Mentoring Minutes

You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. (2 Corinthians 3:3)

Love and Lordship in Focus…His Love for us in saving and redeeming us should compel us to respond according to His Word that states that if we love Him we will keep (obey) His commands.  His Love for us as Savior requires the response of our love for Him as Lord.

This isn’t going to be easy so I begin with a reminder…I’m sharing the direct words of Jesus…I’m just the messenger. We must heed what our Lord says.

First let’s recap what He has called us to in order to be His disciples…

1) He must be the utmost priority in our life;

2) We must give ourselves wholeheartedly to Him;

3) We must give up everything for His sake, including our right to our life, our self and our right to be right (Luke 14:25-35).

That’s tough…but remember He’s The One who has given His all so that we can do the same. He is our Source and Strength (Philippians 4:13).

Why is this so important? Because we are His salt and light to the world. Salt and light changes everything they are exposed to…unless they have lost their ability to do so. Jesus said that if we are not completely sold out to Him then we have lost our saltiness (Luke 14:34-35). In other words, we’ve lost our influence to point those around us to Him.

Think about the glaring lack of influence that our churches and “converts” have in our culture today? Media mocks our faith, education ridicules it and government ignores and demeans it. Perhaps it is because we have failed to fully submit and surrender to Him as Lord and have lost our saltiness. The world around us has relegated our “salt” to the manure pile, which is exactly what Jesus said would happen.

Here are three scriptures that can help us pray and learn to be his sold-out disciples and be salt that once again influences the world around us:

1) “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done.” Matthew 6:10 (Father, start with me and your will in my life)

2) “Seek first His Kingdom and righteousness.” Matthew 6:33

3) “Not my will but Yours be done.” Luke 22:42

Oswald Chambers gives more insight to how this is to be lived in contrast to the world around us… “Our Civilization and Christ’s Call” (Matthew 6:33 – see above)

“To follow Jesus Christ today is to follow a madman according to the ideals of present-day civilization. We have made a thousand and one necessities until our system of civilized life is as cast iron, and then we apologize to the Lord for not following Him. ‘God can never mean that I have to follow Him at the cost of all I have?’ But He does mean it. Instantly the clash is between our civilization and the call of Jesus Christ. Read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7)–‘Seek first the kingdom of God’–and apply it to modern life and you will find its statements are either those of a madman or of God Incarnate.” (Parentheses mined and added)

I share this thought about discipleship and transition to…LOVE…because this doesn’t sound very loving?  Yet, God’s Word intricately ties discipleship and love together, “If you love me your will keep (obey) my commands.” John 14:15 (Parentheses mine and added)

Tweet this:  “Discipleship is our love to Him in response to His Love for us!”

Remember that Discipleship is not about being perfect…we’re already made perfect in Christ but we have to grow in our understanding and maturity in Him while we still dwell in this fleshly temple (body). So discipleship, as we live it out, is about maturation in Truth and Love rather than perfection.

Ultimately discipleship under Christ’s Lordship is our response to His incredible, unfailing, sacrificial love for us. We respond as His disciples in loving Him (and others) ONLY because He first loved us (1 John 4:19)!

This is why Jesus could say what He did in Luke 14:25-35 because He knew that only those who received His grace and love…Redemption through His blood and body sacrificed on The Cross…could even do the things He asked that we focused on last week (www.loveandlordship.com for previous articles, videos and podcasts to see what it means for Him to be Lord and us to be His disciples…on His terms not ours)!

He does this because He knows that we can’t do this in and of ourselves but only by His grace, mercy and strength, as we trust in Him by faith (Ephesians 2:8-9).

As we begin to unpack what His kind of Love truly is and how we are to respond in that Love let me ask one simple question that ties His Love and Lordship to our discipleship response…

Have you received Christ as Savior and known His Love and are you walking in that Love as His disciple? Asked another way…Is there room in your heart for Him to write His story in and through your life for others to read it and know Him as Savior and Lord? (2 Corinthians 3:3)

Truth in Love

We are created in God’s image so that everything that He has called and commanded us to do is to be done in loving relationship…with Him and with others. Christ has made this possible by the reality of Redemption for all who will believe.

However much of what we see and call love today in our culture and even in many churches is our version of it. We’ve stood at the tree of knowledge of good and evil, right along with Adam and Eve, and fell for the enemy’s lie that we could be like god(s) (Genesis 3:4-5). So we’ve created Him in our image and redefined love based on our emotions (heart) and thoughts (mind) rather than the Truth of His Word.

His Word and His Son gave us very specific meaning and examples of Love that we’ll explore over the next few posts. I pray they will give you a new insight on what His Love truly is and how we are to live it out and can only do so as His disciples, living in His Lordship.

Here are 7 Great texts on Love in the New Testament that should guide us in how we are to love and disciple others to love as well. We will develop these in subsequent posts…

1) 1 John 4:7-21…God is Love and Love is from God…we can only love because He first loved us (v. 19); (John 3:16; 1 John 3:16)

2) Mark 12:29-31…A clear priority and order of love of God and others

3) John 13:1-17…Love lived out in humility, service, authority and discipleship

4) Romans 8:37-39…God’s unfailing and inseparable love for us

5) 1 Corinthians 13…Known as the Love Chapter describing what Godly love looks like to us and through us (emphasis vv. 4-8a)

6) Ephesians 5:21-33…Godly Love expressed in relationships and in particular in the Marriage Covenant and what it represents – Christ and His Bride, The Church.

7) Mark 1:40-42; 10:17-22…the full-orbed Love of God.

As we continue with this series, I’ll begin to dive deeper into each one of these to help us discover more of the absolute and needed connection between discipleship and Truth in Love!

Food for Thought – God is Love.  It would do us a great deal of good to know what that Love looks like.  Be praying about what God will reveal to you as you study the texts in this post and desire to know His Love more fully and share it unconditionally. 

Love in Action –

1. Read the Scriptures in this article and ask The Holy Spirit to teach you what you need to do to live in love as Christ’s disciple.
2. Make a list of the areas where Christ Kingdom and will are first in your life.
3. Make a list of the areas where Christ Kingdom and will take a back seat in your life.
4. Give some thought to what the Scriptures on Love in this post say to you.

Love and Lordship Prayer Focus…Heavenly Father, in order for me to live as you purposed I need to know Your Love and live as Christ’s disciple in loving obedience to You.  Help me to do this for Your Kingdom and Glory. Thank You for Your grace that saves me and daily empowers me to do so.  In Jesus Name.  Amen.

Following Christ is simple.  I said simple, not easy.  It’s easy only as we surrender to His Spirit and Word. How are you doing when it comes to walking as Christ’s disciple? What do you need to change to be wholeheartedly His by making Him first, giving your all to Him and dying to your own selfishness and stuff?

Here are some simple thoughts on discipleship from Jesus Himself (Luke 14:25-35)…

1. Christ must be the absolute #1 Priority (Lord) in your life (vv. 26-27)
2. We must commit and submit wholeheartedly, not half-heartedly (vv. 28-32)
3. We must die to or give up our selfish desires and possessions (v. 33)
4. If we follow through on the above we can be devoted disciples; if we do not we can’t be.

I said simple, not easy?  These can’t be done in our own strength…only by His Spirit!

These 3 specific choices must be made if we are to be disciples of Christ. According to Jesus Himself, if we are not doing these then we are not His disciples, i.e., He is not our Lord. We need to take this much more seriously than we do. It is not just about attending church, giving some money and serving a little…all good things but discipleship is much more (Luke 14:25-35)!

Let’s look at each of these more deeply and be honest with ourselves about His Lordship and our discipleship in Him beginning with the first – Christ must be the absolute #1 Priority (Lord) in your life if you are to be His disciple (vv. 26-27).

The “hate” that Christ talks about in these verses is not a hatred of heart but a comparison of others when it comes to Him. Is there anything in your life that takes priority over Christ? Jesus didn’t talk of petty things (not in the sense of their potential impact on our lives but in their eternal value) like money, success, fame, sex, porn, drugs, etc. He spoke of those that were to be of significance to us because of relationships… spouse, mother, father, children, siblings, even our own life. We could even add friends…and dare I say, church?!?

Do any of these take priority over Christ in your life? If they do, He clearly says we can’t be His disciple – He is not our Lord.

Make Him first in all you do and He will take care of and bless those things that He desires for You and will order your life according to His Covenant and Kingdom. He will also remove those idols that don’t belong as only He can. Don’t let even those things His Word calls good take priority over Him! Take up your cross and follow after him above all else. This is for our sake, not His.  He knows this is the only way to have a fulfilled life. All the rest is fleeting.

Continuing with the focus on what it means to be Christ’s disciple if we are claiming Him as Lord (Luke 14:25-35) leads to His second point… our devotion to Him must be with all our heart. We can’t halfheartedly commit because our commitment is then based on our own selfish, fleshly terms, i.e., doing it our way (vv. 28-32).

Jesus uses two examples to teach us of the complete commitment required to be His disciple: 1) Finances and building a tower; 2) Fighting a battle.

In both cases He makes it very clear that anything but complete devotion to Him as Lord will be seen as unworthy. In the first case our work and our faith are declared both a failure and a mockery (does this ring a bell as to the world’s response to our “discipleship” today?). In the second story we are seen as unprepared for the battle, ultimately seeking a peace based on surrender (again anything familiar in how the world sees today’s Christians and Christianity?).

Hasn’t the world seen enough halfhearted devotion? We’ve become an afterthought and a laughingstock because we’re not sold out to Him! We can’t afford to let the world continue to see anything less than our all for Him.

After all, isn’t He just asking us to follow the example that He set in giving His all for us? Remember this is what is required in a relationship with Christ as Lord… but He never demands it. He wants us to do as He has done and give our all to Him!

I can’t do that on my own and it is His life, sacrificial death and resurrection that makes it possible as I commit wholeheartedly to Him as Lord and to walk as His disciple according to His standards. He has given me everything I need to do so. The question is will I fully surrender? He’s got great plans for those who do!

Oswald Chambers says, “If Jesus Christ cannot alter a man’s disposition, Christianity is a cunningly devised fable. Christianity means the manifestation of a strong family likeness to Jesus.”

When Christ is Lord of our lives it means that He is first priority in all things and we are wholeheartedly devoted to Him. He doesn’t speak this for His sake but for ours. He knows that anything that competes with Him will ultimately destroy our lives, relationships and efforts and lead to disaster. That’s why Paul states in Galatians 6:7-8 that sowing in the flesh always brings the fruit of destruction.

This brings us to the third point that Jesus makes in Luke 14:25-35…we must die to ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him, parting with any and every possession that claims us (vv. 27, 33). What does it mean to take up our cross? It means we must die right out of our natural selfish desires and longing for stuff. We choose Christ’s Truth and walk in it rather than seeking to satisfy our own feelings and pleasures. His results are much better (Galatians 6:8).

Jesus said that if anyone wants to come after Him they must deny self, take up their cross (His calling on their life) and follow Him (Matthew 16:24). Oswald Chambers gives great insight into what this looks like in his devotional, My Utmost for His Highest (Jan 24)… https://utmost.org/classic/the-overmastering-direction-classic/.

Discipleship is not for the faint of heart as we are certainly called to walk against the culture and swim upstream. So much of our modern-day churches have tried to do discipleship while fitting in with, and attracting, the culture but we’ve certainly lost our “saltiness” (Luke 14:34-35).

Jesus said that if we have anything that takes priority over Him, if we do not count the cost and make a wholehearted commitment to Him, and if we do not die to self and the things or possessions of this world, then we are not His disciples, i.e., He is not our Lord (Luke 14:25-35). If that’s the case and you’ve been led to believe that you’re in a relationship with Him as Savior only but He’s not Lord, then you’ve been misled.

Look at our culture and tell me that our churches and the “disciples” that make them up have retained their saltiness? We have lost it because we’ve been told He can be Savior but we can be lord. If this it not specifically taught it has been implied in what is taught and what is left out in today’s teachings.

We’ve lost our saltiness and it’s evident that the culture has tossed us to the dunghill (manure pile). Let’s wake up and be the men, women, disciples and Church that He died to save and be Lord of! He’s waiting to see if we will lovingly and willingly submit to Him as that’s the only way this works.

As we dive deeper there are three things to consider as to what our discipleship response to Christ as Lord looks like. All of these are Scriptural and have been modeled by Christ and yet are difficult in our flesh…so we must do so by His Spirit.

Oswald Chambers outlines these three things that must be given up by Christians in their walk with The Lord:

1) Give up your right to your life as you take up your cross and go to the death of your flesh and selfish desires (Galatians 2:20) – just as Christ willingly sacrificed and gave up His life for us, He calls us to do the same for Him. This may mean a literal physical death in our service to Him but each day that we live we are called to be a “living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1) which means my life is surrendered to His will…to be lived for His purposes and His Glory.

Remember that just as John the Baptist was to prepare the way for The Lord, we are called to do the same in our lives and through our lives so others can see and know Him. In John 3:30, John the Baptist emphatically stated that it was not about him but totally about Jesus when he stated, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

As we learned earlier, Christ will never force us to decrease our own life and desires nor will He force the increase of Who He Is in us…we must willingly lay down our life (decrease) and choose the increase of His Word and Spirit, His Life, in and through us.

2) Give up your right to yourself…give yourself as a “living sacrifice” to God for His will (Luke 9:23; Romans 12:1)

The second right that we must give up is our right to ourselves… give yourself as a “living sacrifice” to God for His will (Luke 9:23; Romans 12:1-2).

Again we must remember that God is only asking what Christ modeled for us in loving obedience to His Father and we are called to do the same. As long as we are pursuing the things of self, we will never be fulfilled as we were created for so much more which can only be found in the Creator and not the creation (Romans 1:18-33).

Paul David Tripp says it this way in his devotional, New Morning Mercies, “Today your heart will search for satisfaction. Will you look for it in the creation or in relationship to the Creator?” He goes on to state, “There is one thing you must always remember as you take in creation’s multisensory display. Creation does not have the ability to satisfy your heart…Today you will give your life to something. Will it be the Creator, whose grace alone can satisfy and transform your heart, or the creation, which was designed to do neither?”

3) This may be the toughest because it is revealed in our thought life and practical daily choices…we must give up our right to be right…OUCH (John 10:17-18)

When I share this in conferences, retreats or events, two things quickly rise to the surface in comments and questions. The first is an overwhelming response that as Christians we are right and must stand for what is “right.” This mindset has fostered much of the legalism (Pharisaism) in our churches today.   We are right but we can fully trust God to defend His Truth and righteousness as we walk in them in Love?

The second is in response to the first in simply pointing others to our Lord’s example. Had Jesus demanded his right to be right, we would have no Savior…and no Lord because we would have no way to be in a relationship with Him. He was absolutely in the right in proclaiming who He was and that all authority belonged to Him and yet He willingly gave that up to the worldly authorities out of love, first for His Father in obedience to Him (Luke 22:42) and then His Love for us. In so doing, He perfectly fulfilled the very commands that He instructed us to follow (more on this next week, Lord willing).

However, had he insisted upon the fact that He was right and in the right, He would have never been crucified and you (and I) would never have been saved. He will be proven right and so will we but our walk as His disciples calls us to lay this down for the sake of others knowing His Truth and Love.

Think about these and how they impact us daily in our choices for self or for Christ.

Love and Lordship…Food for Thought – He calls us to give up our rights to our life, to ourselves, and to worldly stuff…it is not for His sake but for ours. Don’t fall for the things of this world, give up your self for Him!

Love and Lordship…Action Item(s) –

1. Read the Scriptures in this article and ask The Holy Spirit to teach you what you need to do, by His grace, to be Christ’s disciple.
2. What relationships take priority over Christ?  Make a list.
3. Determine areas where you are half-heartedly devoted to Christ – make a list.
4. What possessions mean more to you than Christ?  Make a list.
5. Ask The Holy Spirit to begin to show you how to make Christ first in every part of your life and be wholeheartedly sold out to Him.

Love and Lordship Prayer Focus Heavenly Father, thank You for making it possible to be in an incredibly, loving and intimate relationship with You that encourages, strengthens and fulfills my life.  Forgive me when I live as though Christ was simply my Savior and not my Lord. In Jesus Name.  Amen.

For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you. (Isaiah 62:5)

Love and Lordship in Focus St. Valentine is celebrated for Romance, love and sex. What if that’s only part of the story? His real life’s work that should be celebrated is for God’s institution of Marriage…and we, as His Church must take up the mantle in our day and culture!

Having just celebrated Valentine’s Day two days ago, let me share 5 reasons that Valentine’s Day and Marriage are good for…1) Your Spouse; 2) Yourself; 3) Your Family; 4) Christ’s Church; 5) Our culture!

If we’re not on the right foundation, and Marriage in God’s design is that foundation, then very seldom, if ever, will we have the change of heart that can make the needed difference in relationships and especially, Marriage, Family and The Church. 

Take a look at the “state of our unions” and the influence, or lack thereof, that the Church has had on our culture over the past 60+ years…this must change and I believe God is calling us to stand up, call for, and live out this change.

– Since 1960, America has witnessed a 12-fold (that’s 1200%) increase in cohabitation and a 50 percent plunge in the marriage rate.

– About 45 percent of cohabiting couples undergo what is called a “premarital divorce,” which can be every bit as painful as the real thing.  Mike McManus of Marriage Savers calls these “mini divorces.”

– The half who make it to the altar are about 50 percent more likely to divorce than those who lived apart prior to marrying.

– In the end, as few as 15 of every 100 couples who cohabit go on to create a lasting marriage.

This is just the tip of the iceberg.  None of this speaks specifically to the overwhelming inundation of pornography and porneia (sexual immorality which Biblically speaking is any sex outside of one man/one woman marriage) that is rampant and accepted in our culture and even in many churches, by admission or omission.  It is found in every form of media and social media with little resistance, it is codified in our laws to endorse and promote sexual immorality and demean and diminish marriage and family, and it is literally disguised (porn that is) as education and taught to school children of every age!

So where do we find ourselves this Valentine’s Day?  Let’s look at the game plan of the socialists and liberals who know they must destroy or diminish marriage and family to bring about government control.  The playbook could be entitled,  “Family Privilege” which sounds great until you dig just beneath the surface…

The premise is rooted, as are many things today, in the faulty reasoning of tolerance and discrimination leveled in this case against the “privileging” of certain family types and structures as better than any others…even though the overwhelming social science data clearly tells a different story…there is a major positive difference in male/female married with biological or adopted children families!

Their convoluted and ideological (not scientific at all) argument “seems to be that, by giving special respect to one kind of relationship, we simultaneously disrespect all others.”  The stated goal is to “foster greater social inclusion and advancement for all people” and that, in and of itself, can be noble.  However, marriage, and all its wonderful and proven benefits, will cease to exist in any recognizable form if “family privilege” concepts and constructs prevail…and that is the deeper goal of those who are pushing this ideological agenda.  Check out the playbook…

Vladimir Lenin, the architect of the Soviet Union, stated (this sounds hauntingly familiar), “Corrupt the young, get them away from religion. Get them interested in sex. Make them superficial, destroy their ruggedness. Get control of all means of publicity and thereby: Get the peoples’ mind off their government by focusing their attention on athletics, sexy books and plays, and other trivialities. Divide the people into hostile groups by constantly harping on controversial matters of no importance. Destroy the people’s faith in their natural leaders by holding up the latter to ridicule, contempt and obloquy. Always preach true democracy but seize power as fast and as ruthlessly as possible. Encourage government extravagance, destroy its credit, produce fear with rising prices, inflation and general discontent. Foment unnecessary strikes in vital industries, encourage civil disorders and foster a soft and lenient attitude on the part of government toward such disorders. By specious argument cause the breakdown of the old moral virtues: honesty, sobriety, continence, faith in the pledged word, ruggedness. Cause the registration of all firearms on some pretext, with the view of confiscating them and leaving the population defenseless.”

With regard to marriage and family he said, “Destroy the family, you destroy the country.”  He did and tyrannically reordered it as the Communist Soviet Union.

Ultimately we are seeing this in our country throughout our media, education and government with those who agree that all relationship lifestyle choices are equal are better than those who uphold one man/one woman marriage and traditional family.  They claim the moral high ground and then shout down, censor, silence or cancel anyone who disagrees.  It’s the only way to attain what they are after as research and realities clearly show a different picture.  

If this sounds vaguely familiar it’s because it is…look no further than the BLM and related movements that hide behind racial and other injustices (which we do need to rightfully consider) while promoting the very ideals shared in this article, i.e., the destruction of the nuclear family! 

As believers in Christ, we must boldly, truthfully and graciously come against this agenda for destroying nuclear family according to God’s Covenant Order.  We must stand firm in the Armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18) in order to be able to continue to shine Christ’s Light and share His Love!

For more check out this article… https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2021/02/73867/

Here’s some food for thought…”Ross Douthat describes our culture’s loss of religion, familial breakdown, and plummeting birthrates as a set of feedback loops: the rich society creates incentives to set aside faith’s admonitions, which orients its culture more toward immediate material pleasures, which makes its inhabitants less likely to have children, which weakens the communal transmission belt for religious traditions, which pushes the society further along the materialist-individualist path. . . . and at a certain point you end up, well, here, with unparalleled prosperity joined to seemingly irresistible demographic decline.

“How can we escape this vicious cycle? Perhaps, writes Douthat, this would require ‘our society to become dramatically unlike itself, ordered to sacrifice rather than consumption, and to eternity rather than what remains of the American Dream. You would need not change on the margins, but transformation—probably religious transformation—at the heart.’”

Which brings us to Valentine’s Day and St. Valentine

The legend of St Valentine’s is much more about commitment to marriage than to Romance. Both are important but Valentine was not martyred for peddling romance and sex.  He was martyred for standing up for God’s design for Marriage against a government (Roman Emperor who outlawed marriage thinking he would have men who would be more committed to Rome.  In time it became evident that men were much more willing to die for their spouse and the country in which they lived than to do so simply for king and country).  He ultimately gave his life for the sake of Marriage!  Sadly enough we’ve made it all about romance and sex. 

Marriage is God’s design for love, oneness, romance and sex all rolled into one, ultimately to glorify Him!  And it’s AWESOME!  It’s not easy and it takes work contrary to the fairy tale and pornified cultural message that inundates us. God’s design and desire in Marriage is clear…Male and Female, Husband and Wife in a life-long covenant commitment that is to be honored by all!

When we honor marriage it means that we honor all relationships (ours and others), before, during and after marriage according to His Covenant Order and Design.  St. Valentine and his day are really about marriage much more than romance…but don’t miss the romance!

Focus on Romance only and both will fail…focus on Marriage/Commitment while working on Romance, yes, I said working on Romance, and both flourish!  Marriage is one of God’s most precious and incredible gifts given to humankind in order for family, community, His Church, and nations to flourish!

St. Valentine, Romance and Marriage…Elevate and give Marriage, your marriage and all relationships, the honor God’s Word ascribes…Valentine was willing to give his life for it…maybe he was on to something!?!

Who will stand with me as modern-day Valentines against the lies and deceptions of media, education and government and stand for Marriage, Family and Romance in line with God’s Truth so we can leave a better legacy than what was left to us?   

 Love and Lordship…Food for Thought – God’s design for Marriage calls us as believers to honor marriage not just when we say, “I Do” but long before with purity and integrity in every relationship that carries over into marriage and blesses our union and our family!

Love in Action –

1.  Take time to reflect on God’s design for Marriage, relationships and sexuality.  What does that say to you? 

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.  Genesis 1:27

That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.  Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. Genesis 2:24-25

Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.  Hebrews 13:4

2.  Ask The Holy Spirit to show you how this impacts your marriage and spouse.

3.  Ask The Father to reveal His will for your relationships, your present or future marriage and spouse.

4. Read this article as it helps pull all this together for marriage, relationship, romance and sex… “The Valentine’s Day Gift That Keeps On Giving”

Love and Lordship Prayer Focus Heavenly Father, Help me as Christ’s disciple to honor marriage; help us as His Bridegroom and Church to honor marriage; help our churches to stand against the tide of culture and honor marriage. In Jesus Name.  Amen.