and they find out what made you feel loved growing up. You know what number one or two was in number of the studies.

I knew my parents love me when they disappoint me. You see when you have a mom or dad.

He says hey what time you need to be in.

I don't care if lock the door when you get in. I don't care when you when you talk back to a parent and do you do things are disrespectful and I just yell back at you now you have two kids acting like fools toward one another. They don't care.

It's just unbelievable the families. Here's how they parent all they do, they just here 20 bucks. Here's 100 bucks.

Here's 200 bucks today. What go to the mall do whatever you want to do. Just get the heck out of my hair and when they do things that are wrong. You know what there's no consequences in what kids know.

If you don't care enough to confront me if you don't care enough to do give me what I need instead of what I want you to love me and you know God shows his love for you is he will selectively correct. You and I don't like it you don't like it but it's an evidence of his love for what he reveals his love is by the Holy Spirit. He supernaturally pours his love into our hearts. Romans 55 says and hope doesn't disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us this is that spirit, the moment you come to Christ. You do understand what happens.

You know you are an unbeliever like I was an unbeliever, you understand the gospel. You realize Christ died in your place for your sin you repent. That means you have a change of mind and you recognize what's true about you and you say, with empty hands. I want to receive the free gift by faith, of grace, the moment I received Jesus Christ put my trust in his work and his resurrection.

The spirit of God enters my life.

Ephesians 1. I've sealed with the spirit, I'm adopted into God's family, I baptize into this thing called the church spiritual gifts are deposited in beehive and inheritance will never change, and I'm now a part of God's family and the Holy Spirit takes up residence in me. That's why I'm his temple.

And then he what he will do the spirit of God member he says to the disciples, you can't take in everything but the spirit when he comes, will lead you into all truth bets last night. Remember the very last night.

He said I am with you now, but it's better that I go because I will just be with you. I will be in you and the father will, I will come as just as I am in the father and the father is in me, so we will come and we will be in you, how the Holy Spirit is of the spirit of God dwelling in us will take the word and you had it happen. He pours out the love of God member. Late one night I was dating a girl that I was sure I was going to marry and her life was gone this way and she was a believer in my life was gone this way and it just came as a Lordship issue and it wasn't some big break up. I just knew that you know she was convinced we were supposed to, you know after college get married and and you know she was only child and live in this little town in in outside of West Virginia on the higher riverine and then live right next to her parents and I felt the call of God in my life and Butman I'm telling you. I left her and I Johnny I was heartbroken and so we you know I said you know, Lordship elements, Lordship is doing what's right with you if you like it or not.

We don't have a whole lot to do with how you feel most most of the best obedience in my life I'm telling you, I want to do, but I don't feel bad about a Jesus didn't want to do is either in the garden not I don't hear Jesus saying father, thank you. This is the hour which we plan on for the foundations of the earth. I'm really excited about this one hi-fi the Holy Spirit forming hey let's go, what I hear is father.

If there's any other way if there's a plan B in the mind of the Godhead.

Let's go with it now. Nevertheless teach you demonstrate your love for God. What what how obedience John 1421 he that has my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves me he loves me. Would love my father and what happens and we will come and we will reveal or manifest yourself to and so we go our separate ways and in one night. You know we've we've broken up but I mean like I'm used to.

For like a couple three years home basketball game hair is wet come up the stairs and she's always there right on the rail.

She grabs my feet like special guy go to student union. Get a coked out about this great relationship.

What we break up for three or four or five months and I'm praying, I'm going will God change your heart. Help her tuxedo vision for the world you numb Cryan and I want to see anybody and I'm in my pity party and oh God, it's so hard to follow. You will never be anybody like this is good, ever, ever's not getting whiny, wimpy, and I mean I was sunny I was depressed and looking over your guy like me lose weight yet problems so and so you know I'm praying I believe in God to do something he's going to bring her back to me so I come out of the locker room. Here's wet. You know, lost another game that was a good and I come up the stairs and there she is on thinking it's God, thank you so much. So I come up the stairs and she's got that look like some wrong about this. I said hi and I said her name hi how you doing and there is a sort of slow, standoffish, and then a guy came up the stairs was another guard on the team. Ladies you don't know the guys you how you talk locker room to come to know the score were guys are at what they do, why they do it all that jazz and is due to snake is a snake and he walks right by me and he goes out the door and they go out, arm in arm, and I remember walking across campus being is mad at God is ever born, and I was Maddox was so mad I told got either you speak to me.

You speak to me. II cannot believe you would do this to me and I went over and I went over and I said okay I'm going to get a read whiteware I'm reading you better speak to me. I'm serious, I mean literally the words Katie I feel like a beast inside. I just, I mean it was so angry and so disappointed and so I read Psalm 71. He didn't speak okay Psalm 72. He didn't speak, I mean I just I figure, yada. Keep reading where you are, you know you start jumping around you trying. God speak to you.

I open Psalm 73. I'm telling you, I read Psalm 73 and I have never audibly heard the voice of God could not have been the Holy Spirit, pouring out his love more clearly more powerfully in all my life.

It was scary.

The very thoughts that I had the very phrases out of my mind. The things that I said the very core issues I read Psalm 73 and I wept like a baby in my room God understood and he had a plan. You see, one of the ways God will love you is the Holy Spirit will be poured out in the way, he'll do it is sometimes she'll do it through his word.

Sometimes I was in India shortly and I mean it was such a dark time in the middle and nightly spiritual opposition in all this tsunami. I couldn't sleep and there's all the spiritual warfare going on in the middle of night. I just started I put on my tapering to start saying God I just I feel so alone and so far away and this is so scary. I just began to sing in the spirit of God just came to the room and pour the love of God as a spelling, put his arms around me got been in ICU before her. I thought 01 my boys is going to die and I beg God and I pleaded with God in the spirit you've been there you have these haven't you. The final way is through his son Jesus reveals the nature of God's love for us through his son Jesus modeled compassion, grace and truth. Right just the life of Jesus he he he shows us the father's love by how he responds to children by how he feeds people by will, how he has compassion on Jerry's his daughter how he stops with the widow and it's her only son. He raises him from the dead by how he forgives.

He reveals his love by his teaching and he explained to me if you want to know how Jesus feels about people.

Luke 15 why are you hanging out with those sinners and those bad people and so he tells them a parable and he tells them the three familiar stories lost sheep lost coin lost son.

You know the story and the picture is the father waiting for the sun to return to do what he goes out every day. Is he here yet is he here yet is he okay is the picture of someone pursuing and seeking and searching and the sheet comes back on the shoulders and the coin is found in there's a party and a son returns and there's life is teaching told us about the love of God and his death demonstrated the extent of God's love. This is how we know what love is Jesus Christ laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.

But God demonstrated his own love for us. Romans 58 that while we were yet sinners can know if there is no performance were his enemies. Then right. Why were yet sinners, Christ died for us to sense the need to come to just get some of these truths, soaking it out yet another. My mom used to. She was a schoolteacher and so she had trouble trying to get dinner on the table and when those crockpots were invented like my mom went nuts. I made it was like whoa and she could put a piece of meat and potatoes and carrots and just like everything in the refrigerator and put it in the crockpot and she would turn it on and it would simmer and simmer and simmer all day sometime 10 or 12 hours and it was great and you know you know what will take these truths from the 18 inches from here to here. You need to take these truths in these notes and some of these word pictures and you put the spiritual crockpot and rather than trying hard to force it into good, but we believe that you will be pleased.

We please just put them in the spiritual crockpot effect for me. I put them on 3 x 5 cards and you know I'll read omen and read a verse and then thank God that this is you know, and so much of it. So please don't get hung up on your emotions.

We are so emotionally bound. Why don't feel like he loves me. Well, okay, get over it. I mean, you know I don't either. But what about the people that love me. I don't want someone got a sale. I really feel good about to chip but I can't help you.

Rather other guys. I don't feel so good about you, but here's 100 bucks to solve your problem or pull your car out of the ditch. You see we we need to begin to understand is not legally emotional love. It's a objective reality of how God actually thinks and feels that you actually possess. And when you get your mind renewed and you begin to respond and worship. I will tell you that then you will emote of Lee began to experience more and more the love of God is a spirit of God pours into your heart, but it's a journey and it's a process and objects value was always determined by the price paid for to God.

You are worth the price of his son's death in your place. You know some of you are are musicians and you know you get a cheap violin and then you get those kind that are made in Germany you pay about $6000 for a violin. It's very valuable. If you pay about 400 its okay value was always determined by price, and if you ever wonder does God really love me this is as objective as it gets.

If you were a slave and a slave market and they put you up on those round little stools and I said how much for this one, $200 so much for this one, $500 so much for this one really big and strong $800 for this one old, we can do anything. $50 and it came your turn. God would make the bid and he would say I want that one. How much the death of my son, that's what I'll pay for them and you're the one see the word redemption is a picture of a slave being bought out of slavery and the price of purchase is the blood of Jesus for you. God loves you. How do you receive it you must respond to God's love in three specific ways. One, you receive it by faith in your heart. John 316 for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever, you need to be a whosoever he be one of those people who receive it. John 112 says it to all who receive him.

Jesus to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. If there's anybody that is never received and jumped into the liquid ocean of love of the God I've described, just received to say Lord Jesus, I want you I get it. Come into my life.

The second thing to experience God love is we must believe it by faith in our minds.

You receive him by faith in your heart and then we missed go through the journey that I've been talking about believing it by faith in our minds. First John 413 through 16 says we know that we live in him and he in us because he's given us of his spirit and we have seen and testify that the father has sent his son to be the Savior of the world.

If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the son of God. God lives in in in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love that God has for us. Did you hear that we know objectively and we rely on God's love. How do you know and rely how does it work. Let me give you three role specific ways. The way you begin to get this process operating where it moves from here in your head to your heart as you saturate your mind in the truth of God's love for you.

I put a very, very important passage.

Romans 828 through about 39 you know it's the passage, but neither death nor life, nor angels, or principalities, or things present, or things to come. Nothing can separate you from the love of Christ. Nothing so you saturate your mind with God's truth about this and that. That's why I talked about whether to 3 x 5 cards are being in the Scriptures are praying these back to the Lord.

Second, ask God to help you grasp his love for you. I don't know what you pray or who you pray for, but the apostle Paul in Ephesians 3 gives us a great example when he's praying for group of people.

What's the price he says God I pray for this group of people right here what I price. I pray that you will strengthen them in their inner man, so that they could by faith grasp the extent of your love for them what the prank God. I want you to do something to take it from here down to hear. Ask God pray for yourself. Lord help me crass that you love me, Lord, I want to even feel it.

Lord help me to take all those messages and and false kinds of loves and all the baggage that I have and wipe it away.

Please help me experience and know you love. Do you think you answered that prayer you know for sure it's as well so you saturate your mind the truth you ask him and then third refused to seek love and cheap substitutes. This is the woman at the well and it's all of us in here to some degree or another. First John 215 and 16, says notice the word do not love the world or the things that are in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes. The boastful pride of life is not from the fathers from the world, but he who does the will of God abides forever and those of the three things that tripped everybody up all the time. There is a sensual lust.

There's a desire for more stuff and there's a desire for ego to be a somebody you know it what's behind those what's behind those is this desire to be love to be significant secure to matter and there just cheap substitutes. It's the world promising you you get left if you do this you'll get love. If you act like this you get loved. If you have this much money you get loved. If your body looks like this you'll get love. If you can just get you serve everybody all the time be super super Christina never says no to anybody and has absolutely whacked out life. No give you all the strokes in a bill like love. They're all cheap substitutes. God says, refusing, and what seals the deals after you receive it and believe that we must bestow it by faith through our wills see the way you you you really get is to give an there's a command coming. This is one of the options. John 13 member last night. The disciples a new command I give it you that you love one another. How just as I've loved you.

How's that sacrificial unconditional by giving and then there's a call and Jesus laid down his life for us.

We should what lay down our lives for one another and then there's a promise. I do not understand this people I don't understand it at all, but when I willfully choose whether I feel like it or not to give my time and give my money and give my gifts and give my attention and give my care. After I have taken a drink or taken my water bottle or backed up my truck into the ocean of God's liquid love and I begin to just spray it out radically to other people. All I can tell you is it creates a spiritual vacuum and the more I give it out more. God gives to me.

And the more I get out.

The more I get it back, and many of us are spending our lives seeking to experience God's love and the catalyst for the action point will be when you stop asking who loves me who's cuckoo didn't say hi to me. Am I okay and you start asking who needs a friend who need some help who need some love. Who needs a listening ear. Who needs a phone call. Who needs a little money that will never know where it came from and I'm just telling you give in to be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running back into your lap.

So if you love it. The teaspoon you get teaspoon of outback love with a tablespoon to get a tablespoon back you love with a gallon jug getting a jelly gallon jug that puts her into the ocean and start on in your life might get downright scary when I taught this message. I literally stopped and give people time to think and I want to stop for you wouldn't be a tragedy to fill our hearts and minds with all this information about God and know that he loves us intellectually and not take the time at this moment in your history and stop and respond to the love of God what is God doing in your heart if you are outside of Christ.

If you've heard about his love and you've learned about the cross you've heard about the payment for sin you've heard about the resurrection you've heard that you are the object of his love. Are you willing today to receive it. That's the first step. Are you willing to admit that you fall short turn from your sin and right now in this moment, lift up the empty hands of faith and cry out and say Lord Jesus save me, forgive me, cleanse me. I believe you died for me do it right now in your own words. Talk with God and then tell someone today I prayed to receive Christ.

I receive God's love.

If you're a believer are you start believing that God really loves you where you can get rid of some of that baggage and go into. I mean a study and a commitment to believe in your mind, saturating your mind with the truth getting involved in community refusing to believe all those lies get counseling. Do whatever you need to do to begin to bank your life on the reality that God loves you and by way of application. I would say I can't think of a better series that we offer to get a group of people together and meet in a coffee shop or a living room with a group and then a group of women, or maybe as couples and say you know what, and lest we get clear on who God really is. Were never going to get right with him or anybody else, and then do a little Bible study. Hold one another accountable and see we are going to get to know you. God finally you gotta bestow God's love. You may have a pretty accurate picture of him in my challenge to you, especially mature believers as let's get outside of ourselves and let the world know there's happy news. There's forgiveness. There's restoration there is power believers let's lift our heads and get involved with people that maybe weren't comfortable with and let's love them they're not good. Know God is love. Unless we his children model. It you willing to do something radical. I mean, love them away. Jesus love them father, thank you for this great study of who you are, may we grasp it with clarity. May we receive your forgiveness. May we believe on a daily basis accurately who you are and then we you use us as instruments and conduits of the supernatural love of God Almighty through our Lord Jesus Christ in his name we pray. Amen. If you prayed with Chip. I hope you'll take a minute and call us at AAA 333-6003. We love to hear your story and get a free resource in your hands that will help you understand the significance of your decision to follow Jesus and give you a couple of next steps on your journey that same resources available if you tap special offers on the app or go to the new believers tab on our website LivingontheEdge.org. We just want to help you get started and say welcome to the family you're Living on the Edge. Our mission is to help Christians live like Christians. One of the ways we do that is by providing free resources to as many people as possible so all of Chip's MP3 messages are free.

There are hundreds of free resources@livingontheedge.org and the chipping remap is a great way to listen and stay connected getting the latest from living on the whole that wraps up this program for Chip and everyone here is saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge