Love IS All You Need

One of my favorite songs in the '60s was "Love Is All You Need" by the Beatles. Children were singing this song around the world. I don't know if the Beatles understood the enormous truth behind their message, since they were singing about a "feeling".

At the same time, our generation was singing with the Righteous Brothers, "You've lost that loving feeling, now she's gone, gone, gone", which reflects a sensual, romantic love between male and female from the Greek word Eros. This erotic kind of love was freely flowing among the flower children.

The children of the '60s were trying to fill a void in their hearts, desiring something
real. I was looking for love to fill me, but found lust in all the wrong places. Many times I fried my mind with drugs. L.S.D. caused a euphoric feeling, but within hours it would fade away, leaving me with a few less brain cells. I rejected the love of my family, and I was blind to God's love. He seemed so far away. Now I know only His love can truly satisfy my heart.

The Beatles were right; all I needed was love, the God kind of love, flowing from my heavenly Father, filling my heart with His presence. It is in His presence that we find fullness of joy. Jesus said that He is the vine and we are His branches. If we abide in His word, His love would abide in us, and our joy would be made full. He knows that only His love can truly satisfy and bring peace and joy. His love strengthens our lives for successful ministry.

Love Dependent

I remember an episode years ago which occurred after I was born-again. During a Psychiatric panel interview, I was asked if I considered myself God dependent. I responded by saying "yes", and briefly mentioned my prayerful relationship with the Lord. In those days, it was looked upon as a weakness to trust God for healing. If I were asked today, I'd not only say I'm God dependent, but love dependent, since God is love.

The love of God flowing through one's heart is the source of healing for all mankind. This fact is acknowledged only in tragic situations when all other avenues are exhausted. But in reality, God sent His love to heal us and to deliver us from destruction. Let us pray that God will open our eyes to the healing power of this love. This way, He can rescue us before an impossible circumstance arises.

It has always been God's plan for us to depend on His love. Adam & Eve turned from a love dependence upon God to independent love based on worldly wisdom. Their lack of Godly love allowed sin to reign. God's love called out for them to return, saying, "where art thou?" Their descendants continued to run from His love, until judgment came with a flood. God scattered Noah's offspring at the tower Babel, when they tried through their own means to reach Him. God's love requires faith, so He called Abraham, making a covenant of loving grace that could only be achieved by faith in the promise Seed, Jesus Christ.

God gave Moses the Law, to reveal man's sinfulness and need for salvation. He gave instructions to build a tabernacle for blood sacrifices to cover sin. The Lord led His children to the Promised Land and endured their rebellion for centuries, until they went into Babylonian captivity. His love delivered them. He knew from the foundation of the world that His loving plan called for His Son Jesus, to take our judgment and to cleanse us from sin through the love of Calvary's cross. Jesus died and rose again, presented His blood in the heavenly temple, made us right with God and sent His Spirit to live in our hearts. He will come soon to take us home to be with Him for eternity. What healing love! Those who do not receive Christ's payment for sin, will not see it that way. They will bear their own judgment for sin at the Great White Throne, refusing God's love forever.

It can be heart breaking to miss that moment when called upon to minister, not having a word from God, because of our lack of a relationship with God. This experience of failing to carry out our ministry can leave us in deep sorrow for failing the Lord's body, having quenched or grieved the Holy Spirit. The Lord desires to use us to speak His word freely in these last days. A word that is directly placed in your heart minutes or seconds before you are asked to give it. Sadly, many ministers today do not realize the difference in fleshy works and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

A Godly Desire

As we come to know God's voice through His love, a fresh desire springs from our heart to serve Him and others. As we yield to the prophetic ministry, the Lord will use us more often. There will be a noticeable difference in your ministry as the Holy Spirit manifests God's power of love. This trust relationship, between you and your heavenly Father, will free His word to be spoken through you, when you open your mouth, He will fill it with His loving flow. The Holy Spirit will teach the Scriptures through you, as He frees you from your fear and intellect.

Those interested in moving in the Spirit must let go and let God flow in their lives. If He is not flowing in our daily relationships with those around us, it is hard for Him to flow in public ministry. This flow of divine love is a lifestyle that permeates every aspect of our lives both private and public. This is a lifestyle of praying without ceasing and in everything giving thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus. The communication of our faith becomes effective as we acknowledge every good thing that is in us because of Christ Jesus.

To be effective in ministry, we can not have the perspective that it is a profession. The ministry of Christ is our royal priesthood. It is no longer our ministry, but His ministry as the Holy Spirit manifests healing love through His words, which we speak. His words become our words, and our words becomes His words as they line up with Scripture, dying to self, so that the Lord Jesus Christ is truly manifest in our mortal flesh. This is the ministry of the Holy Spirit, no longer I, but Christ who lives in me!

Our Need Supplied

Jesus Christ gave us the perfect example of ministry in the Gospels. He spent hours with His Father hearing His voice. The words that He spoke were Spirit and Life from His Father. He knew the love of His Father, and that love is what enabled Him in the ministry of healing and miracles. Those who believe, are promised to do even greater works than He did because He went to be with His Father so that He could anoint us with the Holy Spirit.

We are motivated by the love of Calvary. All of our needs have been supplied according to His riches in heaven by Christ Jesus our Lord. There is an unlimited source of love flowing from God's heavenly throne room. As we increase in His love, we are promised to do abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us. The Lord has done all He can do to provide, so now it is up to us to walk in His divine flow. We are a channel of God's blessings.

We know the areas in our life that are hindering the flow. The Lord is causing hearts to break all around the world in repentance for not yielding to His holy call. Men and women are desiring to walk in purity, so their Father's divine flow can do the work of the ministry. Folks are tired of "playing church" in the midst of a world crying out to God for something that is real. It is time to step out into His ministry in a new and loving way. Won't you take advantage of the ministry He made possible for you through the finished work of the cross?

God has struggled with mankind for six thousand years as He dealt with us through His loving kindness. We learn about this love story and how His love works by example. Many prisoners were not raised around a family and people who showed them God's love. Those who were, quickly return to God' once in prison. Most did not experience sufficient love, to allow healing to flow in their lives. They desired to receive love, because God made it so a person can not successfully survive without it. If they had been showered with hugs, kisses, affection and positive affirmation while growing up, most likely a healthy life would have resulted, motivating them to live in society free from criminal acts.

The Love Connection

I often tell the story how Jesus is our forerunner. I jokingly say that I am not talking about a Toyota 4Runner. When the word "forerunner" is used in the New Testament, it is talking about a little boat that would carry the ship's anchor close to shore for dropping it where the ship could not. This word is used when Jesus is declared to be the anchor of our soul. After His resurrection, He went into heaven to anchor us there, so that we would always be divinely connected to His throne room. Jesus established the love connection between God and us, which can never be broken, but can be realized more fully.

The secret' to victorious Christian living is to always stay conscious of God's love for us. This is God's self-sacrificial love, displaying His very character. It is the love that He desires us to walk in continually. I like to change the word "God" to "love" whenever I see "God" in the Bible. For instance, Romans 1:16 says, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God [love] to salvation [healing, deliverance, soundness, preservation, liberation and more] for everyone who believes." How about "...by grace we have been saved through faith, and that not of ourselves; it [salvation] is a gift of God [love]" (Ephesians 2:8). We read, hear and speak the Word of love, as children of love, in the kingdom of love. Truly, all we need is the realization of God's love in every step we take for us to be His expression of love to the world.

As we grow to experience the love connection, we no longer trust in ourselves, but in the power of God's love, flowing through our lives. This divine flow increases as we enjoy a continuous and unhindered interchange with God. Like the Saints who have gone before us, we trust God through every trial and situation, building patience and character. We experience God's creative power directing our lives as we minister to others.

Throne Room Ministry

Our ministry is to flow from heaven, where we are connected by the the Holy Spirit. Heaven is where we get Christ's authority and wisdom for ministry. As Christians, one day our works will be examined at the Judgment Seat of Christ, whether they are of gold and silver or of wood and clay. Only gold and silver works, carried out by the Holy Spirit, will be rewarded with honor and glory. The wood and clay works, done in the flesh, will be burned as dishonorable. My heart's desire is to speak words given by the Holy Spirit, so my works will be of value. My purpose is to give the testimony of Jesus, which is the Spirit of prophecy, revealing the love of our heavenly Father. My prayer is that my Father's love may overflow from my heart.

Our responsibility is to be ready at all times to have a word from the Lord for those around us by way of the Holy Spirit. If we are walking in the flesh, minding the things of the flesh, we will not be ready to hear from God. It is tempting to only minister from prepared sermons notes, but to have a specific word from God is entirely different. It can be fresh bread for the church body or for an individual member.