Loving God With Everything – Bill Johnson (Full Sermon) | Bethel Church

i tell you true i didn’t want to stop

that one tonight i just want to keep

going

i was just concerned for paul’s fingers

that they might just start bleeding or

something

that was so good merry christmas

excuse me happy new years no happy

thanksgiving

[Applause]

everyone who has any kind of food

allergy that you want to get rid of

stand up

so

the bible says that god created

foods to be received with thanksgiving

every creature of god apparently it’s

not just vegetables

[Laughter]

[Applause]

every creature of god is good nothing is

to be refused if it is received

with thanksgiving for it is sanctified

by the word of god in prayer so i want

you to extend a hand towards these

honestly i i feel like sometimes we we

um oh goodness we get accustomed to

things we get accustomed to things

that don’t work right we just consider

that to be part of life

you know people sometimes when they grow

older will have aches and pains you just

assume that’s a part of life

let’s just say that’s not a part of life

so put a hand on one of these folks that

are standing

and just make an agreement with them

right now extend the hand towards them

if you’re close to them

put a hand on them and if you want to

tell them what it is you want to get

you know you want to be free to eat and

enjoy honestly it is about

it is about joy that’s the issue

so uh just pray right now pray on your

own

we just declare that all foods are

sanctified

by the word of god in prayer with

thanksgiving

and we just pray for uh that you would

heal the digestive system

the way our bodies react to food to

environments

that you would recalibrate uh our entire

system to dwell victoriously

in this world you’ve planted us in that

all foods we could say ourselves

all foods are certainly enjoyed by us

with thankfulness

we pray for this in jesus wonderful and

mighty name

amen i want you to just say i res i

receive the healing

say that with me say it out loud i

receive the healing

that jesus bought for me amen

amen go ahead and sit down

um

this is just random uh tonight’s gonna

be a random night so

put on your seatbelt it’s random this is

random night

you might need a crash helmet elbow pads

and knee pads i’m not sure

it’s gonna be a random night this verse

stirs me up for a lot of reasons i’m not

going to teach on it but i am going to

read it

command those who are rich in this

present age not to be haughty

so blessing received incorrectly

leads us into pride and arrogance

all blessing it’s not just money

revelation knowledge

open doors favor all of it

all of it has the potential to launch us

into purpose and destiny

but if it’s received incorrectly it

leads us into arrogance and pride

so i said i wasn’t going to teach so

that was just

an accidental comment

it was random fits under the category of

random command those who are rich in

this present age not to be haughty

nor to trust in uncertain riches

okay i’ve asked you the question before

how much

is too much money in a person’s life

how much it’s whatever amount

replaces trust

for one person it’s a hundred dollars

extra for another it’s 100 million

dollars

the lord is weighing us to see what we

can carry

it’s not about money it’s about caring

presence

carrying glory carrying favor it’s

always for the sake of others

the moment i begin to embrace the

blessing of the lord

as that which is needed for

self-promotion is where i start to level

off

in my development

random random comments

nor to trust in uncertain riches but in

the living god

here’s the phrase i wanted who gives us

richly

all things to enjoy

everything that god does in us

i mean we just had goodness gracious

time in the presence in the glory

it’s all designed for our delight

in him

any pleasure that separates me from my

affection for god

is illegitimate pleasure

everything takes me to him

see god is love we know this is true

and i was made in god’s image

i am at my best when i’m in love

i’m at my best i’m at my finest

you can hammer a nail into a board with

a crescent wrench

but it violates design

many people function in life outside of

their design

and they think that because they can

hammer the nail in so to speak

that all is well it’s discovering design

what i was born for that releases me

into

my potential my eternal purpose

eternity is the cornerstone of logic and

reason

once we remove eternity from the

equation

we lose all sense of wisdom all sense of

accountability

all sense of purpose

many people do not have an appetite

for eternity because they have so little

invested there

many people have little to no

appetite for eternity because they have

so little

invested there

we have appetite for where we invest

calculated deliberate investment

in eternity

tom did a wonderful job this morning

talking about evangelism

sharing our faith as an investment in

eternity

we just received an offering investment

in eternity we just spent time

in his glorious glorious presence

being recalibrated for eternity

in first john 4 19

it says we love him because he first

loved us i can only love him in the

measure of receive love

from him receiving the love of god

gives me a capacity for love i did not

have before

i was designed to be a lover of god

i was designed to be a lover of god with

everything that i am

every part of my being

the scripture says i’m to love him with

all my heart

my soul my

mind my

strength

everything about my spirit man is geared

up and ready

to love god completely

i’ve heard perhaps you’ve heard the

phrase so heavenly minded they’re of no

earthly good

it’s impossible

the only way to be of earthly good

is to be heavenly minded

otherwise you’re just shadow boxing

i’m to love god with all my heart

my soul there’s an emotional capacity

to love that must find expression

in my relationship with god that’s a

lifetime journey

i never stop and grade myself

i only keep going forward i’m to love

him with all my heart my

soul my mind

the intellect is at its finest when it

considers god

his wonder his beauty

the fool has said in his heart there is

no god

there’s something

there there’s a there’s a there’s a

level of

genius if i can use that term

given to those who start with god and go

from there towards life whenever

whenever we remove the concept of design

we started by saying we’re designed for

love whenever we erase that concept

right now culture is trying to erase the

whole thing of design you can

i mean the things that that five years

ago

would have had you an appointment with a

psychiatrist is now applauded as

noble it’s insane

we can’t violate design it’s not just

sexual orientation it’s it’s

it’s life itself i was born to be

loved by god and to love him in return

and a part of that expression of my love

for god

must be measurable in my love for people

if i say i love god but don’t

demonstrate it towards people

you have every reason in the world to

question my love for god

because there’s no evidence in other

words spiritual realities

are have to be measurable in the natural

realities have to be measurable in

natural manifestation

the moment we get rid of the concept of

a creator and that’s been the war of the

last

150 years or whatever to remove the

concept of a creator

if there’s no creator then there’s no

design

because you can’t have design without a

designer

you can’t say the beaver has teeth that

were designed

in such a way as to chew trees you can’t

say design if there’s no creator

there’s no such thing as random design

design has to have a designer

so if i remove the if we remove the

concept of a creator

a designer then there is no design if

there’s no design then there’s no

purpose

if there’s no purpose there’s no destiny

if there’s no destiny there’s no

accountability

this whole issue is to undermine the

absolute necessity of wisdom

because giving an account of my life

is at the heart and soul of true

biblical wisdom

is that i will stand before him and give

an account

once that’s erased from the

consciousness of humanity

then things become scary frighteningly

random

driven by self-absorption

self-protection

self-promotion

so i’m to love god with all my heart

with all my soul my mind

that amazing that our our mind the

intellect is an instrument of love

in god’s world

david would intentionally he would talk

about uh the night watches

there were apparently times in his

routine

and in others in the uh uh

in in scripture in the psalms especially

they would wake

in the night just to consider god

everything else was quiet and they would

just stop and they would just think

next time you’re restless and you just

can’t seem

to get to sleep how about use your time

well

how about just use your time well just

maybe maybe it’s an invitation

to consider something of his of his ways

i i ran an experiment once in in a

prayer meeting

i had ever i think it was about 10

people or so there was in weaverville

days

and i i just said i want everybody here

to pick an

aspect of god’s nature and so uh

just pick something his love is justice

his purity whatever so that everybody

picks them so it’s this row right here

everybody pick something

and i said all right what we’re going to

do is we’re going to stand we’re going

to give praise to god i want you to do

it out loud

and we’re going to praise god and i want

you to only praise him about that one

thing and so whatever thing they picked

they couldn’t change the subject you

know if it’s

it was god’s justice they just had to

god i pray and you know it didn’t take

long to

ran out of stuff to say you know and so

i and i just let him go i just i

i just let him i just let him go get

beyond the

get beyond the the reach of comfort

into the realm of sacrifice because

that’s what the great discoveries are

made

discoveries in the kingdom are made in

the realm of sacrifice

and when we were through as this one i

forget now

15 20 minutes it was a period of time so

when we were through i sat everyone down

and i said what happened every person

had the same story

they said i said every i gave god praise

for his love

i said everything i could think of about

his love so that’s using the mind

i recalled everything i could think of

about his love and i

spoke it and i gave him praise for it

and as soon as i ran out of things to

say

he showed me something new

in other words they stewarded what they

were given

it’s been in there for maybe for years

but they got into

a moment where they pushed into a realm

of sacrifice

and they began to give expression of

that which they had

known for years and when they poured it

all out he then lifted the veil

and let every single person see

something new

about that aspect of his own person his

own nature

stewardship sacrifice

it’s not true because it’s in the bible

it’s in the bible because it’s true

it’s in the bible because it’s true this

is jesus in print

i gave an illustration a few weeks ago

one of the best i i love to go to fine

restaurants so

just if you think that’s waste

i’m so sorry for you i’m investing into

eternity it’s what i’m doing

excellence is an expression of wisdom

i’ll leave that alone right there all

right

so one of the best things i’ve ever

eaten in my life

two of the main ingredients i can’t

stand

i’ve never been a fan of oysters forgive

me if you like them

to me

and until this moment i was never a fan

of

of a caveo

and i went to the french laundry my

favorite restaurant in the world

thank you jesus thank you thomas keller

and this is many years ago now i sat

down and one of the first dishes they

brought out was this thing called

oysters and pearls

what’s oysters and caviar

in this special thing that he made

and i looked at it and i looked at my

now you’ve got to understand i don’t

like either of these two things

and it’s got some something else saw

something

and i look at benny and i said i’m

spending too much money on this meal

to not at least try it i took one bite

the hallelujah course i’m sure

[Applause]

began to echo through the room

as this i i actually i turned to benny i

said honey i want a chili bowl full of

this stuff

how is it that one of the best things

i’ve ever eaten in my life

has ingredients i can’t stand

there are things in here that make no

sense

to you they’re bitter some are

mysterious but they all go into the

recipe

of bringing life healing

and strength in insight

purpose clarity of heart and mind

i need to not just read the verses that

make me

feel good i need the ones that cause

questions

i need the ones that frustrate i need

every part of this thing

because it all mixes together into the

finest thing you’ve ever eaten

in your life it’s the word of god

so i’m to love god with my mind

but then it says i’m to love him with my

strength

isn’t that interesting physical

strength i i guess i doubt it means

saying worship songs while you lift

weights

[Applause]

i think somehow somehow

well here let me just read a verse to

you go to psalms

84. psalms 84.

excuse me excuse me while i gag

in your ears psalms 84 verse 1 how

lovely is your tabernacle tabernacle is

the dwelling place of god

how lovely is your tabernacle o lord of

hosts

my soul longs it’s a hunger thing

my soul longs even faints for the courts

of the lord the courts of the lord

is a place of encounter it’s a place of

presence okay

it’s it’s there’s a tabernacle and then

you go deeper into the presence and

that’s what courts represent all right

my soul long just even faints for the

courts of the lord

my heart and my flesh cry out for the

living god

my heart and my flesh now listen

carefully

heart and flesh my body

cries out for god

we know what physical appetites are we

know

what it is to be thirsty we know what it

is to hunger for

oysters and pearls yes jesus

we know what it is to hunger for food to

pursue

a meal it’s

possible to spend time in the glorious

presence of god

where your body becomes recalibrated

to hunger for what it was born for

every person in this room every person

on bethel tv

was actually designed by god so that

every part

of us our mind our emotions our will

every part of us our physical body our

gifts talents

everything is at its finest in its

encounter of loving god

and receiving love from god there’s

something of perfect design

that comes when i’m loving god well in

completely every part of me

is to burn for god it’s the love for god

i can’t

i can’t make that up but i can receive

love until that’s the only logical

response

see it says to know the love of christ

ephesians 3

19 to know the love of christ that

surpasses knowledge

to know what’s beyond knowing

know the love of christ which surpasses

knowledge

it can be translated this way to know by

experience

what is beyond comprehension

busyness is artificial significance

it insulates us from being still enough

to be loved i don’t mean he doesn’t love

you when you’re running

i just mean you don’t realize or

discover

the true dimension of his love until

there’s stillness

i’m not saying you can’t learn learn

through hectic activity

all of us all of us have but there’s

something about

being still and know

that i am god that’s what he says be

still there’s something about

stillness i come into a place of

stillness it’s the reason why

so many in this room are

you receive some of your best insights

uh inspirations uh moments in god

when you’re sleeping or just waking up

defenses are down anxiety hasn’t kicked

in yet

your agenda hasn’t come to mind which

our

our agenda for god is sometimes our

greatest interference

from god uh keeps us from god

our agenda for god oftentimes

insulates us from god

see it’s a lifestyle it’s a journey of

personal discovery

to know by experience

to taste and see to know by experience

what is beyond comprehension

taste and see that the lord is good

taste is experience

see his perception your experience will

affect your perception

it’s interesting to me that about the

human body

and how god designed us

he said in hebrews 5 12 he says

though by this time you ought to be

teachers

you need someone to teach you again the

first principles of the oracles of god

you have come to need milk and not solid

food

everyone who partakes only of milk is

unskilled in the word of righteousness

for he is a babe so what do we have here

the word of god is divided into two

categories in this passage

milk and the word of righteousness

let me rephrase it milk and meat

milk is that which comforts ensues

meat is that which provokes change the

word of righteousness

if i only search the scripture to find

milk

i will live in comfort but i will live

in perpetual immaturity

because as the word of righteousness

that provokes me

brings me into change

unskilled in the word of righteousness

for he is a

babe solid food

belongs to those who are of full age

that is those who by reason of use

have their senses exercised or trained

to discern good and evil senses

physical senses smell sight hearing

touch taste the senses that we have

actually were designed in us

to recognize god

i know it sounds mystical it sounds you

know

um like the mystics

people get uh angry at us sometimes for

the use of the word mystics

because it’s been there have been uh

cultic leaders that were referred to as

mystics there were also

wonderful saints of god that

historically have been referred to as

mystics

and it may sound mystical to you but

it’s actually in

hebrews 5 the writer of hebrews

basically said

having your senses trained to discern

good and evil is a requirement to be a

teacher

for though you ought to have been

teachers by now and then he goes on to

describe

they don’t have their senses trained

[Laughter]

so the it’s in there as an invitation to

learn what it means

i’ve only had this happen once in my

life but it was

i i look forward to happening again

benny and i

we’re driving from weaverville to

redding in our little toyota corolla

hatchback five-speed thought we were

kings

of the entire earth with this brand new

car who had am

fm and a cassette deck

yep yep and we’re driving

from weaverville to ready and we began

to just sing in tongues sing in the

spirit

worship gods were driving eric and brian

in the back seat leah wasn’t born yet

and uh we’re just driving the wedding

and all of a sudden this

this fragrance filled the car and i i

thought man flowers

so i looked outside and went oops it’s

november there’s no flowers

and i remember as we got by the lewiston

exit there this fragrance filled the car

i didn’t want to talk about it because i

didn’t want to jinx it

so we just began singing and this is

this is actually how it happened

we’re just driving and i’m singing benny

saying i don’t know if she’s

experiencing this or not

but i don’t want to mess it up by having

a conversation

so we’re just singing worshiping god and

all of a sudden

i could taste it it was exactly like

granules of sugar put on my tongue

i taste we’d sing some more

this fragrance fill the car we’d sing

some more

afraid i’d stop and taste

i don’t know what it means i i don’t

ever ask questions on

i i don’t ask questions like that

anymore what does this mean because i

never got any answers so

if it’s better for me just to embrace

mystery and go this is awesome

what what does it mean i am clueless and

i like being clueless

just to enjoy jesus we got down by

whiskeytown lake

and i said honey did you smell she goes

yeah did you smell

that and we just enjoyed this fragrance

of the lord in heaven everything has

fragrance

everything has sound everything has

light

there is this intensely glorious

harmony and melody woven into everything

that exists in heaven

everything there’s color there’s beauty

there’s sound there’s light there’s

brilliance there’s

everything has divine purpose everything

there are colors there that have never

been thought of here

there are sounds there i think

worship leaders more and more are going

to be hearing

glimpses of sounds

melodies there that god has kept hidden

you could put a commun computer program

together that could discover

every possible melody and god would hide

it from that computer

because it only exists in his world and

occasionally people catch a glimpse

i personally think handel’s messiah is

one of those pieces

where a man who was very obnoxious

very angry very impatient

not a godly man handle

was brought a poem poetry

by a young poet and he had a soft spot

the one place he had

soft spot in his heart was for young

poets

and he took this poetry and he began to

read over it

he began to hear sounds he began to hear

sounds

he began to write he would he would

write non-stop

it was like he was obsessed with

completing this project

his the woman who cooked meals for him

would come in

to feed him and he would turn away and

he he went through i forget how many

days it took

where he re he wrote this handel’s

messiah

this incredible piece of music

lyrics by this young poet music from

this master

who tapped into heavenly sounds and he

penned something

that is sung by unbelievers

around the world only jesus can pull

that off

and when he was done he was the most

godly

gentle gracious kind man

because he had heard the heavenly sounds

and he wrote them see i think

it’s the ambition of all of our worship

teams we’re we’re learning to hear

we’re we’re going to hear sounds that

maybe nobody’s

heard before some of those are to be

recorded here

some are just to be heard

and left

i think whenever jesus spoke it says

he only said what he heard the father

say so there were

things being spoken in the heavenly

realm jesus heard them

and he spoke them and constantly it says

people were

stunned by the words that came out of

his mouth

we’ve never heard teaching like this

before they would say

because he was he was hearing a heavenly

sound

and when he spoke and it recalibrated

the hearts of people all of a sudden

people just began to adjust

whatever they needed to adjust to make

sure they were in line

with what god is saying we’re not

convincing people

of a christian philosophy we’re

introducing them to love

we’re introducing them to the one who is

perfect perfect love

and even the odd parts

of the story demonstrate

perfect love

everything about me must be used to love

him well everything my physical energy

some people when they’re tired

they just stay home

i think that’s when you should come and

give an offering

i think that’s when you give a sacrifice

our children learn what’s important to

us

but what we’ll sacrifice for

we sacrifice for their sports activities

we sacrifice for their music lessons

sacrificed for so many things i remember

sacrificing so my kids could each have

mountain bikes you know

they learned what was important to me

them

what do you get up early for

what do you stand in a long line for

some people stand a long line to get a

new iphone

hey amen that’s a worthy line to stand

in

[Laughter]

some people stand in a long line i

remember when i was a kid

i’m a i was raised in sacramento l.a

then up here

and i’ve always been a san francisco

giants fan

and i remember 1962

staying up all night standing in line

hoping to buy

tickets to see the seventh game of the

world series

sometimes you just suffer because the

outcome

is worth it they lost one to nothing

against the anc the yankees

i’m still a little bitter about that

so you just you stand in line but some

won’t stand in line

for the house of god

see we actually prophesy with our

actions what’s valuable to us

we prophesy through our actions what’s

what’s important because what

would cost me is what’s valuable

crazy thing with what we have happening

day after day year after year week after

week

is as we become accustomed

to glorious things and when the glorious

becomes overly familiar

do you know where famine comes from in

the bible misused abundance

so we’re invited into this relationship

where we become mature

while remaining children

we become mature insight favor

anointing breakthrough clarity of heart

clarity of mind all these things

while remaining incredibly thankful

for the simplest pleasures from god

see for some maturity breeds entitlement

breeds entitlement

i remember when the renewal first

started we have people oh yeah been

there done that bought the t-shirt

really your life doesn’t look like it

was changed

i thought we encountered god you were

changed

i’m starting to feel very honorary and i

think i probably should back off that

one

because i could i could dive right into

a bottomless pit so easily right now

and i’m just not going to so here we are

psalms 84

my heart and my flesh cry out for the

living god

um here let’s do this

i’m to love god with my heart my soul

my mind

see the person who has no control of

their thoughts

has little ability to love god with

their mind

the battle over the mind

is to be clear enough to love god with

your intellect

all the distractions are to keep me from

tapping into that

creative source if you will of god’s

heartbeat

of design of beauty of wonder of

excellence

all those things that i get to be

exposed to intellectually are supposed

to be

a part of my expression of love but if i

can get

filled with fear worry anxiety

wonder what this person thinks i wonder

what that person thinks

then suddenly i just became disengaged

from my capacity for love

sometimes i’ll i’ll sit down i’ll go to

my office or at home or whatever

i’ll just sit in a chair as best i know

how

i just put every concern

every responsibility every everything

vision dream everything just lay all put

it all over the side

and just sit there and just say

father i’m here

to be loved by you

i don’t become anxious over what i’m

seeing or discerning or feeling

no if he’s who he says he is

he doesn’t need my cooperation just

needs my silence

i just sometimes we get so so anxious

and trying to discern how well we’re

doing

i just sit there i just i’ll say hold

all my calls for five minutes

and i sit there with nothing to do

nothing to say except god

i know you love me so i’m going to sit

here

and just receive your love

ten to five minutes to get up

something’s happening in my heart i hope

it’s happening in yours probably is

probably all of us together but the lord

is

is teaching us how to

be free in our affection for him

paul made this statement he said he said

you’re restricted

by your affections there’s restriction

excuse me

you’re restricted there’s a restraint on

you

according to your affection we were

designed

to have a heart that actually burns

for him not to perform for him

it is for him

it is the wonder of him

it’s the mystery of him

it’s the fact that i can know him and

not understand him

it’s the fact that i can be embraced by

him

and live

it’s the fact that the one whose hands

our nail scarred can hold me

imagine this you’re sitting

face to face with jesus

and you look into his eyes

all right looking into his eyes

and from his eyes come these words

how joyous are those who love the lord

and bow

low before god ready to obey him

your reward will be prosperity happiness

and well-being

your wife will bless your heart and home

your children will bring you joy as they

gather around your table

all this that i’m reading is the word of

god it is him it’s it’s the person

and when he looks at you in his eyes of

love

his word is being declared prophesied

into your soul

i said earlier it’s not true because

it’s in the bible it’s in the bible

because it’s

true and there are there are things that

he is speaking

declaring depositing in us that are

they’re like

um uh like

uh uh boundaries to property

you buy a piece of property and there’s

a stake here that says this is the edge

of the property land

this is the edge edge of the property

line the bible says don’t move remove

the ancient boundaries it’s talking

about

this realm of god’s dominion don’t fudge

on the boundaries

don’t make him smaller than he is and

don’t make him allow things he doesn’t

allow

are you with me leave the boundaries

there you need them

we need them i need them okay and so

here

every time he speaks to us he’s re

re-adjusting

my awareness of where life is life is

inside the boundaries

the reality inside the kingdom

is bigger than everything that’s outside

the kingdom the

the liberty in here is greater than

everything out there combined

discovering the love of god for me

discovering the love of god for you

starts with just

surrender i give myself to you

completely

things start happening i i’ve mentioned

this before

i’ll wrap this up i i should wrap this

up here soon

when i when i go to bed at night i like

to

i like to lay there

until i become aware of him

i don’t want to just go to sleep

i i practice i do i practice this

many different moments in my day

years ago i would shop at a particular

store that was a little bit weird but i

i really love the people there and and

uh and i would stop before i’d go into

the store

i’ll stop at the door i’d pause for just

a moment

just until i can become aware of him

once i become aware of him then i go

into the story shop

i don’t want to say he wasn’t with me

before

but i do better when i’m aware of him

i do better think better

my courage is greater my faith is

stronger

if i can if i can just stay just cut

kind of connected to the fact that he’s

with me

if i just if i just keep that in my my

burning heart of affection

that’s how i recognize i just turn my

attention towards him

what happens i become aware of him my

heart just begins to burn for

just just so i like to i go to sleep at

night and that’s what i like to do i

like to

just take moments where i just become

aware

aware of god sometimes i have a task

that seems just

absolutely near impossible or or

something that makes me very nervous or

anxious

and i’ll just i just stop and become

aware of him it’s

it’s god in me that makes this task

possible

i had an experience forgive me this is

repeat but i

had an experience about two months ago

where i woke up one morning

and i felt homesick and i didn’t know

why i felt there’s a weirdest thing

homesick

my wife’s here i’m at my house i just

felt homesick it was just weird it’s a

weird feeling

and so i thought back what what am i

what am i sensing

and i remembered night after night

i’d been going to sleep

becoming conscious of him and burning in

my affection for him

and what would happen is i’d wake up to

use the restroom or

uh benny or me one of us would turn over

and the other would wake up and

and in that moment i just immediately

just turned my heart back to him

turn my heart back to him turn my heart

back get up in the morning

i’m already burning an affection for him

i’m already aware of him when i get up

you know and this particular morning

i woke up did not think of him

felt homesick and realized

two days in a row i did not wake up

with him as the first thing on my mind

and i realized such a momentum had been

created in the previous couple months

that not having

that one simple little moment where you

wake up

conscious of god

not having that i just oh oh

i just felt homesick and i realized

that’s home he’s home

he’s home

[Applause]

i was designed for love so are you i was

designed to be loved

to be loved and i was designed to give

what i receive away

as we become more impacted by the love

of god

our eyes begin to burn like his eyes

and you look into the eyes of another

person if you have nothing but

compassion and deep interest for their

well-being

and there may be a moment maybe in a

store

and maybe greeting somebody behind you

in a meeting like this

but it’s a moment that’s genuine and

real

and it’s marked with eternity because we

are alive with the love of god because

he first loved us

everything about us is designed for love

won’t you stand

listen to these verses deuteronomy 6 5

you

shall love the lord your god with all

your heart with all your soul

with all your might now israel what does

the lord your god require of you

deuteronomy 10

what does god require from you but to

fear the lord your god to walk in all

his ways

and love him and serve the lord your god

with all your heart

and with all your soul deuteronomy 30

moreover the lord your god will

circumcise your heart

and the heart of your descendants to

love

the lord your god with all your heart in

other words there’s a refinement and a

discipline

of heart that gives me a greater

capacity

for love

the foremost is hear o israel the lord

your god is one lord

you will love the lord your god with all

your heart with all your soul with all

your mind

and with all your strength

these words in this

bible this word of god

are not given to us

as mere commandments

the main difference to me just an

opinion

the main difference between old and new

testament is old testament you’re

commanded to do things

in the new testament you’re empowered to

do what you’re commanded

law requires grace enables

the law is holy

as someone said it just can’t make you

holy

put your hands out in front of you just

a prophetic act we’ll pray

just pray this this with me father

teach me to love you well

teach me to love you completely

and show me how to receive your love

unrestrained

complete immersion

in the love of god

i want to love you with my heart

with my soul with my mind

even my physical strength

amen

it’s quite possible there could be

someone here who

has has never tasted of the love of god

you don’t know what it is

to be born again

it means just change from the inside

it’s a relationship with jesus it’s not

about sitting in a building like this

he invites every one of us to know

personally what this indescribable love

and forgiveness is like

and it changes us forever

the bible says whoever confesses the

lord

jesus is lord

will be saved and if there’s anybody in

this room that would just say bill i

don’t want to leave the building until i

know

that i have found peace with god

then i want you just to put a hand

and we’re just going to pray with you

for you now i want to do this before we

do anything else

most important part of the night right

here anyone at all just wave it at me if

i miss you

okay right here all right wonderful one

wonderful anybody else yeah

beautiful if if you can um

nathan why don’t you go back this young

man back here that just put his hand up

and i want you to talk with him and pray

with him because i want i want him to

know what it is

to know the love of god anybody else

ready for increase in the love of god

for just experiencing the love of god

loving god freely loving him completely

you know what if you’ll look into his

eyes

you’ll hear words come out and they will

forever change you

so we just say this lord we welcome you

to

speak to declare your word over us

god we give you thanks

thank you lord

amen