Comprehending the Length of God's Love

PART A: SPIRITUAL MOVEMENT

In this lesson we are going to discuss the ability given to us to comprehend the love of Christ. This is very important, because without this comprehension there will be no spiritual growth. In spite of the things we experience on this journey, if we are not able to see the love of Christ (in our circumstances, situations and relationships), we will have nothing to offer the body in our efforts to perfect it for the master’s use.

Ephesians 3:17-19 17.

Ephesians 3:17-19 KJVS

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

[18] May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; [19] And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

In this lesson, comprehension is used in reference to understanding the length of God’s love for us. Length is your spiritual growth pattern or how God moves you from one spiritual location to another.

Therefore, to comprehend the length, means to discern God’s love inside of the experiences He allows to effect spiritual growth. For example: you may be at a point of weakness, or even ignorance, (not knowing very much about the Word). However, God’s purpose is to move you to a place of strength in Him.

Submission is going to determine the length of time it takes to grow.

MOVING FROM ONE SPIRITUAL LOCATION TO ANOTHER

Length is also the distance and the method by which you are spiritually moved. The distance depends on you: it can be long and drawn out or very short. It is measured by influence, not by time of service. In other words, you could be a babe in the Lord, come into a training facility like B.T.I. and outgrow some of the people that have been here for many years. This is your length. It is the distance from your point of weakness to your strength in Christ.

Your spiritual growth is determined by your submission to the things of God. It is determined by how much you allow the Word to influence you. In other words, submission will determine the length of time it takes you to grow.

SUBMISSION IS AN ATTITUDE OF THE HEART

James 1:22-24 KJVS

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

[23] For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

[24] For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

Your spiritual growth is measured by submission to the influence God dispenses in your life, because even though you may learn a lot, that does not mean you will ever walk in it. There are many people who know the Word, but are not walking in what they know.

You have not comprehended until you have actually walked in the knowledge. Comprehension is the Spirit of Understanding working in us.

The ability to comprehend can be transmitted to another person. This is the purpose of your comprehension. If you do not understand what God is doing in your life, you will not understand what He is doing in the lives of others. If you cannot understand the spiritual operations of your life you are ineffective to the body of Christ. Comprehending the length is the ability that God gives us to discern or understand our own lives. We must discern what the Holy Ghost is doing in our lives. This ability is one of the riches of glory that came to us by way of the Holy Ghost.

PART B: FLESH ON TRIAL

1 Corinthians 10:1-6 KJVS

Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;

[2] And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;

[3] And did all eat the same spiritual meat;

[4] And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

[5] But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

[6] Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

Notice here that Paul sets a premise, that the children of Israel were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and the sea; eating the same spiritual meat and drinking the same spiritual drink. As they roamed in the wilderness, they had no food to eat, so the Lord rained manna from above.

Time had brought about changes in the nation. Israel had gotten comfortable and complacent in Egypt even though they were in bondage. They had taken on some of the customs of the Egyptians, and were somewhat satisfied with the system. As a result, even though they were freed from bondage, they provoked God by complaining of the discomforts of freedom. They were still caught up in Egypt.

Like the Israelites, all of us have been brought up in different environments under different circumstances. Therefore, we may not feel the same way that others feel about a situation.

1 Corinthians 10:4

“They all drank from the same spiritual rock...”

We have the same testimony as the children of Israel as it relates to spiritual manna. We all receive the same Word. It does not matter whether you were saved yesterday or five years ago. When the Word comes forth, it meets each person at his spiritual location. We will all be faced with tests according to the amount of influence we have received. We fail our tests when we measure or try to pass them according to the flesh which simply means void of the influence of the Holy Spirit or having an ungodly standpoint.

HAVE NO CONFIDENCE IN THE FLESH

When a trial or test comes, it comes to try your faith and what’s been done inside of you. When it comes, if you hide or rest inside of the Holy Ghost, you will pass the test. Many times, the test is designed to traumatize your flesh, meaning your carnal mind, self, or personage. You cannot depend on your own strength. When you’re being tested, you cannot rely on your willpower or depend on your own ability.

1 Corinthians 10:11-13 KJVS

Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

[12] Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

[13] There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Any time you rely on will power (flesh) you are taking the trial away from your faith and your own will power or evil disposition is being tried. When the trial comes, it should try the Spirit of God that is in you. It should provoke the innerman to war. If you will walk in the Spirit, the Holy Ghost will take you through the test, but when you start relying on your intellect and your will power, you are trying to pass a spiritual test by natural means. You are destined to fail.

Hebrews 4:16

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

If I depend solely on the ability of my soul in the flesh and not on the power of the Holy Spirit I am susceptible to the devil and he will influence my heart by introducing the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, and this will cause me to compromise. For this reason, it is important that you always feed your spirit with the Word of God.

If the soul which is expressed through the flesh does not fall in love with God’s word, then in every trial you encounter, you will try to go through it with will power (by abstaining or suppressing your desires). If you feed the innerman the Word of God, it will destroy erroneous desires. If you keep your heart humble in the midst of the situation looking for the lord's strength He will grant the grace needed for you to succeed in every trial.

1 Corinthians 10:5

But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

After God had fed the Israelites manna, they still mumbled and complained that they desired meat, so He sent quail. They complained of being thirsty, and God caused water to come out of a rock. Take note of what He did: He was allowing them to see and experience His power. Remember these people did not know God, they only knew of Him.

The same is true of us before salvation: we only knew of God and His acts. As He did the Israelites, God has allowed us to see and experience His power. He has introduced Himself to us through our situations, circumstances and relationships. Just as a newborn baby is accustomed to the love and comfort of his family, as newborns we became accustomed to feeling God’s presence. The baby awakes in a room alone and is afraid. Have you ever felt like that baby? Have you ever awakened in a trial and felt alone?

There are times when you don’t feel God. He doesn’t seem to be around. You start to reach out and seek Him but you don’t feel any different. The soul is frustrated because it is used to being pampered. God is waiting to see if you will still live holy if He stops all the activities. You can’t live on feelings, you must serve Him in sobriety. Feelings are temporal. You must live holy according to what you know and what is written in the Word.

When you are not in agreement with the Mind of Christ you will be deceived especially by those emotionally high feelings. If you don't learn to live according to the Word, when a trial comes you will fail, because you will be waiting for God to touch you. God wants you to stop living by feelings and stand on the foundation of truth.

The Spirit of God is charged with raising the sons of God. The Holy Ghost knows when to make you feel all bubbly and He knows when to allow you to feel pain. Have you ever been in trouble, and didn’t know whether God was there or not? God wants you to know that He is still an ever present help in the time of need, even when you don’t “feel” Him.

Though there may be many incidents, you may only be able to think of one from which you know God supernaturally delivered you. You must be fully persuaded by the Word and the supernatural miracle that He has performed in your life. There will come a test and these may be the only things you have to comfort and sustain you.

The enemy is going to test you on this wise: to make you believe that God is not real, and that none of what you are experiencing is real. He will try to neutralize all of the supernatural events that took place in your life, by showing you how coincidental or matter of fact they were. He has to humanize them. No matter what your disposition is, when God steps in and changes something, you know it is God.

The devil will allow you to cherish the moment, but as time goes by and you begin to reflect on the experience, he will start suggesting thoughts that cause you to "supposedly" rationalize what has happened. He is trying to neutralize the effect of the power of God that was in the experience. If he can ever get you doubting God, he knows that you won’t receive from Him. A wavy minded person cannot receive anything from God.

DECEPTION: THE WEAPON OF SATAN

Satan’s purpose is to get you to doubt whether God can deliver you. His most powerful weapon is deception. He will use it to take the power of God out of your past experiences, in order to neutralize His power in your present experiences.

God has done some supernatural things in your life, but the enemy will try to convince you that you were just in the right place, doing the right thing, with the right people. He wants you to rationalize.

Romans 8:7

Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

He’s trying to move you to unbelief. He wants you to reject the truths you have experienced in God.

Before Satan came to discredit God’s power in your life, you could rejoice when God did something, no matter how small. The enemy will wait until you are going through another trial (that is totally unrelated), and use it to discredit God’s power. If you can ever reflect on God being powerful in past experiences, you can trust Him in the present situation. The only way to encourage yourself is to look back and see how powerful God has been and from where He has brought you.

You need to encourage yourself in order to grow up spiritually. If you start to rationalize, you will take God’s power out of your experiences. This makes it easy for you to go into sin. Then all you have to depend on is you. In other words, you did it. You brought yourself out. If this is what you say to yourself, you are definitely deceived. When you are being tempted, the devil is an expert at discrediting the power of God in your life. He accomplishes his purpose by using offenses, temptation and spiritual wickedness in high places.

LOVE IS THE FOUNDATION FOR GROWTH

When you look at where God has brought you from with a dim eye; you take God’s love out, therefore you have no foundation for growth. Then when the enemy comes to tempt you, you have nothing on which to build. If God didn’t bring you out, how did you get there?

When a building is started, a foundation must be laid. God’s love is our foundation for building. If you can’t build on God’s love, on what do you build? The power of God in your past experiences reflects His love in your life. Our comprehension of His love anchors us and promotes spiritual maturity.

LOVE, THE POWER TO OVERCOME LUST

When there is lust in your life that drives you, somewhere you have neutralized the love of God. If you could ever look at God’s love for you and hold onto it, you will fall in love with Him. If you neutralize His love for you, you cannot love Him back.

James 1:6-7

For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed, for let not that man think that he will receive anything of the Lord.

Deception is the ability to lessen the evil that is in sin.

Saints, it is time for us to move to another level of comprehension. The devil is moving to another level of spiritual warfare, and if we are going to be victorious in our fight against him, we must move to another level of comprehension of the Word.

We must extract not only experiential knowledge, but we must also extract God’s love out of our past experiences. When you see God’s love inside of a trial (as you are going through), you will experience His faithfulness. You will remember that He was always on time. He said that He would never leave you nor forsake you.

Satan is very crafty and subtle, he does not have to take your car or your house, he will just take the love of God out of your heart. He will cause you to forget the love and faithfulness of God. You must believe that God will do what He promises. The lust that you are trying to destroy can only be destroyed by love. Everyone of your experiences has a supply of love from God.

Ponder these as you discern His love for you:

1. Salvation Experience

Do you remember the power you felt when God saved you? Remember how you were headed one way and then God filled you with the Holy Ghost when you least expected it? Remember that in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, your mind changed? All of a sudden all you wanted was Jesus. That was His love for you. Do you remember that you didn’t deserve it? Somebody was praying for you and the Holy Ghost set you up to be saved. God saves you when you least deserve it. Have you ever prayed for God to move in someone else’s life and you saw Him do it? That was His love.

2. Has your back been up against the wall and God gave you victory?

3. Have you ever been in a circumstance, and no matter what you did, someone would find something wrong with it?

4. Has God brought peace in the midst of chaos?

5. Have you ever been hurt badly and somehow God strengthened you? Now when you look back, you don’t feel the pain.

6. Do you remember when you were all alone and no one showed up but God?

In every one of these experiences God was expressing His love toward you. You didn’t deserve it, but He loved you anyway. Just reflect on God’s love and take a piece of love from each situation. Saints, God wants us to comprehend the length of His love for us.

Love,

Mary Banks, Handmaiden of the Lord.