Creflo Dollar - The Victorious Power Of Love
I wanna deal with the victorious power of love. I wanna show you the victory that's involved in people who understand that they are loved by God and the victory that comes in the life of people who are loved by God and they know that they're loved by God. It's faith in how much God loves you. It's not as much as what people say, "Well, you know, I love God by faith". No, it's having faith in the love that God has for you, and so I wanna start off with Romans chapter 8, verse 31 through 32 tonight, and we're gonna look at the victory that's involved in the power of love, and this is gonna change your life. And love you guys, miss you so much, and, hey, all is well. Amen? All is well.
Romans chapter 8, verse 31. I'm gonna read 31 and 32. He says, "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things"? Now, I want you to go back to verse 31, and I wanna settle something here in 31. He said, "If God be for us, who can be against us"? Now, I know it has a question mark at the end, but I wanna remove the question right now. God is for you. Say that out loud. Say, "God is for me". Say it again. "God is for me". No, this is not a question, wondering if God is for you. God is for me. Say it again. "God is for me".
Now, in the Old Testament there were times that God was against his people under the law. Under the law, there were times, you can find it under the law where there were times where God was against his people, but what Jesus did on the cross forever put God on our side. God is for us forever. And if God is for us, who can be against us? And let's take the question out. God is for us, so nothing can be against us. God is for us, so unemployment can't be against us. So, sickness cannot be against us because God is for us, so whatever the devil throws across your path, God will turn it around. And you catch hold of that right now.
Whatever the devil throws across your path, God will turn it around, so now listen to this. When God is for you, what seems like a stumbling block, God turns it into a stepping stone. I mean, you gotta understand you serve the type of God who will take lemon, lemons, and turn it into lemonade, praise God. He'll take apples and make apple pie out of it, glory be to Jesus, and so you understand that times of recession will become times of progression for you who God is for. And so, you don't have to get all, you know, worried about the recession. God's gonna turn it into a progression for you. God is always for us. He is never against us because of the blood of Jesus. He is never against us. I don't care what's happening, what goes on. He is always for us, and he is never against us.
Now look at verse 32 again. Romans 8:32. He said something here I wanna show you. He says, "He that spareth not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things"? He that spareth not his own Son. Now, if I can recall, we see that same wording in Genesis chapter 22 and verse 2. He that spareth not his own Son. There's something about this. In verse 2 he says, "And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son", "Take now thy son, thine only son", so here is God talking about his only Son, Jesus, and here is Abraham talking about his only son, Isaac. "Whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah", so you see the same phrase found in another way in the book of Genesis chapter 22, so Genesis 22:2, this was Abraham's only darling, beloved son, whom he loved, and for decades, might I add.
Now, look at verse 12 and 13. Genesis 22:12 and 13. Genesis 22:12-13. He says, "And he said, Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou has not withheld", watch this, "thy son, thine only son from me". Verse 13. He says, "And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son". So, God wanted to see if Abraham would give up the one he loved, his son. And then, in Romans 8:32 there was no one to stop God from giving up his Son.
Now, how did God know that Abraham loved him? Because he did not withhold his only son. God knew that Abraham loved him because he did not withhold his only son. Well, how do I know that God loves me? Because he did not withhold Jesus. He did not withhold his only Son. Glory be to God. And remember verse 32. He says with him freely you'll receive all things. With him freely he'll give us all things. You see, when you receive Jesus, you have received freely all things. With Jesus came everything. With Jesus, he is my provision. He is my patience. He is my wisdom. Jesus is my everything, praise God.
Now, God wants us to know that we are deeply and greatly loved. We, the Bible says, are God's beloved. That means you are the one loved by God, and God wants you to feel special. He wants you to feel valued. He wants you to feel loved by him. You can't go around saying, "Well, he caused the coronavirus. That ain't gonna make nobody, you know, feel loved by God". See, miracles will happen for those who will realize that they are God's beloved. Are you ready to realize that today, that you are God's beloved? And the more you sense God's love for you, then the more you'll notice good things happening in your life. Can you sense God's love for you? You see, I believe that you will enjoy the blessings of God when you realize how much you are loved by God.
Now, folks, listen to this now. It's you realizing and you believing and you releasing your faith and knowing that "God loves me". I believe that the quality of life is tied up with you realizing that you are God's object of love. You win the fights of life when you realize that you are the object of God's love. Man, that's powerful, so I want you to do that right now. In the midst of everything that might be surrounding you, I need you to pause, and I need you to realize and to recognize how loved you are by God. In fact, say this out loud. "I believe that I am highly loved by God and that I am his beloved".
Now, go to Ephesians chapter 3. Let's look at verses 14 through 21. Ephesians chapter 3, verse 14 through 21. This is so, so good now. He says, "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ". Verse 15, "Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts", how? "By faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love", my God, "may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and the length, and the depth, and the height". Verse 19, "And to know the love of Christ", to be intimately acquainted with the love of Christ, "which passes knowledge", you just can't even fathom how big this love is for you, "that you might be filled with all the fullness of God".
Now, notice in verse 19, you know, how does one get filled with the fullness of God? How does one get filled with the fullness of God? Well, you know, just a side note here. In 1 Corinthians chapter 13:1, the Bible says that tongues cannot function without you understanding how much God loves you. The tongues can't function without you understanding, and read the entire 1 Corinthians 13:1. Read the whole chapter. Tongues is not gonna work right until you realize and till you understand how much God loves you. Now, a car, for example, it can't run on water. It needs gas. You know God loves me, and I run off that love, and I become whole in my spirit and in my soul and in my body, and I end up healthy, and I end up complete, and I start smiling more. And the more we realize and the more we feed on God's love for us, like a car can't have water and run properly, and I've got to have God's love in order to live properly. And so, the more I realize and feed on God's love for me, that my life becomes at ease, which means no more dis-ease.
And then, look at verse 18 again. Ephesians 3:18. "To know", he says, "You may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and the length, and the depth, and the height", to know the love which is beyond knowing, and as a result you're filled with the fullness of God's love. How deep is it? How wide is it? To know this love and to be so filled with this love. Just by being conscious of God's love for you, you get full of God. Just by being conscious of God's love for you, you get full of God. Look at verse 20. You get full of God. "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in you".
See, when I become consciously aware of God's love for my life, I get full of God. In fact, let me show you something. Somebody says, "Well, how does the Holy Spirit and love relate"? Well, look at Romans 5:5. Romans 5:5. He says, "And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost". Oh, first mention of the Holy Ghost with love. Look at this. "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us".
Look, the Holy Ghost showed up, and the first act of the Holy Spirit was to dump the love of God in our hearts. The Bible says hope does not disappoint. Why? Because of the love of God. I mean, the first time the Holy Spirit is mentioned in the book of Romans is with the love of God. And so, we Charismatics relate the Holy Spirit with only the power of God, but the love of God is the power of God. So, the Holy Spirit wants us to know love, then we'll understand power. The Holy Spirit wants us to know love, then we'll understand signs and wonders. It's not the love for power, but it's the power of love, amen.
So, the first thing that the Holy Spirit wants to establish in your heart is that God loves you. First thing. First thing. God loves you. I mean, there are people who they don't understand this. They don't get this. They think, well, God doesn't love you 'cause of something you didn't do, or something that you should've did. The first thing the Holy Spirit wants to convince us of is that God loves us. Hope doesn't disappoint. Why? Because when you have the love of God, whatever you hope for will come to pass. Hope won't disappoint. Hope won't disappoint. God loves you. God loves you. What you're hoping for is gonna come to pass. God loves you.
Romans 5:5. Your hopes and the love of God for you will equal great victory and great success. Your hope and you believing in that love that God has for you, that's the key. Your hope and you believing in that love that God has for you. So, if you're sick, and you're like, "You know, I'm hoping for healing. Well, I believe God loves me", in other words, you change the way you say that. "Because I believe God loves me, I thank God I'm healed. Because I believe God loves me, I thank God I'm delivered. Because I believe God loves me", and look what happens. Hope will not disappoint, because you believe that God loves you.
Now, when you walk in the love of God, that love that God has for you, you're gonna overcome your troubles. In the midst of all of the stuff that's been happening the last five, six weeks, it's so important that you know that God loves you, that he is not against you, that he is for you. Go back to Romans chapter 8 and verse 37. God's for you, man. Don't let this little thing get into your head that "you know, reason why this happened: 'cause God don't love me, or I must not be doing something right'". You have got to be absolutely, totally convinced in the love that God has for you.
Romans 8:37. Notice what he says here. He says, "Nay, in all these things we're more than conquerors through him that loved us". Yea, in all these things. Yea, in the midst of coronavirus. Yea, in the midst of death. Yea, in the midst of unemployment. Yea, in the midst of insufficiency the Bible says we're more than conquerors through him that loved us. So, there will be troubles, but you will conquer the troubles. In fact, I declare right now you are conquering the trouble. You are not gonna be conquered by the trouble. In fact, you will trouble your trouble. Well, how can you do that? "God loves me. God's got my back. God loves me".
So, you need to start noticing the number of times in the Bible that God addresses us as his beloved, and when God loves you, God doesn't take it back. And he does love you. We took the question out. He is for you. We took the question out. God is for you. You see, everything that the devil does is to destroy that sense that God loves you. That's what he's after. He wants to get you to the point where, I mean, for some reason you let it get in your head somehow that God doesn't love you. Your sense of belovedness is what the enemy is after, and Satan uses religious teachings, religious teachers to bring condemnation. He uses the law. He use accusations, bringing up your past, trying to make you feel that God rejects you and that God doesn't want anything to do with you, and, you know, God fell outta love with you.
And, finally, you let it come out your mouth. "Well, maybe God don't love me no more since this happened". No, God is love. He don't just have it. He is love. The devil has no defense at all towards those that know that they are God's beloved. What is he gonna do? What is he gonna do in the life of people who know that "I am greatly beloved by God, that I am highly loved and favored by God Almighty"? He has no defense. There is nothing the devil can do when he bumps into a Christian that is absolutely convinced that God loves him.
And, you know, I've found in times in my life I didn't know why certain things were happening, and I didn't sit there and meditate on what was happening. I immediately shifted over to, "God loves me, and I know it. God loves me, and I know it". The most powerful things that I've seen happen in my life is when I just shifted my thinking over to, "God loves me, and I know it". And maybe you got tears in your eyes, but, "God loves me, and I know it". And maybe you've been fighting depression all day, but, "God loves me, and I know it". Maybe you're trying to figure out what are you gonna do after this is over with because you lost your job. "God loves me, and I know it". Regardless of what's going on, "God loves me, and I know it".
That has assisted me so many times. And I know you're facing the thing. You're looking at the situation. I'm asking you to shift over in your thinking. "God loves me, and I know it. God's gonna take care of me, and I know it". And when you begin to shift that way of thinking, then you begin to see what God is doing. "God loves me, and I know it". You'll see power associated with just that way of thinking. And say it out loud with your mouth. Look at Matthew 3:17, and then Matthew 4:1-3. This is something that's so, so amazing. Verse 17. He says, "And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my", underline this, "beloved Son", this is the one that I love, "in whom I'm well pleased". So, too, you know, God shows up, "My beloved Son", man, you might as well just go ahead and pack your bags, because God got his back.
So, look what happens in Matthew chapter 4. So, he announces Jesus as his beloved Son, and then verses 1 through 3. "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit in the wilderness to be tempted of the devil". And verse 2. "And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered". Verse 3, "And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread". Look at what the enemy is doing. He's trying to attack his belief in the love of God for him. Every temptation is designed to attack your belief. "If thou be the Son of God", Jesus knew exactly who he was, and you and I should know exactly who we are. We should never allow the enemy to come in and whisper things that try to contradict the love that God has for you. I'm telling you it sounds so simple, but it's so powerful, when you can shift over and declare that "God loves me, and I know it".