Amazing Love

The episode explores the transformative impact of love in the context of God’s Kingdom, emphasizing that this divine love is foundational to spiritual growth. David shares personal reflections and modern adaptations of the hymn "Amazing Love" to connect listeners with the timeless essence of God's love.

• Exploring the central theme of love as God's kingdom's essence 
• Understanding the transition from the invisible to the visible world 
• Personal reflections on the significance of Jesus’ sacrifice 
• The role of prayer in focusing on spiritual growth 
• Encouraging listeners to experience and share God’s love

Chapters

• 0:56 The Kingdom of God in Love
• 19:40 Walking in God's Love

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:56

Howdy folks, I want to welcome you to another episode of Life Around the Fire. My name is David O'Terry and I'll be your host today. We are a podcast that is devoted to spiritual growth, and what we mean by spiritual growth is this growth in our relationship, first and foremost, with God, then in our relationships with one another. What I'd like to do today in this episode is continue on with this topic concerning the kingdom of God and the motivating thrust concerning God's kingdom, that, being love the major factor in all of creation, is a demonstration of the invisible becoming visible. When God said, let there be light, light became visible. When he declared that there would be a firmament, it became visible. When he declared that there would be animal life, it became visible. But everything came from the invisible, from his kingdom, from his domain, from his dominion, from his realm, and it became physical. It's not the other way around which is really important for us, because oftentimes there can be a misconception that what is going on in life is that we are creating a religion that has some form of godliness in it, or, in essence, we kind of make God into our own image. It's the other way around we have been created in the image of God, but not just created. The motivation in the creation is really what we've been zeroing in on, and that is love. It's not God's military power, it's not his wisdom, it's not his ways of creation and all of them are definitely facets that make up his kingdom but the motivating thrust of the kingdom of God is love. In fact, it was yesterday that I was just kind of going through the day and doing some things, and you know how you have your internal thoughts right, you're just thinking about stuff and you got that internal voice going on. Well, as I was thinking, there was then a very gentle but definitely different voice that was going right along with the stream of my consciousness, and that was the voice of Holy Spirit, and it was so just gentle but clear, gentle but clear. And he said to me he goes, I want you to take the hymn that Charles Wesley wrote, amazing Love, and I'd like you to put that in your own words and I'd share that with folks in tomorrow's podcast, which is today. And so I thought, wow, man, you, okay, of course I'll do that. And so I did, and the reason I'm sharing that now is that I'm going to read it because somebody. Someone is going to benefit from hearing this.

Speaker 1: 5:28

We have an understanding around here that if one person can receive one thing from one of these podcast episodes, man, it's a success, and so far we've been able to see that achieved and we are approaching 700 podcasts, so that's pretty good, man. There's at least 700 people that have been touched at least once. So 700 different ways, man. That is 700 more than what wasn't there before. So I give God praise and I give him all the credit, because this is really devoted to him, prompted by him, and we are acting in obedience in presenting these things to you, and so we really take it to heart and want you to know that we really care about you, because the motivating thrust of God's kingdom being love. We are in his kingdom and we are demonstrating his love, and hopefully that's what you feel when you listen is the very heartbeat of God, the love of God coming to us and through us.

Speaker 1: 6:46

But before we go any further, what I'd like you to do is take a moment and pray because, once again, we live in an incredibly busy world and we have thoughts and distractions and we have information coming our way from a variety of different angles, and it often is hard to really focus, and we believe that what we focus on and who we focus on is what and who we become like beholding and becoming. And so we want to behold Jesus and become like him. We want to focus in on his kingdom and become active citizens in the culture of it. And so let's take a moment and pray, just ask God to shepherd our thoughts like a shepherd shepherd sheep right. To shepherd our thoughts like a shepherd sheep right. Father, we come to you right now and we thank you once again, god, for who you are, for what you're doing and for how you're doing it. Holy Spirit, we ask that you come right now and be like a shepherd, shepherding sheep and take our thoughts and bring them into a place of peace, into a place of calm where we can zero our attention in on Jesus for these next few minutes. We want to become like him, so help us see him, make him real to us. We stand here in his name and we say so be it. Amen, amen, amen, amen. Right, like I said, I was just minding different things as you're going through the day, minding to the tasks that I had and all that I had. This thought that came to me, and it was concerning the hymn Amazing Love. And so I have taken that hymn and modified it, and so I'm going to read my modification of it, and so I'm going to read my modification of it, and then I'm going to read the hymn.

Speaker 1: 9:07

Personally, I'm quite blown away that I even gained an interest in the blood of Jesus. It wasn't on my list of things to think about. However, the reality of him dying for me hit me hard one day when, out of the blue, the Holy Spirit gave me a vision and I experienced seeing Jesus Tortured, beaten and hanging A totally innocent man nailed to a Roman cross. Because my sin pursued him all the way there, and out of an amazing love for me, he took my place as the only way that I could be set free from the dark shroud of sin and death that encompassed me and be born again into a whole new and eternal way of life. My God died for me so that I could receive his life, the only life that was strong enough to set me free from the bondage I couldn't break free from.

Speaker 1: 10:18

It's an absolute mystery that the immortal dies. Who can explore the depths of his strange design? The highest ranking angel tries to sound the depths of his divine love and can't understand it. It's called mercy, and only those of us born on earth can experience it. So let all the angels stop now at trying to figure it out, because they never can and never will.

Speaker 1: 10:48

The truth is Jesus, or, as his name in Hebrew is, yeshua, left his Father's throne from the kingdom of heaven of his own free will, his own infinite abilities and his own power, and he came to earth. But before he came, he emptied himself of everything except love and, as it is written, he did it to shed his blood for us, adam's helpless race. It was an act of mercy, immense and free. To this day I don't know how he did it, but he found me out to save me from myself and save me for his father, for the spirit and for himself. I realized that I came from him into this dark and prison world, having been promised that he would come and find me out. Yet there I was, bound in my own sin and nature's night, but one shaft of a quickening ray of his light was diffused in my own sin and nature's night, but one shaft of a quickening ray of his light was diffused in my direction. It was as if I woke up and my dungeon flamed with light. My chains fell off and my heart was free. I got up, got out, and now me is we. I no longer dread condemnation, nor do I have the fear of death, nor man. Jesus is my Messiah, yeshua HaMashiach. I'm alive in him and he's alive in me. He's the head and I'm part of his body, clothed in righteousness divine. Boldly, I now approach the throne of God and claim the crown through Christ my own, amen, amen. And claim the crown through Christ my own, amen, amen. That was written in 1738, but it was modified by me in the year 2025, 287 years apart. But Charles Wesley right, charles Wesley in 1738, the author of that hymn, amazing Love wrote these words because they were not just good poetry, but they were experiential.

Speaker 1: 13:08

They were an experience that he had, an experience of God's love. His love is far beyond good poetry. His love is far beyond good poetry. His love is far beyond good theatrics. His love is far beyond religion. His love is real, it's dynamic, it's alive and it's expressed toward us because he wants relationship with us. He loves relationship. God loves intimate relationship and he gives us the ability to enter into it, to have the ability to enter in, is by virtue of the shed blood of Jesus that cleanses us from the unrighteousness that we have shrouded our life with, and he penetrates our darkness with his light and gives us his light of life. Amazing, his love is amazing. Amazing love, so Amazing Love.

Speaker 1: 14:21

A hymn by Charles Wesley, written in 1738, goes like this and can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior's blood? Died he for me, who caused his pain for me to him to death pursued. Amazing love. How can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me? Tis mystery. All the immortal dies. Who can explore his strange design? In vain, the firstborn seraph tries To sound the depths of love. Divine. Tis mercy all. Let all earth adore. Let angels' minds inquire no more.

Speaker 1: 15:03

Amazing love, how can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me? He left his Father's throne above, so free, so infinite its grace, emptied himself of all but love and bled for Adam's helpless race. Emptied himself of all but love and bled for Adam's helpless race. Tis mercy all immense and free for O, my God. It found out me. Amazing love. How can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me Long. My imprisoned spirit lay fast bound in sin, and nature's night Thine eye diffused the quickening ray. My dungeon flamed with light, my chains fell off, my heart was free. I rose, went forth and followed thee. Amazing love, how can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me? No condemnation now I dread Jesus. All in in all is mine, alive in him, my living head, and clothed as righteousness, divine Bold, I approach the eternal throne and claim the crown through Christ, my own, amazing love, how can it be that thou, my God, shalt die for me? Amen, amen, amen.

Speaker 1: 16:21

Alright, so If there's one person Out there In fact there is Not if there is no, if, about it, there is one person Listening right now, that those words Are right now, that those words are helping you experience God's love. He wants you, he has found you out and he is offering to you his life. He wants your life, he wants you to give him your life and he wants to give you his life. There's a covenant that he has and it's divine, it's eternal. He's looking to break you free from the bondage that you're in, to set you free from that thing that you can't set yourself free from. You've tried, you've cried. You've done everything you can, but you're still in bondage. It's only through the love of God and his life, his blood, that can set you free. He's offering it to you. He wants you to receive it. Offering it to you, he wants you to receive it and when you receive it, you will know it, because your dungeon will flame with light and your chains will fall off and your heart will be free and you'll be able to go forward and follow him. It's an amazing thing. It's amazing love. It's real. It's more than religion. It's a relationship.

Speaker 1: 18:27

So right now, let's pray. Father, I thank you for the forgiveness that you have given to us through the very shed blood of your son Jesus, and we receive him as our Savior, as our Lord and Holy Spirit. We ask that you would infuse us with the very life of God and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, create within us a clean heart, o God, and renew a right spirit within us so that we can go forward and follow you in all aspects of life. We look to you, we honor you, we thank you. We worship you as God, as God alone. We look to you, we honor you, we thank you, we worship you as God, as God alone. There are no other gods but you. We praise your name and we thank you for who you are and what you've done, and what you're doing In earth as it is in heaven. Let your kingdom come.

Speaker 1: 19:40

Amen, amen, hallelujah. We serve a loving God. It's amazing. Let us walk in that love, the love that's been given to us. Let it flow through us. Amen, amen, amen. Folks, I love you. If you have any thoughts, questions, concerns, please feel free to drop us a line at lifearoundthefire, at gmailcom, or type in lifearoundthefire and look us up on the web. We would love to hear from you in the meantime. God bless you. Adios amigos.