Welcome And Series Recap

Welcome back. It's time to jump in. I've been excited about kind of this episode. It's not, I mean, we're coming to the end of our six-part series on beloved becoming who you already are. I mean, can you think about it? I mean, just to think about it, we've been on here now going on five weeks. So in the last five episodes, we've talked about, if we walk through the movement of belovedness. So beloved is identity. Chosen is our belonging. Blessed is being seen with love or being seen through the lens of agape. And then broken is loved in vulnerability. It's that agape flowing in us or reaching out to us in vulnerability. And then last week we talked about given. It's agape overflowing from within. And I mean, I just want you to take a moment to just listen to these words, each one of these descriptives, one more time, because this series is revealing to us who we are, who we've already been. I mean, who we already are, and it's not something that can change. No situation, no circumstance, nothing can separate us from this. Remember, the apostle Paul said it this way. He said, What can separate us from the love of God? Right? And I'm gonna throw this out there for you. What can separate us from the agape of God? And when you think about it, nothing. God declared that from the beginning of time, and he sealed it when he sent Jesus. Jesus, the word of God came and manifested itself in human form. The same way that we were spoken, the word took on flesh. The same way God spoke us into existence, the word took on flesh and dwelt among us to declare that we're beloved. So let me read these five descriptors again, and then I'm gonna declare what we're gonna talk about in this last episode in this series. Beloved, chosen, blessed, broken, given. And now we come to the final moment. And that final moment is abide, abide, live here, return here, and remain here. This is the ongoing rhythm of a beloved life. I just want you to grab that. It is the rhythm of a beloved life. It is the rhythm of living out and living in our belovedness. Abide. John 15 and 9 says it this way. Jesus is praying now, and he says, as the Father has loved me, so I, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. Oh, what does that mean? What does it mean to remain in my love? And John fifteen and four says it this way: He says, Remain in me as I also remain in you. Remain in me as I also remain in you. See, and this is one of the things that I want us to grab a hold of. Part of this understanding of remain or abiding is to have a conscious awareness that the presence of God dwells within us and is with us at all times. So by remaining in that conscious awareness, we are invoking the presence of God at all times. It's when we lose the awareness that God is in us and that God is with us in all things. Or I'll pull it back to what I said last week in the past episodes, that God is with us in everything, and in spite of God is there. But our responsibility, our longing is to remain attentive or to keep that awareness at the forefront of our consciousness. Because it is too easy to think, and it's too easy to believe that God's presence is not there, because it's not something that we constantly feel, it's not something that we can grab a hold of. But we learned in Hebrews 11:1 now, faith is the substance of things hoped for. It is the evidence of things not seen. The key for us is to keep that awareness, keep reminding ourselves throughout our days. Every moment we have is to remind us that we are in the presence of God, and the presence of God is in us. The Holy Spirit dwells with within us. The apostle Paul said it this way: he says, Do you not know that your body is a temple for God? Your body is a temple for the Holy Spirit. Isn't that just beautiful? It just makes me want to pause right now and just say hallelujah. Because when we really understand what that is saying, it's saying the same thing that Jesus did, and the word of God became flesh and dwelt among us. The presence of God made the body sacred, and therefore our bodies become sacred, set apart to God because of the Holy Spirit that is dwelling in us. But I want you to notice out of those scriptures that I read, the key points here, John 15 9, remain in my love. Let me put it this way: remain in my agape. This is not a human love. This is a love that existed before all things existed. This is a love that created all things. This is a love that called us forth out of love into existence on this earth. John fifteen and four says, Abide in me and I in you. And John 15 and 9, and he says, As the Father has agape me, Jesus said, So I have agape you. All of these things, prove, earn, maintain, has performance in it. It has striving in it. Remain is an act of being. I want you to think about how powerful these words are. If the world was to know, if every person, every believer, and the beloved on earth were to know that they are to stay in the place of our belovedness, what could manifest? What could the awareness of us to remain in our belovedness or to remain in our identity, our true identity in the Father, sustained through Christ? What would that do? Because here's what we get to see, and Jesus modeled it for us. And that's what we're going to be talking about later on. How Jesus models, He models abiding, He models acting in agape and agape tos, the beloved, and agape tan, loving of others. Jesus is this. But look what it says. Jesus models abiding. Jesus lived out this sacred rhythm. That's what I'm calling it. I'm calling it a sacred rhythm of returning. In Luke 5, 16, look what we see here. And this is after Jesus had done all that he had done. And I'm going to read from 15, and it says here, well, let me read a little bit. I'm going to go up Jesus heals the leopard, right? I want to read from 12 down because I want to give you, understand the context of what's happening. So Jesus, while Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered in leprosy. When Jesus saw him, when he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground, begging him, Lord, I want you to grab that. Lord, more's going to be coming on, invoking the name of God. But Lord, so Lord was the New Testament's word for saying Yahweh or I am. So they were invoking the name of God. So he says, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. Jesus reached out his hand and he touched the man. Look what he says. He says, I am willing. He said, Be clean. And immediately the leprosy left him. Verse 14 and says, Then Jesus ordered him, don't tell anyone, but go show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifice that Moses commanded for your cleansing as a testimony. But look what happens in verse 15. And we're focusing on 16, but I want to keep you aware of what's going on. Yet the news about him, the man that was healed, spread all the more, so that the crowds of people came to hear Jesus and to be healed of their sicknesses. But look what Jesus does here. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. I want you to see this. This is the rhythm. Where everyone's pressing in on him, what does Jesus do? He withdraws to a quiet place to pray. And in Mark chapter 1, verse 35, we get somewhat of the same thing because this is after Jesus, the night before it says Jesus is he he heals many. So I'm going to read from 29 and I'm going to read down to 35 because I want you to see that Jesus was involved, but he made a conscious decision. So it's teaching us something. And let me read this and I'll keep and I'll keep it in there and then I'll share with you what is what I see is happening here. He says, as soon as they left the synagogues, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever. And they immediately told Jesus about her. So he went to her, took her hand, helped her up, and the fever left her, and she began to wait on them. 32. That evening after sunset, the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door. And Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was. Verse thirty-five, look what happens the following morning, very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went off to a solitary place where he prayed. Sacred rhythm. Very early in the morning, he went to a solitary place. Now let's give you another example. Matthew 14. I want to give you another example of the rhythm. So Matthew 14 and 23. And this is one we all know about it. And I'm reminded my daughter just did a mock model of what we're about to read. So look, it says immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side. While he dismissed the crowd, and after he had dismissed them, he went up on the mountainside by himself to pray. I just want you to get that. So we see multiple three witnesses right here in the Gospels that part of the rhythm, the sacred rhythm, was a quiet place to be with the Father. And he did it multiple times throughout the day. It wasn't just early in the morning. And why? Because he is modeling what abiding is like. And I'm not saying this from a ritualistic perspective that we pray three times a day at certain times. That's not what I'm talking about. So please hear what I'm saying. What I'm saying is consciously, when he was aware of the presence of God that was so profound on him, he went to a secluded, intimate place to be with God. And we may not have the ability to go to a secluded place with God, but what we can do, we can pause and we can acknowledge the presence of God that is that's within us and that's actually inviting us to a moment. And that moment could be 10 seconds, it can be one minute, five minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes. We're not putting a time on it. But you've been there, you've sensed that feeling that comes up. And listen, let me say this. I'm not talking about an emotional reaction to a beautiful song or a devotion. I'm talking about the very presence of God yearning inside of you, calling you inward for intimacy, and you know what it's like. And there is times where you can't describe it, but you know what it is now. Because Jesus is teaching us something, and here's the rhythm. Jesus is teaching us that love or agape flows from presence. No presence, no flowing of love. But here's what I'm saying: there can be love flowing, but it's human love. And I don't know about you, but I don't want human love to flow out of my life anymore. I want the love of God that transforms, that causes things to rise, causes the dead to rise, that the love that sees what we do not see. And here's what it is agape flows from presence. And watch this, you ready? Here's the key presence flows from abiding. I want you to get that now. And abiding is a rhythm, not a moment. And I know we've been taught to get up early in the morning and to pray and to read our word to establish our day. And they've taught us very well. It's not wrong, but it's incomplete. Abiding is a rhythm, not a moment. Abiding is the ongoing returning to agape. And we learn from first John that God is love or God is abide. Agape. So abiding is the ongoing returning to God. Let that settle for a moment. Just sit with that. Abiding is returning to. Let me let me let me add a little bit more to this. You ready? Abiding is consciously the ongoing returning to God. Not as a second thought, but as a primary thought that you are returning back to the presence of God. And as you consciously do this over time, the presence of God will become more stronger within and around you. And it has nothing to do with what we do, it has everything to do with who we are. And we are the beloved, or we are the agapitan, the beloved of God. And no one can ever, ever take that from you. I want you to get this. So abiding is returning when distracted. Abiding is softening when defended. Abiding is resting when anxious. Abiding is noticing when you slip into striving and performance and achieving. Because when you slip into striving, performance, and achieving, it's bringing you out of the presence. Because why? Because we have all things in Christ. And abiding is a gentle, it's gentle, and it's gently coming home again, like the prodigal son. It's continuously coming back home to the father. Not because we went to a Wayward country, but because we miss and we acknowledge his presence right there with us. It's a continuous returning home to the Father. Returning home to God, to agape. And abiding is not perfection. It is reorientation. It's making sure we stay in alignment, or as Jesus said, we stay abiding. We stay connected to our life source. Our life source is the agape of God. We were created by agape. Therefore, we become the agape ton, the beloved. And as a result of being created by agape and being the agapitone, the beloved, we can agape others, we can agape or let the agape flow out of us to others. That's what Jesus is teaching in the vine and the branches. Jesus is agape. And as the branch is attached to the vine, the branch receives agape tos. I mean, agape tan becomes the agape tan because it's connected to agape. And as the agape is flowing to the branch, that branch produces fruit, which now is the agape ton flowing out as the agape toast for others to partake of, which is the fruit on the vine. I just want you to grab this. As we come here, I just want you to get this because there's more going to be on this. I'm not leaving it. I believe that this is where God wants me to rest. He wants me to stay in the agape and the agape tan and the agape tos because as the beloved, we need to know our true identity. Our true identity is not through the biological parents that birthed us. Our true identity is in God who said, You are beloved, therefore let them be. And we came into existence in spite of and in everything, we are beloved. So here's what I want. So the beloved life is not lived in dramatic breakthroughs. I know we all pray for breakthroughs, which is beautiful, but learning to live the beloved life is not about living in dramatic breakthroughs, but in the gentle, daily moment by moment returning. And if you know anything about me, you've heard me say this over and over again, kaizen, it's the Japanese word that means continuous improvement. And for me, it's it's simper kaizen. Semper meaning always faithful to continuous right improvement. But I'm gonna say continuously keep coming back. Keep coming back home. And we know home is not out there in heaven. Home is right where God is, and he's in us and he's right there present with us. Every moment we breathe, we're breathing in the akape, the love of God. The very air we breathe is God sustaining our life through Christ. Right? The word says that he is the sustainer of all things in creation. Just think about that. Now I want to take a moment to pause here because I just feel, yes, it's time. Want you to place your hand. If you're driving in the car, don't do this. But if you're sitting down somewhere, just place one of your hands over your heart. I want you to feel that. Feel the heartbeat, feel how God is sustaining our lives. And I want you to take a slow breath. Just breathe in slowly. Breathe out. Now, as you breathe in, what you do, love is here. And as you exhale, and I can return to it anytime, because with every heartbeat, it's a reminder of us that agape is present. And every exhale is a reminder that I can return to agape anytime. I can return to the Father anytime. No pressure, no achievement, no striving, only presence. And here, I for the person here, listen, you, you, you, yep, you, the person that's listening to this episode right now. I didn't say return to church. I said return back home to the Father. And I know there are millions of you out there that the church has hurt you. And even those that say that they love God have hurt you. And tonight I want to ask you to forgive us. For we have focused on the wrong thing. We put an emphasis on believing before belovedness. And for that, we ask for forgiveness. Because every human is beloved of God, and God wants you to know that you are loved in spite of and in everything. So anytime you breathe in and your heart is beating, it's a reminder again that love is present. And as you exhale, you can return here anytime, or you can return to love anytime. Now, how do we abide practically? This is the key, right? How do we make this thing as easy as we can, or as Jesus did, as the word of God became flesh? How do we make this part of our everyday life? Well, abiding happens through slowing down enough to notice. The Greeks call it Neptus, N-E-P-E-S-I-S, Neptus, and it's attentiveness and awareness. So it's just taking the time to slow down enough to notice what is transpiring in you. How are you showing up? What's happening in other people? So slowing down enough to notice. Tell me on Matthew, when you pray, go into your house and into the interroom. That is what? What? Do you not know that your body is a temple for God? So within us, there is a temple. It says creating the inner room for God, or watch this, keeping the inner room for God clean, so that when you go in, your presence is there and there's not a lot of distractions there. Abiding happens through silence without needing to perform. I want you to think about that. See, because in silence, when we can be in silence, and this is, I know this is new for a lot of us, but we're learning that in silence, God speaks in the silence. And without us trying to figure out what to say, the Spirit of God prays through us. See, you never notice that it will be might be an image of a person or a word. That's God praying through us. We don't need to scream it out. We just acknowledge. Yes, Lord, we don't have to verbalize it. God is already in us. He doesn't, it doesn't take yelling for God to hear us. He dwells in us, he dwells in everything. A whisper from God is as powerful as yelling from the top of a mountain. Abiding happens through breath prayer that anchors the heart, where you might be sitting at your desk and you take a moment to breathe in with the awareness that you are breathing in the very presence of God, the love of God, you're breathing it in. And every time you exhale, you're exhaling out the love of God. See, we never thought about it. Breath, the breath prayer or breath prayer that anchors the heart. If we acknowledge that every time that we are breathing in, we're breathing in the very presence of God, what are we doing? We're strengthening our awareness of God's presence, and we are living out the sacred rhythm of abiding. And here's the last one: abiding happens through returning again and again when we forget. And here's what I'm going to say to you: the more you start consciously becoming aware, forgetfulness will be less. This is the way of Jesus. Hidden in plain sight, Jesus was constantly abiding in presence with God. So we see that as he went away, he was abiding. And as he was present with people, he was abiding. So it is the combination of solitude and stillness, and also being present with others, he was abiding. Now, a couple of reflection questions that I want to take, would want you to take with you. What helps you return to God's agape most easily? Let me say that again. What helps you return to God's agape most easily? Question number two. This is a deep one now. You ready? Question number two. What pulls me away from resting in belovedness? I want you to think about that. What pulls me away from resting in belovedness? And the last question here is what simple daily rhythm can I commit to that gently keeps me rooted and grounded in the sacred rhythm? Think about Kaizen. Just take one thing and work with the one thing, not five things. Just choose one. Because we're not adding a task, we're discovering what already works. Let me pray. Most gracious Father, thank you. Holy Spirit, teach us to return. Teach us to rest. Teach us to remain in agape that has always held us. When we forget, bring us back gently. When we defend, soften us. When we close ourselves off, open us. And when I strive, remind me. Remind us that we are beloved. Or I am beloved. Thank you, Father. Amen. Hey, in closing, man, this has been an awesome series. Beloved, chosen, blessed, broken and loved, given in love, and abiding in the love that remains. This is the life we're invited to live. This is not in theory, not occasionally, but as a posture of our hearts. Your belovedness is not something you will lose. I've said this over and over again. It is something you are learning to return to. We have to keep reminding ourselves, keep returning. The more you return, the more the awareness comes, and that muscle becomes stronger. And as you do this, you will return again and again and again. Not with shame, but with joy. Because home is agape. And agape has always been your home and my home. Thank you. This has been a divine move of God, and I'm so grateful that God allowed us to share this together. Hey, and if you know of somebody that needs to hear this series, do me a favor, forward it over to them. And if this series has been a blessing to you, please write a review. It helps us get it out to more people. Until next time, keep living daily for Christ.