When I counsel with people, I often hear them
say something like this. You know, Chip, I know
God loves me, but I just don't feel it. He feels
so far away, even though intellectually, I know
He loves me. How do I get that sense of God's
love? Well, if that's you, stick around. We're
going to learn how to experience God's love today.
Thank you for being with us for this edition
of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Chip
serves as our Bible teacher for this global teaching
and discipleship ministry, helping Christians
develop an authentic faith. Today, we're picking
up where Chip left off last time in our series,
The Real God. And we hope you've enjoyed and
learned a lot from this study into the core attributes
of our great God. And to help others learn as
you have, would you take a minute after this
program and share this series with someone? You
can do that easily through the Chip Ingram app
or from wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks
for spreading the word on how our ministry is
impacting you. All right, if you're ready, here's
Chip with part two of his message, The Love of
God. The second evidence is providence. And this
is not so much a theological word as that he
shows kindness. It's God's kindness to all men.
As Christians, sometimes we kind of get the idea
that God loves us, but we get a little ticked
off when he loves other people. We do. We really
do. You know, it's us for no more club. Matthew
chapter five, verses 44 and 45, Jesus speaking
sermon on the mount. But I tell you, love your
enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be sons of your father in heaven.
He causes a son to rise on the evil and the good,
and he sends rain on the righteous and on the
unrighteous. The apostle Paul, same idea as he's
speaking that classic Acts 17. And among all
the intellectuals, he's giving his message on
Mars Hill. And he says, verse 24, the God who
made the world and everything in it is the Lord
of heaven and earth. And he doesn't live in temples
built by hands. And he's not served by human
hands as if he needed anything because he himself
gives all men life and breath and everything
else. God gives all men. The most evil people,
breath and life and everything else. From one
man, he made every nation of men that they should
inhabit the whole earth. And he determined the
time set for them and the exact places where
they should live. God did this so that men would
seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find
him, though he is not far from each one of us.
I would just remind you that the evidence of
God's love is he shows, His kindness to all people.
He loves not just those who are righteous. He
loves the unrighteous. He loves the evil. Why?
He's longing and creating and giving rain and
joy. Non -Christians have great weddings. Non
-Christians have babies. Non -Christians fall
in love. Non -Christians have great promotions.
Non -Christians develop new patents. They're
scientists. They're artists. They have this creative
DNA given by God and they experience the joys
of life. And it's all intended so they would
say, who gives this all to me? That they might
reach out and touch him and find him. Why? Because
they matter. Because he loves them. The third
way that God expresses his love is through the
incarnation. He's literally proactively pursuing
you. Jesus' mission statement is in Luke 19 .10.
For the son of man came to seek and to save that
which was lost. John 4, we have the woman at
the well. And should we worship on this mountain
or that mountain? And she's, you know, had five
husbands and is shacking up with someone now.
And they have a spiritual conversation and Jesus
breaks every cultural taboo. And he says, I've
got living water for you. I've got life for you.
It's not when you clean up your act. She was
totally rejected by her culture. That's why she
was out during that time of the day. And then
what does he say? The father is seeking, literally
study the word, is pursuing those who will worship
him in spirit and in truth. Jesus came, he left
all the glory of heaven. Myriads and myriads
and myriads and myriads of angels worshiping
him. He takes on human flesh, lives on a dirty
planet, is rejected by men. His life explains
what the father is like. Why? To pursue you.
We don't know what God is like. He's invisible.
What's he like? How does he think? How does he
treat people that are desperate? How does he
treat people that have been so wicked, so perverted,
so sinful? I mean, especially then, five husbands
and living with someone? What would God think
of someone like that? He would think, I would
love to give you some living water. I'd love
to forgive you. See, what I know is you were
looking for love in all the wrong places. You
were looking to fill the hole in your heart with
men and you found that five couldn't do it. And
probably the guy you have in doing it now, you
were looking for significance and you were looking
for security and you were looking to be whole.
What you didn't know is you were looking for
me, but you just couldn't see me and you didn't
know about me. And I want you to know, I have
a free gift for you that's available now. Not
if you do something, not because you will do
something because I love you. That's how God
feels. And he pursues us. Many of you, and I
don't kind of know your background, but I think
the very first time, do you remember the first
time, like maybe it was junior high or maybe
it was high school or some of you were advanced,
maybe late elementary. I didn't really get into
the whole girl -guy thing until late junior high.
All I cared about was a basketball or hitting
a baseball and, you know, girls, girls, girls.
About ninth grade, girls. Whoa, you know, pretty
cool, you know? Up until then, it was, you know,
how many hits did I get and how many points did
I score? And then about ninth grade, whoo, you
know? And do you remember the first time Mary
told Sally that told Phil that told Bobby that
Judy liked you? Do you remember that? Remember
how good it felt? You know, and then you kind
of walk down the hall. Of course, no one does
it. You know, you do it through the chain. And
so then you walk by and then you see her. Really?
And didn't it feel awesome to be pursued, huh?
Do you remember some of you guys, gals, do you
remember the first time you got on a sandlot
and you started playing some sort of ball, baseball,
basketball, this or that, and someone, they're
choosing up sides, and you know, someone goes,
hey, you, I want you on my team. Remember how
good that felt? You ever have someone come to
you and say, I know you like your job here. I'll
pay you $10 ,000 more. I'll tell you what, man,
you are one of the most competent people we've
ever seen. We think you could be a great part
of our company. Do you remember how good that
felt? Do you understand that the God of the universe
demonstrates his love for you? He's pursuing
you. He made you for himself. You are the object
of his love well before you came to Christ and
he's pursuing you. That's why Jesus took on human.
That's the incarnation. He took on human flesh
so he could come and pursue you for relationship
with himself. That's how much he loves you. Let's
get this moving from our head down to our heart.
The fourth way that he reveals his love is through
discipline. We don't really like this one so
much. Hebrews 12, six says, because the Lord
disciplines those he loves and he punishes everyone
he accepts as a son. The word punished there
literally, it's not the idea of a punitive idea
nearly as much as it's the idea of as he harshly
corrects or brings about correction for a desired
result. I majored in psychology in graduate school
and in undergraduate along with education. And
I had to write a research paper for a thesis
that I did. And one of the thesis that I did
is I looked up all the things in terms of the
effective role and responsibility of a father
in the family. And so I did all this sociological
and psychological study about what a dad brings.
And in my study, you know, you got to do all
this empirical research and all these control
studies and read all these papers. And it was
really interesting the number of studies that
have been done on juvenile delinquents. And they
do an interviewing process and they find out
what made you feel loved growing up. You know
what number one or two was in a number of the
studies? I knew my parents loved me when they
disciplined me. You see, when you have a mom
or dad who says, hey, what time do I need to
be in? I don't care. Just lock the door when
you get in. I don't care. When you talk back
to a parent and you do things that are disrespectful
and they just yell back at you and now you have
two kids acting like fools toward one another,
they don't care. It's just unbelievable, the
families. Here's how they parent. All they do
is they just, here's 20 bucks. Here's 100 bucks.
Here's 200 bucks. Tell you what, go to the mall,
do whatever you want to do. Just get the heck
out of my hair. And when they do things that
are wrong, you know what? There's no consequences.
And you know what kids know? If you don't care
enough to confront me, if you don't care enough
to give me what I need instead of what I want,
you don't love me. And you know, God shows his
love for you is he will selectively. Correct
you. And I don't like it and you don't like it,
but it's an evidence of his love. The fifth way
he reveals his love is by the Holy Spirit. He
supernaturally pours his love into our hearts.
Romans 5, 5 says, and hope doesn't disappoint
us because God has poured out his love into our
hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given
us. This is that spirit. The moment you come
to Christ, you do understand what happens. You
know, you are an unbeliever like I was an unbeliever.
You understand the gospel. You realize Christ
died in your place for your sin. You repent.
That means you have a change of mind and you
recognize what's true about you. And you say
with empty hands, I want to receive the free
gift by faith of grace. The moment I receive
Jesus Christ, put my trust in his work and his
resurrection, the spirit of God enters my life.
Ephesians 1, I've sealed with the spirit. I'm
adopted into God's family. I'm baptized into
this thing called the church. Spiritual gifts
are deposited in me. I have an inheritance that
will never change. And I'm now a part of God's
family. And the Holy Spirit takes up residence
in me. That's why I'm his temple. And then what
he will do, the spirit of God, remember he says
to the disciples, you can't take in everything,
but the spirit when he comes will lead you into
all truth. That's the last night. You remember
the very last night he said, I am with you now,
but it's better that I go because I won't just
be with you. I will be in you. And the Father
will come and I will come. And as just as I am
in the Father and the Father is in me, so we
will come and we will be in you. How? By the
Holy Spirit. And so the Spirit of God dwelling
in us will take the word. And you've had it happen.
He pours out the love of God. I remember late
one night, I was dating a girl that I was sure
I was going to marry. And her life was going
this way and she was a believer. And my life
was going this way. And it just, it was a lordship
issue and it wasn't some big breakup. I just
knew that, you know, she was convinced that we
were supposed to, you know, after college get
married and, and, you know, she was the only
child and live in this little town and in outside
of West Virginia on the higher river and, and
then live right next to her parents. And I felt
the call of God on my life. And, but man, I'm
telling you, I loved her. And I just, I mean,
I was heartbroken. And so we, you know, I said,
you know, lordship. I mean, lordship is doing
what's right whether you feel like it or not.
I mean, it doesn't have a whole lot to do with
how you feel. Most of the best obedience in my
life, I'm telling you, I didn't want to do. But
I don't feel bad about it. Jesus didn't want
to do his either. In the garden, I don't hear
Jesus saying, Father, thank you. This is the
hour which we planned on for the foundations
of the earth. I'm really excited about this one.
High five the Holy Spirit for me. Hey, let's
go. What I hear is, Father, if there's any other
way, if there's a plan B in the mind of the Godhead,
let's go with it now. Nevertheless, you demonstrate
your love for God. What? How? Obedience. John
14, 21. He that has my commandments and keeps
them, he it is that loves me, and he that loves
me will love my Father. And then what happens?
And we will come and we will reveal or manifest
ourself to him. You're listening to Living on
the Edge. Before we hear the rest of Chip's message,
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.org to give a gift. Thanks so much for your
support. We'll hear again as Chip. And so we
go our separate ways. And one night, You know,
we've broken up, but I mean, like, I'm used to,
for like a couple, three years, home basketball
game, hair's wet, come up the stairs, and she's
always there right on the rail. She grabs my
arm. I feel like a special guy. Go over to the
student union, get a Coke, da -da -da. Just great
relationship. Well, we break up for three or
four or five months, and I'm praying. I'm going,
oh, God, change your heart. Help her to see a
vision for the world. And, you know, I'm crying,
and I don't want to see anybody, and I'm in my
pity party. And, oh, God, it's so hard to follow
you. There'll never be anybody like this, this
good ever, ever. You know, I'm not kidding. I
was a whiny wimpy. And, I mean, I was depressed.
You know, a guy like me loses weight, you got
problems. You know? And so, you know, I'm praying
and I'm believing God's going to do something.
He's going to bring her back to me. So I come
out of the locker room, hair's wet, you know,
we lost another game. That wasn't good. And I
come up the stairs and there she is. And I'm
thinking, yes, God, thank you so much. So I come
up the stairs and then she's got that look like,
there's something wrong about this. And I said,
hi. And I said her name. Hi, how you doing? And
there was a sort of this little standoffish.
And then a guy came up the stairs. It was another
guard on the team. Ladies, you don't know, but
guys, you know how you talk in the locker room
and you kind of know the score, where guys are
at, what they do, why they do it, all that jazz?
Man, this dude's a snake. Okay? I mean, he's
a snake. And he walks right by me, and he goes
out the door, and they go out arm in arm. And
I remember walking across campus being as mad
at God as ever. Boy, I mean, I was mad. I mean,
I was so mad. I told God, either you speak to
me, you speak to me. I cannot believe you would
do this to me. And I went over and I went over
and I said, okay, I'm going to, okay, I'm going
to read wherever I'm reading and you better speak
to me. I'm serious. I mean, literally, the words
came to me. I feel like a beast inside. I mean,
it was so angry and so disappointed. And so I
read Psalm 71. He didn't speak. Okay. Psalm 72.
He didn't speak. I mean, I figure you ought to
keep reading where you are. You start jumping
around, you'll try and make God speak to you.
I opened Psalm 73. I'm telling you, I read Psalm
73 and I have never audibly heard the voice of
God that could not have been the Holy Spirit
pouring out his love more clearly, more powerfully
in all my life. It was scary. The very thoughts
that I had, the very phrases out of my mind,
the things that I said, the very core issues.
I read Psalm 73 and I wept like a baby in my
room. God understood. And he had a plan. You
see, one of the ways God will love you is the
Holy Spirit will be poured out. And the way he'll
do it is that sometimes it'll do it through his
word. Sometimes I was in India shortly. And I
mean, it was such a dark time in the middle of
the night and spiritual opposition and all this
tsunami. And I couldn't sleep. And there's all
the spiritual warfare going on in the middle
of the night. I just started, I put on my tape
player. I just started to sing. God, I just,
I feel so alone and so far away. And this is
so scary. And I just began to sing. of God just
came into the room and poured the love of God.
I just felt like he put his arms around me. I've
been in an ICU before where I thought, oh, one
of my boys is going to die. And I begged God
and I pleaded with God and the spirit, you've
been there. You've had these, haven't you? The
final way is through his son. Jesus reveals the
nature of God's love for us through his son.
Jesus modeled compassion, grace, and truth, right?
Just the life of Jesus. He shows us the father's
love by how he responds to children, by how he
feeds people, by how he has compassion on Jairus'
daughter, how he stops with the widow and it's
her only son and he raises him from the dead,
by how he forgives. He reveals his love by his
teaching. And he explains, I mean, if you want
to know how Jesus feels about people, Luke 15,
why are you hanging out with those sinners and
those bad people? And so he tells them a parable
and he tells them the three familiar stories,
lost sheep, lost coin, lost son. You know the
story. And the picture is the father waiting
for the son to return. To do what? He goes out
every day. Is he here yet? Is he here yet? Is
he okay? It's the picture of someone pursuing
and seeking and searching and the sheep comes
back on the shoulders and the coin is found and
there's a party and the son returns and there's
life. His teaching told us about the love of
God and his death demonstrated the extent of
God's love. This is how we know what love is.
Jesus Christ laid down his life for us and we
ought to lay down our lives for one another.
But God demonstrated his own love for us, Romans
5, 8, that why we were yet sinners. You know,
there is no performance. We're his enemies then,
right? Why we're yet sinners, Christ died for
us. Do you sense the need to kind of just get
some of these truths soaking? You know, my mom
used to, She was a school teacher, and so she
had trouble trying to get dinner on the table.
And when those crockpots were invented, like
my mom went nuts. I mean, it was like, whoa.
And she could put a piece of meat and potatoes
and carrots and just like anything in the refrigerator
and put it in this crockpot, and then she would
turn it on, and it would simmer and simmer and
simmer all day, sometimes 10 or 12 hours. And
then it was great. And you know what will take
these truths from the 18 inches from here to
here? You need to take these truths and these
notes and some of these word pictures and you
need to put it in a spiritual crock pot. And
rather than trying hard to force it in, God,
help me believe that you love me, please, please,
please, you know, just put them in the spiritual
crock pot. In fact, for me, I put them on three
by five cards and, you know, I'll read them and
read a verse and then thank God that this is,
you know, and so much of it, please don't get
hung up on your emotions. We are so emotionally
bound. Well, I don't feel like he loves me. Well,
okay, get over it. I mean, you know what? I don't
either. But the people that love me, I don't
want one guy to say, oh, I really feel good about
you, Chip, but I can't help you. I'd rather the
other guy say, I don't feel so good about you,
but here's a hundred bucks to solve your problem
or I'll pull your car out of the ditch. You see,
we need to begin to understand. It's not a ooey
gooey emotional love. It's a objective reality
of how God actually thinks and feels that you
actually possess. And when you get your mind
renewed and you begin to respond in worship,
I will tell you that then you will emotively
begin to experience more and more the love of
God as the spirit of God pours it into your heart.
But it's a journey and it's a process. An object's
value is always determined by the price paid
for it. To God, you are worth the price of his
son's death in your place. God loves you. How
do you receive it? You must respond to God's
love in three specific ways. One, you receive
it by faith in your heart. John 3, 16, for God
so loved the world that he gave his only begotten
son that whosoever, you need to be a whosoever.
You need to be one of those people who receive
it. John 1 .12 says, yet to all who receive him,
Jesus, to those who believe in his name, he gave
the right to become children of God. If there's
anybody that has never received and jumped into
the liquid ocean of love of the God I've described,
just receive him. Just say, Lord Jesus, I want
you. I get it. Come into my life. The second
thing to experience God love is we must believe
it by faith in our minds. You receive him by
faith in your heart. And then we must go through
the journey that I've been talking about of believing
it by faith in our minds. 1 John 4, 13 through
16 says, we know that we live in him and he in
us because he's given us of his spirit. And we
have seen and testified that the father has sent
his son to be the savior of the world. If anyone
acknowledges that Jesus is a son of God, God
lives in him and he in God. And so we know and
rely on the love that God has for us. Did you
hear that? We know objectively and we rely on
God's love. How do you know and rely? How does
it work? Let me give you three real specific
ways. The way you begin to get this process operating
where it moves from here in your head to your
heart is you saturate your mind in the truth
of God's love for you. I've put a very, very
important passage, Romans 8, 28 through about
39. You know, it's the passage about neither
death nor life nor angels nor principalities
nor things present or things to come. Nothing
can separate you from the love of Christ. Nothing.
So you saturate your mind with God's truth about
this. And that's why I talked about whether it's
three by five cards or being in the scriptures
or praying these back to the Lord. Second, ask
God to help you grasp his love for you. I don't
know what you pray or who you pray for, but the
apostle Paul in Ephesians 3 gives us a great
example. When he's praying for a group of people,
what's he pray? He says, God, I pray for this
group of people right here. What do I pray? I
pray that you will strengthen them in their inner
man. so that they could by faith grasp the extent
of your love for them. What's he praying? God,
I want you to do something to take it from here
down to here. Ask God, pray for yourself. Lord,
help me grasp that you love me. Lord, I want
to even feel it. Lord, help me to take all those
messages and false kinds of loves and all the
baggage that I have and wipe it away. Please
help me experience and know your love. Do you
think he'll answer that prayer? You know for
sure it's his will. So you saturate your mind
with truth. You ask him. And then third, refuse
to seek love and cheap substitutes. This is the
woman at the well. And it's all of us in here
to some degree or another. And 1 John 2, 15 and
16 says, notice the word, do not love the world
or the things that are in the world. The lust
of the flesh, the lust of the eyes. The boastful
pride of life. It's not from the father, it's
from the world. But he who does the will of God
abides forever. And those are the three things
that trip everybody up all the time. There is
a sensual lust. There's a desire for more stuff.
And there's a desire for ego to be a somebody.
But you know, what's behind those? What's behind
those is this desire to be loved, to be significant,
secure. to matter. And they're just cheap substitutes.
It's the world promising you, you'll get loved
if you do this. You'll get loved if you act like
this. You'll get loved if you have this much
money. You'll get loved if your body looks like
this. You'll get loved if you can just get, you
know, serve everybody all the time, be super,
super Christian who never says no to anybody
and has absolutely whacked out life and they'll
give you all these strokes and it'll feel like
love. They're all cheap substitutes. God says,
refuse them. And what seals the deal is after
you receive it and believe it, we must bestow
it by faith through our wills. See, the way you
really get is to give. And there's a command.
I mean, this isn't one of the options. John 13,
remember last night with the disciples? A new
commandment I've given to you that you love one
another. How? Just as I've loved you. How's that?
Sacrificial, unconditional, by giving. And then
there's a calling. Jesus laid down his life for
us. We should what? Lay down our lives for one
another. And then there's a promise. I do not
understand this, people. I don't understand it
at all. But when I willfully choose, whether
I feel like it or not, to give my time and give
my money and give my gifts and give my attention
and give my care, after I have taken a drink,
or taken my water bottle, or backed up my truck
into the ocean of God's liquid love, and I begin
to just spray it out radically to other people,
all I can tell you is it creates a spiritual
vacuum. And the more I give it out, the more
God gives to me. And the more I give it out,
the more I get it back. And many of us are spending
our lives seeking to experience God's love. And
the catalyst or the action point will be when
you stop asking, who loves me? Who didn't say
hi to me? Am I okay? And you start asking, who
needs a friend? Who needs some help? Who needs
some love? Who needs a listening ear? Who needs
a phone call? Who needs a little money that we'll
never know where it came from? And I'm just telling
you, give and it'll be given unto you. Good measure,
pressed down, shaken together, running back into
your lap. So if you love with a teaspoon, you
get a teaspoon of love back. You love with a
tablespoon, you get a tablespoon back. You love
with a gallon jug, you get a gallon jug back.
Stick that tanker into the ocean and start going.
And your life might get downright scary. When
I taught this message, I literally stopped and
gave people time to think. And I want to stop
for you. Wouldn't it be a tragedy to fill our
hearts and minds with all this information about
God and know that He loves us intellectually
and not take the time at this moment in your
history and stop and respond to the love of God?
What is God doing in your heart? If you are outside
of Christ, if you've heard about his love and
you've learned about the cross, you've heard
about the payment for sin, you've heard about
the resurrection, you've heard that you are the
object of his love, are you willing today to
receive it? That's the first step. Are you willing
to admit that you fall short, turn from your
sin, and right now, in this moment, Lift up the
empty hands of faith and cry out and say, Lord
Jesus, save me, forgive me, cleanse me. I believe
you died for me. Do it right now. In your own
words, talk with God and then tell someone today,
I pray to receive Christ. I receive God's love.
If you're a believer, are you going to start
believing that God really loves you? Are you
going to get rid of some of that baggage and
go into, I mean, a study and a commitment to
believe in your mind, saturating your mind with
the truth, getting involved in community, refusing
to believe all those lies, get counseling, do
whatever you need to do to begin to bank your
life on the reality that God loves you. And by
way of application, I would say, I can't think
of a better series that we offer to get a group
of people together and meet in a coffee shop
or a living room with a group of men, a group
of women, or maybe as couples and say, you know
what? Unless we get clear on who God really is,
we're never going to get right with him or anybody
else. And then do a little Bible study, hold
one another accountable and say, we're going
to get to know you, God. Finally, you've got
to bestow God's love. You may have a pretty accurate
picture of him, and my challenge to you, especially
mature believers, is let's get outside of ourselves
and let the world know there's happy news, there's
forgiveness, there's restoration, there's power.
Believers, let's lift our heads and get involved
with people that maybe we're uncomfortable with,
and let's love them. They're not going to know
God is love unless we, his children, model it.
Are you willing to do something radical? I mean,
love them the way Jesus loved them. Father, thank
you for this great study of who you are. May
we grasp it with clarity. May we receive your
forgiveness. May we believe on a daily basis
accurately who you are. And then will you use
us as instruments and conduits of the supernatural
love of God Almighty through our Lord Jesus Christ.
It's in his name we pray. Amen. If you just prayed
to receive Christ with Chip, we have a free resource
we'd like to put in your hands that was uniquely
created for new believers. This tool will help
you understand what it means to trust in Jesus
and what to do next. Request this free resource
by calling 888 -333 -6003 or by visiting livingontheedge
.org and clicking the New Believers button. That's
livingontheedge .org or call 888 -333 -6003.
Let us help you get started in your faith journey.
Well, for Chip and the entire team, this is Dave
Drewy thanking you for listening to this edition
of Living on the Edge, and I hope you'll join
us again next time.