I was thinkin about a post that a friend had shared yesterday about the character traits that marked the early church. This has been a burden on my heart for some time now. It really bothers me when I am in the word and God shows the level of passion the early church had for him, and because of their passion in Him how could love and compassion do anything but to overflow into the people around them. Because when I read about them, it doesn’t resemble us. Oh, yes, there was so much difficulty for them in persecution, issues in the church (now there’s a surprise), but passion, compassion and love was a clear mark. I am reminded about just how that must have looked every time I think about our experience in Mozambique. Many, many people full of love for each other, sharing everything, and having everything in common (Sound familiar?) I hear this from God “WE need to be a cut above from the rest in the love department, a cut above in the area of compassion. You see even the world loves its own, and people will show acts of kindness to their own, so that won’t make you any different-(Matthew 5:46 paraphrased).” God shows me this, something I wrote down in my notes while in Mozambique. Heidi began to teach one of her classes and as she was reading from scripture, she began asking the students, if translated into each of their own languages from around the world, how would the word extravagant be defined (She was teaching about God’s love for us, and our identity in Him.) God shows us in this word extravagant that His love for us, and in how He gives it to us is over the top, more than we need, exceeding the limits, more than is necessary, no moderation, no balance, or restraint in it. This is extravagant. While I listened to how it was defined in other countries, and Heidi elaborating to give us a picture of His love, God spoke this to me “The Christian life is a life offered to others in lavished love.” Then God shows me lavish: expending or bestowing profusely, expended or produced in abundance, marked by excess. This truly was the mark of the early church and what we experienced in Mozambique from those that had nothing. And it is something that in the western world truly lacks on a large scale. So if the Christian life lavishes (produces in abundance, excess) the love we receive from God (extravagant love, no moderation, more than necessary, beyond limits) to others, then it safe to say we give, produce love for the world around us in abundance, excess, cover them with it. The mark of the early church in the middle of persecution. Are you bothered at all by this? By the lack of all this being displayed by professed Christians around you, but way more importantly, are you bothered at all by this lack in your own life. You know, it has to start with me, right? Let’s take a spiritual inventory. Be honest with ourselves, each one and ask “how am I doing in this area? Am I troubled by the lack of extravagant love that I am lavishing on someone else, especially my enemy? Troubled by my own lack of passion and compassion? I know I am. I tend to lose sleep over it. And that’s a good thing, a gift from God. God speaks to me and says “Ok, you are to give all you have within you to love on someone around you, and just when you have given all the love you have in you to them, when you have reached your limit, I say to you ok, now, BEGIN to love them. Now is when it begins to flow from me. Yours is used up, mine begins. In your weakness I am made strong. It’s a love for people that only I can place in you, and it’s intoxicating. It’s my fruit in you. It comes from a place of intimacy with me. A lot of intimacy. You can only do this through my power of grace in you. I will give this gift to you, but it’s not for you to keep, but to give away freely, and without limit. I also give this gift to them freely through you.” I had this written down in my notes while in Mozambique from Heidi’s teaching. “What does love look like? What does the gospel look like? What is the knowledge of His will? So, what does He want you to do? CARRY LOVE! Carry the gospel which looks like LOVE. That’s the knowledge of His will.” A huge mark of the early church that flowed out of hearts many, many hearts filled with the power of His love and much intimacy.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Jul 2013 22:13:22 +0000
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