REAL LOVE NEVER FAILS!   31/10/77         DFO639

         1. YOU KNOW, I'VE SAID SO MANY TIMES--"LOVE NEVER FAILS."--We're always saying, "If you use love it will never fail, even if it looks like it's failing! If you really do it in love it will not fail in the long run, you'll reap it sooner or later."
         2. BUT TODAY FOR THE FIRST TIME IT SUDDENLY STRUCK ME IN A TOTALLY DIFFERENT WAY.--IF YOU LOVE THEM, YOU'LL NOT FAIL THEM. If it's real love and you really love them, you'll not fail them, you'll not fail them. You won't let them down, you won't disappoint them. You won't just go off and desert them and say, "Well, they didn't respond." You won't fail them.
         3. SOMETIMES I THINK MAYBE WE GIVE UP TOO EASY because we don't get much response. We don't get results, and it just seems like, "What's the use?" Well, maybe we need to keep trying, maybe we shouldn't give up so easy. "Love never fails! (1Cor.13:8)
         4. WE KNOW GOD'S LOVE NEVER FAILS, HE never fails and whatever has been done in HIS Love will NOT fail, it's going to bear some kind of fruit, it's had some results, some effect. But has our love failed? Have we failed them?
         5. IF IT'S REAL LOVE YOU'RE NOT GOING TO FAIL THEM. You're not going to be here today, gone tomorrow, you're not going to let them down. You're not going to fail them if it's real love, you're not going to disappoint them. Because if you do they'll probably become so hardened nobody will ever be able to reach them.
         6. MAYBE YOU'RE THE ONLY REAL LOVE THEY'VE EVER KNOWN, you know? If THAT love could fail them, what are they ever going to believe in, especially when this love is supposed to be from God!
         7. SOMETIMES I THINK WE'RE TOO IMPATIENT AND WE LOOK FOR TOO QUICK RESULTS, too quick visible effects. If they don't just suddenly kneel down and pray and ask Jesus into their heart and we don't see some kind of a big miracle, why we just get discouraged and give up. But with some people you don't know how much effect you may have had.
         8. WE GET A BURDEN FOR PEOPLE SOMETIMES, BUT THEN DO WE LOSE OUR LOVE FOR THEM? If we lose our love for them, it wasn't REALLY love in the first place. How can we lose real love for someone?
         9. (MARIA: BUT YOU DON'T ALWAYS CONTINUE TO HAVE SUCH A STRONG BURDEN FOR THEM?) No, not even the Lord does. Even the Lord says, "My Spirit will not always strive with man" (Gen.6:3), but it strives an awful long time.
         10. Now, if they slam the door and say "Go away and leave me alone! I don't ever want to see you again! I don't want to hear anymore!"--that's different.
         11. BUT AS LONG AS THEY'RE STILL LISTENING, I BELIEVE THERE'S STILL HOPE. As long as they still want to see and want to hear, they still listen.--They might argue, they might say they don't believe, and all that--it may not seem like they're doing anything--but as long as they keep listening, there's hope. In a way, as long as they keep listening, they're receiving.
         12. THE LORD SAYS, "HE THAT RECEIVETH YOU RECEIVETH ME." (Mt.10:40) Sometimes we need to remember that, that even though it doesn't look like they're receiving anything, if they're still receiving us and receiving what we have to say, they're still listening, maybe they're receiving more than we realise. They just don't want to give us the satisfaction of knowing it. They're too proud to admit it. But let's not fail them, let's not disappoint them, because then that could really hurt their faith.
         13. IF THEY CAN BELIEVE THAT YOU LOVE THEM, THEN THEY CAN BELIEVE THAT GOD LOVES THEM. But if they get disillusioned and disappointed and lose faith that you really love them and they don't believe you love them anymore, they can also lose faith that God loves them. Right?
         14. THESE SOULS ARE VERY PRECIOUS, THEY'RE VERY FRAGILE AND THEY'RE VERY DELICATE, tender and important, so let's be awful careful that we don't disappoint them and we don't disappoint the Lord.--That our love doesn't fail.
         15. HELP OUR LOVE NOT TO FAIL, LORD, not to be the kind that fails. Keep us close to you and help us to stay close to You in Thy will, Lord, and obedient, following moment by moment. Every moment keep our hearts right with You, Jesus, our motives right, our will right, and everything right with You.
         16. IT'S ALL FOR THY GLORY TO PLEASE THEE, Lord, and to serve Thee and obey Thee and because we love You Jesus, because of how much You've loved us. No credit to us, Lord, and we have no excuses. We just thank You for Your love, Lord, how much You loved us. You didn't fail us, Lord, You didn't give up on us, even though we looked like a hopeless case.
         17. YOUR LOVE DIDN'T FAIL US, LORD, HELP OUR LOVE NOT TO FAIL OTHERS, Lord, who look to us for love and for our word of encouragement and inspiration.
         18. HELP OUR LOVE NOT TO FAIL ANYONE, not even our own, Jesus. You've not failed us, Lord, help us not to fail others. In Jesus' name, amen.


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