Mentoring Minutes

Christ has made us holy by His sacrifice and gift of grace on The Cross.  In recognition of His great grace and mercy how are we to respond as believers and disciples?  We are to offer what He has made holy back to God for His purpose in our lives and relationships.  As we align our minds and lives with His Word rather than the culture we become living proof of His will!

A disciple is one who studies and then models whoever is Lord in his/her life.  A disciple is one who disciplines his/herself according to the principles or standards of his/her Lord.  A disciple is one who practices the disciplines of his/her Lord.  

Discipleship begins with whoever is your Lord/lord and…in the mirror.  It doesn’t begin with telling others about your Lord/lord but learning from your Lord so that when you begin to share about who your Lord is, you are actually living out a lifestyle that reflects that of your Lord’s! 

Scriptural historians have determined that there was somewhere between 1 – 2 years between Jesus calling His disciples (Matthew 4:18; Mark 1:16; Luke 5) and sending them out (Matthew 10; Mark 6).  Historians also set the time between the Apostle Paul’s conversion in Acts 9 and him publicly proclaiming the Gospel in the Jerusalem synagogue (Acts 9:26-29) was approximately 3 years (he proclaimed it briefly in Damascus after His conversion). It was another 10+ years before he is sent on his first missionary journey having been set apart by The Holy Spirit with Barnabas to do so (Acts 13).

Jesus said in Matthew 28:19, …go and make disciples of all peoples… In order to make disciples we must first be disciples.  In a previous article, “So You Got Grace, What’s Next?” I talk about this command being to all of us as Christ followers not just to trained experts.  In the original language (Greek) it also means, “as you go along the way” emphasizing that it is much more about our lives than it is just telling people about Jesus (we need to do both).  If our lives don’t match up with our words we may do more damage than good when it comes to “making disciples?”

First Be A Disciple

So what does it look like to be a disciple of Christ?  There are many commands in Scripture that point to what it means to be His follower or disciple.  I know we don’t like the word “commands” but that’s what they are and this was fully expected by the writers and understood and responded to by those who originally received the letters we’ve come to know as The Bible.   We should take them just as seriously to honor our Lord!

I want to focus on 2 commands that I believe lay a strong foundation for living out the rest.  We’ve already discussed that the 1^st and 2^nd (and 3^rd) greatest commands deal with loving God, loving who we are in Christ so we can love our neighbors.  We need to begin where God begins as we shared about His priority and order when it comes to commands and love.  But, you may ask, “How do I get there?”

Living Sacrifice – Our Reasonable Response

Paul told the believers (disciples) in Rome what it means to be a follower of Jesus after all that He’s done for us (Romans 8-11). “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, which is your reasonable act of service (worship). Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:1-2. 

Three things we are called to in this passage:

1. Give my body (self/life) back to God as a living sacrifice as this is the “reasonable” response to what He’s (Christ) done for me;
2. Don’t conform to the world’s way of doing things, but;
3. Transform my way of thinking and living in line with His Word.

As we respond “logically” (reasonably) to what He’s done for us, we choose to think in line with His Word rather than follow the culture.  In so doing we begin to recognize and live out His will in a way that others can see it, test it and realize it is from Him as well!  That’s what disciples look like…and it takes time to mature in this and as we do, others begin to see more and more of our Lord!

Make it a great day and God bless in Christ!

Food for Thought – What has been your life and church experience when it comes to discipleship? How have you been discipled? How have you discipled others?

Love in Action –

1. Spend some each day in God’s Word, in prayer and in listening to Him begin with the Scriptures found in this post.
2. Ask The Holy Spirit to teach you.
3. Read Luke 14:25-35.
4. Compare and contrast your experience of church calls “discipleship” with Romans 12:1-2 and Luke 14:25-35.
5. What needs to change for you to be a disciple according to Christ’s calling? Start today.

Love and Lordship Prayer Focus Heavenly Father, forgive us for minimizing discipleship as just being a good church convert. Help me/us to strive in The Holy Spirit by Your grace to be Christ’s disciples according to Your Word.  In His Name, Amen.

Contact us at loveandlordship@gmail.com.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21

Love and Lordship in Focus…Do you want to know God?  You can!  He has some significant things to say in His Word on how we can seek, find and know Him.  As we pursue Him we find that it has a lot to do with what our heart is set on.  How are we going to love Him if we are not seeking Him and seeking to know Him?  What do your life pursuits say about your heart and your relationship with Him?

How many of you know what Jeremiah 29:11 says?  You may not be able to recall it immediately but in the next couple of lines as it is revealed you will probably say to yourself, “Oh, yeah.”

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Jeremiah 29:11

Did you say, “Oh, yeah”?  I can’t count the number of feel-good sermons I’ve heard on this Scripture and that’s not a bad thing.  The only problem I’ve found is that the number of messages I’ve heard on the next 2 verses I can count on one hand…with 3 fingers left over.  Now I’ve certainly not heard all the sermons preached throughout history but I think you’ll see my point.

SEEKING AND FINDING THE LORD

Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.   Jeremiah 29:12-13

You probably are already catching on but before I expound on these verses let me make 2 quick points…1) These words are not written to individuals, they are written to the nation of Israel (God’s people), and; 2) The best interpretation for us would be that these are words to Christ’s Church (His people) today. 

Since The Church is made up of individuals and relationships, then we can certainly pray the promise of v. 11 but we also must personally and collectively follow through with what The Holy Spirit expresses in vv. 12-13.

That brings us back to the focus of this article.  All of us desire God’s best plans for our life, family, churches and communities…or at least we should as Christ followers.  However, most of us latch onto the declaration made in v. 11 and pay little attention to our responsibility in receiving that promise. 

God desires to give us an incredible hope and future, one translation says “an expected end” or one that we believe in by faith and know it will be good.  Here are 3 things that we must do in order to receive all He has promised:

1. Call out to Him – share your heart, hurts and hang-ups with Him.  He already knows.  He just wants you to experience His presence, which is ultimately greater than His response to any of your cries.
2. Come and pray to Him – find a place and time every day to meet with Him and make your requests known.  In the process you’ll come to know Him more and He will reveal who He has created you to be and His plans for you.  He hears and responds.
3. Seek Him with all your heart – receiving His promises and all He has in store begins with seeking Him.  God makes it very clear that the way that we find and know Him is by wholeheartedly seeking Him.  Half-hearted attempts won’t work.  Doesn’t mean He won’t answer but we simply can’t get to know Who He Is if we’re only giving a partial effort to do so.

The most incredible gift in this is that receiving His promise is AWESOME…but seeking and knowing Him is far better!

GETTING ALL YOU NEED

Jesus summed it up this way in the Sermon on the Mount.  After teaching on futility of worry and anxiety in Matthew 6:25-32, He sums it in v. 33, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Our Creator, Savior and Lord knows that we will never be satisfied with anything, even everything, in this world because it is fleeting and superficial.  The only way we can be fulfilled is in knowing Him!  The awesome news is that He has made Himself known in Jesus and in His Word by His Spirit and He has made Himself available for us to seek, know and love Him and that changes everything!  The question is, will you seek Him with all your heart?  Will you seek His Kingdom (remember Kingdom always include His Kingship/Lordship) and righteousness first and above everything else? 

Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest, Oct 3, We can ever remain powerless, as were the disciples, by trying to do God’s work not in concentration on His power, but by ideas drawn from our own temperament. We slander God by our very eagerness to work for Him without knowing Him.

You can know Him!  Don’t miss out.  Spend some time every day in His Word, in prayer and seeking/asking Him to show you Who He Is.  But remember you have to do it with all your heart.  When you do, He will show up!

Make it a great day and God bless in Christ!

Love and Lordship…Food for Thought – It has been said that you can tell where a person’s heart is by looking at 2 things:  checkbook and calendar.  What do these 2 items say about your relationship with God?

Love in Action –

1. Spend some each day in God’s Word, in prayer and in listening to Him begin with the Scriptures found in this post.
2. Ask The Holy Spirit to teach you.
3. Take inventory in your own heart/life and see where you are with God and how you are seeking to know and love Him. 
4. From the inventory determine (ask The Holy Spirit to help you) what “treasures” in your heart/life are invested in the world and keeping you from knowing and loving God fully.

Love and Lordship Prayer Focus

Heavenly Father, Creator of all that exists, Giver of Life, Savior and Lord, Healer, Forgiver, King of Kings and Lord of Lords…You are above all things and yet have made Yourself known and available to me and desire to live in my heart.  I can come into Your Presence, talk to You, read Your very Breath of Life, Your Word.  Why would I not seek You with all my heart?  Teach me to do just that and know that You will be found.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Contact us at loveandlordship@gmail.com.

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed…continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.  Philippians 2:12-13

Love and Lordship in Focus…Salvation is a free gift from God, by grace, through our faith in Christ’s sacrifice… literally, He took our place!  Many really like the idea of stopping right there.  But God’s Word has much more to say about how we are to live out the salvation we’ve been freely given by the way we live for His good purpose and one translation says, ‘for His good pleasure.”

Did you know that there are 2 sides to salvation…God’s and ours?  We can do nothing to save ourselves but we have a very clear responsibility in salvation.

Everyone loves to hear about God’s Amazing Grace…how sweet the sound!  It does sound great and it is amazing!  But God’s Word has a lot more to say about salvation than simply what He’s done for us.

The other side of salvation…our side…is all about God’s purpose for our lives once we accept His free gift of grace in salvation and how we can live most fully and freely according to His purpose, design and pleasure…by that same grace! 

Don’t know about you but I want that!  I know that I’ve been saved for Eternity with Him but I want to know what that looks like now.  The great news is that we can know!  It’s called sanctification and while it’s not easy because of the world we live in, it is every bit as amazing because it is His plan and will for our lives in Christ.

So what is sanctification?  What is our part in salvation?

Sanctification is essentially holiness.  When something or someone is holy or sanctified it means that he/she or it has been set apart for a special or specific purpose.  God’s plan is not just to give you eternal life with Him.  He has a special plan for you right now…that’s sanctification. 

It’s also why it is so important that we spend time growing as His disciples, seeking to know and love Him more fully.  Only when we follow through on the seeking, knowing and loving Him can we know who we are and walk in the special purpose that He takes great pleasure in fulfilling in and through us!

Let’s see what His Word says about being set apart for His plan and pleasure. 

God’s Masterpiece and Purpose

God makes it very clear in Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church and to Christ’s Church today exactly what both sides of salvation look like.  Here we see His role in salvation that we’ve talked about in previous articles, podcasts and videos…

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.  Ephesians 2:8-9

Thank you, Lord!  But He goes beyond this to plainly describe our purpose in salvation…literally sanctification, in v. 10 – For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Handiwork literally means “masterpiece!”  He has created you and in salvation has recreated you in Christ as His masterpiece for a specific, special plan just for you!

Our Response

Paul tells believers in his letter to the Philippians that we have a responsibility (an obedient response) to His gift to us…

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed…continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.  (Philippians 2:12-13)

There it is!  We are to respond with reverent awe and fear in 2 ways:

1. By walking in obedience
2. Continuing to work out the salvation God has put in

This is sanctification.  But this begs the question…how can we work out what He has put in if we don’t spend time to know Who He Is, what He has given us and how He desires to work in and through us?

Bearing Fruit, Not Producing It

John 15:1-11 describes what it means to abide in Christ and let God, The Father, Son and Holy Spirit work in and through us.  Here are 5 Truths that are evident in the lives of those who have been saved and sanctified in Christ:

1. Christ is the Source (Vine); The Father is the Vinedresser (Gardener) – (v.1)
2. We are branches that bear fruit…not produce fruit.  Any branch that does not bear His fruit is cast away (v. 2)
3. We are to be pruned by the Vinedresser (The Father) – pruning means to be cut back and cleaned up to become stronger to bear more fruit (v. 2-3)
4. We are to abide in The Source, Christ (The Vine) – abide means to endure or remain despite trials or hardships of weather, predators and pruning
5. As we abide in The Vine (Christ) we bear more fruit.  Apart from Christ (Vine) we can produce nothing (v.4-5).

God has not only saved you in Christ, He has set you apart as His masterpiece for His special purpose.  Are you trying to produce for His Kingdom?  Learn to rest, endure and grow in Christ and you will see His fruit coming through you for His Glory! 

This does not mean that you are to sit back in your La-Z-Boy chair and say to God, “Ok, get to it, produce fruit in me!”  It means you recognize His Gift, work diligently to know Him and allow His Truth and will to be lived out through your life to others. He will produce more fruit for you to bear, as you remain a faithful branch in Christ! 

If you’re willing to seek, know and love Him, you will learn what it means to live sanctified and can get rid of the burden of “success” and learn to “bear His fruit” for His good will and pleasure! 

Make it a great day and God bless in Christ!

Food for Thought – Salvation and Sanctification…God’s free gift in Christ and my discipleship response in living out what He has set me apart for!  Am I living for God’s good pleasure?  Is He having His way in and through me?

Love in Action –
1. Spend some each day in God’s Word, in prayer and in listening to Him begin with the Scriptures found in this post.
2. Ask The Holy Spirit to teach you.
3. Journal some ways that you’ve been taking His salvation for granted. 
4. Ask The Spirit to reveal to you what He has saved you for and how you can bear His fruit more fully in your life and relationships.

Contact us at loveandlordship@gmail.com.

Love and Lordship Prayer Focus…Gracious Savior and Heavenly Father, forgive me where I have taken Your grace and salvation for granted.  Help me to seek Your will for my life and trust that You will work in and through me as I surrender to You.  Thank You for saving and sanctifying me.  Help me work out Your good purpose for your pleasure in and through me for Your Kingdom and Glory.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.