Prayer Works Bible Study: February 2, 2025

"Love"

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All right so you know, this week so much has gone on. You know, we've had two plane crashes. We’ve had the government battling different issues.

And you know, last week we we we talked about love and the ability to display love even I know Vee had mentioned in her devotion how difficult it was to pray for someone who, in your opinion was not loving. 

Or did not show love themselves and so tonight we thought, why not explore true love why not explore what love means and how we as disciples of Jesus should walk in love.

And so tonight, that's our theme. Our theme is love. Now I'm not sure if they're seeing that on the screen, but all right. 

So Vee is gonna share her screen. And so can everybody see LOVE? Yes, yes, alright great. Alright, alright, we started to talk about something else. And all up until last night, we were like, ok, we're going to talk about this. 

We're going to talk about that. And Calvin was like are you sure? Are you sure? And I'm like, I think so. And then this morning, as spirit will often do, was like, oh, no, no, no. I think you need to talk about love.  

And it was so clear and insisted like ok, I guess we're talking about love. All right, so the topics we're going to talk about tonight. Our first love, how God and Jesus demonstrate their love. Commandments about love. When love is tested.  

When love goes wrong. Love in the final days. Definition of love. Evidence of love and I think there's a few takeaways. And finally, questions to pray about.

So we've got how many topics is this 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 topics. We're going to thank you. You Mother Jones, 10 topics we're going to try to get through.  

So before we dive in, I would love to get some ideas about how do you know if someone loves you, how do you know if someone loves you. Love to get some thoughts about how you know, yes mother Jones. 

Good evening everyone. Well-being a mother, the more I am around small children. It's open up my eyes a lot to someone loving you because as a parent, we have love as a sibling. 

A love we have as brothers and sisters in Christ. But when you look at a child, you know, like, say, like most times when you're in a nursery, you know babies. 

They are all playing with the toy on good days they all will play and share and you know on days when they not feeling it, you know, like this man, I'm gonna keep it.

I'm it's to me. We as grown-ups get to that point after being hurt after being let down after being things that that turn our love into why did this happen? 

What was the reason for it happening? You know, we get a mindset of not being able to love easy. I will say so. How do we know if someone loves us? It's most of the times, you know, love is what love does.  

So you see it from someone. And it produces itself because you don't have to teach a child to love you. It just comes automatically. So how do you know? Because of their actions, because of how they present themselves to you.  

And so, you know this as the Lord say, you know, Jesus says when we come as little children, when we see their little world, it opens up a lot for us to know. Oh, ok that's love because, you know, we'll say, oh, I like that, girl I love that.  

That's not the love I mean, I mean that that intermingled love that's tangible, so much so as to seeing someone love you by just a hug. Saying, you know, can I help you and really mean it because you understand when a person says they love you about what they do. 

And how their actions will help you understand that the love that they're speaking or talking about is real. Got it. So it's evidence. That's the word. Evidence, yeah. There you go and can I can I say something that and this is just my opinion, is that sacrifice.  

Say for instance, I mean that you care more about Veronica than you care about yourself, you know, as a husband. Know what I'm saying? That's love that you will be willing to sacrifice your life for her.  

I mean that instance. If she needed a kidney or whatever, you’d say hey, Oh, no, I'm not giving her my kidney. But you were willingly sacrifice your life. I'm just using out as an example, but to me that goes according to what God did. He sacrificed his own son. 

That was true love. And we as human beings, would we be willing to sacrifice our lives for somebody else? That would be the evidence. I mean that's that would be wow. Yeah, Yeah. 

And it's so beautiful to see how how we're defining love is based on how the Bible defines love. How else could we define it? There's no better way to define love. Yeah, because God gave us the ultimate example. 

Yes, absolutely. Alright so thank. So you're all touching on some something come some key themes we're gonna be talking about when we talk about love. OK, let me go to the next page.  

So our first love which you mentioned, we all know this John 3:16. Can you see this? Is this large enough?

John, 3:16, we all know this and this is new King James version for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. 

From that scripture what can we determine about how God loves. What is it telling us? What are we learning about God's way of loving just from this scripture? Any thoughts? 

Yeah, I want to say this because. Think about this, this pastor who was talking today about having four sons and one of his sons got lost. He thought he was lost. And he said well, I could just say I got 4, four sons. Let him go.  

But this, this goes to the fact that God gave his only son. If he had had two, we could have said, well, that wasn't really a. But he had only 1. So he was willing to give up that one child for us, so. 

Yeah, absolutely. He was willing to give up that one child. And what did you say do I think What you say Dorothy,  excuse me? I'm sorry. Oh, you were talking out loud. Did I say that out loud? 

And let's look at this second part of what God did. He gave his only son, as Mary said, why did he do it? His love for us, everlasting life. Alright, let's go to another scripture John 17. 

Father, I desire that they also whom you gave me may be with me, where I am, that they may behold my glory, which you have given me for you loved me before the foundation of the world.  

So here we have Jesus confirming what was said in John 3. God so loved me and just the confidence that Jesus has, that's also something for us to learn about. You loved me. And that's the confidence that we need to have like the disciple who says the disciple who Jesus loved. 

And he made a point of saying that throughout his gospel the disciple whom Jesus loved and can be walking that same kind of confidence that God loves us. You know, and another one Romans 5:8 and I will send these slice to you all.  

But until I love to see people taking notes because that also helps you can stay awake. So if you want to take notes, that's lovely. I love to see the little heads going down and writing. That's fine too. 

No, I go to the library and print things off. I don't try to keep up at least Mary I can see your eyes. I can see your eyes, so I know you're still with us. Romans 5:8 says but God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.  

Veronica, yes. Did you say Valerie? I'm not holding against you. Alright. Ask a question. He's been talking to Dorothy. I just need to ask a simple question, yes. 

What is it that parents and grandparents love you instead of beating you? Wait a minute. What was that? Why do parents and grandparents beat you instead of loving you? The other way around. Love you instead of beating you. 

Tell me more. Instead of your parents and your grandparents calling your names and beating you, why is it that they don't show love instead of beating you? This is goes back to when people don't understand what love is. 

And they have a misunderstanding that because of whatever situations and circumstances they may have gone through may believe this is the way to by hardening their children up here. 

Or that they have  hurt inside of themselves. They can't get past and it comes out through harsh words. Harsh feeling, Mary what you going to say? 

I was gonna say and and and best to add to what you were saying is that's a repeated behavior in each generation repeats the same behavior from the last generation. So if his father was child molester or wife beater.  

Then they passed that on to their children. So it's past behavior I know what Sarge is. I never experienced that in my family, but I see it every day in kids that don't know how to act and don't know how to receive love.  

And I tell people I said that comes from the home. Yeah. So I mean, it's yeah, yeah, I know. And something else Sarge to think about is no matter the hurt that is inflicted upon us as children, we have to remember that God sent Jesus into this world knowing he would be rejected. 

He would be beaten whipped to this raw meat of his skin and killed. He knew, God knew that his first Born Nation would reject the Messiah but yet and still, he sent him, and Jesus came willingly. 

God knew Adam and he, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He knew they were going to  reject him, but he still created them. Why? Because he loves us and I heard a speaker say once about when you think about parents provided they're in their right minds and you know anyway, well, go into that.  

If they choose to have children they choose to have a child. Why? Let's not talk about parents that have, you know, children who's you know, or how did this happen to me? We're talking about children, parents that choose to have children. 

Why do they do that when there's a possibility that these children will grow up and totally forget about them and reject them? Why do they still have children? Yeah ok. No question. 

Yes, but with and getting back to your point, yes, there are many people who don't understand what love is and not understanding what love is results in all kinds of atrocities we are capable of some of the most atrocious behaviors and acts against each other because we don't have the love of God in us.  

But it is the love of God in us that constrains us, but without that you're right parents are capable of doing anything to their children, but we praise God that here you are an example of someone, despite growing up in a household where what was love a foreign word.  

What is that? Despite going through years and ravages of a life and addiction, Despite that, when you call onto God with your whole heart, soul, mind and strength, he plucked you up. 

He came and here you are on a Bible call Bible study call in the evening when you could be feet up kick back you know. But here you're here is that not an example. God loves and the capacity and the healing he brings in us. Because he loves us and we love him back. 

You're a testament. Veronica and I wanted to say this to sarge because my grandmother and I'm glad she did years ago. She taught me who my true father is, and he's all our Father, our Heavenly Father as well.  

You know, Jesus started off our Father, which I in heaven is he is us me and him. When we say that prayer. We're including him. It's just not just us, he says our Father. So my grandmother taught me to always believe that that God is my Father.  

We got earthly but who is my true Father? So that's why I mean, I lost my father years ago. Think I told you about no, I think I told another group about that. But anyway, you know I feel confident in who my real Father is, and that's who I always pray to. 

And I didn't experience what Sarge did, and I feel real emotional, you know. But keep in mind who your true father is, and he did not abuse you. Did not leave. He loved you and always remember that. 

And that is and before I move on, that is the good news, Sarge. That we're charged with passing on to people who don't understand the concept of God. When they see you and your testimony is because God loves me, I'm here today sharing his love with you. 

I would not be able to do this if he hadn't shown me that he loves me, so I'm going to start getting emotional. Being a part, no one that even heard me, but I was thinking about an experience that I had when I was working.  

This little boy was just terrible. I mean, he was always bad and was like that. I would say I'm gonna call your daddy. He was one of those that his mother had died in childbirth. I had a room full of children like that. But anyway umm, he would always straighten out with one particular day he did not.  

And I went ahead and called his daddy, and his daddy came over there and he told him, he said I'm not gonna whip a shirt that I bought and paid for take your shirt off. That boy took his shirt off and I saw whips all over his back and tears ran down my eyes and I held his dad hand. 

I said you can't whip him, he said I got off work. You called me and I called off work. I'm gonna whip somebody out. No whip me, but anyway. I said if I allow you to do that, then police would get me and you and I’m not gonna allow that.  

So he put his belt back on and walked around out the door. But that little boy ran to me. That was love because he ran to me and I didn't have any more trouble him. And he just he was acting up because he needed love.  

Thank you, mother Carrie, for for sharing that that when we see people acting out, it's almost due to an absence of love. So let us not be the ones that would get people to doubt love.  

Let us be the ones to show people love. Let people see the love in us and be so careful especially at this time, how many damaged people? How many people are walking around damaged and we have no idea and they're acting out and they're acting all kinds of crazies. 

What should our first response be? God, show me how to love this person like I was praying in my devotion. You know, we've got damaged people in power. God, show me how to pray for this person in love and mean it. 

We've got damaged people in our neighborhoods, in our schools, everywhere. Don't have to look far in our family. God, show me how to love this person because it's really hard. I can't do it in my strength, but mother Carrie like you say, we don't know. 

Just a simple act of kindness and empathy and understanding can change a heart. We just don't know. Being also careful. So this slide is how God and Jesus demonstrate their love. Continue on so, Veronica, Dororthy, who's that? Nana, the verse that you had I think Roman 5:8. 

That how to God demonstrate his love for us when we're still sinners. Psalm 139 tells it on God knows. You know who we lie down when we get up and we thought we gonna say before we even think the thought.  

He know us even when we were in our mothers womb, he sent Jesus to die for us. That's love. Even the babies born today 10 years from now, if the world's still here, he died for them too. God so loved the world that he did give his only begotten son that’s the love. That's the love that he knew.  

And know what we gonna do, he already know, but he give us us a chance. And his Bible full of instruction and information. If you wanna follow that information and tell us how to live.  

When we read that it does something to you. We still act like something sometimes, and God knows it, but he did it anyway. He did it anyway and he knows the truth. What they gonna do next week, you know our government gonna do. He died for all those people. That’s what is love. That's love. 

And isn't that the message for this time, for people who have no clue who God is? That's what they need to hear and understand. This is who God is. He's not a monster on high waiting to throw. Take you out. You know he loves you. 

He wants to see you. He knows exactly what you said did are doing and he knows it. You know, but he's not nevertheless. Just think it's been 2000 years. 2000 years since Jesus was crucified.  

And the age of the last days enacted and God at anytime could have said I've had enough of this. You know, I mean, look at the flood and what happened with Moses and the people of that time.  

You know, Sodom and Gomorrah did not have a chance. I mean, when I say they didn't have a chance yet, they had time to get their act together. But did they? God came in and took them right out.  

So I'm saying that to say that 2000 years time you know, to tolerate the ignorance of man, the bad behavior of man. And if you think about 2000 years, if God had come and wiped this place out 2000 years ago, then where would we be?  

So he's given every generation the opportunity to come to know him and his patience. I mean, if you think Joe had patience, his patience is a miracle in and of itself. You know, so when you go to pray, you thank God for his patience that in this day you know him.  

And in this day he has pulled you out of the miry mud pit that you were in. And brought you to a place where you know him and that your robes through Jesus a washed clean that he has reconciled himself to you. 

Now we continue to pray for our family members, we continue to pray for our government officials. We continue to pray for those that we find it difficult to pray for. Why? God says he doesn't want anyone to perish.  

He wants everyone to come to everlasting life. Now he also knows that not everybody is going to take up, take him up on his offer, but because of that he just doesn't say well, I'm gonna wipe them all out.  

So it's for us to appreciate. For us to show love. It's for us to love God and I think that true love is just that, loving God loving your neighbor and being able to cover your neighbor and those around you that you love God. 

And love God so that you can pray for those people that don't know God, reject God or even mistreat you because, we just don't know if we don't know. 

Because we just don't know. The most evil, most evil person that we see right now, we don't know how God can get in their hearts and totally change.  

Look what he did with Paul, you know, so just whoever you see sinning doing all kinds of craziness. It's not for us to discount the person across them off totally because we don't know you know where they will be. 

All this discussion is wonderful. I don't think we're gonna get through all this time today, but we'll try. There might need to be a part 2. Ok, so I'm just going to show the different verses.  

How God and Jesus demonstrate their love. So John 3, the Father loves the son and has given all things into his hand. So God's love is generous. It's boundless he gave all things into Jesus hand. 

John 5:20 for the Father loves the son and shows him all things that he himself does. So God reveals himself to the son, all things and he will show him greater works than these that you may marvel.  

Which scripture does this remind you of? He will show him greater works than these. Yeah. Does that remind you of something? Yeah, I can't remember the scripture, but I know I know that when yeah, because he said greater works than he did. 

Yeah, because he said, we will even do greater works, you know. Isn't that something right here? So God is willing to give to us the same things He's given to his son. Oh my goodness but I think we often walk not really understanding this because our minds just can't conceive, it’s impossible.  

How? But here it's in God's word. God's word doesn't lie. And then this last one, I can't remember someone mentioned this already was it might have been you, Mary or therefore, my Father loves me because I lay down my life. No, I'm jumping. I'm thinking to another scripture. 

I prayed about my life. That I may take it again. Because and my Father loves me because I'm willing to do this. You know, OK. Alright, so so let's begin looking at some commandments about love. 

Deuteronomy 6:4. Here O Israel, the Lord our God. The Lord is 1. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. This is back in the Old Testament.  

GOD starting out in the law hear O Israel. The Lord our God, The Lord is one, so he's foreshadowing that Father, son, Holy Spirit, just one true God.

And what do we have to do first Commandment this is where it's coming. Deuteronomy, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength. 

So it's everything this love walk takes everything. We can't love anything more than God. And Jesus said in John 13, New Commandments I give to you that you love one another as I have loved you.  

That you also love one another by this all will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. Isn't that something? How will people know if we are disciples? This is test 1.  

If you have love for one another and in these days where Jesus said many will be deceived. Don't listen to what someone says as Mother Jones and Mary Doris were saying, it's active. It's evidence, it's evidence you won't have to wonder by their fruits. 

By their fruits and one of the fruits is you will love one another. If that's not present in someone's life, I don't care what their title is or how many write ups they've gotten in the newspaper.  

How many initials behind their names. If they don't, if you can't see the love that they have be careful, One scripture says I don't know if it's in here, but it says love covers a multitude. Yes, that is coming up, yes. You are anticipating, yes. 

Alright, alright. Veronica and Calvin we talked about one of my favorite things of talking about love. Listening to everybody saying what everybody's saying and sounding you know it's real good.  

We're on. We're on top of it. So what I keep on hearing was that word, heart. Said it several times in one of these scriptures here it keeps talking about the heart and to that's why there is no sometimes the love that should in the world. 

Or sometimes we don't express love to one another because we're not coming from our heart. When you know when I know this when I'm communicating with someone, trying to get a feel of them, trying to see you know where we stand with one another, I'm dealing with my heart.  

And I'm trying to see where they're coming from. They're coming from their heart. If I can feel your heart and if I know where. If I, if I got my heart in tune to boil down to love. We can build a disagreement.  

We can be agreeing whatever we're doing if I can feel love in my heart and I can feel that love radiating from another person heart, then I know we are on the same page. We're loving each other.  

And so I think that to me that's an important thing when it comes to love is it coming from our heart, our minds? You know our, you know, fake or whatever we call it. How do we approach it? But it's coming from the heart it's love. 

What you're saying is that I think because. I mean, I'm just going to tell you all this. Last Saturday, my children Daddy went to his nephew funeral and they buried my nephew. We went to two different funerals.  

I didn’t mean to laugh, but they were working on the train track over here and they had the road block. You couldn't go across. So we had to park our trucks and cross the track to get in.  

But anyway I get home Saturday night. My children, daddy, my daughter and my son. I mean, like they just jumped me. It’s like the devil was in this house. I mean, they were accusing me.  

I hope he ain't listening. That's why what he said from they were accusing me of everything. Daughters, 47 years old, and she was talking about something. She was 10 years old. I'm like what are you gonna get past this? 

I don't even remember I was a teenager. Know what I said and it's like she just keeps bringing up the same stuff over and over and over. That's why I said love covers a multitude of sin because I think in my heart that I have been the most loving person there ever been. 

You know, to me because, that's the way my grandmother and my mother were very loving women and my daddy was very loving, so I didn’t come from an abusive home. I came from a loving home. You know it was almost like a fairy tale.  

But anyway, I don't know somewhere along the way something happened and she can't get past that but I think that sometimes you know people have hurt me, but I don't carry that around.  

You know what I'm saying. And that's why I'm glad I'm in this this particular prayer group. You know, we learn a lot from you and Calvin, I love y'all the way do things. That's not to say I don't love Pastor Zee because he's given me a lot of information.  

But I love the fact that you let us have these interactions and I just wanted to say that because I'm I have to. Really have going to have to do some praying.

I think that would you say in a minute ago for people like my daughter, who just can't get past 10 years old and that's what that was like 47 years ago or 37 years ago.  

And is yeah so y'all keep her y'all praying, please. It's really, you know, interesting to me because right this this weekend or this week I was like Calvin we have to pray for Mary. I sense she's having issues with her adult children. 

Wouldn't that just them, the grands too and then and one of the most complex  

relationships we have to navigate is our relationship with our children and our grandchildren, especially when they become adults. 

Because, as you say, you know, we may have said or done things years ago that really wounded them and we don't even remember. Maybe they mistook or maybe they understand, and sometimes you know I've seen it in with my sisters and their relationships with my mom and my dad, he's passed now.  

Where this mental and emotional state of trauma that they were in when they left the home is what they carry with them, and they carry that with them through every relationship. If you know not that I know anyone on this phone is gonna be looking for any mates or anything. 

But one of the tests for a mate is how have they resolved or not resolved the issues with their family. Can they? Have they forgiven their family? If they have not forgiven their family, guess what? Do something wrong. 

Guess what? So one of the things that I will encourage you and hear my heart on this when we're talking about lov it doesn't matter how we feel when it comes to how people perceive. Whether we're whether they are loved by us. 

It doesn't matter how we feel. All that matters is that we don't give the enemy the opportunity to use resentment and hurt to get in there and disrupt the family. So what does it call upon us to do?  

In all humility, even if you know that last breath we say, I know I didn't do nothing to that w, girl. God, I know even if we feel it doesn't matter, we can't make that an opening for the enemy. 

What does it require? That's so hard. I'm sorry and no if I'm sorry if or if I offended you. I'm sorry if I you know, I'm sorry if you feel that way. I'm sorry if there's no answer. I'm sorry. You know I didn't realize.  

Shut the enemy down. Shut that gateway down and every time she brings it up, say ok, I know you bring it up again. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I can't make any excuses. I wasn't aware.  

I make no excuses. I'm not going to minimize what you're feeling. Feel this way, I'm sorry. What can she say? But if you say well, you know, why are you bringing up again? Oh no. I don't, I don't say. I don't say that you know. 

But you may not say it, but it comes across, you know, so this this is the test for all of us. The test for me and Calvin, with his kids. I'm sorry, I'm sorry I didn't know. You know and the thing is, it's like you know. 

And even when we ask for forgiveness, you know, we don't want to put it on them. Just say I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I see this is this is bothering. I see this really hurts you and I'm sorry. That's going to be my encouragement for you. We’re going to put this down on our prayer list also. 

Well, you know, one of my grand daughters, we was at my granddaughter got baptized today. And I went to her church and watched her and she sent me a thing saying thank you, Mom.  

They you know, I mean I treated them like little kings and Queens. Think they got spoiled, but anyway but that's the way my grandmother treated me. I mean you know, so. But you know, but that's another story. But anyway I thank you for saying that, Veronica, I might try that next time. 

Yes, yes, you know just like what did Paul say as to the extent that we can live peaceably with everybody. Just refuse to go there and we know people will pick an argument because they know the nerve. 

But we just like you know what? Soldering off that nerve. Yeah, I'm not letting it. You're.  not gonna use that to get in and shake me, you know and disrupt my peace. I was gonna say something else just forgot what I was gonna say. 

Oh, another thing, another thing let not the regrets and the guilt that we may have for the things that we may have said or not said, or whatever it is. Don't let that be used against you.  

Because that's another trick of the enemy. You know, and children know you very well, even your grandchildren, so they will use that as long as we can get to the state when we forgive ourselves.  

That shuts that down and you have to keep forgiving yourself. You know, I was not. I was not perfect. I'm sorry you know, you didn't have a perfect mom. So sorry. That's it. I'm so sorry and mean it, you know. 

But we'll keep praying for you, Pastor Zee did you want to say something? Pastor Zees back. I thought I saw. I thought I saw his camera on. Now you go back past the Zee we doing fine. 

And Veronica just helped with something. Yeah, I mean, this is this is this is good. She just she just helped me with something. I'm going to try that. I want to send you this video series that I was watching about this mom who had come up with this system that she had to teach herself to get to deal with her adult son. 

And some of the guilt that she was feeling about how he had gone off the rails. And you know, their relationship got messed up. You know things that she had to do from a biblical perspective. So I'm going to send you the series just for a food for thought. 

Well, thank you. Ok, let me let me go on. Where are we? Yeah, we're not going through all the slides we'll continue. Could you send me that too as well? Absolutely, absolutely. 

So Calvin, thank you for thinking of that particular subject, because I've been wanting to know something about it for many years. And I wonder sometimes that did I really forgive my mother. 

I mean there’s something you don't forget. Yes, but you forgive it. You forgive it and the and the memory of it is what enables you to. That is your that is your ministry, that your testimony is your ministry.  

All the pain because you're gonna run into somebody that has experienced incredible depth of pain and you wanna they won't have to translate for you the pain. Because you'll know it and looking in looking in your eyes, they'll know that you know.  

But your life becomes a testimony to. They'll be able to see, I mean people. People have been through pain. I mean, people look at my eyes. They'll be like, oh she actually has no care in the world. Well, you know they looking naughtiest eyes and your eyes.  

Your eyes, you know Dorothy's eyes. You just see it. But then you see the victory and the joy nevertheless. You know, despite Nadia, did you unmute because you were going to say something? 

Was going to say, you know the aura I see aura and sometimes a word doesn't have to be said. It's just you'll come together and just hold their hand, and that's the word right there, you know, with the aura. 

Yes. Yes, yes, yes, absolutely. So God bless you. Debbie, where are you going to say something? Hi everybody. Yes, I was going to just kind of piggyback on what you were saying and to Sister Mary there.  

Yes, I always look at it like misery loves company. I'm not the one to go there with you. So when you and your misery stage, so my sister, sometimes she just loved to. Say hear herself talk, not know what another one.  

And so she called me, got on me about her grandchildren's. And I was like, ok Lord, I can think real quick. Let me just handle this situation so it won't have to rise anymore. So I just say you know I didn't recognize that I was doing that to your grandchildren, but I tell you right now, today I am so sorry.  

Will you forgive me? And she was like, stop, because she was just ready to go there with me. But I wasn't going that way. She said, huh. As you know, the Bible tells us to love one another.  

Would you forgive me? Yeah I forgave. So do you love me? She say I love you, I said guess what? I love you. Just like God love you. I love you even more, I said hey, we gonna shut this down right now. 

I forgave you, so hey, ain't nobody got nothing to talk about. She just like speechless, speechless like we undertook. No, no, we just already hell of that. God love both of us the same.  

And if I could myself to be something else, I'll be prettier than you. And she just started laughing you know I. I'll be this glamorous person and I put a little fun with it, and I ain't never had to worry about her with me no more and I said with everybody to call me with some stuff.  

It really do work, it works. Shut it down with love. That's what God want us to do. What we gotta talk about. Let’s talk about something good. Let's say let's save our energy. Let's save our energy for the real fights. 

That's right. Oh, I like that. Yeah, exactly. Well, I want somebody to tell me what to do about this. My granddaughter, this happened. I guess she was little. She was about 5-6 years old, but she was praying.  

And she prayed that Nana, they called me Nana wouldn't go to hell because you know I'm not a witch. So how I know that child didn't come up with that on their own. But, you know, I didn't have anything against the child.  

How do I handle it? She was praying that I wouldn't go to hell because I wasn't witch but I am a Christian, I love, I love, I love the Lord. And what you said Miss Carrie, you don't have to argue with the child because she's parroting what she's heard from her parents. 

So even as she's saying it, you pray you pray for her because the day is coming, as Jesus said, when they will worship me not on this mountain, not over here, not over there, but in spirit and in truth.  

And in these final days, all these things that are separating all these denominations and this and that and that one garbage. It means nothing. We are Christians. There's no hyphens, no adjectives in front of it, and not it will take time for everyone to get to that revelation.  

But you must have that revelation. And with that revelation, you can counter any false spirits. So you keep praying for your family that they will come to a true saving knowledge of who Jesus is.  

You don't have to fight about it. You keep testifying. Of the glory of the Lord, or let them see the goodness in your heart and in your life. Because if they look at your life and see how you're loving, people and people are loving you, how can you say oh she going to hell?  

How can you do with any credibility say that when they, which is why Jesus said by your love they will know. They will know. So don't you keep your granddaughter. Put her on the list too. 

Keep your granddaughter and your family in prayer that they will encounter Jesus Christ in such a way that they will know the errors in their beliefs, but you don't have to fight them about it. Just keep praying for them, even as they're praying for you. 

You pray for them. Let me put this down here. Yeah. Please, please. Yeah, that's difficult if you know when you have family that don't believe or maybe believe in error, but just remember that Satan comes to kill, steal and destroy and has done this successfully to the church for centuries.  

But we're shutting that down. We're not going there because when we go there we end up using our energy for the wrong battle, the battle is the enemy behind the lies. And that's what you see even like you talking about, you know, praying for those in power.  

That's what you see. They are human like us and we are not fighting them. It's the powers behind them that are driving them and moving them to act the way that they do. So we can only pray for them in hopes that they will come around to God's way of doing things.  

But it's the spirit behind them that we are actually putting on the helmet of salvation, putting on the armor of God. The sword of God those are the tools that we have to use in order to fight those principalities rulers in high places. 

Those are the tools that we have to use. And not go in hate or in anger against the individual cause that is not what we're fighting and we have to understand which I think you know passes is teaching us.  

We cannot be in isolation in this we have to understand that not only do we have to pray, we need to get our brothers and sisters in Christ together praying for us in one accord on everything. 

Yeah, absolutely, That's where we've been going wrong. We've been trying to, you know, keep this I don't want anybody in my business, you know? But you know, you find your praying really true. 

Praying, believing brothers and sisters in Christ. Look, this is the issue that I'm that I’m facing. Pray with me, please. As Daniel did you know did Daniel go off on his own and say, Lord, you know, can you can you reveal to me King Nebuchadnezzar dream? 

He got his companions. Let's pray and fast together. So he prayed with intention. He prayed, knowing that the power that we have in this communion, this little group, right here. 

Do you better believe that we are storming the gates of hell because we are together and we're coming to understand the power that we have through our unified prayers. There's so much more we can do together than one, and that's what Jesus is calling his church in these last days to understand. It's all of us. 

The body of Christ. Pastor Zee you’re gonna say something? Yeah, you know you said something and you know the pain we just said it a few minutes ago that the pain is the pain you feel is the ministry. 

Now you're telling that you feel is the ministry. And you know, one of the one of the things that that makes us feel stuck. We want to get away from memory. You know what I'm saying? You want to like if I'm done with this, why can't I just stop remembering it? 

You know what I'm saying? But that's never going to happen, because in order for you to remember something, that means your mind has to stop functioning. That's why we have dementia. 

If you want to remember something that means dementia.? That you don't recall anything, so you can't stop your mind from doing what it was designed to do. You know, because that's what it does.  

Memory, imagination, idleness can't stop it. That's what it does until you die. You always remember certain things. But then the mitigating factor of what we feel and what we remember.  

So when when you and he said love conquers all. It's not somebody loving you, you loving somebody for what they did is what conquers the pain that you feel.

It's not them apologizing to you, but some people might never apologize. What do we do if somebody is no longer here? Where are you going to get an apology from? 

That you loving them. You know it overcomes the feeling that you have. And I love what Calvin just said a few minutes ago that that all these, all these little things that we have a right to feel.  

Because, we really have a right to feel somebody does something to you. You have a right to feel that way. But the thing about it is that. If it remains those are the little doors that the devil says yeah, I can use that. 

I can use that. Yeah, that's the door you're leaving open for me, because. The only any other. So think about this. We have the gifts of the spirit right. The fruits of the spirit right and we have always said all those have to do with other people. 

If you get patience, you're getting patience for other people, not for you for other people, right now that's what God gives us to live in unity. The enemy, in order to have disruption, he has to have his own set of spirits that does that.  

Anger, isolation, pain. All that is the little things that the opposite of the fruits of the spirit is what he uses in order to cause chaos and division so if you have pain like Mother Carrie talking about my granddaughter saying things right.  

So now you're walking around like gid he say? Is there something wrong with me and the devil is like, yeah, there is something wrong with you. Now you're pushing an idea until it grows its own legs and it becomes a stronghold.  

Now you are walking around saying, Oh my God, I don't believe they say that to me. And then come to find out, right? That person probably does not even remember. 

I've shared a story here with you guys that when I was, I think one of my boys age today I was. I grew like 3 inches taller before the school opened in a week. So the track suit that my dad had gotten me a gotten shorter before I even opened school.  

And I was begging him for a new one and bugging him back. I knew he got paid on Fridays. And I don't know what had happened at work that day. I'm like, yo, when are we gonna do this? When are we gonna do this?  

That was the last whooping I got from him for that and I remembered vividly because it was horrendous. Almost fist fight for asking for reflection. My I've grown longer. It made me so bad. That I remember sitting outside of the house thinking that I was adopted. 

I was like, there's no way I get a whooping for that. But I'm telling you, brothers and sisters, I carried that. I asked him one day in his 70s. I'm an old man I've gone to Zimbabwe with my kids now and I'm like, yo, do you remember this day?  

You know what he asked me? Why would I do that? I did that. Why would I do that to you? Now take that situation right and look at the sequence of events.

He wasn't mad about the track suit, right, definitely because that's the loudest. Somebody at work probably at work did something to him. 

So now he's mad about what happened over there. So they trickled down effect is that now he comes back from work miserable, angry, right? The devil is like good. I'm going to use that now.  

Now inflict pain on this boy because of somebody who did something over there, and now I carry that 40 carry that for 20 something years later and I until I have this conversation with him, come to find out that he doesn't even recall that he did that.  

Infact he's like I there's no way I would do that, right. And then if I was another person of like, I'd probably be like man, this dude is tripping. But in that moment, revelation came to me that, oh, you know what? He doesn’t remember.  

Because he did it out of anger, which was caused by something else by something else, by something else. So those are the effects of not getting over things or holding on to things. Because you're going to inflict pain in somebody, they will carry for 20 years. 

You think it's nothing because you were mad? I mean, you can justify it, but yeah, that's what he did to me. And I deserve to do that. So now that's why when you hear these commandments of love, I mean think about it.  

Of all the things Jesus could give us. Like literally of all the commandments that Jesus would literally say, no, I'm gonna give you this as I live. He gives  us one. I mean, think about all the things he could say.  

Jesus would have said. Listen, this is the plan do this, do that, do this, do that and don't do that, that’s not what he's saying. I'm going to give you one master this one. Love one another as I have loved you, and by these people would know.  

He doesn't say teach well then, by these people who know he doesn't say, sing well by these people who know he doesn't say, read your scriptures well by these people would know, he says just one love, one another.  

So you know, I'm glad I'm so happy you taught this in fact, honestly you know, there are certain things that we need to teach every year because they are that important. This is one of them every year.  

Whether it's the same message over and over again because it is fundamentally important. But we won’t have time to go through everything. I just give you a preview. Everything and I'll send these slides to you.  

I’ll give you a quick overview. So we're going to talk about the commandments, about love, starting with Deuteronomy, where God spoke about loving a stranger. And then with Pastor Zee was referring to, you know, this one is about loving your enemies more commandments.  

But Pastor Zee was just saying the greatest commandments, love the Lord of God with all your heart, and the second is like you shall love your neighbor as yourself on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.  

You don't need any other law except that, because if you can do that, you're going to you're going to do everything else. And I'm just going to do go through it quickly.

When love is tested and we will look at well what happened you know when your love is tested, and sometimes God will test us in the area of love as he did with Abraham and Isaac. 

And God showed how he tested the Israelites by having them wander in the desert for 40 years. You know, so what areas of God is God testing you in in to see and why did he do? He didn't do this because he just wanted to be a sadist, masochist or whatever the word is.  

He did it because he wanted to humble you and test you to know what is in your heart to know whether you would keep his commandments or not. So if he did that to his first born, you know he's doing it to us, to humble and it's not if he doesn't know, we need to know.  

If what we're saying because we think we think we're better. We don't think anything is wrong with us most of the time right. 

And then we're also when love goes wrong. So what happens when love is expressed inappropriately, as when Isaac loved Esau but Rebecca loved Jacob, and this happens in families. 

You know what happens when it happens? So Leah concede and bore his son and but she knew she was unloved by Isaac, and she called one of her sons. Ruben. The Lord has surely looked on me on my affliction now therefore, my husband will love me. 

How many people are in loveless marriages? So we can see the Bible is full of every situation we are dealing with we see it in the Bible when love goes wrong. Israel loved Joseph more than all his children and what did that result in? They hated him.  

Another when love goes wrong. And this is the condemnation that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light. This is where we are, because their deeds were evil.  

So when you when what you love is wrong. What happens? And then here they love the praise of men more than the praise of God. What happens when you love? What people have to say about you rather than you know what God has to say about you?  

Ok and then love in the final days, what does the Bible tell us about what's gonna happen in the final days?

We know this love lawlessness will abound the love of many will grow cold and as Pastor Zee said this is why this teaching about love is so important, because we don't want to be among that number.  

And it's so easy for love to grow cold if we're not careful in these final days, it's going to be easier to hate people than to love them. It's on display right now in our government. 

And if you want to look in Revelation, Revelation talks about Jesus said I have this against you. You've left your first love. What’s the first love? Love of Christ in the last days.  

And in the last days he talks about the Laodiceans. People become complacent in their love. They are neutral. They neither hot nor cold. This is what love is going to look like in the final days.  

And then we get to the definition of love. As Paul said, though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, but have not I become a sounding brass or a clinging symbol. And we all know this scripture. 

You know what is love? It's all of these things. So it doesn't matter if you. Oh goodness, I forgot. You know, if you're giving to the poor, if you're feeding, if you're feeding this to the poor, if you don't have love, it profits you nothing.  

So what is love? Suffers long. It's kind. It doesn't envy, it doesn't parade. It's not puffed up and I'm I won't read everything to you. I’ll send you all of this. Understanding what love is.

So when you're speaking to an unbeliever, even you're speaking to believers who haven't got the definition of love quite right.  

You know, Paul gives us further descriptions and understanding because in this day and age, people don't know what love is. They think love is a feeling, but we need to explain to them.  

No this is what love is. Because they just don't know. And then evidence of love. How will you know if someone is truly has love in their hearts? You say what is it. God with your Father. You would love me so people can profess confess God as their Father and Jesus as their Lord.  

We know they love Jesus. He who loves his life will lose it and he who hates his life in this world will keep it so do you love what you're doing and how you're living your lifestyle more than Jesus?  

Would you be willing to give that all up because of your love for Jesus, that's evidence of your love and someone Mary said greater love has no one than this than to lay down ones life for his friends.  

I'm not going to read. There's more evidence of love by this, or will know if you have love for one another, more evidence. When Peter had sinned greatly and denied Christ, and Jesus asked him three times, do you love me? 

So and what did Peter have to say to him? He said yes. You know I love you. And what did Jesus say? If you love me feed my lambs, feed my sheep.

So Jesus is telling us he's telling Peter if you love me, this is what I need you to do. So read that what he says more evidence of loss. 

You can see love is a big deal and I've only scratched the surface. There are so many scriptures about love and why it's a big it's a big deal, more evidence of love. So I'm not going to read everything, see more evidence of love like.  

Mary said about fruit of the spirit love first one, number one, love more evidence of love. What did Peter say? What is that? Fervent love what is that? Fervent love will covers multitude of sins. 

Yeah, that's what I said. That's what you said multitude of sins. That means no matter the hey, most heinous unforgiving blasphemy, you know, ugly speech that anyone can say to you, your love will cover that.  

You know, and he went on to describe it different evidence of love be hospitable without grumbling. Yeah, I give this to, you know, Calvin asked me to, you know, make him a cup of tea and like, yeah, okay okay honey and mean it you know. Anything for you. 

You know so I'm not going to read everything to you, but finally a few take key takeaways just to think about love is not a feeling. It's doing as Mother Jones was saying. It's a doing. And love your neighbor as yourself. Emphasis is on your neighbor. Yourself comes last. 

It's not love yourself as your neighbor. Our selfish hearts cause us to misinterpret this scripture. The enemy has been misinterpreting and taking scripture out of context since Genesis. Did God say? You know, but yeah, God said it. I'll show you right where here it is.  

So I asked did God say? Yeah, let me show you. We have to know where it is. And who is your neighbor? Jesus answered this answer this in the parable of the Good Samaritan. And your neighbors include your enemies. 

Those who hate you, that's right. Oh my goodness, that's a hard one. And that's what it comes back to praying for those that hate you, praying for those that, in your opinion, don't seem lovable. 

That's who you have to pray for. As Pastor Zee says the consequences of not doing that is leaving doors open for the enemy to March right in. Bitterness, unforgiveness all of those things come to mind when you don't forgive and love those who hate you and persecute you.  

It's like Jesus on the cross, you know? Oh yeah. Forgive them, forgive them. Oh Lord could you? Could you do that? You know, it's hard. Yeah, yeah, it's hard. It's hard to think. It's hard, so yeah. 

So I was gonna ask you. Someone's gonna ask. I was just thinking about this week. Do you know that it's impossible to have an enemy before you have a relationship with them? I don't just have an enemy for, no. There has to be a relationship that goes sideways, then they become an enemy. 

Oh yeah true. I was going to ask you to do this, but I'll leave this for your personal time. One or two takeaways or points that really spoke to you today and let you think about that? And then questions to pray about.  

How much do you really love God? How much do you really love Jesus? What is the evidence of your love? Who are you finding difficult to love? And I'm gonna ask I don't know Pastor Zee.  

Would you pray for us for the anointing to love God, love Jesus and our neighbors better so that by this all will know that we are disciples of Jesus.

Can you also lift up on our prayer list we have a Chelsea middle school. We have mother Mary das, her children, grandchildren and his mother Ware great grands too now don't forget. 

I mean, well, we got a little selfish calling and great grand kids. Mother Ware and her, you know, granddaughter and a relationship in general with her in laws and her you thank y'all for that. Thank you, thank you for the prayer. Ok let’s pray. 

Heavenly Father, we come before you. Your word says where can we go that you are not? If we go in the oceans, you are there. If we go in the deep ends of the earth, you are there. We can go up in the heavens. You are there.  

You know, when we sit, you know, when we cry, you know when we sleep. In fact, when we sleep, word says that you never sleeps. So Farther with all that goes on in our lives the things that have transpired that we can't change.  

The things that have been said to us that we can't unhear with things that has been done to us that we can't erase from our memories. The challenges that we have witnessed and we can change or unsee.  

All that resides in us and the enemy seeks to perpetuate the grievance that we have. So that it can create a wedge between you and us, but Father as we constantly come to you for forgiveness, as we constantly come to you for our sinful nature.  

We know how merciful you are. We know how gracious you are with your love, how gracious you are with your desire to see us healed inside out.

So today, as we gather and talk about the very command that you give us to love one another, we know Lord that in our own strength and in our own doing.  

It sounds impossible because there's things that have happened to us that inflicted so much pain that we can't seem to go get over it. But we know that is Christ in us, that has given us these same commandments that enables us to follow them to the tee.  

So I'm praying that in our effort, in our desire to do as you command. We are giving ourselves to you. To help us through the blessing of love that you have bestowed on all of us to experience and to give.  

We thank you for your sovereign authority and we thank you for your desire to heal us. And this life that we behold, we now take them and place them in your hands. And ask your Lord to help us with deep thoughts and deep things that are in us, that we desire to mitigate.  

Thank you for grace. We thank you for peace. I pray Lord for relationships that are broken. That God may we, as your children, be the bigger voice in extending what seems to be impossible which is love to those who have done things to us or said things to us. 

I pray for joy to abound in our lives and I pray Lord for peace to abound in our lives. We pray for past hurts. That God where we've been violated or hurt we know, Lord, we cannot stop our minds from remembering.  

But what we know not that our love will conquer all because it's a command that you've given us. So I pray, Lord, for relationships with grandchildren, relationship with children to be blessed in the name of Jesus. 

I thank you for grace in abundance that you've afforded us as a people to walk in every single day. We thank you for the gift of gathering together to worship, to inspire one another. 

That God as we study this word, we want to make sure that it's relevant in our hearts so that it’s seen through us and applied through us.  

Thank you for Revelation knowledge and the gift of teaching that you have bestowed on all of us. We thank you, Lord, for days like this, where you remind us of simple but very profound things that we ought to do in order to remain confident in this Kingdom.  

I pray for anyone who might be sick that God bring healing emotionally, mentally, physically. Memories that cause pain. I pray, Lord, that you help us to deal with those relationships that are broken, family relationships that are broken, we pray for healing. 

Now as we start this week, let love abound. Let love grow. Let love multiply so that what we need to do is done in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We know when you left us to go back to heaven, you activated the last days and we are living in them and we don't want to be count in the number of those where love grows cold.  

So ignite something in us to love fervently even people that do not deserve to be loved because we know we once did not deserve to be loved. So Father, help us to extend that to others.  

I pray Lord, that may you guard all of us jealously. May you protect us from harm and danger, seen or unseen. May we be the difference makers when everything comes so help us in our efforts and in our desire to be the ones that you use for your name to be magnified. 

I bless you for all that you're going to do in us and through us. Bless every family represented here. Bless every grandchild represented here. I pray Lord that all those who are in need, you shall supply all our needs according to riches in glory.  

We will not want for anything but help us to fixate our eyes on you. Because we know when we find you, we'll find all that we need. Help us to seek first your Kingdom and your righteousness.  

So that all other things will be added unto us. Now we bless you as we look forward into this week with great anticipation and expectation. We honor you and we love you in Jesus name, Amen. 

Amen and it was just one thing that was coming up for me as Pastor Zee was praying is don't be surprised because we are storming the gates and the strongholds of the enemy in our lives and in the lives of our loved ones.  

Don't be surprised if you encounter a bit a measure of persecution in this week or in the coming weeks. Don't be surprised but don't fear when you see it when it rears its ugly head, you throw some scripture at it.  

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son and I abide in Jesus as Jesus abides in God, we are one. We are more than conquerors. Greater is he who is in me than he who is in the world. 

So you know don't be surprised but don't be afraid and keep storming those strongholds on your knees because that's where we win.

Not in going toe to toe but on our knees in prayer. So we love you all. I will send these slides. Thank you so much alright. Have a blessed night, good night. Good night Pastor.