Mentoring Minutes

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”  2 Corinthians 5:17

Love and Lordship in Focus…Perhaps the greatest identity we have in Christ is that He makes us completely new in Him. The old person and selfish flesh no longer have to rule over us as we choose Christ and His Holy Spirit in us by faith. Are you choosing to live as a new creation in Christ…or still living in the flesh?

As we celebrate Thanksgiving and look forward to CHRISTmas, because of Christ and who we are in Him we have everything to be thankful for. Stay with me here as we wrap up our series on our identity in Christ and I pray you are not only thankful but are becoming more confident and content in who you are in Him…and loving the new self He has recreated you to be in His Kingdom!

Because I am a believer and follower (disciple) of Jesus Christ, I am a personal witness to Him in and through my life (Acts 1:8).

In Christ I have been given the power (the Greek word for power that is given to all true believers is “dunamis” where we get our word, “dynamite”…now that’s powerful) of The Holy Spirit in me to shine The Light of His Truth and Love (these are inseparable) to the world.

My life should reflect in every way that He is my Lord and His Truth and Love comes through me in every motive, thought, decision, action and relationship. In this way I am a testimony of His Love and Authority for others to see in every situation I engage or encounter…in your home, across the street or around the world!

God has chosen to partner with us in Truth and Love to show the world Who He Is. The way we think, choose, act and relate every moment of every day reveals whose Lord of our life and reflects, positively or negatively, on what others see of Jesus in us.

How awesome is it that God chose us, you and me, to be a testimony of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world! Do you realize your identity in Him?

What is your witness of Jesus Christ? Savior only and you live the way you like otherwise…not possible according to Scripture. Do others know He is Lord of your life…spouse, children, family, church, coworkers, acquaintances, even enemies?

Is your life a living witness of His grace, mercy, Truth and Love in and through you so others might know Him as Savior and Lord?

Think about this…because God values you and me so greatly as His temple, His workmanship, a personal witness of Christ, chosen and appointed to bear His Kingdom and Spirit fruit…and so much more, He has called and equipped us to be salt and light in this world (Matthew 5:13-14)!

This is one of the very first proclamations that Jesus made in His public ministry in what we have come to know as The Sermon on the Mount. If you doubt it think of what those who heard Him said at the end of that message…”they were amazed because He spoke as one who had great authority” (Matthew 7:28-29).

Salt sharpens, enlivens and preserves. Light illuminates, clarifies and exposes. In some cases we like salt and light…and in others we don’t. However, in both cases God has a great and perfect purpose for us to be both salt and light to a sin-ridden, lost and dying world. Sin must be exposed, Truth must be revealed and we are His witnesses to graciously make Him known.

Don’t let your salt lose its saltiness and be good for nothing but the manure pile. Don’t let your light…His Light in you be dimmed and extinguished. He has a great purpose for you in His Kingdom!

Are you salt and light to those around you? Do they see Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life and the only way to The Father (John 14:6) through your life and mine?

As we conclude our 2nd series on fulfilling the Greatest Commands (Mark 12:29-31). The 1st series was the Names of God with 70 or so names to encourage us to know and love Him more and with all our being and to worship Him alone (1st and Greatest Command).

This 2nd series has been on our identity in Christ and through His Word He has shown us very plainly and graciously that we are fully accepted, totally secure and of great value and significance to God in Christ and by His Holy Spirit in and through us!

As we wrap up all of this comes together in this final assurance of our great value to Him…He has reconciled us to Himself (we have an intimate, personal relationship with Him) in Christ and He has given us this same ministry of reconciliation to share with others (2 Corinthians 5:17-21). Think about it…God has made you a brand-new creation in Christ and has entrusted you with the Gospel of Christ so that you can minister to and help others be reconciled to Him just as you are in Christ.

You are made righteous in Christ and are recreated to help reconcile others to this same new creation and righteousness in Him! Whatever else He entrusts to us in terms of time, wealth, abilities, etc., the greatest thing that He can trust us with is the eternal souls of men and women so that we can point them to the reconciled relationship they can have individually and we can have collectively as Christ’s Body, The Church, with God in Christ! How absolutely awesome is that?

You and I have EVERYTHING to be thankful for in Christ…and because of Christ! Are you living a life of gratitude that reflects the new creation that He has made you to be in Him for God’s Kingdom and Glory?

Food for Thought…A few questions to reflect on our Identity in Christ… How are you doing with this great trust that God has given to you as a new creation in Christ? Do you know and are you sharing Christ, the Great Reconciler, with others so they can be in an intimate, loving, personal relationship with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit?  Are you thankful? How does it show?

Love in Action –

1. Read the Scriptures in this article and ask The Holy Spirit to teach you.
2. Journal what you’ve learned about your identity in Christ in this post. 
3. Write down what it means for you to be a witness to Christ, salt and light of His Truth and Love.  
4. Take time to meditate on who you are as a new creation in Christ. Give Him thanks in all things because of all that He’s done for you.

If you have not accepted Him as Savior and Lord, find someone to talk to find out more.

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns and we’ll walk through them together in The Lord and His Spirit.

Contact us at loveandlordship@gmail.com to find out more about how you can know God the Father, Christ His Son and The Holy Spirit.

Love and Lordship Prayer Focus Heavenly Father, to think that You would not only save and reconcile us to an intimate relationship with You by grace through faith in Christ but that You entrust us with this ministry of reconciliation to help others know Him as Savior and Lord and be reconciled to You as well! That’s amazing and THANK YOU for making me a part of this. May I be found trustworthy with this ministry that You have entrusted to me (and to all) who believe in and walk by faith as a new person in Christ. In His Name. Amen.

“For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.” 1 Corinthians 3:9

Love and Lordship in Focus…We are God’s chosen workers, individually and collectively, in Christ! We are His cultivated and prepared field or land in which He can produce good fruit and good harvest for others to know Him. We are His dwelling place…His building!

In the last several weeks our focus has been on how significant and valued we are in Christ…our identity in Him! We are grafted in by grace through faith as branches in The Vine, appointed and chosen to bear His fruit; we are God’s masterpiece recreated in Christ to do the good works He’s prepared in advance for us to do in His strength; we are literally a holy dwelling place (temple) for God’s Holy Spirit!

In line with all of these we are also assured in His Word that as we abide and remain in Him we are a co-laborer or co-worker with God in His creation for His eternal purposes (1 Corinthians 3:5-9). Not only are we equipped and chosen to join in this eternal work to point others to Christ but we need to recognize the value He has placed upon us so our laboring with Him is not in vain, i.e., we don’t miss His purposes and will (2 Corinthians 6:1).

He has a great purpose and desire to save every person who has ever lived while giving each of us the freedom of choice to accept or reject His calling and work of grace in salvation. And get this…He has called you and me to join him in this eternal endeavor! That’s incredible that we get to work alongside God to help others know Him.

No matter what you’ve done, what you’re facing or where you’ve been, He has a purpose for your life and He calls you to come and walk with Him and work with Him. Remember He will finish what He started in Christ (Philippians 1:6)!

Do you know Christ? Are you pointing others to Him and helping them to know Him as Savior and Lord? Are you giving Him the access to your life by your choices for Him to finish that work?

I had the privilege a few months ago to share through a message and workshop a wonderful church here in KY. I shared on the True Authority we have in Christ.

I had two single people approach me after the message and they were both encouraged and concerned as the focus was more on relationships and marriage. My response to them was that as with all people our first and most important identity is in Christ…everything else flows from this…singleness, dating, marriage, parenting, family, and even Christ’s Family, The Church. They were encouraged to keep pressing forward in their walk and identity in Christ and know they were being and would be used of Him for His Kingdom and Glory as they did so!

That’s why we’re doing this series on Identity in Christ so we can know and love who we are apart from anything else the world says or has to offer in order for us to be truly confident, content and therefore, humble in Him.

With that said the simple yet profound significance in Christ today is that all of who we are in Him is literally and spiritually “seated with Christ in heavenly realms” (Ephesians 1:18-23; 2:4-7) to carry out His eternal purpose for His Kingdom! This is amazing and nothing or no one on earth can keep us from this position spiritually…literally reigning with Him…but remember this only happens in Him…as we walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh (Romans 8:1-8)!

I pray that you know Christ and you are abiding in the here and now in your day-to-day walk with Him and know that you are also reigning with Him in the heavenly realms in His Spirit.

That is an incredible identity and He loves you so much that He has made it a reality!

We continue with Paul in Ephesians finding our wonderful identity in Christ in 3:11-12 where we are told that because of Christ’s sacrificial grace to us we can (and should) approach the very Presence of God…His very Throne Room!

Think about all the precious blessings we have been given and all the ways we’ve been united with God in Christ and The Holy Spirit as we are fully accepted, secure and of great value to God in Christ! Why would we allow the world or culture to define us in any way other than what He has done and what the Truth of His Word has declared us to be?

Not only what we are declared to be and that He dwells in us, purified by the blood of Jesus so that His Spirit can do so but we can come right into His presence, boldly and confidently, and be assured that we are received by Him and He hears and loves us!

I want to close with this Scripture that reinforces what we’ve just talked about and who we are in Christ and the access we have to God The Father Himself…right into His very presence…

Food for Thought…Hebrews 10:19-25 reinforces that Christ is our Forever High Priest and is always interceding for us before God the Father and ushers me, you, all believers right into His very Presence. Do you know Him in this way and avail yourself of all that He has made you to be and given to you? Do you know Jesus as Savior and Lord?   

Love in Action –

1. Read the Scriptures in this article and ask The Holy Spirit to teach you.
2. Journal what you’ve learned about your identity in Christ in this post. 
3. Describe in your own words what it means for you to be a co-worker with and in Christ for His Kingdom.  
4. Write down what it means for you to reign with Him…right here and now? To actually enter right into God’s Presence?

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns and we’ll walk through them together in The Lord and His Spirit.

Contact us at loveandlordship@gmail.com to find out more about how you can know God the Father, Christ His Son and The Holy Spirit.

Love and Lordship Prayer Focus Heavenly Father, I am not only recreated as Your masterpiece but I and indwelt by Your Holy Spirit and can enter right into Your Holy Presence. Thanks so much that I am all of this and have all of this because of Jesus! In His Name. Amen.

“You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”    John 15:16

Love and Lordship in Focus…Do you realize how important and powerful it is that God chose to partner with us to be the bearers of His Fruit for His Kingdom and Glory! Are you trying to produce your own fruit…or humbly willing to be pruned by The Father so you can bear His fruit?

Building on the significance that we have and are in Christ as God’s masterpiece and as a branch in The Vine (Christ), we find that we are specifically chosen by God and appointed to bear fruit. None of us was or is the last chosen as each of us were appointed and selected by God before we were born to abide in Christ as our Savior and Lord and to bear His fruit (John 15:16).

Our obedience to that calling and choosing makes us Kingdom and Holy Spirit fruit-bearers that will last for eternity and allow others to partake of that spiritual fruit and have the same opportunity to know and love Christ as Savior and Lord!

Isn’t that incredible…and a great relief! He’s the One Who produces all the fruit and as we are faithful to remain, endure and abide in Him, that fruit comes through us to help nourish and build up others for His Kingdom and Glory! That’s why Jesus could call us to take up His yoke and with confidence let us know that “His yoke is easy and His burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30)…another awesome benefit of our identity in Christ!

He does the heavy lifting and we abide, walk and work, even while we wait for His return, and The Father as the Gardener (see John 15) provides, protects, prunes and prepares us so He can produce and prosper much fruit, His Fruit, in and through us as Christ’s disciples and bring glory to God The Father (John 15:8-9).

All of this done as we Love Him and others (John 15:17). Are you trying to produce fruit for Him or simply walking and abiding in Him so He can make much fruit and you can bear much…so more and more will partake of His fruit through you and know Him!

You’ve likely heard the following Scripture many times and even quoted it as an encouragement to others and even to yourself. But have you ever stopped and thought that the Truth found in this text is because of who you are in Christ and gives you tremendous power, confidence and value.

Philippians 4:13 tells all those who are in Christ that you can do all things because He is in you and gives you all the strength you need! Now before you immediately do what most do in today’s culture and churches and make this all about your selfish wish list and desires, remember this…Paul was probably writing this from a prison cell of some kind in Rome awaiting his imminent death by Caesar’s hand.

Yes, we have been given the strength to do whatever needs to be done but we must look at the preceding verses in Philippians 4:4-12 to see the context. Paul is telling us that this strength flows from never being anxious because we can always trust in The Lord. He exhorts us to rejoice and to pray with a heart of thanksgiving in all things (even the difficulties, pain and trials…that he certainly knew something about).

He reminds us to train our thinking to be focused on those things that are good, righteous, praiseworthy and excellent, among other good and positive thoughts, and finally he models it for us by proclaiming that this is not about a wish list from God. He has learned to be content and fulfilled in all things, whether with plenty or in need, well fed or hungry. He knew who he was in Christ…and so can you! This is the key!

God thinks so much of you and me that He even supplies every real need that we have out of His glorious riches in Christ (Philippians 4:19)!

One final thought on this passage to keep a Godly perspective… Philippians is often called “The Book of Joy” and we need to remember the circumstances that Paul found himself in (see above) as he reminded all of us of these great truths of all that God has done for us in Christ and just how significant we are to Him!

You see, my strength and my significance is not found in my wants, needs or circumstances…nor the outcomes related to these. It is totally found in Christ!

Do you know Him and recognize how valuable you are that He would give you exactly the strength that you need to handle any and everything that comes your way? I pray you do because He gave His life so you could. That’s how significant you are to Him!

As we continue to focus on, recognize and accept our significance and value to God in Christ think about this…

Because of what Christ has done in the Incarnation (taking on flesh and becoming human), His Life, Death, Burial and Resurrection…all who believe in Him are literally made a dwelling place or temple for His indwelling Presence (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). He dwells in us by His Holy Spirit because Christ has saved, sanctified and purified us to that He can. And we are to honor Him with our bodies and our lives (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Notice the strong command from the verse nestled in between these 2 texts…1 Corinthians 6:18… “Flee porneia (sexual immorality of every kind)…” as it has wrecked so many people who’ve failed to live in their identity in Christ, as a dwelling place for His Holy Spirit! Thank The Lord for His grace and don’t abuse it.

God lives in you…how awesome is that!

Not only, as we have previously discussed, do we abide in Him as branches in The Vine (Christ), but he abides in us (John 15:1-11)! PTL!

Have you received His Presence by Christ’s sacrifice and grace through faith? Do you recognize how significant you are to Him and for His Glory? He chose to perform His will in this way and we are the recipients of His presence and glory! Live like it! 

Food for Thought…Have you received His Presence by Christ’s sacrifice and grace through faith? Do you recognize how significant you are to Him and for His Glory? He chose to perform His will in this way and we are the recipients of His presence and glory! Live like it!   

Love in Action –

1. Read the Scriptures in this article and ask The Holy Spirit to teach you.
2. Journal what you’ve learned about your identity in Christ in this post. 
3. In your relationship with Christ, who’s been doing the heavy lifting? If you’re not in a relationship with Him what do you need to do?
4. Describe what it means knowing that you have His strength in all things because He dwells in you.

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns and we’ll walk through them together in The Lord and His Spirit.

Contact us at loveandlordship@gmail.com to find out more about how you can know God the Father, Christ His Son and The Holy Spirit.

Love and Lordship Prayer Focus…Heavenly Father, You are doing an incredible work in the earth and have been from the beginning. Thank You that You have called and chosen me to join You for eternity and to co-labor with You in Christ and Your Holy Spirit to help others enter into this calling and coworker status with You and into eternity with You in Christ. In His Name. Amen.