Greetings in the Name of Jesus and welcome to the PLN Sunday Night Bible Fellowship!

 

Most folks well know that it's not easy to live in victory when both our environment with its trials and problems and the devil are constantly working against us. But true VICTORY is largely a state of mind and BY FAITH we can live there on a consistent basis even when we're experiencing what I've been calling HARD TIMES. It's a resolve, a determination to PURSUE victory no matter what gets thrown against us trusting that the God of all GRACE will deliver us out of our trials at the right moment (1 Peter 5:10).

 

One thing that helps is finally coming to a true understanding, deep down inside us in that place where we KNOW things, that God is NOT the cause of our HARD TIMES. The fact is many Believers, maybe most think that the trials they're experiencing have been sent by God either as punishment for wrong conduct or because they needed to learn something. Friend, I have good news tonight: this is NOT the way the New Covenant works. This is NOT what the New Testament of your Bible says. I know that tradition says that God's behind all the tribulation and that either He causes it or He allows it to happen in order to achieve certain objectives He has. But that's not what the Word of God actually says and if we truly want VICTORY in life, which most of us do, then we need to be operating in agreement with what the Word actually says.

 

And here's what the New Testament says: it's our Adversary the devil that comes ONLY to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10) working in concert with the World and with our own corrupted Flesh that's the source of ALL HARD TIMES. God's the One who's working to keep us out of trouble and then to DELIVER us out of the trials we ultimately fall into or choose to get into. God's the One who's TEACHING us how to DEFEAT the Adversary (Ephesians 6:12-18) and how to overcome the World (1 John 5:4-5) and how to NOT carry out the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). And God's the One who's leading us on to victory in Christ by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:12-17) He's the One who's teaching us ALL things (John 14:26). According to what Scripture actually says, under the New Covenant God has already judged Jesus. He's not judging people now because He ALREADY judged Jesus.

 

The fact is He's chosen to not remember our sins (Hebrews 8:12, 10:17), He's NOT even holding us accountable (2 Corinthians 5:19, Romans 5:13). In the mind of God it's as though Believers have never sinned. To Him we're spotless, without blemish because of what Jesus has ALEADY done. ALL the sins for ALL mankind for ALL time have ALREADY been paid for (Hebrews 9:12). The only way somebody can get in trouble now is if they refuse to believe in Jesus and the judgment for not believing comes later when Jesus returns to earth. It is not now. The HARD TIMES that are now aren't coming from God! God IS LOVE and He so LOVED mankind that He sent His only begotten Son to save us (John 3:16).

 

I bring these things up again because if you're thinking that God's responsible for your HARD TIMES, it's going to be really difficult to return His LOVE the way we're supposed to. Indeed, according to the Bible manifesting LOVE is not an optional exercise and the purpose of tonight's message is to point out that LOVE is a requirement for overcoming HARD TIMES. The problem is a lot of Christians are actually angry with God for hardships they think He's the cause of so they're having a hard time manifesting LOVE and a correspondingly hard time getting the victory over their issues.

 

Meanwhile the Bible makes it clear that LOVE is something to be PURSUED. It's not some passive thing we can wait around for God to drop on us. We have to PURSUE receiving it and we have to PURSUE giving it to others, God included. Sometimes we get geared up to PURSUE victory in some area of life but we don't PURSUE what it takes to get the victory. Even though we've tried a lot of things, we have trouble catching up to the actual victory and perhaps the principal thing that Christians overlook when we're in the heat of that PURSUIT is the REQUIREMENT of walking in LOVE. The truth is, in HARD TIMES the related pressure and stress can cause us to take a wrong turn out of our LOVE WALK and before we know it our PURSUIT of the victory has lost its power. We need to recognize when that happens and do something about it.

 

The Commandments of Jesus

 

Matthew 22:37-40 reports that one day Jesus answered a question posed by an expert in the Law of Moses who was there among the assembled Pharisees. The question was this: "Teacher, which is the greatest (strongest or most important) commandment in the Law?" Scripture says that the expert was testing the Lord but apparently Jesus answered Him without hesitating:

 

(37) "You shall LOVE the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. (38) This is the great and foremost commandment. (39) The second is like it, You shall LOVE your neighbor as yourself. (40) On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."

 

Jesus answered the expert's question by giving two clearly stated commandments, (1) to love the Lord, and (2) to love other people. Notice that Jesus repeated the word "commandment" in His answer so it was clearly His intention that they be seen as "commandments" instead of just "suggestions" or "guidelines." Indeed, many other verses in the New Testament refer to the "commandments" of Jesus and exhort us to obey them (John 14:15, John 14:21, John 15:10, 1 Corinthians 7:19, 1 John 2:3, 1 John 2:4, 1 John 3:22, 1 John 3:24, 1 John 5:2, 1 John 5:3, 2 John 6, Revelation 12:17, Revelation 14:12 and Revelation 22:14).

 

Notice also that He referred to only two commandments instead of the ten or the 600+ commandments Jewish folks were used to hearing about under the Old Covenant. So what Jesus did that day was declare to all those assembled there that He had been given the authority to "summarize" or "revise" the Law of Moses down to only two essential issues. The essence of what He said was that you can fulfill the whole Law just by carrying out these two commandments.

 

The other point to bring out is that Jesus said that all the Law and everything the Prophets had ever said depend on, or are subordinated to, these two commandments. In other words, none of the other principles of life or conduct in the Kingdom of God will function properly and fully except through LOVE. In fact, the Bible confirms that even our FAITH won't work if it doesn't come out of love (1 Corinthians 13:2). If our FAITH won't work, how can we get anything done in the Kingdom of God? If our FAITH isn't working, then we'll manifest FEAR which is the opposite of FAITH. The way to get rid of FEAR is by submitting to the perfecting of our LOVE (1 John 4:18) and by hearing the Word of God so our FAITH will be strengthened (Romans 10:17).

 

Friend, Matthew 22:40 says clearly to those who have ears to hear tonight that the spiritual principles for successfully PURSUING VICTORY in HARD TIMES won't fully manifest if they don't come through LOVE. Therefore, if victory has been elusive for you so far, you should consider among other things where you are in your love-walk.

 

Some Common Examples of When Love is Missing

 

A good place to start your self-examination is to come to grips with any of life's areas where love is regularly missing. Instead of continuing to just ignore them, shouldn't we begin to focus our attention on those areas so we can receive correction from the Holy Spirit? Following are some of the main examples of loveless conduct that happen frequently in the lives of many Believers:

 

Failure to spend time daily with the Lord and His Word (spend time with loved ones)

Grumbling and complaining (start being grateful)

Selfishness (1 Corinthians 13:5)

Compulsive competitiveness (1 Corinthians 13:5)

Impatience (1 Corinthians 13:4)

Gossiping and slander (stop talking about people)

Pride (produces difficulty in connecting to Grace)

Anger and strife (control your temper and your tongue)

Resentment and bitterness (refuse to be offended)

Unforgiveness (a very bad strategy...decide to forgive)

 

The flesh wants us to put ourselves first in everything instead of trusting God. As a result we're easily drawn into the types of conduct you see listed. It's not possible to involve oneself in one or more of these areas and at the same time manifest LOVE. But it IS possible to choose to live life by the spirit, to override the flesh and manifest LOVE.

 

If you conclude today that any of these areas have been blocking the manifestation of your VICTORY, you don't have to continue in the same way. If you're a Believer, by the Holy Spirit God has given you power over your flesh and you don't have to continue to walk in defeat. Jesus won VICTORY over HARD TIMES for you at the Cross of Calvary and He wants you to have and enjoy it.

 

Are Christians Really Expected to Obey the Commandments of Jesus?

 

When some Christians read these scriptures from Matthew 22, there's a tendency to gloss over the message and go on to something else that's more relevant and possible for real life. But Jesus stated and restated them as "commandments" which He wouldn't have done if they were impossible to keep or if they weren't important. Jesus would never set us up for failure by giving out "commandments" we can't keep. The truth is God is serious about having us obey these "commandments."

 

Moreover, Jesus said, "If you keep My "commandments," you will abide in My love" (John15:10). When it says that you'll abide in His love, it means that you'll actually dwell together with God because God is love (1 John 4:16). This is an important revelation in the context of tonight's topic because Jesus also said that "apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). In sum then, in order to dwell with Christ and receive the benefits of His LOVE, we MUST try to keep His commandments. In other words, if we're sincere about wanting to experience victory over HARD TIMES, we must abide in Christ which requires that we keep His commandments. It won't happen any other way.

 

For many Believers it's time to slow down and study these scriptures a little more closely and seriously. By nature we don't love others easily, whether God or man, because we're too concerned about ourselves. Frankly, we LOVE ourselves more than anybody else. Nevertheless, when someone in authority has commanded us to do something, he's expecting us to try to carry out his orders. In fact, in this case the Lord is waiting patiently for them to be carried out so we can manifest His victory. Fortunately, the Holy Spirit is working with each of us to overcome our selfish flesh and bring about perfected love in our lives so that by FAITH we can actually do what has been commanded. And when finally we do submit to the love commandments of Christ, we should soon after begin to OVERTAKE His victory.

 

Some Final Thoughts

 

The Bible says that Believers are to be grounded in LOVE (Ephesians 3:17). In other words, the very foundation of New Testament life is the LOVE of God and for one another. That LOVE is supposed to be sincere, without hypocrisy (Romans 12:9) and we're to abound in LOVE (1 Thessalonians 3:12); we're to LOVE fervently and with a pure heart (1 Peter 1:22). In fact, by our LOVE others will know we belong to Christ (John 13:35).

 

And friend, by LOVE victory over HARD TIMES is sure to manifest. Work on your LOVE WALK: don't just sit around waiting on God to do something about your trials and being irritable with everyone while you're waiting. PURSUE your victory until you OVERTAKE it and when you DO overtake it, God will be glorified. Praise the LORD!

 

Thanks for stopping by tonight. We'll be looking for you again NEXT Sunday night on October 19. In the meantime may the Lord bless you with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3), compelling you to PROSPER in every area of life!

 

Sinners' Prayer

 

If you've never invited Jesus to be the Lord of your life, you need to and you can do it today just by saying out loud the following simple prayer:

 

Jesus I declare today with all my heart that I believe in you and that God raised you from the dead. I acknowledge that my sins have been forgiven and I ask you to come into my life today and be my Lord and Savior. Thank you for salvation and eternal life.

 

If you were sincere as you prayed this prayer, God has already come into your life and you are a new creation, a totally new species recreated in His image. Now ask the Lord to lead you to a good faith-based, bible-teaching church where you can be equipped to fulfill your potential in the Kingdom of God.

 

And, when you get a chance have someone help you look up the following scriptures because they confirm what you've done by saying this prayer today and believing what you said:

 

Romans 10:9

2 Corinthians 5:17

Ephesians 2:8

 

Prayer Requests

 

If you have a Prayer Request, please connect to the Link below and follow the promptings. The PLN staff members pray over Prayer Requests every Tuesday morning at 10:00 AM eastern time. Agree with us for God to answer your petition.

 

http://www.creditcounseling.net/prayer-request.aspx 

 

Donations

 

If you've been edified by Prosperous Life Newsletter, you may want to consider making a SEED FAITH offering to support the Ministry (Galatians 6:6-7). God has instructed us to simply provide folks with an opportunity to sow seed into good ground so in due season you'll be eligible to reap a harvest and the rest is up to you as the Spirit leads. For your information PLN is a nonprofit gift to the Body of Christ so your financial offerings will usually be tax deductible (consult your tax advisor). Just go to the secure Shopping Cart on the Cornerstone web site by connecting through the following link. We appreciate your support and generosity.

 

http://www.creditcounseling.net/shop/item.aspx?itemid=1 

 

About Prosperous Life Newsletter

 

PLN is an outreach ministry of Make A Way Ministries and has been published continuously since January 1998. It's an e-publication about life in the Kingdom of God and is sent ONLY to our email list of MINISTRY MEMBERS. If you're reading this and aren't yet on our growing email list, please let us know and we'll be so very happy to add you to the list.

 

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