Lesson 1 Rooted Deep In Love

     I believe we have a limited understanding concerning the Love the Father has for us.  Because we don't understand His love, we don't understand our Father.  This love He has, so far exceeds our understanding that we still have an uncertainty about how He deals with us.
     Ephesians 3:16-21 (Amplified) says "May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the Holy Spirit (Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality)."  Verse 17 says "May Christ through your faith (actually) dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts!  May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely in love"  Verse 18 continues, " that you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints (God's devoted people), the experience of that love what is the breadth and length and height and depth (of it)" verse 19 says "that you may really come to know (practically, through experience for yourselves) the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge (without experience) that you may be filled (through all your being) unto all the fullness of God, may have the richest measure of the Divine presence and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself."  Verse 20 "Now to Him who by (in consequence of) the (action of His) power that is at work within us is able to carry out His purpose and do superabundantly, far over and above all that we dare to ask or think (infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes or dreams)."  verse 21  "To Him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus through out all generations forever and ever, Amen (so be it)."
     These scriptures indicate that the more we understand this love, the more God can work through us.  As we come to actually experience His love, we open the power and ability for Him to work through us.
     It's hard to trust someone if you don't understand their love for you.  Because we fail to understand His love, it's hard to trust in the fullness of His grace.  We cling to the old habits of what religion has long since taught us, and we fear reprisal from God every time we fail.  Because we know our own shortcomings, we always feel that somehow we disappoint Him all the time.  We set ourselves up for failure by not trusting in His love.  For years we have tried to live in forgiveness and still work by law.  Under law, mistakes were met with punishment.  So, by walking under law we expect punishment at every failure.  We struggle to get approval from Him, not realizing that He has already given His approval in Jesus.  When God raised Jesus, He raised us.  When God approved Jesus, He approved us as well.
     This love went way beyond our flesh and lack of strength, to give us His faith and strength.  1 John 4:16-18 (Amplified)  tells us "and we know (understand, recognize, are conscious of, by observation and experience) and believe (adhere to and put faith in and rely on) the love God cherishes for us.  God is love, and he who dwells and continues in love dwells and continues in God, and God dwells and continues in him."  verse 17 continues, "in this (union and communion with Him) love is brought to completion and attains perfection with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgement (with assurance and boldness to face Him) because as He is, so are we in this world."  verse 18 says "There is no fear in love (dread does not exist) but full grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! for fear brings with it the thought of punishment and (so) he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love (is not yet grown into love's complete perfection)."
     This love is not measured on our works, but on the works of Jesus.  If God wanted to judge or punish us for our failures, He had the perfect chance before we received Jesus.  If He didn't punish us when we were at our worst, then why would He beat you up now that you are learning to walk in righteousness.  This love of God goes way beyond our own limits.  How can we ever walk in love with one another until we learn to walk in His love?  We continue to see everyone's faults because we don't understand a love that looks beyond that.  When Jesus said to "love as He loves,"  He meant to look at one another the way He looks at people.  We still have problems with our prayer lives because we feel we aren't living up to our own expectations.  Forget your expectations and center in on a total love that "remembers no more" our sins and our failures.  When He said that "He remembers no more," He meant never again and not until the next time we did something wrong.  No more means no more; forever; for eternity.
     We feel like there are still things in our lives that keep Him from hearing prayer, healing our bodies or blessing our lives.  What we haven't learned yet is that love has already done all these things.  Our future isn't based on how good we are, but on how good He is.
     Once we get rooted in how much He loves us, we become confident to pray for the sick, walk in power, stand against accusations of people and stand against lying spirits.  We stop looking at other people with a critical spirit and see them as He does.