Teachings of John Robert Stevens

How can a man be faithful to God, or how can a steward be faithful to the Lord? How can we be steadfast to the point of giving our lives to the Lord even unto death? We cannot do this on a human plane. Yet because He loves us, we can know and believe in the love of God that is in us and say, “Father, I love You with Your love. I love You perfectly because Your love is a perfect love. I love You faithfully, Lord, because I love You with Your love.”

To start a new line of thinking, in every case where the human element has been the factor, I propose that we get to the end of it as soon as possible and get into the divine factor. God speaks to our hearts of what we are to do, and we think we can fulfill it with our own abilities. Instead, we must realize it will have to be all God and seek the Lord for impartation from Him to accomplish it.

You may have thought, “The Lord says I’m going to be a wise man, so I shall read some books and go to school. After awhile I’ll be wise.” That will not make you wise, not with the wisdom God wants. It will have to come from the Lord.

You purpose in your heart to love. “I’m going to be perfect in love: I shall love my wife, my children, and my enemies. I’m going to love everybody.” How are you to do that? Make up your mind right now that no matter what is involved, you will do it with God’s love; God will give you the grace to do it. You have to know and believe in the love He has put within you.

The love of God in us enables us to rise up confidently, without any self-confidence, pride, or arrogance of the flesh to say we can do it. We can do it because He has put it in us to do it. We do not have it in ourselves in the flesh to love; we have it within us in the Spirit.

It is time for us to heed what a walk with God is basically all about. It is the Body flowing in the love of God, the Body that makes increase of itself in love (Ephesians 4:16). We reach that through the divine flow.

And we have come to know and believe the love which God has in us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. Try to understand this principle of abiding. Why is it that the Apostle John is always talking about abiding? In the fifteenth chapter of his Gospel, he speaks of this abiding principle, learning how to live in God: “When we live in love, we live in God. When we live in love, God lives in us.” This is not some philosophical, mystical concept. Consciously directed and channeled divine love fills you and surrounds you with God. That is what John is saying in effect.

The will is involved in love. I do not think it is true to say, “I just can’t help loving them.” It would not be true for long. You can fall deeply in love with someone on the romantic plane, but there comes a time when you decide to love. This is what counts. It is not based on how you are swept along by your emotions, or that certain chemistry between two individuals, but how you come to the place where you say, “I see and I love this one.” You consciously direct your love. You consciously channel your love, and you say, “This one I am going to love.”

There is, of course, always the problem of immaturity. When a young couple in their very early teens are so much in love, the wise old people say, “They’re not in love. They are in love with love.” The idea of loving intrigues the immature. They are overwhelmed with it, but they do not know enough yet; they are not mature enough to consciously focus their love on another individual, knowing what it would mean. They love and embrace each other, but it is not a consciously directed and focused love because they do not know enough to do it. The whole idea of love intrigues them. If anyone comes along and says, “I love you,” they say, “I love you, too.” They are in love with the idea of love, but they do not know enough yet.

God moves on our hearts and says, “Now, when you love, you are to focus that love on someone. It will be in you to fulfill it; I will surround you. You are going to abide in Me, and I am going to abide in you.” That is what I John 4:16 said. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. It is a living thing.

We will face many difficulties in the days to come. People will be motivated by many things, but predominantly fear will determine the actions and decisions of people. There will be fear and insecurity because they will not know what is going to happen. Men’s hearts (will be) failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. Luke 21:26. It is very important that we eliminate the negative motivation at this point and that we be not motivated by fear. Now we are coming to the purpose of this message.

By this, love is perfected with us, that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear.… When we want to serve the Lord with all our hearts, and we set our love upon Him, opening our hearts to Him, then that perfected love eliminates fear.

Fear exists in people because they are fearful of punishment. Fear has a torment to it. Fear involves things we do not always understand. Whenever you love someone, yet you are deeply jealous, or you find that the love is not only a blessed, sustaining thing but also has moments in which it seems to be a torment to you, then carefully weigh that love. It involves a variety of experiences and relationships. Whenever love exists in that measure it is not perfected; it is not a good, true love yet. Nevertheless, it may have its possibilities, because we read how God’s love is perfected within us.

People come before the Lord and they have a fear of judgment because their love has not been perfected yet. If we have fear of the day of judgment ahead of us, our love has not been perfected. We will never approach that day with fear in our hearts. We will not be motivated to find a hole to hide in. Because we believe that God loves us so much, and that love is so perfected in us, we will be motivated by love to walk with God through this time, rather than to approach it with fearful and tormented hearts, thinking, “What will happen to me now? Will God love me, does He really love me that much?”

When you worship and come with feelings of insecurity before God, it may be because of faulty love. Why not open your heart and let God love you so you can love Him back again with a perfect love? That may be the whole problem. The feeling of insecurity in your life may come because your love has not been perfected. Perfect love excludes fear. It will give us the confidence we will need before the Lord in the day of judgment. We love because He first loved us.

Would you like to love a little better? Would you like to be able to receive love better? Here are a few things about how to love: