Captured by Love

I think if I were to claim a life verse, it would be the following:

'For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised.' -2 Corinthians 5:14-15

Our pastor is preaching a series on The Church. Last night we came to a series of verses about what the church is to look like. He came to the stage with nine points, but ended up just sharing two. The first was this: be captured by the love of Christ. We are to never move past this simple, yet robust truth. Christ loved us with a selfless agape love. This love is a deep, unselfish love that pours itself out and expects nothing in return. Our pastor urged us to not seek more discipline, but to pray that God would capture our hearts with His love for us. This is the model in the Scriptures. We are motivated, changed and protected because of the love of Christ, and nothing else. This is what I am praying for my heart this week and for yours.

His second point was that we are in the Spirit. He used many verses to illustrate this. Because of the Spirit we are sealed and have a guarantee (down payment) on the inheritance to be received. But more than this, we have life in the Spirit in this present age. The verse that really stuck with me last night was this:

'Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.' -Acts 4:13

Our pastor urged us not to seek more discipline again, for it is not the wise and learned that will find favor in the sight of God, but instead those who have been with Jesus. To ask this question of ourselves is difficult. When people see me, do they recognize that I have been with Jesus? We need more people in the church who have been with Jesus, not more volunteers and loud singers. We need more people in the workplace who have been with Jesus and are recognized for this by those outside and inside the church, not their domineering morality. We need more people going to the nations who have been with Jesus, for the world will not respond to anything but the Spirit moving.

Let us not confuse a vast knowledge of the Word, an eloquent prayer and staunch morality with a relationship with Jesus. My prayer is that we would commune and abide with Jesus this week and be captured by the love with which He has loved us.