Only love answers 'How?'

Paul advises in II Corinthians 10:5, “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

“The warfare we’re in with the Adversary today is a spiritual battle that gets fought in your inner man,” says Jordan. “That’s why you need to keep your mind and your ears tuned like a laser. Just like your tongue can taste the difference in meats, your ear needs to be able to hear that message . . . The key is to win the battle for the mind because that’s where the conflict’s ALWAYS at.

"Paul asks the Galatians in Galatians 3:3: ‘Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?’

“You see all this performance stuff, all this activity aimed at the physical outward external stuff, is backwards. Satan works through your body into your soul and then into your spirit. God works in your spirit out through your soul, manifested in your body. So where’s the real battle? It’s going to be in the spirit of our minds.

“Paul says, 'Go over and grab all those vain imaginations; all those things you project in your mind, dream up or have other people put into your thinking.’ The course of this world is ‘bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop’--constantly.

“He’s saying, ‘Take that stuff and just throw it out the window!’ Imagine yourself on the third floor of a building and watch it go 'splat' on the pavement.

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“ ‘Bringing every thought into captivity.’ You see, you’re to renew your mind to develop a positive habit of BELIEVING what God says. Develop a positive habit in your mind that says, ‘I am beloved of the Father.’

“When I bring my thinking into captivity to the grace and love of God given to me through the Crosswork of Jesus Christ, I’ll be free from self-occupation--free from thinking about me and my stuff--and I’ll start thinking about me and HIS stuff. In fact, I’ll just start thinking about His stuff.

“And that’s when you find rest in the Father’s love. And it won’t just be a theological point and a doctrinal statement to say, ‘God loves you.’ It’ll be something that comes into your intimate experience moment by moment.

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“When you’re trusting your performance, what do you get? You get failure. There are ONLY TWO CHOICES, folks, when it comes to effectually changing your life. One is law and one is grace. You either believe the law changes you or you believe love changes you.

“Let me tell you this, simply warning people to change can’t change them. Giving people reasons for changing, for doing what’s right and for avoiding what’s wrong, doesn’t change them.

“You get to Romans 7 and look at Paul’s description of the life of a Believer lived under the law and it’s very clear that the law endorses the need for change but is powerless to produce it. That’s not its job description.

“The job description of the law is to point out failure. That’s why it gives the rules and regulations and the demand for perfection so it can hold up the mirror and say, ‘See, you can’t do it. You’re not perfect. You need a Savior.'

“Have you ever seen somebody headed for a mess and you begin to give them reasons why they shouldn’t do it? Think about yourself. You got all these reasons not to do something and you do it anyway.

“You see, reasons only answer the question of ‘Why?’ Why should I not do this and why should I do that. You need motivation to answer the ‘How?’

“What is it actually that causes you to love God? Is it Him telling you, ‘Love me,’ or do we love Him because He first loved us? Where does love for Him really come from? It’s His love for us that motivates our love for Him.

“That’s why I John 4:10 says, ‘Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.’ It says, ‘We love Him, because He first loved us.’ ”