Re: He has loved you with an everlasting love

Hi John:

John, the Bible states in Galatians 5:22-23,

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23)

In this passage Paul tells us that the fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy and peace. John, you are not happy, you are miserable. This fixation on this female is not of the Holy Spirit but of Satan. How do I know? Because the fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy and peace. You are experiencing any-thing but these fruits. Therefore this fixation is of Satan. Why? To distract you, to cause you to believe Jesus doesn’t love you, to get you focused on the flesh instead of on Jesus and what He wants you concerned about at this time in your life. What does Jesus say in His word? He says in Matthew 6:33 "But seek-continually first His kingdom and His righteous-ness; and all these things shall be added to you." How do we get what Jesus has for us? Not by chasing it, but through chasing Him. Jesus says seek Him and His kingdom which means His will and purpose for your life, focus on that, and when the time is right according to His will and plan for your life He will give you that which you desire. But notice He does the giving. If you are chasing, it is not of Him.

Paul wrote in the next verse of Galatians 5 "Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (Gala-tians 5:24). John, when I was young in the Lord, I had a hard time sub-mitting myself to the Lord because I was afraid if I did He would not give me what I wanted. My Christian life was at a standstill. I asked the Lord, "Jesus, I am not going any where spiritually. What is wrong with me?" He answered back, "You don’t believe that I love you so you don’t trust Me and thus you are not able to submit yourself to Me!" I said, "Jesus, what can I do about that? How can I change what I am?" I didn’t want to be that way, but I just didn’t know how to increase my faith in the Lord more so I could. He answered my prayer by reminding me about a story about Billy Graham. A reporter asked Billy Graham once why his ministry was so suc-cessful. Billy Graham replied,

"I don’t know if I can point to anyone reason, but I do know this, one night I was in the mountains seeking God. At one point during this time of prayer I picked up my Bible and said, ‘Jesus, I don’t understand everything that is in this book, but never the less, by faith I choose to believe it anyway; I believe! I believe! I believe!’ Right after that night and that commitment of faith in His word my ministry took off."

Next the Lord reminded me of a passage of Scripture in Jeremiah 31:3. "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness." At the time I was in some very negative circumstances. The Lord had led me to move back home with my unbelieving, unkind parents. In this situation I wasn’t seeing or feeling God’s love; yet here in His word he was telling me He loved me with an everlasting love. What it got down to was faith. I either believed His word or I did not. I got down on my knees and prayed,

"Jesus, I don't see your love and I don’t feel your love, yet your word states that You love me with an everlasting love. Therefore, even though I do not see Your love and do not feel Your love, yet nevertheless by faith I choose to believe You love me anyway, I believe! I believe! I believe!"

Immediately the love of God flooded my soul and he said to me, "Dale, I have a wife for you in My time." You see John, it wasn’t being in that negative circumstances that was binding me up, it was not being out on my own, paying my own way, being an independent man that was bugging me, so I could take on a wife. That was the real problem. But Jesus had a will and plan for my life and that needed to be worked out first before He was ready to bring to me the wife that he had for me. John, Jesus has a wife for you. How do I know? Because you desire it and He gave you that desire. If it wasn’t His plan and purpose for you, you would be happy with the thought of not having a girl friend. So the fact that you have this strong desire is because God put that desire in you. However, right now He wants you to give that desire to Him and allow Him to decide when the time is right to fulfill that desire. He wants you to do this so He can work out the purpose and plan that He has for your life.

John, Jesus said in Matthew 18:3 "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven." What does it mean to become like a little child? A little child may fantasize about being great things: a fireman, a policeman, a Sheriff; but in the end if Mommy and Daddy where not there, his needs would not be met. He is totally dependent on them for all his needs. What then does he worry about? Not his needs, but making sure he obeys and pleases his parents. John, this is the kind of walk Jesus wants us to have with Him. He wants us to give our lives to Him and literally become a child, meaning to trust Him to provide what we need when we need it. What does he want us to do in the mean time? All he wants us to worry about is what is His current will in our lives and to focus on that will. He says in Matthew 6:33 if we will do that, in His time (Ecc 3) He will bring us the wife he has for us and all of our other desires that concern us. John, Jesus wants you to become like a little child and give your desire for a girl friend to Him and all your other desires and focus right now on what he wants you to focus on.

That brings up another quick story, ha ha ha. As you get to know me you will find out I am full of stories, true stories of course. When I was your age in the Lord I became obsessed with Jesus’ second coming. Me and my friends just knew He was coming so soon that it seemed a waste of time to think about getting a college education which would take several years or to concern ourselves with pursuing some other vocation. Like yourself I read every book and series that came out on the rapture and Jesus’ second coming. This went on for about three years, then one day the Lord spoke to me and said, "Dale, why don’t you let me worry about My second coming and you focus on My will for your life and doing My will." John, the purpose of prophecy is to draw us closer to the Lord, to prompt us to Holiness. Hebrews 12:14 states "Pursue peace with all men, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord." The Bible is plain: whether Christian or not, if we do not live Holy before the Lord, we won’t see Him when we die. John your obsession with Jesus second coming is not of the Lord, it is of Satan. How do I know? Because Satan is using this to say to you, "John! Jesus is coming tomorrow! If you don’t chase your desires, you won’t ever be able to fulfill them!" Hey, I know! I was there when I was your age. I understand, but that was 30 years ago. John, you can’t live that way. Yes, you need to be prepared for Jesus’ second coming as if He were going to return today, but God tells us in His word that even if that were true, we are still responsible to seek His will and kingdom and to live out that will and kingdom. Since that time in my youth I have completed three college degrees, written two 450 page textbooks, Pastored, crossed this country doing evangelism work. Jesus hasn’t yet returned. He could tonight or tomorrow, but Jesus wants us to live like we had 70 years and prepare for a life on this earth. When we die and go to heaven, we don’t leave our talents behind, we take them with us and continue to develop them. John, you want to know what the Lord has me currently doing with my life (besides tormenting people like you, heh heh)? A translation work of the Bible. I predict it will take me another 20 years to finish this work, without interruptions of course (God forbid!). There are times I say to the Lord, "Jesus, shouldn’t I be doing full time evangelism work? Your return is just around the corner? I may not be able to finish this translation work before You return!" What is the answer? Jesus is Lord!!! What matters is not whether He will return tomorrow or tonight, what matters is am I doing His will today whether he returns tomorrow or fifty years from now. So what does Jesus want you focused on and worried about? Not His second coming. Yes, he wants you to be prepared for Him in case he returns tonight, but He also wants you to live your life as if you have 70 years to live on this earth. He wants you to seek His will and purpose for your life on this earth and prepare for it and give you desire for a girl friend and a wife to Him and trust Him to work these things out in His time. Here is His word to you in the following passages:

"So then, you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’" (Matt 7:20-23)

"Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever." (1 John 2:15-17)

"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life." (Galatians 6:7-8)

Note it says plainly that the lusts of the flesh are not of God, but of the world. We are not to cater to or pursue our lusts. We are to give these desires to Him and allow Him to decide when and if these desires will be fulfilled. However, God also gives a solemn warning in this passage: He says only those who do His will will abide forever. Jesus said the same thing in Matthew. He said that to know him is to obey Him. The Apostle John put it this way in 1 John 2:3-4,

"By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." (1 John 2:3-4)

What does Jesus want us to do with all these feelings, these lusts and these desires in order to do His will. Paul tells us in Galatians 5:24 "Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." Jesus wants us to crucify them. That means give them to Him and then do what is necessary to remove these distractions from our lives and instead seek out and pursue His current will and purpose in our lives. If you do that, Jesus promises that in his time he will give you the desires of your heart. "Delight yourself in Yehovah; and He will give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:4). That is His promise! Again note it says delight yourself in Him and HE, not you, will give you these desires when the time is right and it is best for His will and purpose in your life and His kingdom.

Right now Jesus wants you to focus on getting through this training program. It will not only teach you how to be an effective witness for him, but will also teach you how to come to know His will and plan for your life and then how to succeed in that will and plan. That is what Jesus will and purpose for your life is right now, not chasing girls and not worrying about His second coming.

"Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is." (Ephesians 5:15-17)

Your brother in Christ who loves and cares about you,