Sermon Central
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In 1 John 4:18, We Are Assured That Love Defeats ...
Contributed by Kelly Mitchell on Jan 10, 2013 (message contributor)
In 1 John 4:18, we are assured that Love defeats fear. That’s good news. But be careful not to read that God’s Love, and God’s Love alone drives out fear. It can. It does. However, some things are very difficult to fight alone. Go back and read verse 12 of Chapter 4 as well. There we are informed that God’s love is most complete and most powerful when it has a conductor to flow through.
We’ve all had moments of pain and fear. How easy is it to see God’s love for you while you are deeply afraid, deeply depressed or in great pain? It is there and in abundance for anyone looking for it but it takes tremendous effort to maintain focus on it. We catch a glimpse and are assured and but then another wave of misery robs us of the thought.
Now, what about when people come in the name of Christ to comfort and minister to you? God’s love is easier to see and easier to focus on. Even if you do get swept away for a moment, your ministering angels are steady reminders when your focus returns. Its much easier to drive out pain and fear when 2 or more gather to live out God’s command to, "love one another."
Anyone’s love, when expressed, has power and is even amplified!
I live in the country where we have an abundance of deer. I have an electric fence around my garden that I have a long love/hate relationship with. I keep getting into “mishaps” with it, usually humorous but not until at least a half hour after the “mishap”. This is not a fence for tourists. This was given to me by a rancher and is rated for horse and cattle so it really really packs a wallop when there is a “mishap”. This fence is also battery powered.
Once when I was without battery but was not yet ready to turn the garden into an “all you can eat” buffet I pulled my truck up to connect the fence to its battery. As is the norm for me, I later went out to get something out of the truck and didn’t close the door well enough to turn the interior lights off. Yep. Next morning, truck is dead.
I got the battery charger and connected it to my battery but left the fence connected as well. Do you know, the charger was able to fill up my truck battery and run the fence at the same time? Well duh, you are saying. Of course it did, they are both connected to the same source of power.....!!!!!!!
God’s Love is made complete when you connect that circuit. Expressing Love is just as healing and revealing as receiving Love. When you choose service, you complete the circuit and God’s love then flows through you, a present, tangible, and verifiable witness of the one from whom all blessings flow. But then, by definition, God’s love is filling you as well. You are needed in the equation whether its family, friends, or a beggar on the street but ALSO REMEMBER you need the charging as much as they need the boost. Service is as much for your own sake as theirs...
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