by Kenneth Copeland

Start today practicing the life of love. One way to do that is by practicing God’s presence in your daily life. Develop an awareness that Love is constantly with you by talking to Him all the time.

And when you talk to Him, just get real. First thing in the morning when you open your eyes say, “Good morning, Lord. I love You and praise You today. I’m so glad You never leave me nor forsake me. I receive Your love for me and I want You to know my desire is to be a blessing to You. Help me, teach me and train me—whatever You desire for me to do, I’ll be willing and obedient. I’ll do it with a happy heart.”

When you start to practice God’s presence like that, it will change how you act throughout the day. You’ll start being more loving and kind—even when other people aren’t around to notice—because you’ll know the Lord is there and you have no desire to grieve Him.

In John 21:15-17, Jesus asked Peter three times,
“Do you love Me?” or “Do you agape Me?” Peter
had to answer three times before he got it right
because he was trying to answer Jesus in the
language of the day. He just didn’t understand
what Jesus was asking. Agape is the key to the
command to love. It’s the key to loving as Jesus
loved.

To get the love of God—the agape kind of love—
over to mankind, Jesus entered into a blood
covenant with God. With the sacrifice of His own
blood, Jesus said, “I agape!” To agape is an act
of the will. It is a spoken covenant from which
there is no retreat, and about which there is no
debate.

So you can get in it and receive it by partaking
of His covenant, or you can stay on the outside
of it and go straight to hell. Either way, God will
love you all the way there because the covenant
has been made. He said, I love! And that was that.

Jesus used His will to love. And you must use
your will to receive. But without the help of God,
we don’t have the natural ability to love
unconditionally. And He doesn’t expect us to
keep the commandment to love by our flesh—
our natural man. That’s where the old covenant
was a problem. The children of Israel demonstrated
just how weak this flesh really is.

Today, however, we have the blood of Jesus,
His Name that is above every name and the Spirit
of Almighty God dwelling inside us. That’s Love
Himself living in us. All we have to do is make
the decision to keep the commandment.

God will take care of the rest. But if we don’t
commit to the commandment to love, we face
the consequences in 1 John 2:10-11: “He that
loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there
is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that
hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in
darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth,
because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.”

Another aspect of our love being perfected
is found in 1 John 2:4-5: “He that saith,
I know him [I know God, I know Jesus,
I know Love], and keepeth not his [God’s]
commandments, is a liar, and the truth is
not in him. But whoso keepeth his [God’s]
word, in him verily is the love of God perfected.”

When you keep God’s Word, you allow the love
of God to run its full course in your life. You
reach that place of allowing God to do on the
inside of you what He had in mind when He
created Adam. It’s what He was in Jesus.
And that’s exactly what He plans to be in you.

But notice that the key to being perfected in
God’s love is tied to keeping His commandments—
His Word. First John 3:23 says: “And this is his
commandment, That we should believe on the
name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one
another, as he gave us commandment.” This
verse refers to the commandment Jesus gave
to His disciples: “A new commandment I give
unto you, That ye love one another; as I have
loved you…” (John 13:34).

Love one another as I have loved you… “We
can’t do that, Jesus!” Of course we can’t.
That’s why 1 John 3:23 precedes the
commandment to love with “Believe on the
name of his Son Jesus Christ….” Then we can
love one another. That changes the
complexion of this thing. It takes love out of
the emotional realm and puts it in the spiritual
realm.

In other words, it’s going to take believing
on the Name of Jesus the Anointed One to
be able to love one another the way He did.
It’s going to take faith. Also realize from
these two passages that we’re talking
about a commandment from Jesus. If He
commanded us to love, then somehow He
must have equipped us to do it.

If Jesus commanded us to love, then
somehow He must have equipped us to do it.
Besides, Jesus doesn’t love us with some
human form of love. He loves us
with the love of God— and that’s not just
any love. Throughout His earthly ministry,
Jesus used a Greek word for love that was
as uncommon as He was.

It’s the word we know as agape. The people
of Jesus’ day didn’t really understand that
word because it was not used in conversation,
but primarily in classic writings and so forth.

We find agape used in the writings of the
Apostle Paul, particularly in that great passage
on love, 1 Corinthians 13. But even the English
translators translated love as “charity,”
which is closer to the true meaning because
charity is more than just love.

Charity is actually a love that has a driving
desire to give. So agape, as used by Jesus,
is more than just loving one another. It is
loving one another to the point that you
are willing to give yourself.

As God’s beloved and anointed children,
it’s amazing that we have not taken greater
advantage of our authority and security that
lies in the love of God, as this woman in London did.

Instead, through our ignorance and man-made,
religious doctrines, we’ve allowed the devil
to oppress us and keep us in all kinds of bondage.
And all because of fear.

You may be wondering what possible connection
there is between God’s love for you and having no fear.
That connection is found in 1 John 4:

Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God,
God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known
and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love;
and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God,
and God in him.

Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have
boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is,
so are we in this world. There is no fear in love;
but perfect love casteth out fear…
(Verses 15-18).

God is Love. And in Love, there is no fear.
Not an ounce. What’s more, that love—which leaves
no room for fear—dwells in us. So neither should
there be any fear in us. After all, we’ve not been
given a spirit of fear, “but of power, and of love…”
(2 Timothy 1:7).

For fear to enter the heart of a believer,
it must come from the outside, from
the fear-infested world in which we live.
and that’s where knowing and believing the
love of God comes into play for us.
Just moments before Jesus went to the cross,
He prayed specifically for us:

God is Love. And in Love, there is no fear.
Not an ounce.

That they may be made perfect in one;
and that the world may know that thou hast sent me,
and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me….
And I have declared unto them thy name,
and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast
loved me may be in them, and I in them
(John 17:23, 26).

The reason Jesus gave up His place in glory,
came to earth, took on the limitations of human flesh,
then went to the cross and suffered and died,
was so He could make that transaction:
“that the love wherewith You [God] loved Me [Jesus]
may be in them [us].”
God loves us with the same love
with which He loves Jesus.

And if He loves us to that degree, then He will
certainly protect us to that degree.
But we have to know and believe His love.
You knew the love of God the moment
you were born again. It was, in fact,
love that re-created you. It was love that
delivered you from the power of darkness,
and translated you into the kingdom of
His dear Son or “the Son of His love”
as it is literally translated
(Colossians 1:13).

But how well do you know that love?
“Well, I know God loves me, Brother Copeland.
But I wouldn’t go so far as to say He loves
me just like He loves Jesus.”
Then you’re not walking in His love by faith.
You’re falling back on what your flesh—and
probably the devil—is telling you.

The times you don’t feel God’s presence or
feel God’s love, those are the very times you
had better believe He’s there and believe His
love for you. Otherwise, your flesh will
let you down. Your mind will let you down.
And Satan will use everything he can to pressure
and push you away from the love of God.

I don’t care how “spiritually dry” you might feel.
That doesn’t change a thing. The Word says the
same thing today as it said yesterday. And it says,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God”
(John 1:1).

The Word is God. And God is Love. So the
Word is Love. Get up every day determined to let
only the Word—Love—tell you what you feel—not your
flesh, not your circumstances and certainly not
the devil. Listen to Love tell you, “I will never
leave thee, nor forsake thee”
(Hebrews 13:5).

Remember, when we have known and believed
the love of God, “Herein is our love made perfect…”
(1 John 4:17).

In World War II, Nazi Germany

launched a series of air raids

against the city of London. During

those bombings the residents of

London would evacuate their homes

and businesses and take cover in

designated underground shelters.

On one particular night of

bombings, a woman was missing

from her neighborhood shelter. A

few days later some of her neighbors

saw her and asked if everything

were all right.

“Everything’s fine,” she replied.

“Then why weren’t you in the

shelter the other night?” they asked.

“It’s smelly down there,” she

said, “and I don’t like it.”

“Aren’t you afraid the bombs

will get you?” her friends asked.

“Oh, no,” she said confidently.

“I read the scripture where it says

my God neither slumbers nor

sleeps. So I decided there was no

use in us both being awake. I just

prayed, ‘Lord, I praise You, I thank

You and I place myself in Your

love—and I’m not going to that

shelter anymore.’”

Now there was a believer with a

revelation of God’s love that allowed

her to overcome fear and roll the

care of her well-being over on God.

As it turned out, just a few days

later, enemy aircraft came through

and bombed that neighborhood,

leveling every house. Every house,

that is, except the woman’s who

had chosen to remain in the

comfort of her home…and in the

comfort of God’s love.