Fight, Fight, Fight For Love: Ephesians 3:16-21 (Love)

Read Galatians 5:22-23:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

Are you ready to make an investment in the Fruit of Love?

Take a deep breath and then read Ephesians 3:16-21:

"I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen."

Allow this word to penetrate. Read it again until you feel that you have fully digested it.

Select 'Successful' when you are finished.

The Width of God's Love: He willingly separated Himself from whom He loved most-His precious and only begotten Son, Jesus Christ (John 3:16).

Who do you love most? How much anguish would you experience if you were called upon to willingly separate yourself from them?

The Length of God's Love: He not only let go of who He most loved, He did so knowing that the separation would cause His son to go through immense pain and suffering and that He would have to watch him go through it (Matthew 27:45-46 & Psalm 22:1).

How much anguish would you experience if you were called upon to watch the person you love most go through that same level of pain and suffering?

The Height of God's Love: Then, while His son was undergoing the height of pain and suffering, the Father had to listen to His son's cries and NOT help or, for the first time, even respond. Moreover, The Father had to watch His son experience, what must have appeared to him to be, the Father's total rejection at his greatest time of need.

Have you ever needed to demonstrate this kind of love to someone? Has someone ever demonstrated this level of love to you? If so, describe what happened.

The Depth of His Love: He didn't respond to His son's cries so that the son could realize the glory that was uniquely his.

Consider the following illustration: imagine, if at a critical moment in your life's mission, you were faced with a challenge that made you wonder if you were capable of succeeding on your own. Suddenly, your father shows up and bails you out of your difficulty. How would that effect your sense of accomplishment? Would you be free to receive the glory of the accomplishment or would you always live with the uncertainty of not knowing whether you could have overcome the difficulties on your own?

Can you see how a loving father, confident in his son's capabilities and believing in his son even more that the son believes in himself, would withhold his help to give the son the gift of receiving his own glory?

How much does this illustration help you understand the depth of God's love?

What did you learn about the character of God's love that you didn't previously understand?

What are the areas of your life where you feel that God is not showing up as you had hoped? Be specific.

How much do you agree that what can appear to be God's rejection of us, is actually His love for us?

Read Hebrews 12:2:

"...looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Select 'Successful' when you are finished.

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the joy and glory that God has set before you.

You can write down what you receive in the space provided.

Now take a moment to apply what you have just learned about the character of God's love to the circumstances in your life where you are experiencing rejection.

Describe how you believe God is going to redeem your rejection, pain, and suffering.

Now, having received a deeper revelation of God's unfailing love for you, are you ready to FIGHT to hold onto what you have just gained?

Our enemy is very quick to use the difficulties we encounter in life, and the feelings of loss and rejection that come with those difficulties, to try and separate us from the love of God.

He does this by attempting to get us to agree with his lies about God's love and character. Here are some of the lies our enemy uses against us when we are most vulnerable:

a) God has forsaken you
b) God doesn't love you
c) God is judging you for your sins
d) God is not real
e) God is not powerful enough to do anything about your difficulties
f) God isn't aware of your circumstances or doesn't care about them
g) God doesn't have time for you
h) God is unkind
i) God is good to others, but he will fail you

Write down the lies the enemy uses against you when you are experiencing rejection.

You can fight back by actively rebuking the lies the enemy is using to "steal, kill and destroy" the love and abundant life God has set aside for you. (Note: Webster's dictionary defines the word "rebuke" as: "to turn back or keep down".)

Take the lies the enemy is using to condemn and reject you and write down the exact opposite sentence. For example, if the lie is "God isn't aware of my circumstances or doesn't care about them", turn that into "God knows every detail of my current circumstances and He is with me right now, in all His power, to help me through them."

Use the space provided to fight back.

Now let's bring out the heavy artillery and fight back with even greater force and authority! Go to your Bible or to 'DOCUMENTS' to find Bible verses that back up your rebuke(s) of the enemy's lies. Once you have found the verses you are looking for, use each verse to continue to rebuke the enemy's lies and condemnation. Consider, preceding each verse with 'For it is written..."

You must be willing to fight, through the power of Christ who lives within you, to take back what is rightfully yours!

If you wish, you can write the verse(s) in the space provided.

Now, having done battle, how much more are you experiencing God's love for you?