Mentoring Minutes

“Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34

We’ve been looking at the Wisdom of Love in Truth being the bridge that links us from knowing and loving God so we can move to knowing and loving ourselves and others (we’ll get to that specifically in the next couple of weeks).

Let’s continue to explore what real Love is according to God in Christ as the Author and Authority. We’ve looked at how Jesus felt relationally, mentally and emotionally, as well as socially up to this point. We even took a glimpse at how he felt physically but I want to dive a bit deeper into the physical pain that He endured. These all play into our fleshly concepts and living out of love and relationships. Unfortunately we define love in line with our feelings and then respond accordingly…so it is a rollercoaster as we can never rely on our flesh and feelings.

God never intended for us to see, know and live out love simply by our feelings. He certainly gave us feelings and emotions and we naturally (in our flesh) respond to many things according to these. However, as I pray we are uncovering in these devotions, Love is so much more and so much deeper.

Our next question to get a better understanding regarding Jesus Love for us is this: How do you think He felt physically after being flogged (viciously whipped – look up the definition), physically beaten, his hair and beard pulled out and then had a crown of thorns placed on his head before finally being nailed to a Cross (John 19:1-30)?

We all know the answer to this but we must give thought to the Truth once again that if love is simply a feeling, as The Author and One who defines it (He is Love), then His response would have been to choose to call the 12 legions of angels (Matthew 26:53) and be removed from the situation…because it didn’t feel good in any way, therefore it couldn’t be love. He had a choice and that choice was out of love, not based on feelings and in spite of the pain.

Even in the worst of pain (social, relational, mental, emotional and physical) He gave us the best definition and example of love…ever, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34). That was not just for His disciples who’d abandoned Him, the crowd that cried, “Crucify Him,” and not just for the Pilate and the soldiers that mocked, mistreated and actually carried out the Crucifixion…it was for you and me…for our sins that nailed Him to that Cross. We are all guilty!

His response was Love, to endure all the pain, rejection and suffering because of His Love (commitment) to His Father’s will and to our salvation…Praise The Lord (PTL)! It was that very blood that was shed in all that torture and pain that allows us to be forgiven and free in Him. That’s Love!

Have you received His Love…received Him as Savior and Lord? That’s why He endured it all because He Loved His Father and it was His plan to show the only Love for us that could save you and me.

We have one more circumstance and emotion to consider as we ponder what True Love, God’s Love or Agape is.

How do you think Jesus felt spiritually when He was betrayed, denied, abandoned, mocked, humiliated, tortured and crucified? Surely He still could rely on the presence of His Father in Heaven?!?

No, He had to endure this alone because He, who knew no sin, became sin for us that we might become His righteousness and by faith be united in loving relationship with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 5:21)! PTL!

Let me ask one more time, how do you think He felt spiritually when He was fulfilling The Father’s will and laying down His life as the ultimate and only sacrifice that could save us? Here’s a clue…”My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34) Love as a feeling, as we’ve seen over the last few days, would have said, “Enough, Father, I’m calling on the angels to take me out of here,” and walked away. But True Love remains, True Love stays, and so True Love remained on that Cross until the very end…”It is finished.” (John 19:30)

In the darkest hour in all of history and Eternity, when all else was lost and every feeling was horrific, He showed us not only what Love was and is but that it never fails (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a)!

Do you know Him? Do you know this kind of Love that stays the course even when everything else is against it? That stays committed to the very end…that never fails?

Because He, in Love and as Love, showed us what it truly means to Love, you can know Him and know Love! I pray you do and if so learn to give it back to Him and to share it with others (more on this in future posts and podcasts).

Let me ask what love means to you? How have you lived it out in your life, relationships…marriage, family, church family, friends, acquaintances, even enemies?

God’s Love and His defining it and modeling it for us in Christ never changes.

Regardless of the circumstances in your life, the way others treat you, whether they meet your expectations and give you what you want or not, and how your relationships turn out, the reality is that Love is not affected by any of these. It is not emotion-based. It is not circumstance-based. It is not expectation-based. It is choosing to commit because we desire the best for others, regardless of what they do in response, just as Christ did for us (Romans 5:6-8).

God gives us clear commands and order of priorities in those commands that we must heed if we are going to walk in Love with Him and build relationships of Love with others (Mark 12:29-31).

I must repeat this…He took the nails and became sin (2 Corinthians 5:21) for our sins but it was love that actually kept Him on that Cross so that we could be saved and made righteous before God!

Food for Thought…How much time and effort…commitment…do you spend in getting to know and love God? It is the most important relationship in your life and the basis for all other relationships.   

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 love in this post. 
3. Journal how this kind of True Love can change your life and relationships.
4. Apply what you’re learning in every relationship…starting with God, then spouse, children, friendships, even with enemies.

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, let me seek to know Your Love more and more and in so doing to know and love you more. As I do help me to love myself in Christ so I can truly love others with Your Love. In Jesus Name. Amen.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Proverbs 9:10

As we continue to look at Love as the Bridge between God and us…both as we receive His Love and learn to love him, ourselves and others, we must pause to recognize why this is so…

God is The Author and therefore the Authority over all things. As we continue to focus on Who He Is, in particular that He is Love, we must pay attention to what He said and did to define and model love for us. Even His very definition of Authority is rooted in loving service (Matthew 20:20-28) and His modeling of it in Christ as God in the flesh as well (John 13:1-17).

So what does that say to us about Love? I think first of all we need to lay down our definitions of Love rooted in emotions, feelings, attractions and desires. Even though these can be and are part of love they should not define Love. We must find it in our willful acts of obeying Him and serving others. We touched on that extensively in last week’s post.

Here’s some food for thought, and hopefully life transformation, over the next few days…ponder what Jesus, The Author of Love, felt like in each of these situations and then apply His kind of real Love in your life and relationships.

1. How do you think He felt relationally on the night He was betrayed (John 13:21, 38; Matthew 26:31)? If Love were a feeling then He would have stopped then and there and found a new set of friends that made Him feel better. But Love is not a feeling, it is a discipline that we can only learn and grow in when we are found in Christ!
2. If love was a feeling then how could Christ love us after the emotion in the garden where He was in such anguish that He sweat drops of blood (Luke 22:44)? That’s Love! If love was based on feelings He could have and should have cut and run at that moment if He hadn’t already after all His closest friends abandoned Him (see yesterday’s post).

No, Love is commitment and as we will continue to see, The Author and Authority of Love, Himself, showed us clearly the reality of that Love in His commitment to His Father and to us.

Do you know Him? Do you know that kind of Love or only the rollercoaster “love” of emotions and feelings? You can know His Love. I pray you know Him and are growing in His Love and sharing it with others. Contact us a Love and Lordship if you’d like to know more.

We’ve looked at Love from the perspective of how Jesus felt relationally when His closest companions abandoned Him in His greatest moment of need. We’ve looked at how He chose to Love even in the mental and emotional anguish of hematohidrosis, sweating drops of blood usually caused by extreme stress which we know He was facing.

If Love were a feeling surely The Author of Love, Love Himself, would have said, “No way, this is not Love so I’m done.” But He continued to show us what Love truly is.

We continue with the questions and look at how He felt…and loved… even in social isolation and rejection?

Have you ever been the brunt of a group’s joke, or intentionally left out of social functions? Wonder how “loving” Jesus “felt” when the mob cried “Crucify Him!” Crucify Him!” (Matthew 27:22-23) just days after they had praised Him and laid their coats and palm branches before Him as a sign a homage and honor to royalty? (Matthew 21:1-10) How do you think He felt socially?

Surely this would be the “straw that broke the camel’s back” and He would respond in kind. Or how about when the guards mocked Him, spit on Him, tore out his beard and hair, He would recognize that Love would not need to go this far? (Matthew 27:27-31) How do you think He felt physically?

No, He responded in Love by remaining committed and not even opening His mouth at any time. His Love is Love and it goes far beyond and much deeper than how we feel. It is remaining committed to God, to others and to what is right, regardless of the cost…so others can see and know Him.

Do you know that kind of Love or is your love rooted in your desires, satisfaction, wants and feelings? Christ showed us what real Love is and you can know that and live that out in your marriage, family, friendships…even with your enemies (Matthew 5:44). If you want to know this kind of Love contact us at Love and Lordship.

I’ll continue next week with 2 more pressing questions that help us see Love as commitment, as a choice and act of the will rather than as emotions, feelings, circumstances and infatuation…it is so much more!

Love and Lordship…Food for Thought – How have you seen, defined and lived out love in your life and relationships? Is it based on your feelings, hormones and circumstances only…or is it rooted in commitment that stays the course when things get tough?  

Love in Action – same questions from last week

1. Read the Scriptures in this article and ask The Holy Spirit to teach you.
2. Write down what each of the Names of God in this post mean to you. 
3. What did you learn about God from His Word in today’s post?
4. How will you apply what you’ve learned about His kind of Love…the only real Love that exists?

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, have Your way in me to teach me by Your grace what Love truly is and how I can live it out in my relationship with You and with all others in Christ. In His Name. Amen.

“Getting wisdom is the most important thing you can do. Whatever else you get, get insight.” Proverbs 4:7 (Good News Translation)

Love and Lordship in Focus…All true wisdom is from God and aligns with His Truth and character that is Love and Holiness. To obtain Wisdom is of utmost importance because it God with us, in us and through us.

As we transition from knowing and loving God to loving self so we can truly love others, I will be sharing simple but powerful nuggets of wisdom from the Truths and Principles of God’s Word.

We want to bridge that gap from knowing and loving God in Christ to knowing and loving who we are in Christ…our identity in Him…and that Bridge is LOVE! We must know that God is Truth and God is Love!

I pray that these devos over the next few weeks will encourage and challenge you and either way they bless you in your walk with Christ as Savior and Lord.

Love is a commitment, an act of the will! It has many emotions attached to it, both good and bad, but is defined by our choices. It is the bridge from God to us!

“If you love me you will keep (obey) my commands; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples: if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35).

“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and follow His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. For whoever has been born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith” (1 John 5:2-4).

How well are you loving God and others out of obedience and commitment to His will and commands?

Love does not exist apart from God. Try as we may and even with the remnants of love that we try to share in our flesh as being created in His image…we fall short. The Bible tells us clearly why this is so and how we can love.

1 John 4:19 simply and clearly states, “We love (only) because He first loved us.” I added the emphasis (parentheses) to make the point that we so often fail to grasp and then try to live and love in our own flesh and strength. The only way we can truly love is by God’s indwelling presence in and through in Christ and His Holy Spirit.

We can have great passion and emotions, attraction and feeling, and yes, those are remnants of love in our flesh from our fallenness. But Love as a faithful commitment, chosen freely and acted upon with no expectation of return is found only in God’s agape (selfless, sacrificial, self-giving love that prefers Him above all else) in Christ.

Do you know Him and His Love? If you do are you sharing it with others. If you don’t, contact us at loveandlordship@gmail.com for more.

We’ve been looking at Love and the Only Source of it in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as our final Names of God revealed to us! His agape love is far different than what we call love in our humanity and flesh. Only in Him and by Him can we truly love. So what does that look like?

In a recent devotional time, Oswald Chambers in “Still Higher for His Highest” refers to The Love Chapter, I Corinthians 13 and then states the following, entitled, and I love this title even as the world and culture can’t stand it…

“The Discipline of Love” (more on this next week, Lord willing)

“First Corinthians 13 is the description of how Christianity works out in a man’s actual experience. Love is the sovereign preference of my person for another; (remember that agape is Godly love that works out in me as I prefer Him over all else…mine and added) my love for Jesus Christ means that I deliberately identify myself with His interests i other people—and the Lord is interested in some funny folk (I just have to look in the mirror to see this…mine and added). Jesus Christ demands, if I am born from above and have inherited His disposition, that I show it, not to fictitious people, but to the people I live beside. Our Heavenly Father has an amazing sense of humor; He will bring across your path the kind of people who manifest to you what you have been to Him. If you have been obstinate, that is why you have got that fellow around you just now, and Jesus says, “Show him the attitude I showed you.” That is experimental Christianity with no humbug (love that word because it reminds me of “A Christmas Carol” and Scrooge…mine and added). It means showing the disposition of Jesus Christ to the man who deliberately wrongs you, and it takes some doing.”

Are you loving those closest to you (spouse, children, family, church family) and those He places in your path and you in their path just as Jesus loved you? Even your enemies? We can only do this if He is Savior and Lord of our life.

Food for Thought…Love is God and only found in Him with remnants in our character of being created in His image. However if we are not in a relationship with Him through Christ in faith by grace then our love grows cold…for Him, our self and for others! This cannot be for those of us who claim to be saved and disciples of Christ!

Love in Action –

1. Read the Scriptures in this article and ask The Holy Spirit to teach you.
2. Write down what each of the Names of God in this post mean to you. 
3. What did you learn about God from His Word in today’s post?
4. How will you apply what you’ve learned about His kind of Love…the only real Love that exists?

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, thank You for loving unlovable me. Thank You for showing me that I am not only loved by You but can love myself and others with that same kind of love…found only in Christ. In His Name. Amen.