7. Surprised by Love

I John 4:7- 21

7Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
8The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.
10In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.
13By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
14We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
15Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
16We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
17By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.
18There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
19 We love, because He first loved us.
20If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

It’s not enough to learn about God’s love; you must experience it. Like an epiphany, (“a moment of sudden and great revelation”) God’s love will open your mind and heart and possess your being. Have you ever had this experience? Henry Drummond, in his famous sermon, “The Greatest thing in the World,” gives an excellent example of this experience.

While a little boy was dying and his family was standing around his bed, thinking that he was in a coma, an elderly man laid his hand on him and said softly, “God loves you son.” Hearing this, the boy sprang up in bed and said, “God loves me! God loves me!” There was life in this realization. And this was the boy’s epiphany.

After preaching the love of God and the gift of the Holy Spirit for years, I questioned whether I had received the Holy Spirit and whether I actually knew that God loved me. I preached a series of sermons on God and determined to know Him better. Just after this series, Lurea and I were invited to attend a conference on the Holy Spirit in Orlando, FL. I went with great anticipation, feeling certain that I would receive a special blessing. Nothing happened suddenly but I was aware that things were happening that were leading me in the right direction. I bought a new Bible and rededicated myself to a new study. The man at the book store put my name on it in gold, and while doing so stamped my name on a Happy Face book marker, causing it to read, “Smile, God loves you Lacy Williams.” In the plane on our way home Lurea pointed this out to me, and like the boy in the above incident, I said, “God loves Lacy Williams! God loves Lacy Williams!” That was my epiphany, although I didn’t realize it fully until later.

On Saturday I was in my church preparing Sunday’s sermon. I would share my experiences with my church. After announcing that we would not have Sunday school because I needed some extra time for my message, I preached for an hour. My people were aware that I had been with Jesus, and they were moved also. One woman said aloud, “I want what Lacy has.” I had never experienced the help I had that day in preaching a sermon. On this day in my life my epiphany was realized. Although emotions rise and fall, I have never questioned the power of the Holy Spirit or the Love of God that I experienced thirty years ago.

Nothing one might experience in life is more precious than being surprised by God’s love, to know without doubt that one has received the Holy Spirit and that God loves him. I am praying for everyone on my contact list that this essay will bless you as I have been blessed.

part 2 to follow