A FAITH-FILLED, PROPHETIC WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT!
September 15, 2022
BY CRYSTAL G.H. LOWERY
Romans 12:9 TPT – “Let the inner movement of your heart always be to love one another, and never play the role of an actor wearing a mask. Despise evil and embrace everything that is good and virtuous.”
Romans 12:9 KJV – “Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.”
I’ve been seeing a lot of prophetic visions and words shared by those operating in the prophetic in this season. Some are similar in scope. They are seeing that in the next year that there will be a tremendous number of people come together in kingdom marriages. The prophetic word is for singles and so many are encouraged by this vision of true love that is prepared for the future.
While all of this is amazing and wonderful, when we think about love, we most often think about the “positive” aspects of love. The feeling of love is a wonderful thing, but feelings can be fickle and not always be constant. Love that is lasting, at least on the human end of things, must be a choice.
When the challenges come, there must still be the choice to love the other person. This is true in romantic relationships, but also in our friendships as well. Have we settled the question to love? We know that God IS Love (I John 4:16). So God = Love. He is the very purest essence of love. When we speak of love, we must first realize the source of love. That is God Himself, who is Love Himself.
Jesus shared two commandments regarding love: “…Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all they heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40 KJV).
When we think of the direction of the first commandment, it is vertical. We are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind. This is a love that goes “up” to our Heavenly Father. The second command flows from the first and is for us to love our neighbor as ourself. This is a horizontal direction, extending outward to those around us. These two commandments Jesus gave us form the shape of the cross. Isn’t it so beautiful how that the cross was and still is the ultimate expression of love.
It was all because God not only loved us, but He SO loved us that He gave Jesus in the great exchange for what we could never pay. The amazing thing is that not only was Jesus the payment for our sin (doubt, disobedience, disbelief, etc.), but He was an overpayment. He was so much more than we could ever be. When we wear or see others wear the cross as a decorative piece of jewelry, we should be so convicted in our spirits and souls of just what the cross really means. It symbolizes that our debt has been overpaid, but it should also remind us that not only are we SO loved, but that we are commanded to love.
A commandment is not a suggestion. A commandment is like an order in the military. You are commanded to do a certain thing. If we are in the family of God, we are serving in the royal service. We take commands, not mere suggestions, from our leader, our Commander-in Chief. If Jesus commanded us to love, then we love.
Again, so often, we relate what love means to the touchy, feely, warm and fuzzies – all the good – that love embodies. However, just as love’s characteristics and essence are those, there is a part of love that is equally as fierce in going after evil in or around someone we love. Romans 12:9 KJV tells us that we are to love without dissimulation. The Greek word for “dissimulation” is “ANUPOKRITOS.” This word can ultimately mean “without hypocrisy or unfeigned.” To say that we love someone and not cling to good and not abhor evil is like playing the role of an actor wearing a mask. You would be acting like you love that person, but at the end of the day, you take off your mask from the role you are playing and it is all a lie. It is hypocritical.
We see God, Love Himself, display this in His character. He is the ultimate example of Love because He is that very thing – Love. He wants what is good for us. We know that in Jeremiah 29:11, that He has prepared good and wonderful plans for our lives. He sent Jesus so that we could walk out those plans for our lives. As much good as He has for each of us, He also hates evil. He is diametrically opposed to evil. We have a choice. If we believe in Jesus’ grace by faith, then we have the Good life ahead. However, if we don’t then we will walk a long, hard road leading ultimately to separation from God for all eternity to live in the torment of hell.
God chases us down. He overtakes us with His love for us – with Himself. But, ultimately, we can reject him. That isn’t what He wants for us, but there is choice in love. There is freedom in love. We aren’t just puppets that militantly obey. Our obedience comes from love. Otherwise it isn’t love, it’s forced obedience.
When we love someone as we are to love ourselves, it follows our wholehearted love for our Father. It flows from the first commandment of loving Him unyielded, with no barriers or limits. When we exercise and practice this kind of love, as we are commanded, we will step into a love walk that goes after and fights for the best in someone else. When we see that person we love venturing off into the tall grasses that surround the boundary of evil, we will quickly run after that person and help to pull them back.
If we love someone, truly love someone, then we can’t help but want all things good for them. We can’t bear the thought of even the tiniest particle of evil, as harmless as it may appear. This scripture in Romans 12 tells us that it is hypocritical to say we love someone and not abhor that which is evil.
So we love in love and we hate evil in love. We do it all in love because that is our command. We can obey those orders because we know we are SO loved. We love God because He first loved us and from that beautiful, intimate relationship with Him, we can then in turn reach outward and truly love those around us.
Friends, you are SO loved by your Father. Make time today and this week to spend time with Him basking in His love for you. Reciprocate and let Him know just how much you love Him. Then, as you go about your day, extend the flow of love to those around you. Part of true love is going after all that is good. But…part of true love is hatred. When you have a revelation of His love for you and you begin to place one foot in front of the other, you will see that in your own love walk you can truly love in love and hate evil in love. Based On Faith.
Crystal G.H. Lowery, Esq is a Christian Estate Planning Attorney and is the owner and founding attorney of Law Office Of Crystal G.H. Lowery, LLC. She is also the founder of Based on Faith and an ordained minister who has a passion to share Jesus with the world. Based on Faith is an organization whose vision is to become an international resource that increases biblical knowledge of faith within the Body of Christ through comprehensive teaching, discussion of law, and the prophetic.
Copyright September 15, 2022 ©, Crystal G.H. Lowery and Based on Faith. All Rights Reserved.