Anthony Wade Ministries

“Shape your life by the way you think. Shape your thinking by the way you love. Shape your love by your willingness to open your heart. Open your heart by your sheer desire to experience more love.”
- The Voice of Love

We won’t be able to love our neighbor properly without first of all loving ourselves with the same love that God loved us with.

Romans 5:5… the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

The Love that has been poured out in your heart came from God. He poured it into you. We can safely say that He poured out the fundamental Nature of Himself into us (2 Peter 1:4). You and I are to take that same fundamental Nature which is His Love and use it on ourselves. You are to be the first recipient of the Love of God that is in you. Take His Love that has been poured into you and use His Love on yourself. This will giveyou the platform to love your neighbor as well as your enemies. Without first of all loving yourself, you have nothing to give to anyone else.

Make sure you are in love with you, and you will always be in love with everyone else. Remember, I am talking about the God quality of Love, not something that is selfish and or self- centered. The best way to take inventory of how much you really love yourself is found in your expression, manner of speech, attitudes and actions toward others. Having the God quality of love for yourself will guarantee that you have the right love for your neighbor. People who hurt others often do so out of their own frustrations, not out of the perception of the person that they hurt.

John C. Maxwell once said that, “hurting people hurt people.” The Holy Spirit gave me another quote that will bring a slightly different angle to the Maxwell quote.

“Loving people…, love people; especially themselves.” — Anthony N. Wade

Jesus clearly communicated that the arena of love for our neighbor is found in our love for ourselves. The first commandment is to love the Lord your God, heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30). The second is just as powerful and as important as the first.

Mark 12:31

{31} “and the second, like it, is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.

Love for you will consist of forgiving yourself. Until a person is truly walking in forgiveness towards himself it will be impossible for him to really forgive others. It will also be increasingly impossible for him to get his prayers answered (Mark 11:23 -26).

Every one of us has done things that we were not pleased with. The key to overcoming blunders is to be as generous and loving to yourself as God would be to you. If God is generous enough to forgive you, it is necessary for you, to forgive yourself. When God forgives, He also forgets.

“God Never Consults Your Past To Determine Your Future.” — Dr. Mike Murdock

If you will plant the seeds of forgiving as God does, you will reap the harvest of forgetting as He does. If God chose to forgive and forget any and everything you used to be; then you must in turn have the same point of view, about you. It is vital for you to be at peace with you, especially if God is at peace with you. He has a favorable disposition towards you. Do you have a favorable regard for you? (Isaiah 43:25, Hebrews 8:12, 10:17).

Psalm 103:12

{12} As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Micah 7:18 -19

{18} Who is a God like You, Pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy.

{19} He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue (conquer) our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.

If all of our sins are in the depths of the sea, they are forgiven and forgotten. They are not remembered (Hebrews 8:12; Hebrews 10:17). Don’t go fishing for them, they are not there. They are forgiven and forgotten. If God has forgotten, and forgiven them—when are you? Don’t waste your time on something that no longer exists.

There is something about you that no one else has. It could be the color of your eyes, or the complexion of your skin. It could be the melanin in your skin, or the lack thereof. It could be the shape of your nose, or the size of your feet. Perhaps you view things a smidgen different that your peers. You are unique.

“The most damaging thing that you can do to yourself, is to live your life according to someone else’s view of you.” –Anthony N. Wade

Dr. Ed Cole said, “Many of men fail because they wear the pattern of life someone else has for them.”

“Wearing someone else’s view of you is a weak analysis of how God made you.”
–Anthony N. Wade

Psalm 139: 13 -18

{13} For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.

{14} I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are your works, and that my soul knows very well.

{15} My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

{16} Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.

{17} How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!

{18} If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.

There is a balance when it comes to these truths. There are men and women in the Body of Christ that are God’s delegated authority. His appointed authority in our lives we are to respect, and hold them in high esteem. Anything less than that is mutiny.

Doing your own thing, having your own agenda, without any regard to God’s delegated authority, is rebellion. The man or women that say’s I am free and I answer to no man is ignorant of God’s “Divine Arrangement.” This kind of person is in a very dangerous position and is wide open to the devil and his diabolical deeds.

David understood God’s delegated authority in Saul. It was because he recognized Saul as a representative of God, that the Lord God acknowledged him as a man after His own heart. David knew the danger in laying a hand on, let alone speaking against God’s authority (I Samuel 26:9-12, 2 Samuel 1). -AWM

Copyright (c) Anthony N. Wade Ministries ~ All Rights Reserved. No portion of this publication may be rewritten or reproduced without the written approval of the author.

Love for our neighbor consists of pleasing our neighbor for his or her good. It is necessary that we throw away that which always pleases us. We must remember that it is for our neighbors good and edification – not to do harm to them.

Romans 15: 1-3

{1} We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples (attitudes) of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

{2} Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification.

{3} For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on me.” (See Psalm 69:9)

In Luke 10:25-37, we find the story of the Good Samaritan. The lawyer in this story wanted to know what to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus’ response to him was pertaining to what the law required. The lawyer’s response was accurate and Jesus commended him. Jesus then exhorted him to go do it and he would live. The lawyer endeavoring to justify himself asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus then gives us the account of the Good Samaritan. At the end of this parable Jesus asked a very remarkable question.

Luke 10:36 – 37

{36} “So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him that fell among the thieves?”

{37} And he (the lawyer) said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

As we study this passage we find that a priest and a Levite saw the man that was in need. Neither one of them wanted to get involved. They passed by on the other side, which means they saw the gentleman who really needed help, but they chose to close up their heart (1 John 3:16-18, Philippians 2:1-2, Colossians 3:12-15).

They decided to look the other way, leaving the man in the condition he was in. For all they knew the man could have died where they saw him.

The Samaritan had a different determination; it was the spirit of compassion. Compassion will motivate you to love your neighbor not only in word, but also in deed. It didn’t matter how much it cost the Samaritan. When something or someone is the object of your love it will never matter what it cost. The only motivation of the Samaritan was the well being of his neighbor. The only motivation we should have in serving our neighbor is for his or her well being.

John 15:12 -13

{12} “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

{13} Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

Jesus told us to love as He loved. There will be no conditions to that kind of love. Many times God’s people want to put strings on their love. You know the attitude of, “I’m not going to such and such because, so and so didn’t do it the way I wanted them too.” Jesus never had that attitude.

His Love for us was and is an unconditional love, and He commanded us to love the way that He loved. For you and I to walk in this level of maturity means that we are not going to have it our way all the time. We are commissioned to lay down our lives. Laying down our life not only refers to dying physically, but also in giving cheerfully of our time and effort. Perhaps there is someone in need of our friendship etc. We should be willing to give with the same attitude that we would have if we were doing it for ourselves.

The most powerful demonstration of loving your neighbor is when you love without expecting anything back from the person who is the object of your love. To love without working impolitely to your neighbor means that you have made a deliberate decision to never do anything destructive or detrimental to them. -AWM

Copyright (c) Anthony N. Wade Ministries ~ All Rights Reserved. No portion of this publication may be rewritten or reproduced without the written approval of the author.

The extent of perfect love is that God commands it. We have the capacity to know the Love of Christ, which passes knowledge by coming into contact with it. We come into contact with it by becoming one with He Who is the Author of it.

Ephesians 3:17-19

{17} That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love

{18} may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height —

{19} to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Christ dwells in our hearts by faith; being rooted and grounded. Rooted and grounded assures us of a stability that can only come by God’s doing. God’s doing is established with our assistance. Cooperating with God’s ability within makes us candidates to appreciate the dimensions of His love not only for us, but also for all of mankind. Loving God with all your heart means putting Him first in your affections. He is only asking from us, what He has done in us.

The seat of our love for Him originates by His love in and for us. He has pure motives, correct intent, and right purposes. He is asking the same of us. Had He not put Himself in us we could say, “That is impossible“ (Colossians 1:27). But all things are possible for us to Love with the God Kind of Love, because He is the one that will make it good. All He needs is a willing vessel to work through. He will back you every time, no matter what you face.

The soul that is enveloped in perfect love will be free of selfishness. They have learned to exclude themselves from sinful pleasures. Instead of loving things and using people, they purpose to use things, and love people. There is a vast difference between use and abuse.

Copyright (c) 2010 Anthony N. Wade Ministries ~ All Right Reserved.
No portion of this publication may be rewritten without the written approval of the author.

Cory was a member of a very progressive Local Church. However, he was having trouble with a portion of his pastors teaching. It wasn’t something that he could dismiss, because it came up every time his church enjoyed communion. Every communion service Cory would get very uncomfortable because he didn’t understand communion from the angle that his pastor was presenting it. It became such an issue with Cory that he considered looking for another church. He carefully thought about finding a different place of worship, because he felt put on the spot every time he partook of the communion elements. Before he made his final decision he set an appointment with his pastor to converse about what was troubling him.

Cory had been raised in a segment of the church that didn’t really teach what the Word of God taught concerning communion. For the most part ,communion was just another church ordinance — with very little meaning. It was usually pushed off to the end of the service, once a month — with inadequate teaching. It was a dead ritual, that had become just another religious thing to do; but not so where Cory was attending now. His pastor put a very strong emphasis on communion. He expressed the importance of taking part and what they were doing each time they received the bread and the grape juice.

Communion was put on the front burner — and was the basis of the whole service. The whole service was centered on the “Breaking of Bread.” Cory was not used to this. His attitude about the Lord’s Supper was that it was just something between him and God. Cory’s way of thinking about communion was that it was private, and no one else had anything to do with that part of his Christian experience. Cory was partially wrong. Communion is a private matter between you and God; but God included others – the whole body of Christ — in the equation of the “Communion Table.” Cory’s attitude was wrong.

When we receive communion, there is an exchange, a union, a fellowship, an agreement; a sharing, an association, a togetherness — a synergy. In communion we bring others close to our lives. During “Holy Communion,” others are invited to have union, fellowship, agreement, togetherness and covenant. The communion table is not just between you and God — we are commanded by God to include others during this time.

The “Communion Table” is the greatest expression of Love the Body of Christ has
for one another. The greatest level of intimacy in the “Body of Christ,” is the “Cup of Blessing.”
Communion could also be broken down to mean common-union. The Communion Table is an expression of the common-union we have. It’s a time of intimacy — a time of INTO ME SEE — a place of harmony and reciprocal respect. A place where we remind one another why we worship together.

1 Corinthians 10: 16-17, 21-22 NKJV

{16} The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion (unity, spiritual union, close association) of the body of Christ?

{17} For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.

{21} You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot
partake of the Lord’s Table and of the table of demons.

{22} Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?

The Lord’s Table is an identity of Christ Blood and His Body. Just as the loaf is a whole, the entire Body of Christ joins in on the sharing; the association; the agreement; the togetherness; the caring.

Every time his church had communion Cory was being challenged to answer these questions:

Was he receiving the Cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner?

What did it mean to be guilty of The Body and The Blood of the Lord?
Was he really drinking damnation or judgment to himself — if he didn’t judge himself properly?

What does it mean to discern the Lord’s Body? Did he open the door to become weak and sickly — even untimely death?

* See 1 Corinthians 11:23-33

Cory was having a difficult time with communion because he was harboring unforgiveness against a member of his church. There was a bitter root of judgment against someone that he worshiped with (James 3:11-18; Colossians 3:19). Each time his pastor spoke on communion, Cory was convicted. Holy Spirit was giving Cory opportunity to examine where he was in his walk with the Lord. He was being affronted to take a good look at how well he was walking in Love. He wasn’t doing as well as he knew he should. This created great difficulty for him. Instead of being honest with himself and making the proper adjustments—he considered running to another church. “What you run from—you will run into.”

Hebrews 12:15 The Worrell New Testament

{15} Looking carefully, lest there be anyone falling short of the grace of God;
lest any root of bitterness, springing up, trouble you, and through it many
be defiled.

Discerning the Lords Body; the Communion Table is not just between you and God. When we partake together every one is saying that we are in agreement with one another. We are saying, there is nothing between me and my brothers and sisters in Christ, anywhere — especially those whom I worship with. Cory did meet with his pastor; he was totally honest. Everything was resolved and he was able to stay with the church. Everything worked out for the good regarding everyone that was involved. –AWM

Copyright (c) Anthony N. Wade Ministries 2009 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED