Dear Friends,
I trust you will feel love coming your way as I write this letter. G.D. Watson said, “Love is a spirit that can be felt miles away.” You should feel a lot of it.
No one has ever known the extent of the love God has for us. Even harder to comprehend is that “the love of God is shed abroad in our heart by the Holy Spirit” (Romans 5:5). Revival is getting back to Jesus, and then love is released in the body of Christ. When Pentecost occurred in the upper room, the amazing response that lingered was, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us” (1 John 3:1).
Nothing is as transparent as love. It has no hidden agenda. It tries to put the best construction on offenses that will come. It prefers others above itself and it can wash the feet of those who have the grime of the world on them.
One precious man drove eight hours to come to our home and wash our feet. He had been saved in our ministry and he was our television producer. It was an amazing and humbling experience. We’ll not forget it.
There was an overriding transparency among those in the revival atmosphere; honesty, humility, and love prevailed.
Bill Clement, a man in our Fairmount church, was not able to accept the love so freely offered. He remained in a constant conflict so that love was out of his reach. But he gave his resources freely, especially to ministers. Bill’s “no” to God was about to be changed.
As a child Bill resented his father, who was an evangelist. His father was seldom home. Bill felt bitter that he had not been fathered, and he felt guilty for the way he felt. Christmas time seemed especially harsh when one orange was the children’s Christmas present. The best intentions of the most zealous can wound a family.
Bill had fallen into bitterness and negativism. This spilled over into his marriage. He was a wonderful father, but he and Margaret were not on the same page.
T.M. Anderson from Asbury College came to preach at a camp just outside our town. He recently had a personal revival experience that enlarged his ministry, and God had given him the “gift of knowledge.” One night Bill came to the campgrounds to hear the sermon; he was standing outside the tabernacle among the trees. As T.M. Anderson closed his sermon, he said, “There is a man outside—hidden under a tree—whose heart is hungry.”
At that moment, Bill came out of the dark and into the light—physically and spiritually. As he walked into the tabernacle and down the long aisle, there was no little stir; many knew and loved Bill. But what a “love” he became that night! However, the strife at home continued. They both knew God, but the aggravation between them was heartbreaking.
One morning at 5:00 a.m., Don felt led to go to the church and pray. As he got closer, he heard loud praying and crying. He found Bill at one end of the altar and Margaret at the other, getting the bitterness and strife out in the open. Soon they were in each other’s arms and asking forgiveness. It was a holy sight. Love triumphed.
There was a meeting at church that evening. I was seated in the second row with a new believer, waiting for the service to begin. All of a sudden the back doors of the sanctuary swung open and a man bigger than life burst in, waving his long arm over the congregation. In a booming voice he said, “I have lived one day of my life loving everybody.” It was Bill. As his arm moved in our direction, the new believer sitting beside me fell sideways into the pew and laid there (completely out) for several minutes. Never had I seen the power of love so strong, except at my conversion at age ten.
“Many waters cannot quench love” (Song of Solomon 8:7). We can work at love, but remember: love is a Person. “God is love” (1 John 4:8). Surrender and forgiveness bring an invasion of the Love Person! Years later Don officiated at a huge funeral for Bill Clement; Bill was a beloved man known for his love.
Strife and bitterness fix us in the past and cheat us of our inheritance. Love is at the fingertip of forgiveness. Reach out and take love. Come out of the dark into the light.
Oh, love that will not let me go . . .
I rest my weary self in Thee.
Love you,
Ruth Ann