NEWSLETTER - MARCH 2007

VERSE OF THE MONTH:
“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him”
1 John 4:16 (NIV)

IN THIS EDITION:
Knowing the Love of God
New – on the Website
Events

KNOWING THE LOVE OF GOD
I guess we are all very familiar with the above verse. It is one of those things we know – that God is love! Yet John is not talking about knowing facts, he is talking about experiencing something. He is talking about our experience of a Person. The ‘knowing’ that John is referring to is the receiving and impartation of love. It is a heart connection, an intimate experience, a relationship. It is becoming aware of the truth of God’s love in our heart.

It is only as we experience the love of the Father that we can begin to rely on it. The more of the Father’s love we receive, the more we discover that His love is steadfast, unchanging and completely reliable. It is not here today and gone tomorrow. It is not dependent on circumstances. His love brings us into security. It never changes; it is completely reliable.

We do not rely on a fact. We do not put our trust in a concept. But we come to trust a loving Father, one who carries us and leads us gently along the paths of life. Whilst our lives will not be trouble free we can find that He can only do us good. His love is a shield, a hiding place and a safe place for our hearts to dwell.

As we experience and trust His love we start to live in love. We cannot live in love unless we have received it first. Effort or striving do not lead to us living in love. Talking about God’s love does not lead to us living in love. We live in love by experiencing it, by receiving it, by being drawn into it.

Exodus 34 tells us that God is compassionate, gracious, slow to become angry, abounding in love, faithful and forgiving. His love is expressed as joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control (Galatians 5).

This is the love that God has for us. It is a gift from our Father. It is something that we experience. God’s love is not like a spectator sport where we experience by watching. He comes to us and the closeness of His presence means we live in Him and He in us.

It is being at home.

My experience is that I can’t make myself live in love. I can’t work it up. I can only do it as I receive. Receiving God’s love is not a one off experience; we are like buckets with holes in. We leak and regularly need to come and be filled again. So many people have an encounter of the Father’s love but don’t come back for more. To live in love is to constantly come for more – we need to! Our life depends on it!

There is an experience of love for us all. It is not a one off event but a lifelong experience of dwelling with Him. Come back for more – it’s free!

NEW – ON THE WEBSITE
Over the last few weeks the website has been updated and now includes some new features.

Firstly, there is a new section called “Reflections”. God is very creative and He expresses Himself in many different ways. Art, music, poetry and creation are just some of the ways we can experience His love as He uses these as channels to speak to us. Have a look at: www.afathertoyou.com/creative. We have added a slide show showing the beauty of Father’s creation and some poems by Fiona Gyde. We hope these inspire and encourage you as you watch or read. We hope to expand this section over the coming months.

Secondly, there is now an online guestbook where you can leave messages or testimonies. These are edited and approved before they are uploaded. Hopefully, one person’s experience can be an encouragement to someone else. To leave a comment or to read other people’s comments please see: www.afathertoyou.com/guests.

If you live in the Oxfordshire area (or are prepared to travel) then you can receive separate notification of events which are taking place in this area. To sign up please visit: www.afathertoyou.com/signposts/events.html and follow the link towards the top of the page.

Finally, if you would like to support Fatherheart Ministries then it is now possible to make online donations through the website. These are handled by CAF and UK donors can use the Gift Aid scheme (subject to you being a taxpayer). Gifts can also be made in Euros and US dollars. The donation pages are on CAF’s secure website with a link from our site: www.afathertoyou.com/donate.

EVENTS
The events page has been updated and there are a number of Father Heart Schools taking place in the UK over the coming months. For more detail on any of these please follow the links to contact the local organiser.

In His love

Mark Gyde