| Points | 100 |
| Due | October 19, 2022 |
Prompt
Look at the breakdown of Law vs. Grace on p. 147 of Experiencing the Father’s Embrace. Ask Holy Spirit to show you which column you tend to live from in your closest relationships. In that revelation, ask the Lord to show you how you can become even more loving in your closest relationships. Write what He shows you. (Wednesday)
| Law | Grace |
|---|---|
Romans 7:5 |
Ephesians 2:3-8 |
| What is right and fair | An undeserved gift |
| Satan traffics in law | God traffics in grace |
| Satan is the prosecutor | Jesus is our Advocate |
| Satan is negative | God is positive |
| The accuser of the brethren | The Holy Spirit, the Comforter |
| The accuser accuses | The comforter comforts |
| If you sow judgment | If you sow grace |
Eph 4:26-27; Gal 5:19-21 |
Eph 4:29-31; gal 5:22-23 |
| Accusatory thoughts and words | Edifying thoughts and words |
| Criticism | Encouragement |
| Fault-finding/blaming others | Seeing own fault first |
| Dishonor | Honor |
| Demands rights | Yields rights |
| Demands justice | Pronounces innocence |
| Rehearses wounds | Releases wounds |
| Unforgiveness and bitterness | Forgiveness and love |
| Rejects and devalues others | Accepts and values others |
| …you reap the law and release a self-imposed curse | …you reap grace and release God’s blessing |
Ps 109:17-19; Mat 5:22-26 |
1Pet 3:9-13; Mat 5:11-12 |
| Resentment and bitterness | Innocence restored |
| Hardness and anger | Gentleness and meekness |
| Walls/heart of stone | Transparency/openness |
| Dishonor | Honor |
| Unforgiving relationships | Forgiving relationships |
| Pride | Humility |
| Bondage | Liberty |
| Anxiety, stress-related disease | Rest, peace, divine health |
| Wounded life | Healing, wholeness |
| There is no love in law | Mercy triumps over judgment |
Rom 7:5 |
James 2:13 |
Revelation
“You are disinclined to be loved.” The Lord impressed this in the hollows of my essence. I wrestled vainly to understand what these words meant for several days. I know how to love, don’t I? To give, to yield, to endure all things, to count it all as a loss; to let go without resentment, and to receive back again without raising a question — is this not love? The Lord asks, “Have you experienced love?” It is written in Your word, “To know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge” (Eph 3:19). I am versed in the vernacular of the Love language, but I have yet to be embraced by its affection — Love has never illuminated my heart.
Is not love unconditional? Should it not “Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1Cor 13:7)? Should love expects something in return? The Lord asks me, “What love do you have, son?” Lord, is not my love biblical? Is it not categoric and unconditional? Have I not loved only in the interests of others and have not demanded nor expected anything in return (Rom 13:10)? Because I know the Lord is correct, that leaves me in error (Ps 119:75; Deut 32:4). What I possess is the principle of love — not love itself. The law gives me the definition of love, but it can never communicate the Father’s love to my soul. I have adhered strictly to the doctrine of love but have never been mesmerized by it. By the letter of the law, I have loved but have not experienced the power of the Father’s Love (2Cor 3:6; Gal 5:22; 2Tim 1:7).
Lord, help me to know the love of Christ, not with my intellect but through the expression of Your love impressed in every strand of my essence. Let me not love others through the emptiness of my soul but through the abundance and fullness of Your love, flowing freely and uninhibited by my intellect and senses. Lead me by Your river of life where I will thirst no more (Ps 36:8; 16:11; John 7:38).
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