Agape Love
I have the ability to choose how I feel and think – in any and every situation.
Yes, it is possible to have this type of self-control. More than that, it’s not just your hope and desire to have it, it’s the Lord’s hope and desire as well. Be encouraged by that.
Now, if you so desire, you will start learning it right here, with Him. He will begin equipping you, empowering you, and guiding you to make the positive changes you’re so hungry and thirsty for. Joy and peace and patience – over discouragement and anger, fear and doubt. The real thing, the kind that lasts for eternity, not the plastic junk you see in the trash everywhere around you.
Calibration Key: His power in me makes this possible.
IF you WANT TO learn and are ready to start, you MUST understand: you will be required to nurture these abilities in the Lord. There is no other way. It is His power in you that makes this possible. You must come to terms with that. It is not your power that will change you. It is His. “…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” Galatians 5:22-23.
My primary response to everything on this path – is surrender.
It’s the one skill you will learn to use over and over again – as you learn to use your self-control to surrender your control – to have more self-control – to surrender.
Surrendering to the one who loves you with everlasting love, knows you with eternal perfection, and holds you with unbreakable power means living in greater and greater intimacy with Him. It all sounds good until feet hit the path and run into the obstacles. But as you journey up the path, you will soon realize that your emotional and spiritual maturity are one. Emotional maturity always hits the wall unless it is spiritual maturity that fuels it. To grow spiritually is to truly grow emotionally, relationally, and personally as well.
I started this journey wanting to feel and think better.
Now, if you are ready to nurture your power to choose, start by choosing agapé. In so doing you are choosing emotional and relational maturity… happiness, discernment, purpose… clarity, healthy boundaries, confidence… motivation, focus, and contentment… all on the same path.
When you express agapé you are manifesting the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. What is better than the Lord Himself expressing Love, Joy, and Peace, or Patience, Kindness, and Goodness, or Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control through you into the world and building His Kingdom as He does? Really – what could be better? But you will be reminded over and over: keep your eye on eternity, not the world. Focus on your spirit, not your flesh.
When I agapé: satan has no counter weapon.
Be patient! He IS going to LOSE and with the Lord, YOU are going to Win. Yes, you will pass through the barren shadowlands of fear. Keep going. You will pass through lush meadows of Love. Keep going. Jesus has called and appointed you, saying: “…I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: agapé each other” Jn 15:16-17.
Agapé expresses Holy Spirit through me, into the world.
“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” in all situations, to all people, no matter what (Matt 6:10, Lu 11:2.) The Lord knows it requires some tough sacrifices. But hard sacrifices make the best worship offerings! “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” means provoking a HUGE battle – for your soul. But, the stakes are very, very high and we have to be spiritually honest about whether or not we truly know or want to know the Lord. “Anyone who does not agapé does not know God because God is agapé” 1 Jn 4:8. To agapé is to prove you know God. Jesus level real.
Agapé is the ONE thing.
Without it, all the rest is nothing, a clanging gong, a crashing cymbal (1 Cor 1-13.) You are being invited to let agapé grow into your soul – until it becomes your most automatic and natural expression. All of God’s children are being invited – you, me and everyone who calls the Lord, Lord and savior. The Lord designed and equipped YOU for agapé. And when you agapé, satan had no counter weapon.
Our “pleasure NOW!” flesh must be reigned in to grasp the eternally focused, unconditional state of love.
Are you willing to learn to abide in and walk with the Lord?
To work out your salvation with fear and trembling?
To be transformed by the renewing of your mind?
The Lord has designed and equipped you for this (Jn 15, Phil 2:12, Rom 12:1-2.)
The most important things in life are within my control – once I surrender to His control.
The key to understanding agape is not that it is a Spirit-empowered choice, which it is. The key is to understand that it is unconditional. For EVERY situation, for EVERY person. Now you can understand why it has to be a Spirit-empowered choice! Not earned, not deserved. Not when you feel like it. It is the Love Jesus invites us to when we confront the most painful people in our lives, saying, “agapé your enemies” Luke 6:35.
Only when the Holy Spirit is in charge can I agapé – never in my own power.
You can be angry in your power. You can be resentful in your power. You can want revenge in your power. But flesh will never lead you to agapé. To walk the Agapé Trail is a CHOICE you make at Holy Spirit’s invitation.
Whenever you recognize that your thoughts or feelings are NOT of Him, He extends the invitation again. You have to be willing to make the choice and not stay focused on the undisciplined feelings of your flesh! The Lord wants to lead up Disciple’s Mountain and the Agape Trail is the only path all the way up. “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit” Gal 5:24-25, but satan working through our flesh is forever trying to get us off the trail.
You have the ability to choose how you feel and think – in any and every situation. Your reactions are the indicator of your current level of faith and spiritual maturity.
You can know that our GPS (God Positioning System,) is accurately calibrated within you when the sin you see in others, reminds you of our own. “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?” Matthew 7:3-4, Luke 6:41-42.
In this way, be the one who catches yourself judging “them,” their faults, and their failure and switch to focusing on YOURS! Remember: your reaction is the indicator of your current level of faith and spiritual maturity. In this way, your GPS leads you back onto Agapé Trail and back on the way up Disciple’s Mountain.
PRACTICE:
Affirm: Your Kingdom come, Your will be done.
Your power, in me, through me, as it is in Heaven.
Affirm: I can turn off the judging and stop attacking them.
When I can accept “them” as truly forgivable, I can finally acceptmyselfas truly forgivable.
Affirm: I can turn this attitude around to bless them.
I can acceptmyselfas deserving blessing.
Affirm: I can love “them” because I know they are loved by God.
As I accept “them” as lovable, I can truly accept myself as lovable as well.
Receive God’s blessing while blessing “them,” those who require extra grace on your part.
Practice, fail, forgive. Rinse and repeat.
Practice, fail, forgive. Rinse and repeat.
This takes practice!
Martin Luther, the 1518 Heidelberg Disputation.
Meditate:
“The love of man comes into being through that which is pleasing to it. The love of God does not find, but creates, that which is pleasing to it.”
Romans 12:1-2:
Meditate:
“…present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind…”
