Lately in our reading and studying together, John the apostle has been exhorting us to love God and love others. We have shared together how it is often much easier to love God rather than other people because people differ from us so much. Whenever they do as we like, act as we like, and root for the same things as we, everything is alright, but the moment they alter these paths, we find ourselves struggling to love them. John is not immune to this, and today he shares the process by which God is perfecting love within us. He wrote in First John chapter four and verse twelve:
No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwells in us, and his love is perfected in us.
John first mentions that no one has seen God at any time. In other words, no one has seen God in all His glory while on Earth. One time Moses the great leader of Israel desired to see God in all His glory, but God would not allow it. God did, however, allow Moses to see His back parts. We read of this account in the book of Exodus in chapter thirty three and verses twenty through twenty-three:
And he said, You cannot see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. And the LORD said, Behold, [there is] a place by me, and you shalt stand upon a rock: And it shall come to pass, while my glory passes by, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you with my hand while I pass by: And I will take away my hand, and you shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.
Even though we are not permitted to see God's face as yet, we do have an example of His love toward us in Jesus. This example leads us and provides us with a relationship with God, and now God dwells in us as believers. The love of God enters in, and rather than a selfish love that is natural to all, we now begin the process of truly loving other people.
John uses the phrase “is perfected in us”. The idea here is that love is “being perfected” in us. It's a process, and those who follow Jesus Christ and trust in Him and His word, find themselves loving others more and more and more. As we grow in our relationship with God, we will grow in our love for others.
God loves us. God desires to live within us, and when He abides within us the natural outflow is to love others even when they differ, even when they do wrong, and even when they root for a different way or team. Knowing this, may we all allow God's love to be perfected in us.
Next time we shall visit once again with another proof that God dwells within us, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow...there is more...
Look for the new devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ; www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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