Title: Overcoming Barriers to Experiencing God
1Overcoming Barriers to Experiencing Gods Love
2 The Great CommandmentLove the Lord your God
with all your heart and all your soul and all
your mind...Love your neighbor as
yourself --Matthew 2237-38
3 God wants lovers!
- God wants lovers. Oh, how tepid is the love of
so many who call themselves by His name. How
tepid is our own - my own - in comparison with
the lava fires of his eternal love. I pray that
you may be an ardent lover, the kind of lover who
sets others on fire. - --Amy Carmichael
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5Tevia Do you love me? Golde Do I
what? Tevia Do you love me? Golde For
twenty-five years Ive washed your clothes,
cooked your meals, cleaned your house, given you
children, milked the cow. After twenty-five
years why talk about love right now?
6 Tevia But do you love me? Golde For
twenty-five years Ive lived with him, fought
with him, starved with him. For twenty-five years
my bed is his if thats not love what is?
7Nothing can replace our Love for Jesus
- The first thing which makes a true Christian
minister or missionary or evangelist or preacher
or Sunday School teacher, or leader or Christian
worker of any kind, is not learning, not
eloquence, not wisdom, not organising ability,
not pleasing personality, not even a passion for
souls, but a love-passion for Jesus Himself.
Nothing, nothing, NOTHING, can take the place of
that. All else without that is like withered
flowers. J.Sidlow Baxter
8 - Lovers make better Workers than Workers Do!
9Why Lovers Make Better Workers than Workers do
- No sacrifice is too great for the heart thats on
fire with love - Love is its own reward
- True love despises the recognition for
sacrifices made for love.
Mike Bickle
10Nothing is More Sweet than Love
- A great thing is love, a great good altogether,
which alone makes light all that is burdensome,
and evens out every inequality. For it bears the
burden without being burdened, and makes
everything bitter sweet and tasty. The noble love
of Jesus drives us to the doing of great deeds,
and stirs to the unending longing for greater
perfectionNothing is more sweet than love,
nothing stronger, nothing deeper, nothing wider,
nothing more pleasant, nothing fuller nor better
in heaven
11 - The one who loves flies, runs and is glad he is
free and not bound. He gives all for all, and
has all in all, because he rests in one who is
supreme above all thingsLove watches, and while
sleeping does not sleep, wearied, is not tired,
hemmed in, is not confined, fearful, is not
disturbed, but like a living flame and burning
torch, it bursts upwards and securely passes
through allWiden me in loveLet me be possessed
by loveLet me sing a song of love, let me follow
my beloved on high, let my soul faint in your
praise, exalting in love. Thomas
A Kempis, The Imitation of Christ
12The Character of a Methodist
- Who is a Methodist, according to your own
account? I answer A Methodist is one who has
the love of God shed abroad in his heart by the
Holy Ghost given unto him one who loves the
Lord his God with all his heart, and with all his
soul, and with all his mind and with all his
strength --John Wesley
13Yeshuas Prayer for His Disciples
- I made your name known to them, and will make it
known, so that the love with which you have loved
me may be in them, and I in them.(John 1726)
14For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his
bride has made herself ready Blessed are those
who are invited to the wedding supper of the
Lamb --Rev. 197,9
15Gods Love for Us
Our Love for God and Others
Inflow
Outflow
We love God because God first loved us-- I John
419
16 - The springs of love are in God, not in us. It is
absurd to look for the love of God in our hearts
naturally. It is only when it has been shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy
Spirit --Oswald Chambers
17- The truth is our love runs out
18 - When we fail in personal Christian experience it
is nearly always because we have never received
anything. - --Oswald Chambers
19And I pray that you, being rooted and
established in love, may have power...to grasp
how wide and long and high and deep is the love
of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses
knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure
of all the fullness of God Ephesians 317-19
20The Love of God
- Could we with ink the ocean fill
- And were the skies of parchment made
- Were every stalk on earth a quill
- And every man a scribe by trade.
- To write the love of God above
- Would drain the ocean dry
- Nor could the scroll contain the whole
- Tho stretched from sky to sky.
21As the Father has loved me, so I have loved
you. Abide in my love John 159Keep
yourselves in the love of God Jude 21
22Where He tells me I am Beloved
- The indispensable condition for
- developing and maintaining the
- awareness of our belovedness is
- time alone with God. That is
- where we discover that the
- truth of our belovedness is
- really true.
- --Thomas Merton
23The Love of God...
- 1. Love like the Father and Son have for Each
Other - As the Father has loved me, so I have loved
you.--Jn 159 - And have loved them even as you the Father
have loved me the Son--Jn 1726
24The Great Dance
- The Great Dance has been from all eternity and
first and foremost in the love that has always
been going on between the Father and the Son. To
enter into the Dance, then, is to enter into the
living dynamic activity of the Love that has
always been between the Father and the
Son.Leanne Payne
25As the Father has loved me
- The love of the Father to the Son is that divine
passion with which He delights in the Son, and
speaks, My beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased. The divine love is as a burning fire
in all its intensity and infinity it has but one
object and one joy, and that is the only-begotten
Son - And yet this love of God to His Son must serve,
O my soul, as the class in which you are to learn
how Jesus loves you.
26So I have loved You
- As one of His redeemed ones, you
are His delight, and all His desire
is to you, with the longing of a love
which is stronger than death,
and which many waters cannot quench. His heart
yearns after you, seeking your fellowship and
your loveHis life is bound up in yours you are
to Him inexpressibly more indispensable and
precious than you ever can know.
Andrew Murray
27Enfolded in Divine Love
- This is the most beautiful moment
of any creatures life to know that one is
loved, personally, by God to feel oneself lifted
to the bosom of the Trinity and to find oneself
in the flood of love that flows between the
Father and the Son, enfolded in their love,
sharing their passionate love for the world.
Raniero Cantalamessa
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29 - Love that enjoys and delights in you
- He delivered me because he delighted in
me.Psalm 1819 - He will take great delight over you he will
rejoice over you with singing he will quiet you
with his love.Zeph 317 - Your name shall be called Hephzibahfor the Lord
delights in youAs a bridegroom rejoices over his
bride, so will your God rejoice over you.Isaiah
624-5 - You have ravished my heart, my sister, my
bride.Song of Songs 49
30 - The Ravished Heart of Christ
- Our lover has been smitten by this girl.. The
verbal form translated ravished is derived
from the noun for heart, and can mean either,
You have captured or taken away my heart, or
else, You have inflamed, aroused, excited my
heart. It is a rare form in the Hebrew, and can
most likely bear both meanings Our lover is
completely
bowled over.
31 - One glance is enough to slay him, one
sparkling shaft reflected from her jewels, is
sufficient to render him helplessly in love. He
is captive. He cannot help himself. He has been
remorselessly drawn to her. His thought process
cannot explain it, his love is in a sense
irrational. He has been rendered weak and feeble
by her beauty, overpowered by her loveliness, yet
aroused and made strong by his every
thought of her.--Tom Gledhill
32I am my beloveds, and his desire is for me
Song of Songs 710
33We will never have more affection or passion
for God than we understand he has for
us --Mike Bickle
34 The only thing that makes life livable is
enjoying the joy that comes from knowing one is
enjoyed by God. --Sam Storms
35 - 3. Love that endlessly pursues you.
- Surely goodness and mercy hesed will follow
radaph - pursue me all the days of my
life--Psalm 236
36- What is it like to be pursued?
- When have you pursued someone or something with
abandonment?
37Gods Love for Us
Our Love for God and Others
Inflow
Outflow
We love because He first loved us. -- I John
419
38Gods Love for Us
Our Love for God and Others
Inflow
Outflow
We love because He first loved us. -- I John
419
39- God is no respecter of persons, but He is a
respecter of conditions.
40The Drenching Rain of the Father
- The love of the
- Father is like a sudden
- rain shower that will
- pour forth when you
- least expect itWhen
- this happens do not put
- up an umbrella to protect
- yourself but rather stand
- in the drenching rain
- of the Father.
- --Richard Foster
41But there is a problem.
- Our hurts can cause us to avoid love
42To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love
anything and your heart will be rung and possibly
be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping
it intact, you must give it to no one, not even
to an animal... --C.S.Lewis
43Walls of Protection
44Admitting they are there
- You cannot confess to God what you will not first
admit to yourself.
45Nails in my soul
- There were nails in my soul which were causing
pain. But I had gotten so used to them, I hardly
felt themThey were old and rusty, big and small
nails, but like my stubborn father I didnt want
to admit they were there or that it hurtBefore I
could forgive those who drove them in, I had to
admit they were there.
46Living Your Wounds Through
- The great challenge is living your wounds
through instead of thinking them through. In
your head you can analyze them, find their causes
and consequences, and coin words to speak and
write about them. But no final healing is likely
to come from that source. You need to let your
wounds go down into your heart. --Henri
Nouwen
47- The beginning of all wisdom is to call a thing
what it is. --Chinese
Proverb
48I Am A Rock(Paul Simon)
49- A Winters Day
- In a deep and dark December
- I am alone
- Gazing from my window
- To the Streets Below
- On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow
- I am a rock
- I am an island
-
50- I build walls.
- A fortress deep and mighty that none may
penetrate. - I have no need of friendship, friendship causes
pain, - Its laughter and its loving I disdain.
- I am a rock, I am an island
51 - Dont talk of Love, Ive heard the word before.
- There sleeping in my memory.
- I wont disturb the slumber of feelings that have
died. - If I never loved I never would have cried.
- I am a rock, I am an island.
52 - I have my books and my poetry to protect me.
- I am shielded in my armor.
- Hiding in my room, safe within my womb.
- I touch no one and no one touches me.
53- And a rock feels no pain.
- And an island never cries...
54My Machine-like Persona
- As an Adult Child Of an Alcoholicin many ways I
grew up like a machine. No matter what happened
I could not be hurt I just kept marching
through, streaking through life no matter what
the obstacles. I didnt realize until I was
thirty that switching off the pain sensors also
meant switching off the core love sensors and the
all important intimacy sensors. Because of my
machine-like, nothing can hurt me persona (which
the world and the church often rewarded), I was
completely impotent in truly loving my wife as
God had called me to and as she needed me to.
55Walls often consist of
- Bitterness and Unforgiveness
- Vows and Judgments
56 57- Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea,
until they have someone to forgive. - - C.S. Lewis
58Seven Steps in Forgiving From the Heart
- Preparing to Forgive - Focuses on the Past
- Facing the Facts
- Feeling the Hurt
- Confronting the Hate
- The Heart of Forgiveness The Present
- Bearing the Pain
- Releasing the Person Who Hurt Us
- Starting Over
- Assuming Responsibility for Ourselves
- Opens the possibility for Reconciliation
59What Forgiveness is NotAdapted from R.D.
Enright, in N. Denison, To Live and Forget, On
Wisconsin (Nov.-Dec. 1992)
- Forgetting deep hurts can rarely be wiped out of
ones awareness. - Reconciliation reconciling requires two people
an injured party can forgive without reconciling.
60Forgiveness is Not, cont.
- Condoning forgiveness does not necessarily
excuse bad or hurtful behavior. - Dismissing forgiveness involves taking the
offense seriously, not passing it off as
inconsequential or insignificant.
61Forgiveness is Not, cont.
- Reinstatement of Trust forgiveness never
disregards the hurts or the potential for future
hurts it can occur while maintaining appropriate
boundaries.
62II Timothy 414,15
- Alexander the coppersmith has done me much harm,
but the Lord will judge him for what he has done.
Be careful of him . . .
63Forgiveness is . . .
- a commitment to act humbly when I feel justified
in my right to exact retribution. - a choice to extend mercy out of gratitude for the
mercy that has been shown to me. - a willingness to love when I feel no love at all
and everyone around agrees that Im entitled to
my resentment.
64Disappointments with God
65Disappointments with God
- When something unexpected happens to us
- When obedience results in trouble.
66Moses Disappointment with God
- Moses returned to the Lord and said, O Lord,
why have you brought trouble upon this people?
Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to
Pharoah to speak in your name, he has brought
trouble upon this people, and you have not
rescued your people at all.(Exodus 522-23 cf.
Numbers 1110-15)
67Similar experiences?
- Have we not all had experiences of a like kind?
We have felt the unmistakable urge of the Spirit
to some new form of service, or to some special
line of action, and have obediently pressed
forward, confident that the inward urge itself
was the guarantee of immediate success. Then
instead of success, opposition and disappointment
and seeming failure have stunned us into
bewildered despair, until we have ever been ready
to fling the charge of unfaithfulness in the face
of God. J. Sidlow Baxter
68 - Then instead of success, opposition and
disappointment and seeming failure have stunned
us into bewildered despair, until we have ever
been ready to fling the charge of unfaithfulness
in the face of God. J. Sidlow
Baxter
69Disappointments with God
- We are apt to imagine that if Jesus Christ
constrains us, and we obey Him, He will lead us
to great success. We must never put our dreams
of success as Gods purpose for us His purpose
may be exactly the opposite.
Oswald Chambers
70Disappointments with God
- When something unexpected happens to us
- When obedience results in tribulation
- When something unfortunate happens to someone we
love
71Understanding The Process Spiritual Responses
- Anger at God
- Blaming God
- Loss of spiritual appetites
- A loss of the sense of the nearness of God
72Repressed Feelings of Disappointment
- Multitudes of Christians struggle with repressed
feelings of disappointment. God allowed things
to happen in their lives which deep down they
believe He ought to have protected them from.
These repressed feelings then prevent them from
entering into a passionate relationship with
their Lord.
73Repressed Feelings of Disappointment
- Worshipping with one hand open and one hand
clenched into a fist
74Repressed Feelings of Disappointment
- It is difficult to be romantically involved with
someone whom you do not believe has your best
interests at heart. - --Selwyn Hughes
75Love often succumbs to a cold death on the
sharp rocks of disappointment --Dan
Allender
76Disappointments with God
- Damage our love receptors
- Create anger towards God
- Expose our idols
- Psalm 374 Delight yourself in the Lord and he
will give you the desires of your heart.
77Bring Your Disappointments with God to the Yeshua!
- My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!
- Bring your hurt, your anger, your idols to the
foot of the cross. - Ask Jesus to touch you with his nail-scarred
hands! - By his wounds we are healed
78Lies that Were Not Lovable
79Lies that Were Not Lovable
80What Voice Are You Listening To?
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83The greatest trap in our life is not success,
popularity or power, but self-rejection...Self-rej
ection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual
life because it contradicts the sacred voice that
calls us the Beloved. --Henri Nouwen
84One Of Our Greatest Needs
- To be fully known and loved unconditionally
anyway. - But God demonstrates his own love for us in
this While we were still sinners, Christ died
for us. (Romans 58)
85Our Own Failures and Sins
86Not Like Real Children
- Some of us keep living like maids and butlers
instead of like real children. Working
frantically to earn the right to stay, we never
really settle in, kick back and enjoy our
Fathers company. In effect, we live in the
crummy, cramped quarters over the garage rather
than in the magnificent main house
Sandra Wilson
87 - Theres a world of difference in knowing were
the forgiven and knowing were the beloved. - --Sandra Wilson
88Our Own List of Unforgivable Sins
89Yeshua bent down and wrote on the ground with his
finger. John 86
90Forgive Yourself
- You can no longer evaluate yourself based on your
life before life with Yeshua. - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creation, the old has gone, the new has come - 2
Corinthians 517.
91Messages Weve Received from Others
92Something that my parents taught me, but I have
found to be untrue.
-
- Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words
will never hurt me.
93- (Prov 119 NIV) "With his mouth the godless
destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the
righteous escape." - (Prov 1218 NIV) "Reckless words pierce like a
sword, but the tongue of the wise brings
healing." - (Prov 154 NIV) "The tongue that brings healing
is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes
the spirit." - (Prov 1821 NIV) "The tongue has the power of
life and death, and those who love it will eat
its fruit."
94A Complete Waste of Life
- I grew up in a very broken and destructive
homeEmotional and physical abuse were both very
real and present My mother used to call me all
sorts of names. I recall one of her favorites
being (Censored!) and when she wasnt calling
me that she was telling me to go to hell. I never
understood what I had done to make my mother hate
me so much. I certainly couldnt be lovable.
She wouldnt have done all those things if I were
capable of being loved. I saw myself as a
complete waste of life
95The Architecture of Despair
- There was nothing my father could not teach me
about the architecture of despair. I knew all
its shapes and its blueprints, the shadows of all
its columns and archways. My father could send
me reeling down its hallways and screaming into
its batspliced attics with a curl of his
thin-lipped mouth. He brought madness home every
time he entered the many houses of my overlong
childhood. His cruelty baffled me, shamed me,
and I promised myself I would never be anything
like him. Pat Conroy
96A Genius for Scab-flicking
- My father possessed a genius for scab-flicking,
for zeroing in on that tenderest spot of the
psyche where healing was most difficult, exposing
the rawness of the wound again and again.
Pat Conroy
97Cats in the Cradle Moments
- My childhood was full of cats in the cradle
moments where joy at a promised time with Dad
turned into great disappointment of promises
broken. So many little league games, scouting
events, and band concerts, I turned my eyes into
the crowd and found him nowhere.
98- When the You ares become the I ams
99Our Fear of Letting God Love Us
100What We Fear Most
- What we humans fear more than anything else is
not the evil all around us, nor even the evil
inside us. What we fear most is the good in
ourselves. It is so demanding we repress it. - William Sloane Coffin
101Taking the Risk of Letting God Love You
- Odd as it may seem and counter to ordinary
human expectations, the Christian life consists
in taking the risk of allowing ourselves to be
endowed with gifts from God.--Thomas Oden
102What need is being met in You by your refusal to
let God love you?
- These walls are funny. First you hate them.
Then you get used to them. Then you grow to
depend on them.--Red in The
Shawshank Redemption
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105Bernard of Clairvauxs Four Forms of Love
- Love of Self for Gods sake
- Love of God for Gods sake
- Love of God for Selfs sake
- Love of Self for Selfs sake
106The God Who Sings Over You
- The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to
save. He will take great delight in you, he will
quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you
with singing. - --Zephaniah 317
107- There is nothing you can do to lose Gods love
stop fearing. - There is nothing you can do to earn more of Gods
love stop striving.
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109 The only thing that makes life livable is
enjoying the joy that comes from knowing one is
enjoyed by God. --Sam Storms
110Here I Am Lord!
- I the Lord of snow and rain
- I have borne my peoples pain
- I have wept for love of them
- They turn away.
- I will break their hearts of stone
- Give them hearts for love alone.
- I will speak my word to them.
- Whom shall I send?