This week, it seemed good to me and to the Holy Spirit to take a little break in the series we’ve been on about God’s love and cover something that I believe the Spirit is saying to the church in this hour.
 
This was something I shared at Healing School on Thursday morning that spoke to a lot in attendance. But even before I shared it, during my preparation time that morning, the Lord bore witness with me that this was something He wanted me to share on Sunday morning as well.
 
So I say all this to say, take this as a Word from God for you this morning …
 
Let’s first look at John 14:27 and dig out some of its treasures: In this verse, Jesus said to His disciples, “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
 
So, apparently, when Jesus ascended on high, not only did the Lord give us the Holy Spirit, the love of God, joy, His name, etc., but here Jesus tells us that He has left us peace by saying, “Peace I leave with you.”
 
Now this peace is not something that God hopefully will give us one day; this peace has already been left for us. In fact, this peace was apparently left on our front door 2,000-plus years ago because it was when Jesus was leaving the earth. But like it is when someone leaves us a package, it doesn’t do much good to call the person who left us the package and ask them would they please give us what they already left us. What would their reply be? Something like— “Uh, I told you I left it there for you. Didn’t you pick it up?” In other words, if they already “leaved” it, then it wouldn’t make much sense for us to ask for them to give it to us. So, if we persisted in trying to get them to give it to us when they said they already left it, then that would just indicate that we don’t believe what they said. Amen? No, I can assure you that Jesus has already left us this peace we desire. So, we first must simply believe that Jesus has already delivered it to us.
 
And this is not just any old peace that He left for us either. No, it is not some generic form of peace that Jesus has delivered to us. This is His very own “piece of peace!” That’s why He went on to say, “My peace I give to you.” Praise God! So, do you know what this means, church!?!? The peace that has been afforded us is the very same peace that He possessed in the midst of the storm that enabled Him to sleep peacefully in the boat (a story we are about to look at)! So, this is the quality of peace that He has left with us and freely given to us! Amen!
 
But the fact Jesus said in this phrase “My peace I give to you” shows us that this peace is not earned or to be worked for either. No, it is a gift of grace to us! Amen. Like we just learned, peace is a fruit of a spiritually-alive and Spirit-empowered life. So, just like the Lord has freely deposited all of these other eight fruit of the Spirit in our born-again, recreated spirit—which are the Lord’s very own attributes and characteristics—Jesus’ peace has been freely given to us as well. Glory to God!
 
Then Jesus went on to say, “not as the world gives do I give to you.” Now this has a couple of possible meanings—both of which have truths contained in them:
 
Number one, it can mean that Jesus does not give us His peace like the world would give it. In other words, He does not have a bunch of stipulations and conditions to receiving and walking in His peace like the world might “give” something. No, when the Lord gives something, He really gives it—for the gifts and callings of God are without repentance (Romans 11:29).
 
Number two, it can mean that this peace of Christ is not the same kind of peace that the world speaks of—which is a total absence of conflict, wars and fighting. No, Jesus left us the peace of God which, in the midst of conflicts and troubles, we can have a total quiet and tranquil state in our hearts! In other words, this peace is a peace within, not necessarily a peace without. So, like in the example of Jesus sleeping in the boat that we are about to look at, while there was certainly not a rest, quietness and calmness on the waters at that moment, there absolutely was a rest, quietness and calmness in Jesus in the midst of the storm! Amen!
 
So, this peace of Jesus which describes a state of rest, quietness, tranquility and calmness of soul is resident within us. Jesus not only left it with us, but freely gave it to us. So, it’s there—like that package that was once and for all delivered to your front doorstep. This is the first very key and vital step to seeing His peace work in our lives—knowing that it is already ours. Amen. 
 
But as Jesus went on to say in this verse, we must let it! That is why He went on to say, “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” So, the understood subject here is us. The ball is in our courts. We are the ones who decide whether or not we are going to let our hearts be troubled or not. We are the ones who decide whether we are going to let this peace that is resident within us operate or not. 
 
Now let’s go over to this example in the Scriptures I have alluded to already and learn more about these truths that peace is already living within us and how we need to let it rule in our hearts. Amen?  
 
 
 
 
REST IN THE STORM
 
I believe that in Mark 4:35-41, we have this concept of walking in Christ’s peace perfectly illustrated:
 
In verse 35, this story begins with the following words— “On the same day, when evening had come …”
 
Now the first thing we need to understand and be prepared for is that “evening” will come to all of us—that is, the dark time where it seems like we have no light, and that trials and tribulations surround us. In other words, we shouldn’t live under the delusion that if I do everything right or if God loves me, that I won’t have troubles in my life. We have an enemy, saints. And He is absolutely going to try and sink you every chance he gets, just like he did Jesus and His disciples here.
 
Jesus promised us this—that in the world, we will have tribulation (John 16:33). You could say it this way: in the sea, you are going to have winds and waves. It is just to be expected if you’re out on the water that you will experience these ups and downs. Likewise, it is to be expected—that as long as you and I are in this world, there will be the winds and waves of life that will try and affect our boat. But I love that Jesus did not just say, “In the world, you will have tribulation…” He went on to say, “…but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.” Amen! What that says to me is that even when these winds and waves of life come against us, we don’t have to let our joy sink because Jesus already walked on those troubled waters for us! Therefore, we can walk on them too! Amen and Glory!  
 
But notice how these troubled waters occurred “on the same day” that Jesus taught them all of these principles of the kingdom. Did you know that this is an established kingdom principle? Yes, we have multiple witnesses in the Scriptures that teach us that Satan comes immediately to steal the Word that was sown in our hearts (Mark 4:15). So, it seems apparent to me that Jesus was preparing them for this trial of their faith in the evening by teaching them all day how the kingdom works. And this is why we are learning these things as well, church—because we are going to have ample opportunity to lose our peace. In other words, just as sure as we are going to have daytime, we will have nighttime as well—and particularly as the Word of God’s kingdom is being sown in our hearts. Amen or Oh me.
 
Then the next thing we see is Jesus speaking a very powerful statement to His disciples. Yes, He spoke a Word that I’m sure was not properly heeded because His disciples did not fully perceive or understand who it was coming through. The Word made flesh Himself said, “Let us cross over to the other side!”
 
And like it is with us, we hear the Word and don’t truly realize that these Words are not just the words of men that hold no power; no, these Words are life-giving and able to empower those who yield to them. In other words, these words by Jesus here in verse 35 had power in them to cause this very thing to happen, no matter how much adversity would come. Amen!
 
Now the terminology here is important: Notice that Jesus did not say, “We are going to cross over to the other side” or “I am going to take you to the other side.” No, He said, “Let us cross over to the other side.” Why? Because it was not just up to Jesus whether they crossed over the troubled waters. His disciples had to “let” it happen. This signifies to us that we have a part to play in overcoming the obstacles of life while getting to the other side and also maintaining peace throughout the journey. 
 
Now I wanted to make this point because we need to understand that we need to cooperate with the Lord. And one major way that we do not cooperate is by allowing ourselves to fear, worry and be anxious.
 
LET NOT YOUR HEART BE TROUBLED
 
In looking back over at John 14:27, we see again that after Jesus described leaving His peace with His disciples, that He said, “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
 
Now this statement by the Lord speaks volumes, so let me ask you a few questions:

1. Is it ever ok for us to let our hearts be troubled or afraid? (In other words, “Is it ok to ever allow our hearts to become filled with worry, anxiety or fear?”) No, it’s not! As we saw last week, we have many Scriptures that directly forbid us to worry, be anxious and to fear. In Colossians 3:15 we are told to “let” the peace of Christ rule in our hearts. So, it is clear that it is not acceptable in the eyes of the Lord, nor should be in ours as well, to ever let our hearts be troubled or afraid.
2. Can we keep our heart from being troubled and afraid? Evidently, we can—because the Master would have been unjust to tell us to do something that we are incapable of doing. Amen? And as we’ve also learned, with the Word of God to do a certain thing comes the enablement to do it. In other words, accepting and believing God’s Word contains supernatural ability to walk in that Word.  
3. What can you conclude if your heart is troubled and afraid? (In other words, “So if your heart is troubled, how did it get that way?”)  We let it get that way! In other words, the reason our hearts get filled with worry, fear and anxiety is because we did not keep it from happening. Now this should not condemn us, but rather liberate us in knowing that we have this key to the kingdom. It is in our control, and we are not at the whim of our situation or circumstances.   

 
Now do I always do this? Certainly not! But should I? Certainly! Why? Because Jesus said I can, and the Word tells me I should. My prayer is that the Lord would elevate our experiences to match His Word instead of us watering down His Word to match our experiences. Amen!
 
Now it is important to note here that Jesus is talking about our hearts here, not our heads. What do I mean by that? I mean, we will certainly have thoughts come into our heads, tempting us to worry. We will certainly have feelings and emotions try to rise up in our flesh, tempting us to panic and fear. But the key is in understanding that we don’t have to let those thoughts and feelings impact our hearts. Amen?
 
As you likely heard me say before, “You can’t keep a bird from flying around your head, but you can sure keep him from building a nest there.” Likewise, we can’t keep the thoughts and emotions from coming, but we can certainly keep them from taking root in our hearts. This is when we need to do exactly what Jesus said here and not let our hearts be troubled even if our heads are screaming troubling things.
 
So, Jesus essentially was telling His disciples the same thing in Mark chapter 4 when He said, “Let us cross over to the other side.” He didn’t say, “Let us go halfway and then drown” nor did He say, “Let us go as far as we can and hopefully without a storm hindering us.” No, the God of the universe—the Master of the winds and the waves—said the other side was where we are going, and “dagnabbit,” that’s where we are going! Amen? 
 
HOW STRESS AFFECTS US
 
Now in verse 37, we are told— “And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.”
 
You know, I believe this is a great description of how fear, cares, worry, and anxiety affect us: These “windstorms” describe the circumstances we find ourselves in in life. They are the trials, tribulations, and “mountains” that we invariably find ourselves confronted with. And when those “great windstorms” arise in our lives, they seemingly come out of nowhere (i.e. the word “arose” denotes unexpectedly and out of nowhere). This might be that alarming bad report given to us by the doctor, our children, etc. And when this happens, these bad reports usually catch us off guard. This is when these “great windstorms” produce waves that beat into our boats. I would liken these “waves” to the emotions, fears, anxieties that come as a result of the adverse situations and circumstances going on in our life. And this is when the stress begins to affect us—for these worries and cares like to “beat into” our souls to where we are “filled” with those troubled waters. 
 
So, you see, that is what the devil strives to do—to bring adverse weather conditions that will cause pressures to continually crash into our soul, until hopefully our hearts are filled and drowned with those intoxicating cares. In other words, his goal is not just simply to bring trials, tribulations and persecutions against us; his goal is to then use the worry and fear to beat into our boat to where we are filled up with the stress from the circumstances. This, my friends, is when he can sink us—when the stress fills our hearts with the cares which come from circumstances.  
 
But the good news in this is that the “great windstorms” of life cannot sink us in and of themselves; it is the waves that we let crash into our boat that will sink us. Glory!   
 
So, if we combine these two truths (i.e. not letting our hearts become troubled or afraid and let us cross over to the other side), we come up with a truth that is worthy of all acceptance--if we let our heart become troubled, we can keep ourselves from getting to the other side. In other words, if we do not deal with the winds that are crashing into our boat and we become filled with the water from those waves, it is going to be all but impossible to cross over to the other side. 
 
JESUS IS IN THE BOAT!
 
But notice what Jesus was doing while all of this was going on: Verse 38 goes on to say, “But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow.” So, in the midst of this great windstorm and the water that was filling their boat, Jesus was just taking a nap! Amen!       
 
You see, this story illustrates our lives: The boat in this story describes our lives—and because Christ was in the boat in this story, we see a picture of the truth the apostle Paul gave us in Colossians 1:27— Christ is in us, the hope of glory. Yes, because Christ lives in our boat, we have a hope of glory of getting to the other side! Amen! So, Jesus is in our boat resting and because Christ has put His peace within us, we can have peace in Him! Therefore, we can just rest, praise God, because Jesus is resting in your boat!
 
But as we know, Jesus’ disciples were not at peace in the least bit. Even though Jesus was in the boat with them, they were stressed out to the max trying to keep the water from filling their boat. But if Jesus’ disciples would have just considered that Jesus was in the same predicament that they were in, don’t you think it would have changed their outlook?
 
First of all, did they really believe that Jesus did not care about their plight? After all, was He not in the boat with them? If they would have honestly considered it, they would have known that the Lord was not going to drown. No, the Word said that they were going to the other side. That was their seed! They were to let that Word be planted in their heart and then let it produce its own results even though they might not know how. They could (and should) have stood in the midst of that great windstorm and said, “No, we will not drown, and you will not keep us from our destination. The Lord said that we were going to the other side. So, you might as well calm down storm because we are going to the other side!”
 
But as we’ve seen, not only did they have the Word that they were to go to the other side; they also had the Lord in the boat with them. So, if for no other reason than that, they should have known they were not going to sink.
 
Likewise, we need to understand that Jesus is in the boat with us too! He lives within us! He is in our lives! Therefore, He has a stake in the game! He is not going to let us drown! He is going to make sure we cross over the windstorms of this world and get to our destination! Hallelujah!
 
But the main reason why Jesus’ disciples did not consider these things is because they obviously did not fully know who this man was yet. Sure, they had plenty of evidence that He was more than a man, but their hearts still were not persuaded of all that He was. We know this because down in verse 41, after Jesus took care of the storm, we are told that the disciples “feared exceedingly, and said to one another, ‘Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” 
 
And did you know that this is why we too get drowned in anxiety? It’s because our hearts are not completely impacted yet as to whom Jesus is in our lives. If we “knew” whom we have believed, we would be more persuaded that He is able to keep those cares we have committed to Him (Second Timothy 1:12).
 
On top of that, we are also drowned in cares because we don’t know who we are in Him—because in other accounts of His disciples being caught in the middle of a storm on the water, Jesus indicated that His disciples could have done the same thing in His name.
 
DO YOU NOT CARE?
 
Now let’s look at what happened next in verse 38: They awoke Jesus, saying to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” You see, they obviously expected Jesus to be consumed with the same “cares” that they were because, after all, this is a real and serious problem they were in, right? And how many times have we done this? In the midst of an alarming situation and it seeming like the Lord is asleep somewhere, have we ever cried out— “Lord, do you even care!?!”
 
While I certainly sympathize with those who have had these types of situations, having had some of them myself, the truth is, that is not the right question to ask. Of course, Jesus cares! He loves us so much and cares about our welfare in many ways more than you and I do about our own welfare. But the real question is not, “Does He care?”; the real question is— “Why are we caring?”
 
You see, we must remind ourselves in those times where it seems like the Lord is not present in our troubles, that He truly does care for us and that He knows what we are dealing with. And then, because we know He cares for us, we cast those cares upon Him (see First Peter 5:7). On top of that, if Jesus does not deem it important enough to fret about, then why do we? We must stay on His side in these things—His side of the boat. So, while we might want to know why the Lord is not caring like us, He wants to know why we are not resting like Him?  
 
PEACE, BE STILL!
 
And I just love what Jesus did in response to their question: Verse 39 says, “Then Jesus arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace be still!’ And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.” Amen!
 
So, what did Jesus do again? First, He rebuked the wind—which we likened that wind to the circumstances themselves. So, He rebuked the problem itself—and to “rebuke” something means “to correct, admonish, instruct, or charge authoritatively.” So, this means He set the source of the problem straight by “speaking to the mountain”—which was the wind that was causing all the problems on the water.
 
Then, we are told, that He “said to the sea.” Now we likened the sea that was beating against the boat and filling it with water to those fears and worries that impact us as a result of the circumstances. So now what we see is Jesus speaking to the sea, and we are told exactly what He spoke to it— “Peace, be still!” What did He say again? PEACE! In other words, we need to speak the peace of God over our mind, will and emotions when those unruly waves are trying to drown us with cares.
 
Now these words in this verse “Peace, be still” describe “to hold one’s speech, to be quiet, remain silent, & to muzzle.” So what Jesus was literally saying to the sea was, “SHUT UP!” And did you know this is exactly what you need to do with those thoughts and emotions that are beating against your heart and mind—tell them that you will have peace and for them to be quiet! The world will say you’re weird if you talk to yourself, but I think they’re weird!
 
QUIETING OUR SOULS
 
This is what I see as the Psalmist’s describing the “quieting our souls.”
 
Of course, we have a lot of Scriptures that refer to us as speaking to our own souls—telling ourselves what we are going to do. One of the most obvious ones is Psalm 103:1 when David says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.”
 
I feel sometimes we hear these Scriptures so many times that we get on autopilot and don’t really think about what they are saying. But in this verse, David was talking to his own soul! He was telling himself to praise the Lord! In fact, he wasn’t just talking to his soul; he addressed “all that was within him” to praise God’s holy name!
 
So, a good question is: Why would one ever have to tell their soul to praise God? It’s because there will ample opportunity in one’s life to either forget or not feel like praising God. And this is when we have to give ourselves a little self-talk, grabbing ourselves by the ear, and making ourselves bless the Lord at those times! Amen. 
 
But just like David told his soul to praise God, in Psalm 62:5, he also said, “Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him” (NIV). God’s Word translation says, “Wait calmly for God alone, my soul, because my hope comes from him.”
 
So here, David was telling his soul to settle down. Almost like the admonition of a child, he speaks to his soul and says, “Wait calmly.” Do you think the Bible might be trying to teach us something here? 
 
And I really like this next one David wrote: Psalm 131:1 says, “Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor my eyes lofty. Neither do I concern myself with great matters, nor with things too profound for me.”
 
And did you know that is all that worry is—it’s being concerned about things that we cannot control. This is why Jesus said in Matthew 6:27 that we cannot, through worry, change anything anyway, so why do it?
 
Now David is also saying here that his heart is not “proud” or his eyes “arrogant” in relation to not being concerned with these things. Did you know that it is an arrogant and proud thing for us to be anxious and worry? It is basically us saying (without saying it) that we are going to concern ourselves with these things rather than casting it over on the Lord, in humility, and letting Him perfect those concerns.  
 
Then in Psalm 131:2 David goes on to say, “Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with his mother.” God’s Word translation says, “Instead, I have kept my soul calm and quiet. My soul is content as a weaned child is content in its mother's arms.” Amen!
 
So, again, David seems to be describing his soul like a baby that needs to be trained to grow up. Like when a baby is weaned, it won’t like it initially and might pitch a fit, but it will eventually adapt and do what it needs to do. Likewise, our soul must be put in its place and not be allowed to dictate our lives. That would be no different than letting our children dictate what we do and when we do it. No, our spirit needs to rule the soul well just like the parents need to rule their homes well.   
 
CONCLUSION
 
So, here is the takeaway from today’s message: This peace has been left with us because the Prince of Peace Himself lives within us. And since we have the peace of Christ, we know the ability to walk in this peace is in our control. Therefore, it is up to us to not let our hearts be troubled and to not let them be afraid. And when we let this peace rule in our hearts, this is when we let ourselves get to the other side just like Jesus & His disciples. No, it is not the storms of life nor is it the winds & waves that can sink us; it is only the troubled waters that get in our boat that sinks us. So, the good news is, if we can keep the troubles around us from getting inside of us, they cannot sink us. Amen and amen!
 
So, we have learned that Jesus said we are going to get to the other side! So, no matter what the storm, winds and waves are telling us, we too can stand up in the midst of those troubled waters of life and say to our soul— “Peace be still!” and experience a great calm—that is, that perfect peace that passes all understanding! Hallelujah, and amen.

IMITATORS OF LOVE
PART 10 – WHY SO SENSITIVE?   
 
 
 
REVIEW
 
Our current study is one that I’ve entitled “Imitators of Love” where we are learning about the true nature of God. We have based this on the apostle Paul’s instructions of imitating God as dear children (See Ephesians 5:1), where we see the high calling of every believer—to be like God.
 
Now someone will invariably say, “Aw, that’s impossible! We cannot be like God!” Well, I’d remind this naysayer that they better inform God of that—because He has said in various places in the Bible things like be holy as He is holy, to be perfect even as He is perfect, and to be merciful as He is merciful. So there we have three witnesses that should establish this truth to us that our high calling is to be like God. Amen?
 
So the way we are doing this is by looking at verses that teach us how we ought to be treating one another. However, the way this works is that we understand how God will not give us a standard of loving one another that He isn’t willing to abide by Himself. Therefore, we can look at all of these verses that teach us how to love and know this is how God is with each of us.
 
So, a few weeks ago, we started looking at a great section of Scriptures that teaches us about the characteristics of love – the great love chapter, First Corinthians chapter 13. And we started doing this with the understanding that since God is love, all of these things the apostle Paul teaches us that love does, describe to us God’s characteristics.
 
First Corinthians 13:4-8 teaches us how “love suffers long and is kind. (how) love does not envy; (how) love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; (how it) does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; (how it) does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; (yes, how love) bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
 
So we have been going through this list of the characteristics of love each week and what we have learned so far is …
 

• God (i.e., Love) suffers long – We saw how the apostle Paul starts off with the fruit of the Spirit, longsuffering, and how this is one of the chief characteristics of love. So love is characterized by how patient it is with people—which should not be strange to us when we understand the root of our impatience with others, which is usually just us being self-centered. In other words, we don’t put up with a lot in others because our flesh is tired of dealing with it. So once it becomes something we aren’t wanting to deal with anymore, our flesh starts showing out. But what we learned was that this is not just talking about our longsuffering; this is divine longsuffering that we are talking about—meaning, it’s God’s ability to suffer long and be patient, which I can assure you is much “longer” than our own ability to suffer long. So we saw how the Scriptures teach us that God is longsuffering—from how He waited in the days of Noah when He judged the world by water to how He is waiting in this hour when He will judge the world by fire. The reason why it seems to be so long before the Lord brings His judgment is not because He drags His feet, but because He suffers long. God’s longsuffering is always on full display to us! God suffers long!
• God (i.e., Love) is kind – Then we saw how love is not just patient; it’s also kind while doing it. And we learned how kindness (like longsuffering) is also a fruit of the Spirit, meaning that it is also fruit of God’s nature. Yes, all nine of these fruit of the Spirit are who our God is. And like we say God is good, we can also say that God is kind. Yes, there are a myriad of Scriptures that show us how God is kind - in everything from the giving of Jesus to so many other things He gives us throughout our life. Church, I’ll tell you—there is no one quite as kind as our one of a “kind” God. And He wants us to consider this kindness aspect of Him—for far too many of us have only considered the severe side of Him. But the truth is that there is a kind, gentle, and good side of God that He wants to reveal to us! God is kind!
• God (i.e., Love) does not envy – Then we started a section here where Paul begins teaching what love is not. And he begins by saying that love does not envy. We learned that envy is much more subtle than most think, and because it is emphasized so much in the Scriptures, that proves to us that it is more of a problem than most would like to admit. But at the same time, we learned that God does not desire to deprive someone else of something they have. Rather, He desires to give—because there is no bigger giver than our God. However, we ended on more of a sober note last week—that while God certainly does not envy, He is a jealous God. This means that like a spouse who loves his or her mate, God desires to have all of His bride’s heart and possess us totally for Himself. No, not in a selfish way like mankind tends to do it, but in a healthy, loving way. Church, in His great love for us, God desires us—so much so, that He is unwilling to share His Bride with anything or anyone else.
• God (i.e., Love) does not parade itself – We saw how this is certainly true of our God. He does everything but “parade Himself” before His creation. In fact, He is the exact opposite. He purposefully does not put Himself on display when by all accounts, if anyone was worthy of doing so, it would be Him. But no, God has not made it a practice of His to reveal His glory to the world. In fact, very few have ever gotten a glimpse of just how beautiful He is. But we learned how the majority of His creation do the exact opposite. Yes, most people live their entire lives “parading” themselves—that is, promoting themselves and proudly displaying all their talents, knowledge, beauty, etc. for others to see. But we saw how this phrase literally describes bragging or boasting of oneself. No, love for others doesn’t brag about itself. Sure, love for itself will brag about itself, but the truth we need to understand is that we will brag about whoever we love. So this is what love does. It doesn’t “parade” itself. Love seeks to celebrate others and not itself.
• God (i.e., Love) is not puffed up – We saw how this next description of what love is, is very similar to love not “parading itself.” We learned how this phrase literally describes being “inflated, blown up, or caused to swell up.” Of course, Paul is talking about being full of pride here. But considering the terminology here, if pride is being “inflated or blown up,” what do you suppose this person is inflated with? Themselves! Yes, they are full of themselves as we like to say it. Of course, this will make a person completely selfish & self-centered, but it does more than just that. It will cause a person to be wise in their own opinion, to think they know more than everyone else, to trust in their own abilities, to take matters into their own hands, etc. I could go on and on. But what I want you to understand today is that someone who is “puffed up” is not just arrogant and haughty; they can also be self-sufficient and self-reliant. The bottom line is that this pride can take on many faces and it’s not just the traditional view of pride that’s glaringly obvious. In fact, I could have a lot of pride and appear to others like I’m very humble.
• God (i.e. Love) does not behave rudely – We learned that this describes acting unbecomingly or behaving inappropriately—which obviously means to do things that are unsuitable, tasteless, or just plain flat out ugly. But we made the point that things that I might consider to be tasteless, you might not be bothered by and things that you might consider to be unbecoming, I might be okay with. So, who and what is it that determines what is unbecoming and unsuitable? Well, the obvious answer to that question is—God. He is the One who determines what is truly “rude” and what isn’t. So if we can find in the Scriptures where God specifically labels something as “inappropriate,” then that is something we need to all avoid doing. End of story. But we saw that when it comes to things that the Bible is not that specific about, even our interpretation of what God seems to think is unsuitable is sometimes skewed by our own upbringing, things religion has taught us, and even our own personal preferences. So who’s to say what is truly behaving “rudely” and what isn’t? Well, we saw that the answer is love! Just ask yourself the question—What would love do? We learned that the apostle Paul lived by this mantra where he was willing to live differently around others who might have had different standards than he did. And why? Because of what he called “the law of Christ”—which we know to be the law of love. And do you know what doing this essentially is? It’s honoring others. In fact, what it seems Paul had in mind here is to treat others with respect and in the right way. So yes, that certainly involves not being rude, but I like the NIV’s choice of words best. It says that love does not “dishonor” others. You see, in Romans 12:10, Paul instructs this body of believers to put others first by saying, “In honor, giving preference to one another.” So, if I am honoring others, I will be giving preference to them. That means I will let them lead and let them choose, I will proudly put them before myself and give them precedence, preferring them. However, if I am only honoring myself, I will be giving preference to myself. And what that will look like is me trying to be first, getting everything I want, talking about myself all the time, etc. So we saw how God does not behave rudely either – meaning, He doesn’t force Himself on us. He desires a people who will see His value and seek after Him. In fact, He does the opposite—in His honor, He gives preference to us! And we saw how the Holy Spirit is a great example from the Godhead of how God operates this way: The Holy Spirit is honorable and a gentleman. Therefore, He is not going to force Himself on us and make us do something we don’t want to do. Evil spirits possess people. They are the ones who make people do things they don’t want to do. Yes, they drive, force, and manipulate the people and things they live in. But the Holy Spirit operates like a dove—gently and graciously. He leads and guides us in an unassuming way—inspiring us, yet not driving us. In His great love for us, God gives us a free will. He doesn’t force His will on us. He doesn’t cram what He wants for us and from us down our throats. No, He let’s us choose what we want and how much we want. Of course, there are repercussions to our foolish choices, but even then, God does not make us choose anything. Love let’s the objects of its love decide. Amen.
• God (i.e. Love) does not seek its own – We looked at some other translations of this phrase and learned that it describes being selfish (NCV) or self-seeking (NIV). The ESV says, “(love) does not insist on its own way.” I particularly like the Message Bible: It says that love “isn’t always ‘me first’.” So what we saw in all of these translations is that love is not self-centered. It is not primarily concerned with getting its own way, seeking what benefits it, or always trying to get its own personal needs and desires fulfilled. And this should be self-explanatory about love, right? By no means will love focus on itself above others. So, what understanding this has done for me, is it has helped me to filter through my feelings at times, and thereby caused me to adjust my attitude. What do I mean by that? Well, at is has been with all of us, there have been times in my life where I’ve had feelings arise in my heart because of what others are not doing for me. Like, for example, say I’m going through a tough patch and during this hard time, no one calls me, no one checks on me, and no one seems to care (again) about me. And when this happens, guess what feelings arise. I’ve been tempted to be hurt and get offended. So how this has helped me during these times is that immediately (say immediately) when those thoughts have come to me that are focused on what others should be doing to me and for me, I remember that love does not seek its own, and cast down those imaginations and bring every one of those thoughts into captivity to the obedience of love. Why? Because love is the better way, and anytime I allow myself to stray from the love of God, I know I am headed down the wrong path that will ultimately lead me away from His life. Amen? And this is one of those things that we need to understand about God too—that He is not seeking His own. Yes, everything God tells us to do is because He is seeking our own and not His own. Everything from the praise He demands of us to the giving He expects from us. It’s all done in love. We saw how it’s like parenting—most of what parents who truly love their children tell them to do is not to benefit themselves. No, a good parent will give instructions and commandments to their kids because it’s what’s best for them. We don’t make our kids go to bed at a certain time, brush their teeth, or behave in certain ways because we are seeking our own. No, a loving parent will have their kids do these things because they ultimately want what’s best for their children. Church, everything God does is done in love—for He is love. This means that with everything we read in the Bible and with everything we experience in our lives, we can be settled in the truth that God is seeking what’s best for mankind. Yes, God seeks not His own, but He does seek our own.

 
LOVE IS NOT PROVOKED
 
Now the next thing that Paul says that love is not in First Corinthians 13:5 is “(love) is not provoked.”
 
So in my practice of looking at various translations, I see a common theme with this term “provoked.” A lot of translations describe this as love not being “easily angered” or “irritable.” A couple of other translations say that it is not “quick-tempered” or “easily annoyed.”
 
Do you know anyone like that? Is there someone you are friends with, related to, work with, or are married to that is like this? Of course, I ask this because the Lord would certainly lead Pastor Trey to talk to us about this to a group of people who are simply associated with others who struggle with this 😉.
 
Of course, I jest. The Lord wouldn’t lead us to talk about this for those who aren’t here. No, He will lead HPC into this because our church will have people who struggle with this very thing. Amen?
 
But the fact is, everyone struggles with this—some more than others. So not only will we in these pews have our own problems with this, but we will run with others who struggle with it as well. Yes, every person has the capacity to be easily irritated or annoyed, quick-tempered.      
 
But this point ought to be clear to us—Simply put, Paul was saying that love isn’t this way. No, love is not easily annoyed or angered. It’s not going to be quick-tempered or irritable because that is not what love does.  
 
Do you know why this is true? It’s because everything from being annoyed, irritated, and quick tempered are all self-centered. The reason being is because all of these feelings in me are associated with how the other person is making me feel. So how can it be love for others if I am focused on how what someone else is doing is making me feel? That would fall more under the arena of love for myself than love for others, right?  
 
I mean, just listen to our terminology when we are feeling this way— “They annoy me ... I am so irritated ... I’m so angry right now …” Oftentimes, you can find this ugly self-centeredness simply in our usage of these personal pronouns. Yes, if there are a lot of I’s, me’s, my’s, etc. in my conversations, then there might just be too much of “me” in those conversations.  
 
But, yes, my point is that love isn’t going to be irritable, easily annoyed, or “provokable.” Why? Because love is not focused on itself and how what the other person is doing is making them feel. Love does the exact opposite. It’s not worried as much about how it feels as it is about the other person. In other words, love will be more sensitive to the other person than it is to its own feelings.
 
WHY SO SENSITIVE?
 
Along those lines, I like something that the Amplified Bible brings out about this phrase in First Corinthians 13:5— It says, “love is not provoked [nor overly sensitive or easily angered]”
 
This being overly sensitive seems to be a little more of the issue, doesn’t it? For it is the root of one being easily angered, annoyed, quick-tempered, and irritable, right? Yes, even though we all can struggle with this, some are definitely a little more sensitive than others and can tend to get a little more easily irritated than others.   
 
So if this is me, some good questions would be— Why am I so sensitive? Why do I fly off the rails so easily when people do or say certain things? What is it in me that causes me to get irritated with things that the average person might not be annoyed by?
                    
Well, again, the first thing we need to understand is that the simple answer to these questions based on the verse we are covering is— It’s because we are not walking in love in those times. I say this because Paul clearly said here that love is not provoked.
 
So what this means is that in the times I am getting annoyed, irritated, or angered by what someone else is doing / saying, it’s because I am only thinking about myself and not thinking about them. In other words, I am being consumed with how what they are doing / saying is making me feel instead of what might be going on with that other person. So the real culprit here is love of ourselves and not love for the other person. Amen or Oh me?
 
But the good news in this is that love is something that we can all choose over self at any given moment. For example, I can be a person who totally struggles with being easily “provoked” and is completely self-centered on multiple levels, but then walk by a house one day that’s on fire and hear a child screaming for help from inside, and then throw all thoughts of myself out the window (no pun intended) and put myself in harm’s way to run into that house to rescue that child. Guess what I just did? I chose love over self.
 
So making the right decisions that are based on love is not rocket science. You don’t always have to get fixed to do the right thing. I can choose a life of love because God said I can.
 
However, there are certainly reasons why some of us seemingly are more sensitive than others. And that’s what I would like to deal with today—Why so sensitive?   
 
So why? Why are some of us a little more sensitive in these areas? 
 
I have come to discover that just as our physical bodies can be bruised, our souls can carry bruises as well. And don’t we know just how sensitive those physical bruises can be? For instance, if you had a big bruise on your arm from some accident and I came up to you today and squeezed you in that place, you’d feel it, wouldn’t you? And you also might have some kind of reaction like pushing me away, slapping my hand, or getting angry with me.
 
Well, that’s what happens all the time with so many of us. No, I’m not talking physically; I’m referring to the soul. Some of our souls are covered in bruises from where someone else hurt us or from where a circumstance/situation wounded us. And this is exactly why some of us are more sensitive to certain things others do or say. Now our flesh would like to tell us— “Oh no, it’s them, Pastor. It’s what they are doing/saying that’s the problem.” No, it’s not. And I’ll prove it to you: Does everything anyone does or says “provoke” the same response from others? No, it doesn’t. For example, if a person treats you and I in a certain way, it might totally be no big deal to you and absolutely offend me. So the point is that the same action can generate two different responses—proving that it’s not just what the other person does/says; it’s how we view their action, what our expectations on people are, what we are sensitive to, etc. That’s ultimately what determines our emotional response. 
 
You know, a great example of this is how a baby or little children act. An example would be if we had a youngster start crying during one of our services. That baby’s cry might irritate the snot out of some of you, getting you thinking— “I wish the parents would just shut them up!” But to others, they might be thinking— “Aww, what a sweet baby. He’s probably hungry.” So the same baby’s cry might generate completely opposite reactions—one being an irritated attitude and the other being a compassionate attitude. And why? Because of the way we are thinking and where our focus is.
 
HEALING THE BRUISES
 
So let me quickly give you a couple of ways that I have learned of how to let those bruises heal:
 
Well, my first key goes along the lines of how we let bruises heal in the natural— If I am one of those accident prone people who seems to compile injuries, then I might keep reaggravating that bruise, right? In other words, a person who tends towards having the same accidents over and over might continue to reinjure themselves because they keep putting themselves in the position to get hurt.
 
We’ve seen this before, haven’t we? Some people seem to just be drawn to getting into relationships with people who aren’t good for them. So they keep putting themselves in the position to continue getting hurt.
 
I think sometimes we need to realize that we might be drawn to the wrong people because of certain heart issues, and this is compiling the problem. The key is just being honest with ourselves and simply looking at our history. Amen?  
 
Also, if I’m one of those that keeps touching the bruise, pushing on it and poking it myself, it’s going to have a harder time healing, isn’t it? So this might describe the person who likes to pet their bruise—meaning, it’s their identity and they talk about it constantly. Friends, while there is certainly a place for talking about the problem that obviously exists in working through it, this can also be something we give too much attention to, which can work against us instead of helping the issue.
 
I’m reminded of the story in Nehemiah where, in the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, the people heard the words of the Law. This saddened the people, and they began to mourn and weep—to which Nehemiah responded to the people that this was not the time to mourn over their past failures and what had gotten them to this position of even having to rebuild these walls.   
 
So what all of this means is that, while  the Israelites were naturally tempted to look at their past and all of the things that went wrong, this was not the time & place to focus on that. So Nehemiah told them in Nehemiah 8:10 – “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
 
So the lesson in this story is that while there is a day where we might need to address the failures & hurts of the past, that’s not every day. There are days that are holy to the Lord and on those, we need rejoice in what God is doing in us today.
 
I’ve had the Lord specifically minister this to me during a time where my natural tendency to look at the negative needed some correction:
 
I used to be consumed with my failures & shortcomings. So one time, as I was asking the Lord when He was going to help me get free of my current issues, He reminded me of how far He had brought me in such a short period of time. This was a perspective change for me. I had never considered that it actually might be a healthy thing for me to relax and rejoice in how far I had come. To me, that was irresponsible. But the Lord knew I needed to chill out and not continue to be hyper-focused on the negative.
 
Church, I believe in order for some of us to grow past the place we are at, we need to change the channel and learn how to rejoice in some things. For example, it might be that you or I need to focus on the growth that has taken place in someone in our life instead of continuing to focus on what’s left to change in them. Hey, that might actually help the relationship. 
 
So we just need to simply use some wisdom of what our tendencies are to enter wrong relationships and choose more wisely and/or let the Lord show us how to direct our attention to more constructive things. These are just a couple of wise things that one can do to receive the healing the Lord has for us.
 
GOD IS NOT TOUCHY
 
But one thing that I believe is tremendously helpful to do that always works in seeing ourselves healed from the soul bruises of the past is to do exactly what you have heard over and over in this series – We need to see God! We need to understand how He is exactly what we desire to be.
 
Yes, if I want to forgive better, I need to see the Lord’s forgiveness. If I want to be more merciful, I need to behold His mercy. And in this case, if I want to not be so easily provoked and become less sensitive, I need to capture in my heart how He is not easily provoked.
 
So now for how our God is like this: One amazing thing about God is that He is not easily provoked. No, He is not easily irritable or quick-tempered.
 
Now let me say, first of all, that this does not mean that God does not have limits. The Scriptures do teach us how God’s people have “provoked” Him to anger. And while I certainly believe that the Cross has made a big difference in how God responds to His people’s shortcomings & failures, the fact is, love does have limits and just because it is extremely longsuffering & patient doesn’t mean that one can never reach that last straw.
 
This needs to be said because there are many in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ today who have done exactly what the apostle Paul warned us about where he said to not despise the riches of His goodness, longsuffering, and forbearance by not letting His grace turn us towards repentance. An utter lack of repentance is a dangerous place to be, church. So we don’t want to tread on that ground.
 
But for those of us who do desire to change and imitate God in all that we do, think, or say, there is certainly more than enough love & grace to make it downright difficult to provoke God the way that many of His chosen people have over time.   
 
God’s heart has and always will be one that is not easily angered, irritated, or annoyed. Many believe otherwise, however. I’ve run into many Christians who always seem to think that they are irritating God. They will bring up their constant shortcomings and how they fall short of His glory and seem to believe that God is simply exasperated with them. Nothing could be farther than the truth!
 
Again, many think this for a couple of reasons:
 
One is that they mistakenly put God in the same category with us. Meaning, because we have such short fuses and tend towards getting irritated with other people so easily, God must be the same. And I’m here to tell you today that He is not like you and I. Thank God! The fact is, we are carnal most of the time, and in our selfishness, we do not have much patience with other’s faults. But God is not selfish; He is spiritual. And as a spiritual being who is the embodiment of the fruit of the Spirit, He is most certainly nowhere close to our short-tempered, impatient, and easily-angered nature.
 
The other reason why a large contingent of Christians see God as being easily provoked is because they have a perverted view of Him. Meaning, they have become so hyper-focused on Old Testament examples of God becoming exasperated with the children of Israel and how He demonstrated His anger time and time again, that this is who they see God is. But what these have failed to do is consider how Jesus came to show us the heart of God—how He is truly the only way to see the true nature of God. So having only that Old Testament view of God engrained in them, they have never come to consider the kindness side of God in addition to the severe side.    
 
But there is a good & loving side of God that truly represents His nature. In other words, God will be who He needs to be. But love & goodness is who He desires to be. Never forget that.
 
So when it comes to this truth that love is not provoked, we need to realize that God’s core nature is to not be easily angered. But this goes beyond the judgment of sin. Some Christians have a hard time with the simplest of things.
 
For example, they feel they are bothering God or that they can anger Him by asking for certain things or by asking for too many things at once. But again, this is according to our own experiences, and we are basing this on how we would be. Again, God is not like us- thank God! He is not easily irritated or angered. He is far more patient and kind than we could possibly imagine! No, He doesn’t carry a chip on His shoulder or get irritated easily. We do not have to worry about God waking up on the wrong side of the bed, so to speak. He is not touchy, grumpy, or even in a bad mood. He loves to hear from you! He is honored that we turn to Him with our every need! This is who our God is.
 
LIBERALLY AND WITHOUT REPROACH
 
A good example of this is found in James 1:5:
 
This verse describes how if any person lacks wisdom, he or she needs to simply ask God for that wisdom—because He is always willing to give that wisdom “liberally and without reproach.”
 
Now the context concerns the various trials we find ourselves in. And sometimes those trials provide a lot of questions such as “Why did this happen to me?” or “How do I get out of this?” No matter the question, we always need wisdom from God when we fall into these various trials. So what are we to do? Ask of God!
 
While the Greek word used for “ask” here does simply describe a petition; it also denotes to “desire, crave and to beg.” So, the kind of asking that is being described here is a wholehearted kind of petition, not just some passing, flippant request that is half-hearted. This is important.
                             
But notice that James said that we are to ask of God. The word that is used for “of” here is the Greek word para and means “to come alongside of.” So, this describes the proximity of our request from God, which is right by His side. Therefore, it denotes that we have drawn near to God and ask.
 
This has so many shades of meaning, all of which are vitally important to understand: The truth is many are asking amiss. They are doing things independent from God (i.e. doing their own thing) and they have not come alongside of Him. This is the best way to receive from God, church - learning to draw near to Him and walk with Him on a regular basis. Entering into His presence through worship to where He is near, and you have His ear! This is coming boldly to Him in the full assurance of faith!
 
And James goes on to explain to his readers why that is - to be completely persuaded that when they ask, they will receive: It is because our God “gives liberally and without reproach.”
 
But what if the God that we come to is not the God who gives liberally and without reproach? In other words, what if we are making this request of a God that we are not convinced will give (number one) to all (number two) liberally and (number three) without reproach? Then the last part of James 1:5 might not happen for you (i.e. “it will be given to you”). In other words, our lack of understanding of who He is might impede us from receiving from Him.
 
You see, when we come to God, our view of Him does impact how we receive from Him. If we see Him as a harsh, critical and condemning Judge, it will be impossible for us to approach Him in the full assurance of faith because we won’t be sure of what He will do or say. But if we see Him as a good, liberal, and non-condemning God, there will be confidence that when we ask, we will receive.
 
The word James used for “liberally” here is only used this one time, and it literally describes something being done “simply, openly, frankly, sincerely.” One expositor stated that “singleness of mind is the central feature” of this word. So what we can see by the usage of this word is how God will “simply” give us the wisdom we ask Him for. He’s very “open” to giving us the answers we need. So “frankly” speaking, God will very freely give you what you are asking Him for.  
 
Now the phrase “without reproach” gives us even more insight into how the Lord responds to the requests we give Him. To “reproach” someone means to “revile, defame, or chide” them. So what this means is that, when we ask the Lord for something like wisdom, He is not going to respond to us by criticizing, mocking, and slandering us. In other words, what this describes is how some of us might respond when someone asks us something that “provokes” us. For instance, if someone asks us something for the 10th time, we might start getting irritated with them at that point, so we show that agitation by responding with something like— “How many times are you going to ask me that? C’mon man! Are you stupid or something?” So, even though you might end up giving them the answer again, those “reviling” words are a great example of responding “with reproach.”
 
So the point is this is not what God is going to do with any of us even though we ask Him for something over and over. No, He will simply give us what we ask for and never add any condescending response with it. And why? Because He, being love, is not easily provoked. He will not get irritated or agitated with us. His attitude will always be that of compassion, mercy, and grace.
 
Church, this is what heals those bruises—knowing that in His love, God has bruised His beloved Son (See Isaiah 53:10). Have you ever read that and wondered how God the Father could do that to Jesus? Moreover, how could it actually “please” Him to put Jesus on the Cross? The answer is simple: We saw that He did not get pleasure in causing to Him suffer; what pleased Him was how it would cause all of us to be redeemed, forgiven and made righteous once again! His pleasure was in us—and both He and Jesus were willing and happy to do what They had to do for you.  
 
So Jesus was bruised for us! In other words, He made Himself the substitute for our bruises and was bruised that we might be healed. This is grace! This is the power of the Gospel!