It is amazing how much our Heavenly Father reaches for the love of His choice creation. The human family was made in His likeness and the capacity of incredible love was a primary trait. The two most powerful words to describe God and man are “holy” and “love.” His holiness is a “loving holiness” and His love is a “holy love.” We were designed to be characterized by both great abilities combined with God at the center. If we remove God, our love will become hellish.

Look at the homosexual and lesbian world. Try to understand the darkness of a Muslim suicide bomber. Watch a dad or mom leave their loving companion and beautiful children for a fling in a forbidden bed. The dark things done in the name of love are legendary and ugly. Love out of control is nothing but love without purity. It’s love that marks the victim with the marks of death. Bringing a soul back from this brink is often impossible.

This same capacity that is baptized with Jesus Christ will create beautiful saints that bless both God and man. The Son of God taught us about His great love for His Father. Every Christian should read the Book of John with a view of nothing but Christ’s love for the Father. He declared that while He was in the world He was still in the Father’s bosom. “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (John 1:18). No man ever spoke greater words than these words. While He was on this earth, He lived every day in the divine sphere of eternity. No wonder He cried as the cross took its toll of death and separation,“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34).

His death is now our grace to be free from unclean love so we can love like Jesus Christ loved. It must begin by loving the Father like He loved the Father. He never charges us with anything that He does not provide. “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment” (Matthew 22:37-38). His first commandment to us is to love both His Father and, then, our neighbors.

When we fall head over heels in love with the “Sovereign God (the Father), His Son, and the Holy Ghost,” a transformation occurs deep inside the human spirit. At that moment we have actually returned to the very original reason for which He created us. Loving God is as intrinsic to the spirit of man as God loving man is to the heart of God. Holy love is what we were made to feel and express. It will immediately move beyond our love for God and show up in our love for our loved ones. This is the heart of a great saint and a great church.

Then, a supernatural thing occurs. The unexplainable divine God falls in love with you afresh. The Bible says,“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him” (II Chronicles 16:9a).Enoch was such a man and God became addicted to Enoch’s love, “And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him” (Genesis 5:24). The Father took him back to His house for eternity.

Job spoke similar words in the midst of his great despair,“What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? And that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him? And that thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment?” (Job 7:17-18). Be careful to discern the depth of these words. Notice the statements that God “shouldest set thine heart upon him” and “that thou shouldest visit him every morning.” This is what the Father did with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. We must learn that prayer and worship are bound together. When we come to love Him with a passion of loving Him, He will acknowledge the altar where this occurs and He will begin to meet us there.

Jesus said this in His great pastoral prayer and then He described it even deeper, “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). There are so few saints that have become great lovers of God. We are not speaking of giddy love that is all show with little substance. This love has moved beyond fleeting emotions and empty speech. This is love on a sphere that has clouds for its lining and the mountains on which to skip.

Worldly things have lost their hold on the level of love that can say with the Apostle Paul, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” (Philippians 3:10). As I write, He invites us to fall in love with Him so that we allow Him to fall in love with us. He loves everyone with a saving love; but, He can only love the sanctified and set apart with intimate love.

Our God is Addicted to Our Love
It is amazing how much our Heavenly Father reaches for the love of His choice creation. The human family was made in His likeness and the capacity of incredible love was a primary trait. The two most powerful words to describe God and man are “holy” and “love.” His holiness is a “loving holiness” and His love is a “holy love.” We were designed to be characterized by both great abilities combined with God at the center. If we remove God, our love will become hellish.

Look at the homosexual and lesbian world. Try to understand the darkness of a Muslim suicide bomber. Watch a dad or mom leave their loving companion and beautiful children for a fling in a forbidden bed. The dark things done in the name of love are legendary and ugly. Love out of control is nothing but love without purity. It’s love that marks the victim with the marks of death. Bringing a soul back from this brink is often impossible.

This same capacity that is baptized with Jesus Christ will create beautiful saints that bless both God and man. The Son of God taught us about His great love for His Father. Every Christian should read the Book of John with a view of nothing but Christ’s love for the Father. He declared that while He was in the world He was still in the Father’s bosom. “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (John 1:18). No man ever spoke greater words than these words. While He was on this earth, He lived every day in the divine sphere of eternity. No wonder He cried as the cross took its toll of death and separation,“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34).

His death is now our grace to be free from unclean love so we can love like Jesus Christ loved. It must begin by loving the Father like He loved the Father. He never charges us with anything that He does not provide. “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment” (Matthew 22:37-38). His first commandment to us is to love both His Father and, then, our neighbors.

When we fall head over heels in love with the “Sovereign God (the Father), His Son, and the Holy Ghost,” a transformation occurs deep inside the human spirit. At that moment we have actually returned to the very original reason for which He created us. Loving God is as intrinsic to the spirit of man as God loving man is to the heart of God. Holy love is what we were made to feel and express. It will immediately move beyond our love for God and show up in our love for our loved ones. This is the heart of a great saint and a great church.

Then, a supernatural thing occurs. The unexplainable divine God falls in love with you afresh. The Bible says, “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him” (II Chronicles 16:9a).Enoch was such a man and God became addicted to Enoch’s love, “And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him” (Genesis 5:24). The Father took him back to His house for eternity.

Job spoke similar words in the midst of his great despair, “What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? And that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him? And that thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment?” (Job 7:17-18). Be careful to discern the depth of these words. Notice the statements that God “shouldest set thine heart upon him” and “that thou shouldest visit him every morning.” This is what the Father did with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. We must learn that prayer and worship are bound together. When we come to love Him with a passion of loving Him, He will acknowledge the altar where this occurs and He will begin to meet us there.

Jesus said this in His great pastoral prayer and then He described it even deeper, “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). There are so few saints that have become great lovers of God. We are not speaking of giddy love that is all show with little substance. This love has moved beyond fleeting emotions and empty speech. This is love on a sphere that has clouds for its lining and the mountains on which to skip.

Worldly things have lost their hold on the level of love that can say with the Apostle Paul, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” (Philippians 3:10). As I write, He invites us to fall in love with Him so that we allow Him to fall in love with us. He loves everyone with a saving love; but, He can only love the sanctified and set apart with intimate love.

Joseph R. Chambers

jrc@pawcreek.org

The cultures of the world are being progressively mastered by unclean spirits. Almost our entire church population is completely helpless before this hostile takeover. In most cases parents with unclean children simply retreat and give themselves to silent misery. Ministers have no idea what to do but call in a religious or secular psychologist.

It’s a spiritual war and the answer is right in the Word of God. The people of God, godly saints, have not been left in a hopeless condition. We have the means of perfect victory over every design of the devil against our lives. If the Church will wake up and give herself back to the supernatural provisions of our Triumphant Head, the victorious Son of God, everything will change.

We must believe that Satan has been totally defeated by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The devil can do nothing except what the Lord Jesus Christ allows or what the Body of Jesus Christ allows. There are certain areas of the End Times, where Satan has been given his final liberties. Jesus Christ has him on a leash. All other areas of his activities are limited by mankind, whether they are sinners or saints. With the sinner, Satan does as he pleases unless they turn to the Lord. But, with God’s saints, he does his dark deeds because we do not know our rights or because we simply forfeit our rights. In most cases the people of God simply face the terror of the devil as their fate. It’s almost like the saints of the Lord beg the devil for mercy. Believe me, he has no mercy!

We must understand the total victory that the Son of God has achieved. The early church was a perfect example of that glorious triumph. Unbelieving Bible teachers and preachers have helped the devil big time by trying to establish that all supernatural possibilities ended when the Bible was completed. Nothing in the Bible suggests such utter defeat. The opposite has never ceased to be true.

Jesus Christ has totally defeated Satan. As recorded by John, He stated, “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out” (John 12:31).John, also, stated in his first epistle, “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). The entire Book of Acts is a picture of one supernatural event after another. Church history is full of great revivals, miraculous healings, demons being cast out, and awesome signs and wonders. Angels have been seen and their powers witnessed by multitudes. You must settle this fact or you can forget seeing evil spirits defeated in your life.

Satan comes to kill, steal, and destroy. These were the very words of the Son of God Himself. But, He did not end with this warning. He said, “I am come that they (you) might have life (victorious, triumphant and glorious) and that they (you) might have it more abundantly (supernatural and complete)” (John 10:10). This cannot mean anything but a life lived in victory over the devil and this world of evil. Jesus promises, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

John wrote to the church and said, “I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one” (I John 2:13b). It’s time that the Body of Christ stands up and starts “casting out devils.” Our churches, our homes, and our world are under siege. We can believe the doubters, or we can believe the Lord Himself and His Holy Spirit that dictated His Holy Bible. Jesus stated, ”He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover” (Mark 16:16-18). If you have a corrupted Bible, those words have been removed or placed in doubt by modern translators. There is absolute proof that they are wrong; ignore them!

Our communities are full of perverted souls, and our homes and friends are under siege. He told us that we were guardians of our homes and churches. Read how He stated this great truth and promise, “When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils” (Luke 11:21-22). He also said, “The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matthew 11:12b). The strong man is Satan. He comes with his lies and intimidations, and the church world hides in their defeatist theology.

I remember a little girl that came to visit her dad while living with her mother, who was in a very questionable situation. She came with her dad to church and seemed perfectly normal. After church, they went home and she became very sick and disturbed. Eventually, I was called to the hospital. When I arrived, she was normal for a few minutes and spoke kindly to me. Then, she became agitated and began to taunt me in a guttural voice. “My god is bigger than your God,” she declared. All evidence of being possessed by an unclean spirit was present. We began to pray, and a standoff of at least thirty minutes occurred. Suddenly, she was perfectly free and returned to normal; the demons had departed. The next day the doctor called me to thank me for coming and to give witness of her perfect healing.

We must learn to discern “unclean spirits” in the church, our homes, or anywhere our duty takes us. Spirit-filled believers have the perfect right to cast out these unclean entities. “There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one” (Acts 5:16). We must not make a show of our victories or create a great fanfare. That has left a bad name on this Biblical truth. Casting out unclean spirits is as simple as laying hands on the sick. Jesus simply rebuked them and they departed. There are multitudes of families, homes, and troubled lives that we will never help until “we bind the strong man” and throw him out. Jesus said, “No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house” (Mark 3:27).

Joseph R Chambers

jrc@pawcreek.org