Mentoring Minutes

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” – Paul (Galatians 5:1 NKJV)  

Love and Lordship in Focus…Liberty is true freedom. License is enslavement to our own passions. Liberty and license both cost us something but liberty brings blessings and license brings burdens and destruction.

On this Independence Day 2025, some thoughts on Freedom…is it Liberty or License? Why do I ask? Because they are not the same…one brings true freedom, the other enslaves!

For real freedom we must know the difference so we’re not deceived and can protect and keep it. Liberty is the opportunity to do what’s right and requires discipline that leads to blessing(s). License promotes self (mine and others) without limitations (boundaries) and requires little or no discipline and leads to bondage and destruction.

How do you tend to think about freedom…as Liberty or license? Better yet…how does your life reflect your concept of freedom?

God’s Divine Order always moves from…

IndividualRelationshipCommunitySystem (state/national governance)

You’ve likely heard Proverbs 29:18 as follows, “Where there is no vision, the people perish, but he who keeps the law is happy.” (KJV) Here are 2 good translations that give more understanding of the relationship between discipline and freedom…

“Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint (discipline/boundaries); But whoever keeps the law (commands/guidelines) is happy.” Prov 29:18 (ASV)

“Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.” Prov 29:18 (NIV)

There’s a direct correlation between revelation/vision and discipline, law & wisdom. Check out Galatians 6:7-9 (NASB1995).

Without self-governance/discipline there’s never enough systemic government or tyranny to control those who cast off restraint and have no vision or discipline in their lives or relationships. Self-control in each person, marriage, family and relationship allows us to live within boundaries/accountability that must precede communal and national laws. If we don’t understand and apply these Truths, we lose the ability to cast real Vision or to govern freely and subject ourselves to licentiousness and ultimately to bondage or tyranny… from without or within!

Oswald Chambers says this…“Everything is permissible for me –but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me –but I will not be mastered by anything.” (1 Corinthians 6:12 NASB1995)…

“We call liberty allowing the other fellow to please himself to the same extent as we please ourselves (that is license – my words and added). True liberty is the ability earned by practice (discipline – my word and added) to do the right thing. There is no such thing as a gift of freedom; freedom must be earned. The counterfeit of freedom is independence. When the Spirit of God deals with sin, it is independence that He touches; that is why the preaching of the Gospel awakens resentment as well as craving. Independence must be blasted right out of a Christian; there must be only liberty, which is a very different thing. Spiritually, liberty means the ability to fulfill the law of God, and it establishes the rights of other people.” Still Higher for His Highest, July 4, “True Freedom, Not Independence”

Self-discipline/self-controlself-respectself-worthself-love

Unless we are willing to practice the self-discipline/control that forms the character in our lives, we will never develop the self-respect and self-worth needed to go outside ourselves and love others fully. (Greg & Ami Williams, p. 120, The Authority of Love, Second Edition) And we will never have true liberty or be free!

Cast off the discipline that gives us liberty, even when deceptively touted as freedom, and we are practicing license that always ends in bondage! (Galatians 5:1 NKJV) So for your sake, those you love and our country, choose the vision that comes only with discipline and with that, our Liberty…our Freedom!

Make it a great Independence Day in Him and God bless!

Because of God’s Divine Order in Creation and His Law of The Harvest (Galatians 6:7-9 NASB1995), we see license (lawlessness) being doled out in government/laws because it is being lived out in other cultural influencers, i.e., family, church, media, education, finance/business, healthcare, technology, etc.

Why are we seeing licentiousness in these influencers? If we are not seeing the Truths of God’s Word, then it falls on us as Christ followers to live and relate in such a way in each of our areas of influence to live with vision, under proper disciplines, in order to know Freedom. If we do not live our lives and relationships in the freedom (disciplines) of Christ, then we risk losing our independence in our culture and nation!

I find it hard to believe that most, if not all, of those who have sacrificed or paid the highest price with their life, as well as their families who have given so much, would look at our country today and say, “This is what we sacrificed and gave our lives for”… to kill babies in the womb; to practice and promote sexual sin while bashing those who do not condone the sin and; to push the destructive ideology of child mutilation in the name of gender transition which can factually and scientifically never be done.

Thank you to all our service men and women and all veterans who have paid a price that allows us, at least for now, to live in Freedom.

Make it a Happy Independence Day in Christ!

Food for Thought…Check out this excellent article for more on our lives as Christ followers, government and freedom. https://www.lawliberty.org/2019/05/29/five-insights-christianity-brings-to-politics/

BONUS: “For Freedom” by Avalon… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJdWT1lZLdI
“Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory” by The US Army Field Band… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy6AOGRsR80

Love in Action –

1. Spend time with Him in His Word and prayer daily – read and study the Scriptures in this post as a way to start.
2. Ask The Holy Spirit to teach you.
3. What does lie, deception, embellishment conjure up in your mind?”
4. What do you need to do to make sure you are in no way deceiving others in order to honor Christ and them?

Contact us at loveandlordship@gmail.com.

Love and Lordship Prayer Focus…Heavenly Father, help us to stand in love against licentiousness that destroys and stand for the freedom that Christ gave His life for so that we may have true liberty in our lives, homes, culture and nation! In Jesus Name. Amen.

Mid-Year Need:  $35,000; Received: $9,650!

“Do not lie to one another, since you stripped off the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self, which is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created it—” Paul  (Colossians 3:9-10)

Love and Lordship in Focus…Lying to others is a great dishonor to Christ and His Word…however it is not just outright speaking something that is untrue. Deception and embellishment are forms of lying that do not exhibit our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Last week’s “one another” encouraged us to “think of others as better than ourselves.” One of the ways we do that is to honor others in what and how we share with them…truthfully in word and deed. We are not to lie to, embellish or deceive others in any way if we are truly walking with and in Christ.

The past couple of “one anothers” have been exceptionally powerful and good, even if not easy to follow through with because of our flesh. That’s why in all of these commands, positive or negative, we must die to our flesh…our selfish desires…in order to make God first in all things and then others above self. This is the only way to consistently fulfill these various commands in which we truly love “one another” in Christ, by daily putting on the new person that I am in Him and becoming more like Him!

I can only do this by The Holy Spirit in me and can only receive The Spirit by surrendering and submitting by faith in Christ and allow His grace, Truth and Love to save me and fill me, then overflow to others.

As we continue, we find another negative one that I think we far too often don’t take seriously enough. In Colossians 3:9-10, Paul exhorts us as believers, “Do not lie to each other…” Here’s another “OUCH” if I’m honest and I would imagine it has been the same in your life at some point and maybe even now if you’re honest. This is not just about the tongue but the mind and heart as well.

What we tend to do is admit and work through the obvious, blatant lies that we know everyone can find out or eventually will notice. However, God’s Word tells us that what is done in darkness (no matter how small, insignificant or hidden we think it is…thus the darkness) will be brought to light (Luke 12:2-3).

We must remember this and continually lay every motive, thought and decision before Him and walk in His Truth. Even the little “white lies,” the partial truths (which are not Truth) told to gain advantage or avoid consequences, and even the prideful embellishment to make us look better in the sight of others, all fall into this category of “Do not lie to each other…”

How are you doing when it comes to lying to others and displaying the Shalom of His Truth in all of your life? You can only have it as you submit to Christ as Savior and Lord.

Food for Thought…Christ calls us to purity and integrity (Shalom – wholeness) where every part of our lives are in line with His Truth. This is what The Holy Spirit through Paul is commanding us to in this “one another.” Will you respond with the integrity that only comes from Christ?

Love in Action –

1. Spend time with Him in His Word and prayer daily – read and study the Scriptures in this post as a way to start.
2. Ask The Holy Spirit to teach you.
3. What does lie, deception, embellishment conjure up in your mind?”
4. What do you need to do to make sure you are in no way deceiving others in order to honor Christ and them?

Contact us at loveandlordship@gmail.com.

Love and Lordship Prayer Focus…Heavenly Father, forgive me when I excuse the little lies, embellishments, and “twists” on the Truth that move me out of Your Shalom and integrity and into disobedience. Help me to receive this “one another” command for all that it is and remove and lies or deception not only from my lips but from my heart and mind. In Jesus Name. Amen.

“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves.” Paul  (Philippians 2:3)

Love and Lordship in Focus…How can we as selfish human beings be humble and place others above ourselves? Only in Christ and by His Spirit.

Last week’s “one another” called us to “submit to one another out of reverence or honor for Christ.” You want to know where this begins?

Philippians 2:3 gives us the example of Christ and tells us to do the same thing, “…In humility consider others better than yourselves.” Another command that shows us that the essence of Godly Love in and through us in Christ is to place others above ourselves. We can’t truly do this if we don’t know and love who we are in Christ.

A famous pastor and author tweeted a few years back, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is not thinking of yourself at all.” This is another one of those “pastorisms” that sounds great and may motivate us to act in the flesh but it’s not truthful according to God’s Word. Romans 12:3 clearly states what Humility looks like, “Do not think of yourself more highly that you should but do think of yourself with sober (clear) judgment according to the measure of faith God has given you.”

Humility is being confident and content in who you are in Christ (measure of faith) so that you can willingly submit and lift others above yourself. See John 13:3 for Jesus modeling of this humility that is spoken of in Philippians 2:3-5. You can only do this consistently in Christ as your flesh will always rise up to the comparisons, ratings and rankings that the world uses to feed your pride and destroy your life and relationships.

Let’s first submit to Christ and then to one another as we humble ourselves and truly choose to consider others better than ourselves because we know who we are in Christ.

Would you like to know more about Christ and who you are or can be in Him?

Food for Thought…Whenever we are in our flesh we experience humiliation…when we are walking in Christ and His Spirit we practice humility. Imagine what your relationships would look like if you were walking in Christ-like humility?

Love in Action –

1. Spend time with Him in His Word and prayer daily – read and study the Scriptures in this post as a way to start.
2. Ask The Holy Spirit to teach you.
3. What comes to mind when you hear the words “humility” or “humiliation?”
4. What is your experience when it comes to humiliation and humility? Have you figured out the difference in order to be like Christ?

Contact us at loveandlordship@gmail.com.

Love and Lordship Prayer Focus…Heavenly Father, I can’t do real humility in my own flesh and strength for sin will ensure that pride will get in the way and cause problems. Thank You for making me new in Christ and the power of The Holy Spirit so I can know who I am in Him and humbly submit and lift others above myself. May You encourage others through me to do this more and more in marriages, families and Your Church in Christ! In His Name. Amen.