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Victory Through Intimate Love

Victory Through Intimate Love

It isn’t awareness of, cognitive belief in, or factual knowledge of God’s love, power, and goodness that heals, removes selfishness, and overcomes fear; it is the deep, abiding experience and connection with God—knowing Him, not merely knowing about Him, but knowing Him in such a way that He actually abides within our hearts via His Spirit. This experience with God is the living faith, the abiding trust, and the experiential confidence that overcomes the fear-drives of our carnal nature.

This experience in God’s love cannot be obtained for us by another, any more than physical strength can be obtained for us by another. We might see a great athlete, recognize the benefit of regular exercise, and be inspired to engage in our own exercise program, but in order to gain strength, each individual must exercise for themselves.

Likewise, we might witness in others the love, joy, peace, patience, and other spiritual fruits they develop because God lives in their heart and then long for that same experience, but when it comes to growing in our spiritual strength, faith, trust, confidence, and love for and in God, it requires that we experience and know God for ourselves and then exercise our God-given abilities in harmony with Him.

Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent (John 17:3 NIV84).

And just as in physical exercise when we start out with light weights and move on to heavier ones, so also in the things of God we start out with small duties, trials, and responsibilities, and as we, through trust in God, gain victories and grow in spiritual maturity, we move on to larger ones.

As we choose to trust God, our trust in Him strengthens and we advance from being children, babes in Christ, to mature friends of God (Hebrews 5:14; John 15:15) and are able to be His witnesses, able to be called by God to face greater obstacles and challenges and step onto larger stages with greater intensity, pressure, and ungodly assaults. We will be called to confront, via the exercise of God’s weapons—love, truth, faith, mercy, forgiveness, prayer, etc.—the attacks of the enemy and overcome them, witness for God’s kingdom, and, thereby, advance the gospel.

We have many examples of God’s friends throughout history being called to such difficult yet rewarding places—to stand for God in the face of terrible societal and spiritual opposition.

What enabled these friends of God, who were sinners like you and me, to be able to stand for God in the face of overwhelming worldly pressure, rejection of friends, vilification by the media, police and military assault, arrest, judicial condemnation, threats of imprisonment, torture, and death? Why weren’t their fears so inflamed that they caved in, gave up, ran away, and betrayed their mission? How were they able to stand firm without being consumed by fear?

They each had a personal, intimate love for and experiential knowledge of God such that His love filled their hearts, leading them to decide that they would rather die than betray the One who they know and love.

Consider these heroes of the past:

  • Job—even though he lost his health, wealth, and ten children; had a wife so distraught that she called on him to curse God and die; and faced three theologian friends, who, while empathizing with his pain, told him his sufferings must be due to his own sin—had such a personal, intimate friendship with God that he knew God was not the cause. He knew that God could be trusted no matter what was happening or what others were saying. He said, even “though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15 NKJV). He did not allow the horrible losses to consume his mind or become central in his heart, but instead, he focused his heart’s desire on seeking God. He would not allow others to tell him the answers but sought God for himself. It was his longstanding personal connection with God, his living faith, his abiding trust, his real and intimate love relationship with God, that allowed him to withstand the devil’s vicious attacks.
  • Elijah knew God so well that he was able to trust God and call out King Ahab, pronounce a three-and-a-half-year drought, and then successfully confront the 450 priests of Baal at Mount Carmel (1 Kings 17:1; 18:16–39). As long as Elijah kept his mind focused upon God and his heart centered on his love for God, he could not be shaken. But when Elijah briefly shifted his focus onto the threats from Jezebel, he became discouraged and afraid—and he ran away. God graciously met him in a lonely cave, and when Elijah recentered his heart upon God, he gained the final victory over his fear and was translated to heaven (1 Kings 19; 2 Kings 2:11–13).
  • Elisha was faced with the armed forces of Aram but didn’t focus on the threat; instead, he focused on God and knew that he was protected by an angelic army (2 Kings 6:13–17).
  • King Jehoshaphat was confronted by the armies of Ammon and Moab but did not focus upon the strength of the enemy nor his own military might; instead, he went to God, trusted in Him, and sent out singers to praise God, focusing the people upon the beauty of God’s holiness—and God delivered Judah (2 Chronicles 20).
  • Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego on the plain of Dura were certainly aware of the fiery furnace, but they did not focus upon the threat; instead, they kept their love and duty to God central in their hearts and refused to bow to the idol. And God was able to use them to witness to Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 3).
  • Daniel was cast into the lion’s den but was not overcome by fear and selfishness; instead, he kept his love and trust in God central—and God sent angels to close the lion’s mouths (Daniel 6:16–23).
  • Jesus, during His trial and crucifixion, as our human substitute, did not focus on the betrayal, the accusations, the injustice, the mocking, the abuse; instead, when confronted by the fear, threats, pain, taunts, and torture, He focused on His Father, maintained trust in His Father, and stayed true to His mission and purpose. Jesus stayed focused on the reality of what was happening in God’s universe, through the lens of eternal truth, and, thus, focused on love for God and for others. He chose to be merciful, gracious, forgiving, and He pitied those who were tormenting and crucifying Him.
  • Stephen and Paul, when faced with similar injustice and abuse to that which Jesus experienced, chose to do what Jesus did; they stayed focused on God and chose to love those who were persecuting them—and they died as heroes of heaven!

 

Heroes of Heaven in the Last Days

The Bible describes the righteous who are alive when Jesus comes, who live through the final assault of God’s enemy, who confront the beastly powers of Revelation, who face their own trials, who are falsely accused because of righteousness, and who experience injustice as those who overcome “by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death” (Revelation 12:11 NIV84). These victors do not focus on the injustice, the abuse, the evil around them, but on the Lamb—their Savior—and they give testimony to Jesus by acting like Jesus, by loving others more than seeking to protect self.

This is our power—the power of intimate love from and in God that enables us to break away from the fear and selfishness of this world, to reject the eye-for-an-eye mentality, to say no to the paybacks, and to:

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. … If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head (Romans 12:14, 20 NIV84).

For we remember what Jesus said:

You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:43–45 NIV84).

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Matthew 5:11, 12 NIV84).

Satan actively works to inflame fear, which arouses the desire to protect self, the selfish survival drives that lead people to hurt others in order to make themselves feel safe. But the secret power of God is love and truth—eternal, infinite, selfless, pure, undefiled love, which is found only in God and is revealed perfectly in Jesus Christ! We overcome by standing firmly upon the truth that has been strengthened and woven into our hearts by the eternal and unbreakable threads of God’s infinite love.

And through God’s truth and love, we are victors—overcomers! And what we overcome is not others; no, we overcome the infection of sin (fear and selfishness) in our own hearts! When confronted by evil assaults, Satan tricks people into trying to overcome sin and evil in others rather than wielding God’s divine weapons to overcome sin in our own hearts. The devil dupes people into taking their focus off Jesus and refocusing upon injustices, wrongs, hurts, abuses, and unfairness that they have experienced or witnessed.

If we make evil the center of our experience, we will be overcome by evil and justify being selfish to make ourselves feel safe. Our only hope, our only path to true victory, is Jesus, to cling to Him, to run to Him, to keep Him central in our hearts and minds, to have our own intimate, personal, and experiential love for and knowledge of Him. This is our power:

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother (1 John 4:16–21 NIV84).

Don’t you see that if you are genuinely committed to God and eagerly practice his methods of love, you cannot be stopped? Even if you are attacked or persecuted for doing what is right, by forgiving and loving others you reveal God’s true character and simultaneously are advancing to be more like him. So “do not fear for this mortal life as the world fears; and don’t be frightened for a minute,” but make Christ the center of your heart, mind and character. Always be prepared to talk about God’s character of love, as revealed in Jesus, to anyone who asks why you are hopeful in the face of persecution, trial, and difficulty. But be sure to do it with gentleness, kindness and respect, with a pure heart and clear conscience, so that those who lie, gossip, and spread rumors about your ministry for Christ may be ashamed of their malicious ways. It is better, if God permits, to be persecuted for doing good than to suffer the results of doing evil, for that is exactly what Christ did (1 Peter 3:13–18 REM).

 

 

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Testimony 34

I was introduced to Come and Reason Ministries by accident, via a passing comment made in a bible study class we were visiting. I checked this website out and my life was changed. The understanding of the truth of God’s character, and how we apply it, is so right. The tricky part is consistently applying which “lens” to look through. As I began to understand, I started sharing the basics of this understanding with a discussion group I was leading and, suddenly, a lot of things started to make sense that never used to. At the same time, I enjoyed an amazing opportunity. I was able to conduct a full bible study at WORK! What an amazing experience! It is such a joy to share the truth about God and to share how it all fits in the war between God and Satan. So many people benefit when we have a correct understanding about how God works and who He really is! Thank you for this transformational understanding. Keep up the good work! God Bless you!

Tony P., CA, USA

 

Testimony 42

I am just writing to say that I have been so blessed by the teachings of Come And Reason Minitries recently. I watched last week’s bible study lesson on Youtube and am thankful that the error in the printed lesson guide you use was pointed out and this week’s study was of equal benefit, if not more so. My understanding of God’s nature has been very confused of late and I am so grateful for clarity in this matter. I have never really fully understood previously how a good God can cause bad things to happen and now I realise that He doesn’t, it’s a natural consequence of sin. May the almighty Father and His Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, continue to bless your ministry.

Laura P., United Kingdom

 

Testimony 61

I grew up in a prominent protestant church and had what I like to call religious anxiety. I’ve always had questions about God and Salvation that no one could seem to answer.  I didn’t know how to find resolution. During 2020, at the height of my anxiety, I fell to my knees and begged God to show me truth and light and to give me the hope that I’ve been longing for. Days later, I stumbled upon your online videos and it was like a veil was lifted and EVERYTHING made sense! For the first time in my almost 39 years of life, my religious/spiritual anxiety has lessened. I feel a sense of freedom and peace I’ve NEVER had before… and it’s all because my view of God has changed. Thank you!

Ashleighn C.

 

Testimony 17

The blessings of clarity and understanding you and your class inspire me to take from the word of God have impressed upon me so greatly the true, loving character of our Creator. I have found amazing freedom and joy through building a stronger, more intentional relationship with Him. What is new is that this is now a relationship built on love, reverence and respect rather than fear and obligation, and as such my eyes have been slammed OPEN as I am continually impressed by the manifestations of God’s true character in His provisions for fallen man.

T.E.H., Salt Lake City, UT, USA

 

Testimony 12

I have been really blessed reading your response to the various questions on your site.

K.C., OH, USA

 

Testimony 36

Thank you and may God continue to bless you as you share with others the intricacies of how we are all “fearfully and wonderfully made”. I must share that you have opened a whole new world to me, and I have found tremendous healing through what you have shared in two of your books, “Could It Be This Simple?” and “The God Shaped Brain.” I praise God for what you shared, what I have learned, and how I have grown and healed! My prayer is that My Precious Jesus will be seen by others in the way I live, act, talk, etc. and they may be encouraged to know He is truly a GREAT God of LOVE, desiring that no one should perish! God Bless you in your continued endeavors to present Him as He really is!

Joleen H. GA, USA

 

Testimony 18

The Healing the Mind DVD set tarted me on a journey that has changed my relationship with our loving God more significantly than any other study, and brought me to your book and Bible study podcasts, which I now listen to daily, thanks to the availability of archived content on your site and on iTunes.

Anonymous

 

Testimony 48

I just want to tell you how blessed I have been reading “The Remedy!” It has become a daily part of my devotional relationship with God. In it I have found a God of love and a God that loves me! The bible has come alive for me! It is the first time that I can say that I have felt hope fill my heart as I have read God’s word. This is good news I can share! Thank you, Dr Jennings! Thank you for your heart for others. I can’t put into words how this has set me free! It has strengthened my trust and love for God.

Jason H.

 

Testimony 7

Ok, so last night I listened to “The Law of Liberty” and “How to Achieve Victory: Freedom, Truth and Spirtual Warfare.” These are both MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITES so far! The logic is just soooooo beautiful. I had to re-listen to them a couple of times. I just want to EXPLODE! (<< we assume with joy and happiness)

N. B., Canada

 

Testimony 69

After reading your book, ‘Could It Be This Simple,’ someone was explaining Christianity in a way that made sense to me for the first time in my life. One morning, I simply prayed “I’m sorry and I love you.” As soon as I silently said that, I could literally feel God’s presence and light flood down on me from above and fill me up with love and joy. I sat there crying my eyes out, because I was so overpowered with this feeling of love and joy. It was just so incredible. I hope that more people can read this book and get a blessing from it. It’s really amazing.

Rachael H.

Testimony 29

Thank you for all of your work to correct misconceptions about God’s character. So many people that my husband and I have talked to seem to be against the natural law construct and view it as “errant” and “dangerous.” Having learned more about it through your blogs and lessons, I don’t really understand why they view it that way, except that it means they have to relearn theology they have known for their entire lives. But I’m so excited to relearn this. For the past few years I have been questioning how I could trust a God who punishes arbitrarily and is full of wrath for those who don’t obey His commands. That view made me afraid to “mess up” or “not be good enough,” even within my relationship with God. I really appreciated the point you bring out about God not wanting us to serve Him because we are afraid, but because we love Him.

Melissa H., IN, USA

 

Testimony 41

I have been blessed by your ministry. I have experienced personally, and deeply resonate with, the God of love and the beautiful picture of God’s character that you present. I have seen your seminar series on YouTube, read ‘The Journal of the Watcher’ book, used your mobile app, and also listen/study the bible study lesson with you each week. I concur with many of the thoughts and perspectives that you share. I understand your conclusions on natural laws vs imposed law and the legal/penal substitution (incorrect diagnosis). This makes perfect sense to me.

Bless you for all you do.

Melissa L.

 

Testimony 37

Hearing Dr. Jennings’ presentations in person came at a pivotal moment in my spiritual journey that began about nine months ago, when the fault lines inherent in my belief system began to crack under questions that most reasonable people end up asking about God and His nature. These were questions I couldn’t find answers to, and they shook my faith. I was unable let it go any longer and be satisfied. My Christian experience became distant. I was afraid; the fear in me rose like thorns, pushing me away from Jesus. And then someone heard my questions and introduced me to this ministry, and my life has totally changed.

I can tell you that this new, “present truth” message is far grander and life-changing than when I shifted from being an agnostic and then a nominal Christian. It has radically altered my worldview, because it reveals a God that makes sense. It is a revolution. I believe that Dr. Jennings’ message is the final message that must go to the world. If any message could be called “righteousness by faith,” as abused as that term is by the right and the left, this is that message, because Jennings’ biblical message identifies a God who is different, whose character isn’t an impossible contradiction.

I walk this path now without fear. I see people differently, and the Holy Spirit burns in my heart. Many call Dr. Jennings’ message false and compromising, but it isn’t false, because I’ve seen the fruits within my mind and body. It is not compromising, because in this message is the only road to holiness that makes any sense. No longer do I behold a pagan god who is always angry and suspicious. Instead, I behold a God who is freeing and loving, always working for our good, and giving me every reason to love my enemy even to my own death, just as Jesus pleads with us. God is good.

Anthony L., CA, USA

 

Testimony 11

I would love to have a copy of “Healing the Mind” DVDs to have in my therapy office. I enjoy having clients check out materials to enhance their therapy experience. I have sat under Dr. Jennings’ teaching at an American Association of Christian Counselors convention and respect his work greatly.

K.B., LA, USA

 

Testimony 28

I have been following your Bible study class for about a year now. I must say I am impressed with how your ministry has grown. I took it upon myself to listen to all your lesson podcasts from the past and they have both enriched me physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. I have learnt a lot from this class. I have also noticed how the class has grown in spiritual strength. One of the things that benefited me is that now I am not afraid of God. I use to be, but now it has melted away. The second thing is that you helped me to have a real life relationship with God. Now He is my friend that was always there and I love having him with me all the time. Thirdly, because of this class, it inspired me to take over and lead a class. I have called it “Let Us Reason Together,” adapting your inquisitive style and creating a class of free thinkers.

T. Banda, Malawi, Africa