#LoveIs series “Overcoming Evil with Good (Love)” Pastor James -notes & video

#LoveIs Series – week 2

#lccloveis – Your Twitter/Facebook hashtag for the series

Pastor James

“Overcoming Evil With Good (Love)”

If you know God, you know Love.

• 1 John 4:8 NKJV – He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
• Love is God. You can put God in the middle of any situation on earth, just add Love.
  • When evil strikes, add Love.
  • When your spouse strikes, just add Love.
  • When someone obviously came against you, just add Love.
• Capital “L” for God

Pastor Sarah’s one hand up and one out. “L” shape

Just add Love, and allow God

• Romans 12:20-21 (NKJV)- Therefore  If your enemy is hungry, feed him;  If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
  • Since the loss of the head destroys life, this word is used in the phrases relating to capital and extreme punishment.
  • There is obviously something about love/good that evil can’t handle. Evil cannot stand when love is applied. It freaks out. It doesn’t understand how you could choose good.
    • Evil knows that your normal tendency is to do wrong or think wrong. Since the garden, you’ve been like this.
    • He freaks out when you do things that oppose his rule. When you are kind, he freaks. When you are accepting of others insecurities or flaws, he freaks. When you promote someone else, he freaks.
      • It seems as if God is trying to get us disconnected from the correction of the situation, and tied to the Love in it. Of course there is time to correct and help people see right, but many times this is bigger in our mind than just “overcoming evil with good”, adding Love.
        • What if some things were supposed to be left up to God to change and we were just called to let Him in? Sometimes a situation needs a Love injection instead of a correction injection.
        • It actually takes a lot of pressure off of us to let God have His way and work in His timing, when we are called to just add Love.
        • Evil has to change when good is added too it.

Just add Love, and allow God

Stepping back and applying Love, shows faith in something other than you. It puts it out of your hands.

• Loving shows that you’re outside of yourself. It shows extreme trust in the promise and not a reliance on yourself.

1 Peter 4:8 NKJV – And above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins.

1 Corinthians 13 – Love Never Fails

Just add Love, and allow God

• Mom and me example: My mom was one of those really corrective parents. I needed it, and I wasn’t going to change because I wasn’t going to listen. I think I would have taken this route no matter how my mom treated me. But, during the process of me walking away from God and doing my own thing, she didn’t have an in-road. Our relationship was tweaked, and I didn’t talk to her. She didn’t even have an opportunity any longer to add Love.
  • We’ve got to be careful that we’re not pushing people away with our actions, and we’re focusing on loving them instead of just correcting them.
  • Our job is to Love people and help people, overcoming evil with good. God’s job is to change them from the inside out. But, sometimes they need the injection of Love so that God can get in.
  • I’ll tell you, the biggest thing that impacted me during those years were not the fights with my mom, but the letters that she wrote to me saying that she loved me even though my choices were wrong.
    

Overcoming evil with good isn’t for them, it’s for you. Problem is it feels like its for them, and we don’t want too.

• The apology example: I was in the wrong one time…and knew that I needed to apologize. I was asking God to at least have this person say “well, I was wrong too.” Didn’t happen. They were totally in agreement that I was in the wrong. They wanted to rub my nose in it a bit. But, I understood that it wasn’t for them anyway, it was for me. I had to clear myself from it with an apology. So, I got through it, even though I was biting my tongue the whole time.
• The enemy loses control when you treat situations with Love. Remember, even if you don’t see the results right away, when you treat a situation with Love, it puts it in Gods hands and not the enemy’s any longer.
• The burden lifts

When we act in Love, we confuse hell. They don’t know what hit ‘em.

• I can see Satan asking his devils, “Wait, what just happened? Speak into my good ear. Are you telling me that they didn’t react with their emotions? They acted out of Love???”
• The enemy thinks he has creation all figured out. Do negative to them, get a negative response.

Love looks weak. Love doesn’t seem to change things immediately.

But, just add Love, and allow God

Lady takes cuts at the supermarket on purpose but acts like she doesn’t see you.

• She deserves a dirty look and maybe even a quick lesson in manors.
• But what happens if you were to get what you deserve?
• Hell freaks out when you smile and forgive her in your heart without her asking for forgiveness.
  • “well, she didn’t ask for forgiveness.” or, “she didn’t handle it according to the Word, so until then I don’t need to forgive her.” WRONG. If you remember, we didn’t ask for forgiveness when Jesus put Himself on that cross.
    • Make a game of it: I like to make up stories in my head of what she might be going through, so that I can forgive and move on.
    • Since when did I become the governor of everything that is good? Who gave me the title of judge in everyone else’s life? Get out of pointing the Law at everyone, and it won’t be pointed at you either.
    • Matthew 7:1, 2 NKJV – Judge  not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
      • I want to free you from something today…your convictions are for you, not for everyone else. You don’t have to police everyone else’s actions and intents.
      • Many times we can’t help ourselves from putting our own convictions on others, but it really traps us from being able to believe the best and Love completely.
      • 1 Corinthians 13:3 NKJV – And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
        • The physical, all kinds of good is what you’re doing, but your not walking in Love.

• Bible heroes:
  • Peter – denied Jesus three times when He needed him the most
  • Jacob - the third of the patriarchs – in Matthew he is listed as one of the top three (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) Don’t you recall that he lied and deceived throughout his life to even get the blessing that didn’t belong to him? He changed his name and could have referenced him as Israel.
  • Paul – killing Gods guys under the name of Saul.
• God called them all to greatness, and it wasn’t about their past, but their future. He saw greatness in them. Just add Love, and allow God

The greatest spiritual warfare is not going around rebuking and cursing the devil or other people, rather it is walking in Love

Just add Love, and allow God

• Romans 5:5 (NKJV) – Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
  • All the love that you need has already been given, but we’ve been stingy with it.
  • Remember, Pastor Sarah said last week that God gave us all the salt that we need, but it’s our job to be a “salt shaker“.

• Luke 6:27, 28 (NKJV) – But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,  bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.
  • Owner of lease house- very unreasonable, had a very big opportunity to really make this ugly and be right about it. But, chose to bless him. Tracy and I prayed for him.
    • Read email from him about getting closer to Jesus and replacing the carpet.

Just add Love, and allow God

Keys to overcoming evil with good:

• Realize that a lot of the issues we have with each other are not intentional they are a result of human error: misunderstanding, misconception, not hearing appropriately, reading body language wrong.
  • Example of thinking that someone meant something that they didn’t

Just add Love, and allow God

• Don’t take things so personal
  • Water off a duck
  • Let it go. The quicker you let it go, the quicker the situation can heal and become whole once again.

Just add Love, and allow God

• Try to see from another perspective
  • I love people enough that I’m going to look from a different perspective
  • The lady the took cuts at Walmart example
  • If you can’t seem to get past it, give it to God. Let Him know that it’s on Him and He’s got His work cut out for Him on that person.

Just add Love, and allow God

• Realize the enemy is waiting to draw you into anger and strife- Don’t let Him!
  • I remember one day when I was mad at someone and running through how the conversation with them was going to go. I was mumbling to myself and thinking through the different points it could go to and my response. I was so wound up in the conversation that I lost track of where I was going and ended up 10 miles out of the way.
  • One other time, I got so sidetracked that I ended up running a red light and getting a ticket.
  • Instead of thinking about it until we’re sick…we can add Love to a situation, we get caught up in how we can win or get even.
    • It’s pride. Selfishness. About us rather than resolve.

• Promise: Mark 4:22 NKJV – For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.
  • So, why do we think that we were called to expose this? Maybe Love naturally exposes this in God’s timing as to not lose a sheep.
• Exodus: “eye for an eye” – it wasn’t meant their the way you wish it was.
  • Matthew 5:28, 29 NKJV – But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

• God has a great plan for your life! It’s not tied to others, or what they are doing. It’s tied to you, because God loves you.
• You treat people with Love, and God thanks you. He needs an in-road, and your Love is it.

Story:

• A Dad gave his kidney to his daughter- what a great example of Love, but it’s still a human example. I think about God, and how much Love He had for me to give His Son.
  • We all go “wow”, at the kidney story. He didn’t stop and say, “Well, if you would have done this and that, I’d give you my kidney.” He jumped in and said, “Take it,” before he even asked what his life might look like after giving away a kidney.
• John Q- giving his son his heart. He didn’t step back and say, well I would make wiser choices with it, so I think I’ll keep it.
  • I’ll add Love, and God will have to do the rest

Jesus: I’m so glad Jesus didn’t tell God He wouldn’t come due to us being so undeserving.  He jumped right in, and said “I’ll go, I love them. I’ll be the partaker of all this hurt, even though most of them don’t even believe.” Jesus added Love, and allowed God.

Just add Love, and allow God

(1 Corinthians 13:1-8 NKJV) – Love Never Fails!

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