Latest / Time with God with John North / Biblical Love Pt. 3

Transcript

Biblical Love Pt. 3 · Time with God with John North

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Good morning. We're talking about God's love this week, uh,
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: God's love for us, but also our love for people
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: around us and the fact that we can't love people,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: The way that we need to because what's natural for
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: us is to focus on ourselves and to love people
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: if they love us and to interpret every event, every circumstance,
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  Speaker 1: every encounter with everybody in our lives based on how
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: it impacts on me because it's part of our fallen
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: human nature to be self-centered, isn't that right?
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: No matter how we try to act as if that's
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: not right, really in our hearts, we know that we're
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: pretty focused on ourselves, and only by God's work in
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: our hearts can we become the way God designed us
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: to be when He first made us, and that is
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: people who reflect His love to the other people around
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: us in life. You were put into this world by
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: God with a purpose, and that purpose is not to
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: be focused on yourself because you are not the.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: centre of this universe, your purpose is for God to
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: use you in the lives of the people around you,
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: to point people to Him, to encourage people, to be
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: a giver in relationships, not a taker in relationships, to
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  Speaker 1: receive love from other people, yes, but not to just
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: try and suck people dry who are around you, but
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: rather to be someone who's thinking about encouraging, giving, inputting
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: into the lives of the people around you.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: Really the foundation of coming to the place of being
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: able to do that in a real meaningful way.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: Is to first accept God's love for you. I want
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: to read you a few verses from Romans chapter 5,
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: starting in verse 5.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: Hope does not disappoint because the love of God has
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit.
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: Whom was given to us and while we were still
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: helpless at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: That's you and me. You don't have to be, you know,
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  Speaker 1: an awful criminal to be ungodly. You just have to
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: be a person focused on yourself, not God.
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: At the right time, Christ died for the ungodly, for
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: one will hardly die for a righteous man, though perhaps
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: for the good man some one would dare even to die.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: But God demonstrates His own love toward us. Listen.
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  Speaker 1: In that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
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  Speaker 1: That is awesome truth.
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  Speaker 1: God loves you.
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: God has focused Himself on you. He has sacrificed enormously
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: for you. Jesus died on the cross for you, and
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: believing that God's love is unconditional and not dependent on
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  Speaker 1: what I do back for Him is the first step
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  Speaker 1: to coming to be able to love others unconditionally, the
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: people around us in life.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: God's love doesn't depend on how good you are.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: Did you see what it said? While we were helpless
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: at the right time, Christ died for thee, ungodly.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: we were still sinners, Christ died for us. It wasn't
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: anything beautiful in you or good in you that made
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  Speaker 1: Jesus die on the cross for you. He just loved you.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: And he still loves you no matter what your life
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: is like. God loves you, and He wants to reach
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  Speaker 1: out to you. He's waiting for you to receive His
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: love and accept the forgiveness He offers because of what
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: Jesus did for you at the cross and put your
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: trust in Him.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: And even as someone who's already done that, we can
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: slip back into thinking, oh, but God doesn't like me
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  Speaker 1: because of my life. God is unconditionally committed to you.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: But he wants you to respond to him. He wants
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  Speaker 1: you to love him back.
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: And he wants you to invite him to begin changing
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: you in ways you cannot change yourself.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: So that you can love others. Why don't you stop
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  Speaker 1: right now in your car or in your home.
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: And just say a prayer to God. Thank Him for
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: what He's done for you.
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  Speaker 1: Acknowledge his love for you and ask him to begin
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  Speaker 1: loving others through you in that same way.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: I'm John North.