Abounding Love Podcast with Former ”Tex” Watson

284 - Put On Charity

This episode includes me testifying of my fruitless search for love in drugs, sex and the flesh. Today, I have "put off" those vices and have "put on" the love of Christ. The apostle Paul wrote: "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things [the flesh] put on charity [agape love], which is the bond of perfectness" (Colossians 3:12-14, KJV, emphasis added). These verses, and those preceding them, say we are to "put on" these things as Christians. In verse 10, it says we ". . . have put on the new man," since the old man has been done away with in Christ. This new man has been regenerated in the image of God. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17, KJV).
In Colossians 3:12, quoted above, Paul says that we are to "Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved . . ." We are the elect of God, holy and beloved; separated from the world. When we experience this, we begin to act differently. We become humble, patient, merciful, kind and forgiving; when we weren't before. Paul goes on to say, "And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness" (v. 14). "Bond" is the Greek word for "ligament." Our born-again Spirit has been made perfect in Christ, and our soul [mind, choices and emotions] is the "ligament" to our bodily actions. We are to "put on charity," which is the Greek word "agape", unconditional, sacrificial love. The ancient Greek word translated "put on" in these verses is used elsewhere in Scripture to mean the putting on of garments. In other words, we are to wear God's love like clothing; as a covering for everyone to see and experience. As the chorus goes, "They will know we are Christians by our love, by our love; yes, they will know we are Christians by our love." Our love defines us and shows we are perfect in Christ. Selah! [See my article and brochure, "God's Divine Flow" at aboundinglove.org/outreach/gospel].
Let me hear from you - Charles
https://www.aboundinglove.org/
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282 - Enemies of Love

In this episode, we will recognize who our enemy is. The enemies of God are enemies of Love. They don't want us to experience the love of God. They keep us from loving our brothers and sisters in Christ. We know who the deceiver is; Satan, who comes to steal, kill and destroy. And we know Jesus came to give life more abundantly. We see two opposing forces. In John 10:10, Satan is presented as a thief. He creeps in unaware to bring us into bondage and to deceive us. His success is due only to our lack of knowledge of the truth. Satan wants us to abandon God's will and come in line with his evil will. He opposes God, and God opposes him. We know Who is the winner -- Jesus Christ!
In Genesis, after the Fall of man, we find God addressing Satan [the serpent], and He says: ". . . And I will put enmity between you and the women, and between your seed [Satan] and her Seed; He [Jesus] shall bruise your head, and you [Satan] shall bruise His heel" (Genesis 3:15, NKJV). That word "enmity" means mutual hatred and hostility. Satan hates God, and God hates Satan. And this enmity extends between those who follow one or the other. We are to hate [have enmity towards] the deeds of Satan, especially when found among believers. We don't hate the believer, but the inappropriate actions of the believer. We hate the sin, but love the sinner [Romans 5:8].
Jesus bruises the head of the "seed of the serpent", and the serpent bruises the heel of the "Seed of the woman," temporarily at the cross. Satan comes at us and plants thoughts that are in opposition to what God's will is for our lives. These contrary thoughts are enmity towards God and enemies of God, and His love. In this message, we find the truth of the knowledge of Jesus Christ, that we use as weapons against the works of the enemy. Selah!
Let me hear from you - Charles
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277 - Owe Nothing But Love

This episode shares how we are to perfect the love of God in our lives, but we must remember that we love because He first loved us. As believers, we are born of the Spirit of love. We have God's love within us, and we owe [have an obligation] to share His love with others. We must allow His love to flow from our lives. The Greek word for God's love is "agape," the unconditional and sacrificial love of God, which put His Son on the cross in our place for our sins. There are other words used for love in the Scriptures, such as "phileo" [brotherly love] and "storge" [affectionate love], but only "agape" is used for God's love. The word "eros" for physical love is not used in the Scriptures.
We're not to keep God's love stored inside us for safekeeping, but we are to give it to others. The apostle Paul wrote: "Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,' 'You shall not covet,' and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law" (Romans 13:8-10, NKJV). If we are to fulfill the law, then we'll be "loving our neighbor as we love ourselves." We are not to do any harm to our brothers and sisters in the Lord, but don't we?
At times, we speak evil of others, but we are called to perfect the love of God in our lives and in out thoughts. This way we can be effective representatives of God on earth as the light of the world. By perfecting God's love in our lives, we not only meet the requirements of the Law of God, but also the criminal and civil laws. Romans, chapter 13 continues: "And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lust" (Romans 13:11-14, NKJV). Join me as we look into the importance of the love of God and how to manifest it. Selah!
Let me hear from you - Charles
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283 - Let None Imagine Evil

How many of us have trouble with our imaginations? Zechariah prophesied, "Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother: And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart" (7:9-10, KJV). During the day, we're tempted the think badly about other Christians. Let none "imagine evil" against their Christian brother and sister. There is no room for this in our lives. These verses state that we're to "execute true judgment," not based on our imaginations. When God looks upon Christians, He sees the blood of Jesus. Without it, judgment would come upon all mankind.
Jesus wiped all our sin away, taking our judgment upon Himself. God sees the believer as pure and righteous because of Jesus' blood. Zechariah tells us to "Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassions every man to his brother." True judgment today involves showing mercy and compassion [suffering with another]. If we're not showing love to our fellow Christians, we're not executing the right kind of judgment. Absent love, our judgment is worldly and even demonic. It brings destruction, instead of healing.
This message is intended for born-again Christians. We are not to oppress the less fortunate; widows, orphans and foreigners. And we are not to even think [imagine] evil against our fellow Christian. The people of Zechariah's time, ". . . refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear" (7:11, KJV). My prayer is that we won't stop up our ears, but will listen to this message and put on the mind of Christ, as Zechariah told us to do. Join me as we discover how we can get rid of our evil imaginations and think as God thinks. Selah!
Let me hear from you - Charles
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278 - Keep Yourself in Love

"But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garments spotted by the flesh" (Jude 20-23, KJV). This means we are not only to keep ourselves in the love of God; but we are to help keep others in the love of God. As the body of Christ, we are united in love, so we are to keep the body of Christ in the love of God. In the verses quoted above, Jude addresses the statement to "beloved." When you see "beloved" used in the Scriptures, it's being addressed to Christians. Then Jude says, "building up yourselves," and this indicates there is something we need to do. It has been said that God has already done everything He is going to do. He has given us Jesus and made us a new creation. After we are born again in Christ, we must keep ourselves built up [edified] in the most holy faith.
These Scriptures, verses 20 through 23 has seven (7) commands that a Christian needs to do. #1, ". . . building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost," #2, "Keep yourselves in the love of God," #3, ". . . looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life," #4, ". . . have compassion" on some, #5, ". . . making a difference," #6, ". . . others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, and #7, ". . . hating even the garments spotted by the flesh." The first is to build up ourselves in the most holy faith. You may have noticed that within Christianity there is a lot of putting people down, and it's very easy to be put down through gossip. But, Jude instructs us to build up ourselves  and others in the faith.
Jude precedes the above verses with this warning. "These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage. But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These are they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit" (Jude 16-19, KJV). Things were the same then as they are now. We're told by Jude in verse 3, ". . . that you should earnestly contend for the faith. . .", because there are those who will teach you falsely to have you deny the faith that saved you. Join me as we study this episode on how we can build ourselves up in the faith and keep ourselves in the love of God, so those who come with such evil intentions will have no affect and can be overcome. Selah!
Let me hear from you - Charles
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280 - Let Your Love Abound

Did you know that you have the love of God within you? We are not only born again due to the love of God, but our spirit is created in love at salvation. And due to free will, we must let the love of God be activated, to operate [abound or overflow] from our lives. The apostle Paul prays, " . . . that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God" (Philippians 1:9-11, NKJV). He is praying these five (5) things for the Philippian people. We won't cover them all, but #1 is, ". . . that their love may abound," #2 ". . . that they may approve the things that are excellent," #3, ". . . that they may be sincere," #4, that they may be ". . . without offense," and #5, that they may be ". . . filled with the fruits of righteousness." 
The first was that their love would abound or overflow. The Amplified Bible says in verse 9, that Paul is saying, ". . . that your love may abound yet more and more, and extend to its fullest development in knowledge and keen insight." The Amplified Bible puts a deeper emphasis [exaggerating] each verse for a deeper meaning and understanding. It's saying that your love needs to display itself and have a greater acquaintance. In other words, know each other more deeply.
Again, the word "abound" means "to overflow." But the implication is that we're to overflow, not just in quantity, but in quality. God expects the quality of our love to be as His love. Usually the quantity and quality of our love doesn't even approach the quantity and quality of God's love, even though He lives in us. It's like our finances. God expects we'll have enough so we can give as He directs. So it is with God's love. He has given His love to us in abundance so that we can give it away to everyone else. This is the work of the Body of Christ. In this message I present additional insights from God's Word about why and how we are able to let God's love abound from our lives. Selah!
Let me hear from you - Charles
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281 - God's Pure Love

In this episode, I start with the founding verse of this ministry, which is based on the love of God and loving one another, but there are other aspects involving purity as follows: "And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints" (1 Thessalonians 3:12-13, NKJV). In these verses, the apostle Paul is praying for us to increase in love. Chapter 4 of First Thessalonians continues: "Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 4:1-2, NKJV). The word "abound," used in these verses means "to increase to overflowing." It pleases God when we show love to one another. Jesus gave us a new commandment that we love one another [John 13:34-35].
First Thessalonians 4:3-4 continues: "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor . . ." What is the will of God? That we be sanctified, (set apart from the world) for Him, for pure and holy living. To abstain from fortification means to shun and detest sexual vices, interactions outside the bounds of marriage (between a man and a woman). The word "vessel" here refers to your body. First Thessalonians 4:5 continues: ". . . not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God . . ." The term, "passion of lust" implies our thoughts and dreams should not be about sexual desires. When you control these desires you're showing sanctification and your love for God and one another.
Let's go on to verse 6: ". . . that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness" (1 Thessalonians 4:6-7, NKJV). Holiness is separation from how the world [gentiles] think and act, and dedicate ourselves to purity. The truths spoken of in these verses have become much more difficult to preach on since the sexual revolution of the 1960's, but we need to know the truth of God's Word. Join me as we delve into this difficult subject. Selah!
Let me hear from you - Charles
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203 - Wrong Spirits Stop God's Power

On the day of Pentecost in Acts, chapter 2, God poured out the Holy Spirit as promised by Jesus. He wants His power to be apparent in our lives, but Satan's powers tries to stop God from operating in us. Jesus said, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8, NKJV). Though we have been given the power of God, for some reason the Holy Spirit is not moving through us as saints.
Luke, chapter 9, begins: "Then He [Jesus] called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases" (v. 1, NKJV). It is important to understand that the disciples were not born again, and the power given to them is not the same as we have after Pentecost. The resurrection had not occurred and the church had not been established. They were given authority to use the power Jesus had to work miracles in keeping with His ministry among the Jews. "He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. And He said to them, 'Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece'" (Luke 9:2-3, NKJV). Jesus explained that if they are not accepted among the Children of God [Israel, the Jews], they are to leave in no uncertain terms; ". . . shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them" (Luke 9:5b, NKJV).
After the resurrection, Jesus commanded these same disciples, and us as well, to preach the gospel with His authority, His power [Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-18]. This "Great Commission" is still given to us today and the power to do it, including the power to heal and cast out demons. "And these signs will follow those who believe. In My name they will cast out demons; . . . they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover" (Mark 16:17-18, NKJV). This commission and power is for believers. "And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen" (Mark 16:20, NKJV). And they believed, so it was done; and still is done. But we find there's doubt, fear and pride causing us to imagine we don't have such power and authority. These "spirits"-- doubt, fear and pride -- make our ministry ineffective and without power. The apostle Paul exhorts: "Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5, KJV). Our ministry becomes effective when we cast these "spirits" out of our minds. In this message, I explore our commission and how we can have a more effective ministry as a believer. Join me!
Let me hear from you - Charles
https://www.aboundinglove.org/
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