Level: 3, Lesson: 1
THE DIVINE FLOW
OUTLINE

1. Two of the main reasons God saved you:

• So you can express His power and grace to other people.
• God wants to bless others through you.

2. How do you get His power and grace flowing out of you to others?

1. Philemon 1:6: "That the communication of your faith become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing within you in Christ Jesus."

• The first step is to be full of God's power yourself.
• Recognize and acknowledge the good things God has put inside you, and share your excitement and testimony.

1. John 4:7-8: "7Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. 8He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love."

• If we truly love God, we will love others.
• I Corinthians 13:4-8 describes God's kind of love.

1. When you feel God's kind of love for another, act on it by giving them help and encouragement. Try to fill whatever need He has shown you.
2. Matthew 14:14: "And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and He healed their sick."

• Compassion was the key to God's power flowing through Jesus.
• Jesus' compassion for the people who were killing Him caused Him to ask God to forgive them for what they were doing.

3. If you are born again, you have God living on the inside of you, and GOD IS LOVE.

1. When you feel God's compassion flow through you, respond to it.
2. God's love is a divine flow. Go with it and bless others.

THE DIVINE FLOW

Lesson Text

Any time you feel love flow out of you toward another person, that's God flowing out of you toward that person. Now that needs to be qualified because in today's world people say, "You know, I love my wife, I love my dog, and I love ice cream" all in the same breath. Now hopefully you love all of those things in a different way. In the Greek language, there are actually four words for love. I am talking about the highest form of love. The Greek called God's kind of love "agape." This is that supernatural God-kind of love. So you need to recognize that there is a difference between just attraction toward somebody, a desire for somebody, and this supernatural high form of God's kind of love. Whenever you discern God's love flowing out of you toward somebody else, it's not self-serving. You can verify this by looking in I Corinthians 13. Verses 4 through 8 give you qualifications of God's kind of love. It isn't envious. It's not selfish. It's not self-serving. It isn't easily provoked, etc. You need to analyze what you're calling love and make sure it's really God's love—that it's not selfish or self-serving. You don't just love this person because of what he can do for you. As you grow in the Lord, you literally begin to discern God's kind of love. Then when you feel God's love flow through you for some person, all you have to do is follow it with some word of encouragement--do something.

There are times I have been praying and a person comes to my mind that I haven't thought of in awhile. There was no reason for this to happen--it's almost supernatural--and a God--kind of love and compassion came out of me toward this person. Now I've learned just to call that person up or write them a letter or say something, and nearly every single time that person will write me back and say, "Boy, that was God speaking through you to me and God touched my life through you." And you know how all of that happened? It happened by me just sensing His love—this godly compassion—flowing out of me toward other people. When I feel that now, I recognize that's not just me—it's God. God is love, and when I love other people, it's God loving other people through me. I had this happen one time in a little church in Pritchett, Colorado. I was a pastor of that church and a woman came whom I had never seen. She and her husband were in the service. This was the first time I had ever seen them. I didn't know anything about them, but the whole time I was standing up and ministering, it was like I was drawn to this woman. She didn't outwardly look like she was depressed. There wasn't anything in the physical to clue me in, but in my heart I just felt a sympathy and a compassion for this woman. I knew she was struggling and that she was really hurt. So I just felt this love and compassion flow out of me toward her. Finally at the end of the service, I just called her out and said, "Would you come up here? God has a word for you." I didn't know anything I was going to tell her. It's not like the Lord had already told me what to say to her, but I could feel this compassion flowing. I've learned that when you feel that God-kind of love and compassion flow out of you, that God is trying to minister to a person. He'll always minister through some of the gifts of His Spirit—like a word of wisdom, a word of knowledge, a discerning of a word of wisdom, a discerning of spirits, or a prophecy. So based on that compassion alone, I just asked that woman to come forward. It's a long story, but basically I prophesied many things to her about how she was discouraged, and how she had lost someone and was bereaved. I found out later that her teenage son had just died of leukemia just a few months before this. As I was ministering to her, I said, "One of the things that has caused confusion in your life is because you thought that God allowed this, but God didn't do it." I said, "God is not the one who has caused this grief in your life. It's the destroyer. It's the destroyer who has done these things." I kept emphasizing the word "destroyer." After the service was over, she came up and told me about her teenage son dying of leukemia. They had thought that God placed this leukemia on him and that God was actually responsible. However, just about a month before the son's death, as he drove into their little town, he looked up and saw in a vision a demonic power over that town and he cried out to God and said, "What is this?" The Lord said, "It's the destroyer. It's a demonic power that's killing you and these other people—it's not me." They just didn't have enough depth—enough maturity in the word of God to actually apply it. He went in and told his parents about it, but they didn't do much with it, and so the boy died. But, it was a tremendous encouragement to her when I told her exactly what was going on in her life—even used those exact words. And do you know how all that got started? It was through feeling this love—the divine flow of God's kind of love.

When you feel the love of God flow out of you, then that's God. This is the way that Jesus ministered. Matthew 14:14 says, "And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and He healed their sick." The way that the power of God flowed through Jesus was through compassion. He felt love toward the people He ministered to. You find in Matthew, Chapter 8, where a man taken in leprosy was unclean and, according to the Jewish law, nobody could touch him. Nobody could come in contact with him or they would be contaminated and become unclean themselves. But this man lifted up his voice and cried to Jesus from a distance saying, "Have mercy on me. If you will, you can heal me." Jesus said, "I will", and He reached out and touched him. He was moved with compassion toward this man with leprosy and touched him.

As you study the scriptures, you will find that compassion—this godly love—is not just an emotion, but it's a compassion that flows out through us. When Jesus was hanging on the cross, He loved the people around him so much that He said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." These were the very people who were crucifying Him, yet Jesus had compassion on them and said, "Father, forgive them." We know that He didn't have goose bumps. It wasn't just a feeling. It wasn't just an emotion. It was a choice. But, nonetheless, He felt it and released it toward other people.

Every one of you who are born again has God living on the inside of you, and according to I John 4:8, God is love. God wants to flow through you and reach other people. To do that, God will release this compassion. You'll feel it flow out of you toward other people. When you feel that compassion flow, you need to respond. You don't have to always do something special. It doesn't have to be, "Thus saith the Lord If you have a feeling of compassion toward some person, just go over, put your arm around him and say, "God loves you and so do I."

THE DIVINE FLOW

(Additional Information)

W. E. Vine describes agape love as "the love (that) can be known only from the actions it prompts. . .this is not the love of complacency, or affection, that is, it was not drawn out by any excellency in its objects (Romans 5:8). Christian love (agape), whether exercised toward the brethren, or toward men generally, is not an impulse from the feelings, it does not always run with the natural inclinations. . .(agape) seeks the welfare of all (Romans 15:2) and works no ill to any (Romans 13:8-10); (agape) seeks opportunity to do good to all men."

It would be wrong to say I can't love my husband or wife because my feelings are not in it. I would be a hypocrite. Remember Jesus did not feel like dying and He was no hypocrite. Agape love is the only kind of the four kinds of love that can be commanded, for it is not an emotion but rather the exercise of the divine will (of God) in deliberate choice (W. E. Vine). That is why the Apostle John says, "And this is love, that we walk after his commandments (ways, or principles)" (II John 6).

Some scriptural examples of agape love being commanded and carried out by God's grace (Galatians 5:22) and deliberate choice (Romans 8:13) are:

1. Love your enemies. . .bless them. . .do good. . .and pray for them (Matthew 5:44);
2. Love thy neighbor as thyself (Matthew 19:19);
3. If ye love me, keep my commandments (John 14:15);
4. Let love be without hypocrisy (NASV) (Romans 12:9);
5. By love serve one another (Galatians 5:13);
6. Love is the bond of perfectness (Colossians 3:14);
7. And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins (I Peter 4:8);
8. Let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth (I John 3:18).

There is much confusion on the subject of love today because we have only one English word (love) to describe a broad aspect of meanings. For example, if I said, "I love my wife, I love apple pie, and I love my dog," obviously I am not talking about love in the same degree or definition.

In the New Testament, there are three major Greek words that describe the various kinds of love. One of these words, "eros" was not actually used in the New Testament, but it was alluded to. The following is a brief definition of these three major words.

EROS: Sexual passion; arousal, its gratification and fulfillment. The Greek word is not used in the New Testament, probably because its origin came from the mythical god Eros, the god of love. It is inferred in many scriptures and is the only kind of love that God restricts to a one-man, one-woman relationship within the bounds of marriage (Hebrews 13:4; Song of Solomon 1:13; 4:5-6; 7:7-9; 8:10; I Corinthians 7:25; Ephesians 5:31).

PHILEO: Friendly love based on feelings or emotions. We can describe PHILEO love as tender affection, delighting to be in the presence of; a warm or good feeling towards someone that may come and go with intensity.

This verb with its other related Greek words are found 72 times in the New Testament. Although PHILEO love is encouraged in the scripture, it is never a direct command. God never commands us to PHILEO love anyone, since this type of love is based on feelings. Even God did not PHILEO the world. He operated in AGAPE love towards us.

The following are some scriptures in which PHILEO or a form of it is used, (John 5:20; 11:3, 36; 12:25; 16:27; 20:2; Acts 28:2; Romans 12:10 [kindly affection]; I Timothy 6:10; II Timothy 3:4; Titus 2:4; 3:4; Hebrews 13:1; III John 1:9; Revelations 3:19).
AGAPE: God's type of love; the highest kind of love. AGAPE seeks the welfare or betterment of others even if there is no affection felt (a paraphrase of happiness, explained by Bob Rigdon). AGAPE love does not have the primary meaning of affection nor of coming from one's feelings.

Jesus displayed this AGAPE kind of love by going to the cross and dying even though He didn't feel like dying. He prayed, "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt" (Matthew 26:39; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:41-43; John 18:11). Jesus sought the betterment of you and me, regardless of His feelings.

We, too, can AGAPE love our enemies even though we don't have a warm feeling of affection for them (Luke 6:35). If they are hungry we can feed them; if they thirst we can give them a drink (Romans 12:20-21). We can choose to seek the betterment and welfare of others regardless of how we feel.

The Apostle John said, "Let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth" (I John 3:18). Jesus referred to His love for others (John 13:34; 15:9,12), but He never directly told anyone, "I love you."

Here are some questions to think about for this lesson

Level 2 Lesson 1 Questions
THE DIVINE FLOW

1. According to Philippians 1:6, what is the first step in allowing God to flow out of us?
2. According to I John 4:7, what is the real source of reaching out to love others?
3. According to I Corinthians 13:4-8, what are some of the characteristics of God’s love?
4. Have you loved like this? If so, it is God flowing through you.
5. According to Matthew 14:14, what motivated Jesus?
6. What did He do then?
7. Have you ever felt compassion towards someone as Jesus did?
8. Did it move you to act? If so, it was God's love flowing through you.

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