Mentoring Minutes

But in your hearts set Christ apart [as holy—acknowledging Him, giving Him first place in your lives] as Lord. Always be ready to give a [logical] defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope and confident assurance [elicited by faith] that is within you, yet [do it] with gentleness and respect.  1 Peter 3:15 (AMP)

When Christ is Lord of your life, peace trumps fear. When we fear man we fear everything. When we fear God we fear only Him!

“Every motive, thought, decision, action and relationship reveals who is Lord/lord of your life and what foundation you are on.” Regardless of what you say or even act, ultimately, whoever/whatever is Lord/lord in your life will be revealed.  What does your life and relationships say about your Lord/lord?  Do you know who it is?

Is it Self? Money? Fame? Sex/porn? Drugs? Giving? Serving? Church? Your marriage, family, friends? Many of these things are obviously sinful and selfish but they still drive what we do in nearly every moment of our life. Others are very noble and worthwhile but to make them the foundation and authority of our life is not in keeping with God and His Word and will ultimately cost us.  So because it’s that important, I ask again…

Who’s Lord/lord of your life (1 Peter 3:15)?

What comes to mind when you think of authority? For most of us it is someone or something that is in control of, or ruling over us. And our flesh doesn’t like that. That’s why Christ showed us clearly that this worldly type of thinking with regard to authority is actually the way unbelievers or sinners think about authority or lording it over others (Matthew 20:20-24).

Jesus said that true Authority comes from willfully choosing to submit, serve and love others by placing them before or above self (Matthew 20:25-27). As The Author and Lord, He taught very clearly what real Authority is to be in our lives and relationships (Matthew 20:28)…it’s not how many you have control over or even how many are following you but how many you serve. You may have many following you but according to God’s Word that doesn’t mean you are walking in authority.  I can’t truly do this unless I know Christ as Savior and Lord. I can serve and lead others apart from Him but ultimately that is rooted in my flesh and what I may receive from it.  Authority in Christ simply serves others for The Father’s purpose and Glory just as He did.

One more thought to help you recognize True Authority…it does not ultimately come from who the world says is in power (even though we must pray for and submit to the governing authorities in our lives and culture unless they clearly contradict God’s Word and Authority). Authority comes directly from The Author! Thus the question, “Who do you acknowledge and live for as The Author of your life?” Or once again, ‘Who’s your Lord/lord?”

This is why we can’t just live in the moment, the situation, the emotions, the desires of our flesh and this world because Christ has so much more in store if we willingly submit and surrender to Him as The Author, The Authority in our life!  Lordship is essential and we all have a Lord/lord.

Why begin 2021 talking about Authority? My flesh doesn’t even like to surrender or submit to any authority. That’s just it! My flesh pushes back against any and all authority. Because of sin, my natural response pushes against even the very One who has been given all Authority (Matthew 11:27; 28:18; John 3:35; 13:3, 5; 17:2; Ephesians 1:20-21; Philippians 2:9-11)!

We must remember that we do this to our own peril and we most often do it because we see authority as the world does…”lording it over, ruling, controlling”…not only do I want to be in control in my sinful self but I also do not want someone in control of me! I want to be in control!  Any of this ringing a bell?  As we learned last week and earlier this is not what real Authority is at all! This is why He does not demand that we follow Him. He knows that Love must have free will and in so doing we must willingly submit to His Authority in order for His Word and will to rule in our lives.  We have chosen to submit to The Father’s drawing us to Him (John 6:44) by faith through grace!

How do you perceive and live out Christ as Lord…as Author, as Authority? This makes all the difference in your life, relationships and in His influence on you, in you and through you to others. The life of worship is a life sacrificed and surrendered to Him as Authority and Lord.

In line with our focus on The Authority of The Author, Christ, I came across this in another devotional recently, “No matter what changes God has brought in you, never rely upon them, build only on a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ, and on the Spirit He gives.” Oswald Chambers

What a great summary of His Lordship in our lives…fully dependent and reliant upon Him! In all that we are, all we do, all we say, every relationship and action, we look to Christ and ask Him to teach and guide us to be His instrument, vessel and disciple and that He reigns as Lord of our lives.

Only as we abide in Christ can we do anything of eternal worth which is all that matters even as we do so in this world, sharing Truth and loving others (John 15:1-17), as The Holy Spirit flows through us (John 7:38).  

This is Christ as Lord…“My determination is to be my utmost for His Highest. To get there is a question of will, not of debate nor of reasoning, but a surrender of will, an absolute and irrevocable surrender on that point. An overweening consideration for ourselves is the thing that keeps us from that decision, though we put it that we are considering others. When we consider what it will cost others if we obey the call of Jesus, we tell God He does not know what our obedience will mean. Keep to the point; He does know. Shut out every other consideration and keep yourself before God for this one thing only – My Utmost for His Highest. I am determined to be absolutely and entirely for Him and for Him alone.”— Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest (Bold emphasis mine/added)

How does Christ’s Truth and Love in our life affect our relationship with Him and others? How does His Lordship in our life impact our relationships with Him and others? Are we living according to His Truth and Love?

We are called to submit to and set apart Christ as Lord so others can know Him as well (1 Peter 3:15).

In line with God’s Word, authority and lordship are synonymous and true leadership flows from who or whatever is the authority or lord in your life. So, who or what is leading your life, your relationships, thoughts, actions, decisions…even your motives? (Matthew 6:9-10)

Something or someone is your Lord/lord and you need to be absolutely sure of who or what. Otherwise we stand at the tree of knowledge of good and evil just as Adam and Eve did are easily duped, and give into sin claiming our own “godship” or “lordship.” (Read Genesis 3:4-5)

Do you know Christ as Lord and His Word as Absolute Truth? I pray you do. If not, I pray you will.

If your foundation or authority is anything other than Christ then you will fear this world and all it offers. If He is Your Foundation, Authority and Lord you will fear only Him and the world offers nothing you need fear.

Are you fearful of anything today other than God? If you fear God, you will not fear man. If you fear man it is because you have not learned to truly fear God. “Do not be afraid” is written 365 times in Scripture…once for every day of the year! Fear God every day and you will live fearless of all else! Be encouraged in God’s Word…

“You shall fear [only] the Lord your God; and you shall serve Him [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect] and swear [oaths] by His name [alone].” Deuteronomy 6:13 (AMP)

Fear nothing else but God alone and watch the change that begins to happen in your life…Check out Psalm 112:7; Isaiah 40:10, 13

He is with you and fear of Him is where wisdom begins…not in education or intellect but in knowing, honoring and fearing Him – Proverbs 9:10.

To fear anything else is not of Him for His Word is clear regarding the Spirit He has given to us, one of love, power and self-discipline or a sound mind. He has not given us fear or timidity so don’t let it invade your thoughts and rule over you (2 Timothy 1:7). Don’t be a slave to fear of anything in this world or the enemy…Fear God and God alone!

If your foundation and authority are not truly in Christ then you will continually give into the natural and the flesh because it is what we experience on a moment-by-moment basis in our lives…what will I eat? What to wear? How do I look? What do others think? What do I fear? And the list goes on and on. Your heart and your treasure are always in the same place (Matthew 6:19-32). Are you honest about where they both are?

Does worry over the things that naturally occur and that you naturally think about rule over you, i.e., guide your thoughts and decision-making? Or does the Truth of God’s Word and the peace that it brings reign in and through you, regardless of the circumstances or culture that we find ourselves in? Remember the natural person is a sinful person so don’t give into the natural…overcome it by faith and walk in the new, spiritual man or woman that Christ has recreated you to be (Ephesians 2:10).

Make it a great day and New Year with family and loved ones in Christ!

Love and Lordship…Food for Thought – Christ’s Lordship helps overcome my fear(s)!  The key is to know and walk with Christ as Savior and LORD and the gift of faith that we’ve been given allows us to trust in His Truth and walk and act accordingly.  In so doing we please God (Hebrews 11:1, 6). Seek His Kingdom and righteousness first and above all else (Matthew 6:33-34). Walk in Faith with Him above everything else as Lord in your life.

Love and Lordship…Action Item(s) –

1. Choose to spend time with God in His Word and prayer every day.
2. Ask The Holy Spirit to teach you and be patient.
3. Ask Him to identify any fears or anxieties and replace them with His Truth.
4. When you face any fear or anxiety find the promise in His Word to counter.
5. As you look to His Word and away from your fears, learn to trust in His Lordship and Truth.

Love and Lordship Prayer Focus Heavenly Father, help me to understand that choosing Christ as Lord of my life allows me to fear nothing of this world but to reverently fear only You. In Jesus Name.  Amen.

Love never fails…       1 Corinthians 13:8a
For nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.      Romans 8:38-39 (paraphrase)
Set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts, being ready always for a defense to everyone asking you a reason for the hope in you.  1 Peter 3:15

When Christ is Lord of your life, peace is present at all times.  When He is not peace is absent at all times…no matter the circumstances or emotions.

Building on last week’s blog we notice the contrast of Christ’s Hope, Peace, Joy and Love (Eternal) to that of the world’s fleeting, circumstantial and emotionally-based desires rooted in the selfish flesh (temporal)…John 14:27: 16:33; James 1:2-4. Which are you focusing on as you move into the New Year?

Remember, His mercies are new every morning and are never ending (Lamentations 3:22-24)…Jeremiah was assured of that in the midst of warning Israel of impending doom!  His grace is all-sufficient to save us and meet all our needs in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9; Philippians 4:19)! He alone is where we can find Hope, Peace, Joy and Love that endures for all time and eternity and in every situation and circumstance, here and now!  This doesn’t mean it all goes away…it means He will see you through and work for your good and His Glory in every situation…think about Joseph in Gen 37-50!

His kind of love is described in I Corinthians 13:4-8a… Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant. It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered, it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails…

Faith is the key to living in His Love & Lordship that will bring and mature these incredible traits and assurances into your life regardless of what you, or we, have faced, are facing or will face in the future!

The past, no matter what it held, is gone and unless you allow it, will hold no sway over you – that’s your choice.  And yet we may still have to deal with some consequences of our action and choices but we can be assured that in Christ we have been forgiven and can move forward in that assurance and freedom.

God may even call it to account but it is only to turn it to ministry for today and beyond, in and through you to others. He alone restores all the past has destroyed (Joel 2:25). Remember it was God Who sent the locusts because Israel (and believers today) failed to walk in God’s truth and commands so He had to be faithful.  But He also is the Only One that can restore all that has been destroyed or eaten away due to our own failings.  So be anxious about nothing…He loves you.

The future is uncertain except that we trust in Him and He personally goes before us (Deuteronomy 31:8) and we can be assured that as we commit our plans to Him (Proverbs 16:3), He will lead us on His path and in the steps that He orders (Proverbs 16:9). Trust in Him!

Today is all we have…remember that He restores the brokenness of the past to use it for His Glory; He prepares the way before you so you will not stumble as you seek and walk with Him; so don’t walk in worry, fear or anxiety…walk in the patient strength of knowing that He walks with you every step of the way…remember faith is the key to making this happen!

This world, our flesh, the enemy can never win…we can only join them in a losing cause!  However we are or can be on the winning side!  Remember as I shared last week…

Christ has already won and promises that victory to all who believe in Him as Savior and Lord…you are more than conquerors as you walk in the Spirit in Christ and not in the flesh and this is key part that very few talk about or help hold others accountable to.  When we do, nothing can separate you from His love (Romans 8:1, 26-39)!

I’ll leave you with this as we’ve concluded another year and begun and new one, in the words of Oswald Chambers, “Let the past sleep, but let it sleep on the bosom of Christ. Leave the Irreparable Past in His hands, and step out into the Irresistible Future with Him.”

The victory is ours in Christ so live like it by allowing Him…His Holy Spirit…to live in and through you!

The Apostle Paul said it like this in Philippians 3:13-14, “Brothers and sisters, I do not regard myself as having taken hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

What is the focus of your thoughts, desires and goals? Where has it been, and where is it, leading you? One of the things that I’ve learned over my nearly 34 years in God’s Word and prayer every single day is that the more I focus on myself the more lost and frustrated I am. The more I focus on Him, His purpose, Kingdom and Glory, the more fulfilled, contented and at peace I am and the more fruitful He is through me.

We are created not for our own purposes (the way of the world and our flesh) but singularly and totally for His. I’ve learned this and in so doing also learned that every day I still have a long way to go…so “I press on” toward Him and His calling and Glory!

When I fall short His grace and mercy covers me, and by that same grace I hit the mark as His Truth sustains me and when I struggle His Love secures me. This I can always count on no matter the circumstances or the cost.  Isaiah 50:10 states,

Who is among you who fears the Lord,
Who obeys the voice of His servant,
Who walks in darkness and has no light?
Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.

All of this we have not just because of His Love and through His victory as our Savior but because He is Lord…and His Lordship will be a major focus for us throughout this year!  Share this article and L&L website and ministry with others as The Lord leads and thanks!

Make it a Joyou New Year with family and loved ones in the Love & Lordship of Christ!

Food for Thought – As we begin this New Year let’s make sure that instead of making it about us, let’s make it all about Him and let Him work on, in and through us for His Kingdom and Glory!

Love in Action –

1. Choose to spend time with God in His Word and prayer every day.
2. Ask God to show you where your focus lies?
3. Ask Him to reveal those things that you focus on that are keeping you from living in victory in Christ.
4. Ask Him how you can change your focus from the world and the flesh (temporal things) to His Truth and purpose for your life and His Glory (Eternal).
5. Choose to think about and focus on His Word and His work in your life and push aside the worries, anxieties and fears that are rooted in the world and your flesh.

Love and Lordship Prayer Focus Heavenly Father, while it may not seem like we have the victory and that circumstances are dark, we know that You are never alarmed and never far from us.  Help me to remember that Your presence is what brings Your hope, joy, peace, love and victory in Christ. In His Precious Name.  Amen.

Happy New Year – Hope, Peace, Joy and Love to You in Christ!

If your focus is on this world you can be assured that any hope, peace, joy and love is temporary just like this temporal world.  If your focus is on Christ and His Kingdom you can know and be fulfilled in His Hope, Peace, Joy and Love that is Eternal just like His Kingdom! (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

If you want to know the hope, peace, joy and love of Christ today, into the New Year and throughout your life, begin by asking and answering this question, “What’s your focus?”  In 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Paul states by The Holy Spirit, “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”  

Is your focus temporal of Eternal? 

As we wrap up CHRISTmas and this year, what are you looking forward to…or what are you fearing as you look to the New Year? If your focus is on the things of this world (temporal) you will likely be caught up in more worry, anxiety and uncertainty that will drag you down.

However if your thoughts, no matter the circumstances, run toward God, His Word and Kingdom (Eternal) then you can be assured that He will provide, prune, prepare and protect you for His Kingdom (Eternal) fruit and purpose!

Oswald Chambers says, “We think that we must reach some predetermined goal (temporal), but that is not the nature of the spiritual life. The nature of the spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty (eternal). (Parentheses mine and added)

He goes on to say that the eternal life, the life hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3), is a gracious uncertainty!  Uncertain because of the temporal nature of this life but gracious and even glorious as you walk with Christ into what He has prepared for you to live out for His Glory (Eternal) even as you do so in this life (temporal).  Which are you focused on?

Are you focusing on this world…or are you living in this world with a gracious uncertainty by faith, focused on His Word, His Will and His Kingdom? You can have the Hope, Peace, Joy and Love that Christ brought to us at CHRISTmas this day and year, into 2021, and beyond into Eternity as you live with your focus on the Eternal today!

Remember there is only One HOPE that will endure beyond 2020, beyond 2021…forever (Romans 15:13)!  That HOPE is found in Christ alone!

That Hope is found in His Unfailing Mercies and Amazing Grace…

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’” Lamentations 3:22–24

In the Jewish culture that the Bible was written in (which we should pay close attention to in order to truly understand context and meanings even for today) the end of one year and preparation for the next was focused strongly on repentance. We would do well to spend time reflecting not only on the blessings and trials of the past year and looking forward to better things in The Lord for the coming year…we should take the time to look introspectively to where we are personally in our walk with Him.

As we humbly repent we can be assured that His mercies are new every single day…we do not receive what we deserve because Christ came, lived and died to receive the punishment that should have been ours. Praise and thanks to The Lord for His unfailing mercies toward us!

Christ promises Hope (Romans 15:13) found only in Him; Peace unlike the world gives and one that I can’t fully understand so must accept by faith (John 14:27; 16:33; Philippians 4:6-7); a Joy in any and every circumstance that is complete in Him and allows, and even compels, me to find it (Joy that is) in the most difficult of trials and circumstances…including 2020 (1 John 1:4; James 1:2-4) and finally; Love that is based on covenant and commitment and not on fleeting feelings and emotions…His Love is forever Faithful (John 3:16-17; 1 Corinthians 13:8a; 1 John 4:7-21)!  It’s not the Love of the world and you and I can count on it always. 

Notice the contrast of His hope, peace, joy and love (Eternal) to that of the world’s fleeting and circumstance and emotionally-based desires rooted in the selfish flesh (temporal).  Which are you focusing on as you wrap up 2020 and look forward to the New Year?

Faith is the key to living in His Love & Lordship that will bring and mature these incredible traits and assurances into your life regardless of what you, or we, have face, are facing or will face in the future!

COVID and pandemic will not win! Election fraud and mainstream media cover-ups will not win! Lockdowns will not win! Social anarchy and chaos will not win!

Christ has already won and promises that victory to all who believe in Him as Savior and Lord (Romans 8:26-39)!  

Make it a Blessed and Joyous New Year with family and loved ones in the Love & Lordship of Christ!

Love and Lordship…Food for Thought – His mercies are new every morning and are never ending (Lamentations 3:22-24) and His grace is all-sufficient to save us and meet all our needs in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9; Philippians 4:19)!  He alone is where we can find Hope, Peace, Joy and Love that endures for all time and eternity!

Love and Lordship…Action Item(s) – Do you know Him?

1. Spend time with Him in His Word and prayer daily
2. Seek Him and ask Him to help you know Him
3. Ask Him to show you how much He loves you
4. Pursue a loving relationship with Him… Christ died to give it to you
5. Choose the Hope, Peace, Joy and Love found only in Him not the false pretenders found in the circumstances or struggles of the world or in our fickle feelings.

Love and Lordship Prayer Focus

Heavenly Father, Thank you, that Your mercies never fail, Your grace is amazing and Your love never ends.  As I focus on Your Word and Kingdom, I can know hope, peace, joy and love that blesses and sustains me through every trial and struggle that I face.  I have this as my life is hid with Christ in You, focusing on that which is Eternal rather than that which is temporary.  In His Precious Name I pray.  Amen.