Donald E Coleman 0:22

Hey, welcome back to the Daily Living for Christ podcast. And we are in a phenomenal series right now. It's called Loved to Lived, Living the Sacred Rhythm of Agape, Agape Tos, Agapeon, and Agape.

Series Setup And Core Terms

Donald E Coleman 0:44

In the last three episodes, we walk closely with Jesus through the gospel scenes that revealed Agapau. Right? And what Agapau looks like when it flows entirely from Agapitos or from our belovedness, from that settled, unshakable identity as the beloved. We saw Jesus touch the untouchable. We saw him serve from a place of strength and we saw him weep without shame and pursue Peter after failure. And we saw how he sustained it all, and this is the key. How did Jesus sustain it all? Not through willpower, but through willingness a consistent rhythm of returning to the Father. Let me say that again. Not through willpower. Jesus did not sustain anything through willpower. He sustained it through willingness, a consistent rhythm of returning to the Father. But now naturally, I know a question arises because it comes up all the time. And I know that you might have imagined it, and I know you might have been thinking about it, and I know you might have been carrying it with you for years. Every time we bring this up, it's like, well, that was Jesus. He

Ordinary People And The Rhythm

Donald E Coleman 2:34

was the Son of God. But the question is, what does it look like? What does this look like for ordinary people like you and me? Living our lives in community. And what I love about this is because the book of Acts, God it preordained this, that in the book of Acts, as we will start to see as we flow through what is next, we see that the early church answers this question if we take time to slow down and to read through the New Testament. So the early church answers this question, right? What does it look like for ordinary people like you and me living lives in community? And here's the key. What we find in the early church was it was not perfectly done because at times they struggled. They struggled, they argued, they failed, they repented, and they returned. Doesn't that remind you of the rhythm of return that we just witnessed through Jesus? But here's what I want you to get. But within their imperfection, something remarkable, something profound was taking place. A community of people who had encountered the risen Christ was learning together how to live from agapitos and to express that life as agapitan. Let me say it this way they were learning to live from their beloved state and how to express that belovedness through love in action or agape filled within our identity flowing out of us in action. So as we prepare now in the upcoming episodes, two, three, four, however many it's gonna be, we will trace this movement or that movement that happened in the early church. We're gonna trace it through the book of Acts, through Paul's letters, and through John's writing to see Agapau not as an individual achievement, but as a communal rhythm. I want you to catch that. Not as an individual achievement, but as a communal rhythm. Because here's the key. I've said it and I want you to make sure you get it. Anytime agape is received, it is not meant to stay stagnant within the individual or the person receiving agape. Agape must flow out to others, not in our own strength. That's where agapitos and agapitan comes in. Agapitos, our belovedness, we are beloved. So moving from the knowing and the receiving of our belovedness to agapitan, which is identity expressed. That's the key. It's our identity expressed, or our identity, the belovedness flowing out of us. And that is the process. That's the that's the journey. Is moving from agapitos and settling in agapitan. Because once we settle into this, once we understand that it is not about us as individuals, agape is what sustained us. The hidden river of God has been flowing since the beginning of time. Agape sustains all things. Scripture says that from him and through him and to him are all things. And what we understand and we know now, and I want you to really grab a hold of this, is we gotta we gotta position our hearts. Remember, Talmion, when we talked about it, Matthew 6 and 6, the inner chamber is our heart. That's the deepest part of our being of who we are. That is the place that is reserved for God in our heart. We must understand that as an individual, only God can fill that place. And because God fills that place as an individual, we know that we can't hold on to it. You cannot put agape God Christ in a box. It's impossible. And every time we put God into a box, every time we put Christ into a box that we create, what happens? Frustration shows up, disappointment shows up. All the things show up that we don't want. Why? Because we're trying to control it. Notice that I said before, Christ sustained it all. What? Not through willpower, but through willingness. And I want you to start to recognize this week. I'm gonna put it out there. If you listen to this episode, I want you to start recognizing willpower versus willingness. Willpower is where are you in control? Where are you controlling the narrative versus

Willpower Vs Willingness Watchfulness

Donald E Coleman 9:31

the willingness to let go and let God let the Christ in us be the hope of glory? I want you to please, please, please, I'm I'm pleading with you as Paul did, practice the spiritual discipline of watchfulness. No, don't allow condemnation to come in when you see willpower. I want you to pause in that moment when you notice it and then let it go and allow God to fill that space and heal that presence right there. Because what we saw in Jesus, God is desiring to shape in us. Right? The agapitan is our identity expressed. I want to make sure you get that. It is the love of God expressed in us. So we live from that place. That's what agapitos is. That is the belovedness that we receive. Or it's what we titled it, loved to live. See, that's that's what this is. Loved, I'm sorry, loved to love. That's why we titled this beloved in order to love, or beloved to agape. That's what it means. Love to love means we receive love, therefore love flows out of us. An empty vessel that is filled can only pour out what was placed in it. An empty vessel can only pour out what was placed in it. So are you ready? Let's jump in here because I want to, there's two movements I want to talk about today. And movement one, I mean, actually, one movement. I'm talking about the first move of today. We're gonna stay in Acts, right? And there's more examples of this, and I might go a little bit deeper. I don't know. I want to stay relevant and I want to stay in the flow of what God is doing. But movement one is Acts when

Pentecost And Agape Without Borders

Donald E Coleman 11:56

a gap how flowing out became the way of life. I want you to really grab a hold of that. See, we're gonna begin at the beginning of the church. And here's what most people, when they read Acts 2, what they fail to understand is we're gonna start in 42, but you must remember at the beginning of the church what transpired. It's called Pentecost, right? So agape, agape, the agape of God was poured out the experience of Moses, the individual in the Old Testament, Moses receiving or seeing the burning bush, where one individual received it, and you have the understanding of it. Whereas in the New Testament reveals that that bush, that the vastness of God could not be contained to the individual, that agape must flow out to all. So we see on Pentecost the fire of God or the agape, the love of God being poured out on people, multiple people. And what I love about this story is in verse five, right, it says, and there were staying in Jerusalem, God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. I want you to see that. Every nation under heaven, they came from around the world. It wasn't just in Jerusalem. I want you to see this. And here's another point. The next sentence reveals something, reveals a truth that most of us are where we haven't settled into it. Because when we start to flow in Agapau, you're going to notice something. Look what happens here. And he says, When they heard this sound, a crowd came together and bewilderedness, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Right? Bewilderment. It was something different. They were amazed by it. And the world will be amazed when the tsunami of agape is poured out. It's coming. It's not, listen, not a revival. This is greater than a revival. I was reading a bonner, it's a magazine, Bonner Publications. It's kind of like a Christian magazine. And what they ended up doing is they had a survey that they posted. I'm just being led to this. I'm going to go right to it right now. Let me pull it up. They had a survey and it says, right here, and this is in America. But I want to understand that, see, this is not American. This is global. And it says the title of it, it says, New Research.

Revival Talk And A Bigger Gospel

Donald E Coleman 15:44

Do Americans think spiritual revival is coming? Right? Look at this now. So it's starting to come up in the mainstream. But this is this is global. This is greater than America. And look what it says here. I'll give you some highlights before I go back to Acts. I'm just flowing in this and being led here. It says nearly three and ten adults. 29% believe a spiritual revival is likely to happen in the next 12 months and rising to 38% among Gen Z. I will explain to you who Gen Z are. And look, another point, it says prayer. Young generations turning to God and in search for meaning and purpose top the list of reasons revival-minded Americans believe one is near. I want you to catch this now. And listen, younger adults point to mental health challenges, anxiety, and personal disruption as revival catalysts. While baby or but while boomers are more likely to see revival coming through the spiritual movement they observe amongst the young. A Gen Z is that age group, they are in their twenties, give a take right now. And the most powerful thing about that statement is on Friday, this is what's even more incredible. On Friday, I was reading another article that showed up, and it was from a book. And the title of the book is Everyone Belongs to God, right? So you can get the book on Amazon. It says Everyone Belongs to God. And it's about a German pastor over a hundred years ago that wrote some letters. Haven't read it yet, but wrote some letters about what was going on a hundred years ago in their time that is parallel to where we are today. But what caught my attention was the forward that was written by, let me give you his name. The forward was written by, I'm getting to it, was written by Jonathan Winston Hartgrove. And I just want to read the first part of the forward and bear witness to Pentecost that I was just talking about. So the forward says, your gospel is too small. I just want to point out how can you contain eternal river of God? How can you contain God? How can you put God the eternal creator of the universe? How can you contain Jesus, the sustainer of all life? And he starts out, he says, your gospel is too small. And look what happens next. He says, in every age, God's people need a prophet to help us see beyond our blind spots to expand our vision of what God is about. And I want to make sure you understand, a prophet is a person that is speaking forth the word of God that was received. They are speaking forth God's words. And when we understand, when we understand prophets that are ordained by God, they come to edify, encourage, edify and encourage and exalt or strengthen the body. They don't come to bring condemnation. But now let me finish. Let me read the statement again. And then I want to read this and I want to jump right back into Acts because I want you to catch this because this is this is live, y'all. This is this is fresh right here, right now, not planned. I'm gonna read it again. Your gospel is too small. In every age, God's people need prophets who help us see beyond our blind spots to expand our vision of what God is about. Jeremiah was a prophet to a people in exile caught between the false hope that their God would destroy, would destroy Babylon, and the despair of thinking God had forgotten them. Jeremiah proclaimed a new vision. Look what it says. He says, the old images of God's faithfulness would no longer suffice. Yes, their God had saved humanity in the ark and washed away the wicked in the flood. Yes, their God had brought them out of Egypt, drowning Pharaoh's army in the Red Sea. But a salvation that requires someone else's destruction is too small a salvation. Let me read that. One more time. But a salvation that requires someone else's destruction is too small a salvation. Jeremiah proclaimed to a people in exile, he wrote, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper. Look, look, look, look. It's the next statement, and I'm going to stop right. It says, You will not be saved apart from your neighbors. The prophet says, Everyone belongs to God. Everyone belongs to God. And look, I want you to get this now. It said he was speaking in this in Jeremiah. Let me give you the scripture, Jeremiah 29 and 7, and you can go read it for yourself. He says, it says, to the city which I have carried you into exile. God ordained the tribe of Israel to be in exile in Babylon. And if you read your Bible, there was a reason for that. But now let's go back to Acts and let's see how all this flows. What is God saying to us today? How all of this is flowing. Because the key here is every nation under heaven was present. And the bewilderment happened when they started to speak out in other tongues or to speak out when agape filled them, their language changed.

Acts 2 And The Agape Community

Donald E Coleman 24:34

This is what I want you to get. Their language changed. They were speaking in an unknown tongue. A tongue, a language that was not common to people at that time. Why? Because they had put God in a box. And you can't put agape in a box. So let's keep going. So in Acts two, we commonly read about the birth of the church, the day the Holy Spirit came, the day that three thousand people were added, the day everything changed. But here's the key: but what happened immediately after Pentecost is what concerns us today. Because what the Holy Spirit produced in that community was not a religious institution. It was a Godow. It was love in action, embodied daily and visible. Like I want you to understand and just get this. It was not an institution. It was a Godow. It was the love of God placed in a heart that was identity, the belovedness expressed out. It was embodied. It was daily, was lived daily, and it was visible to others. So now let's go to Acts 22. I mean, Acts 2.42. And I'm going to read from Acts 2.42 to 47. And then we're going to come back and I'm going to call this section community, the community of Agapal. Are you ready? So let me read, and then I'm going to come back and break this thing down for you. Got two examples for us today. Just these two major examples that flow out of what transpired. So, and it says they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had a need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And look, and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. What a wonderful reading of the word of God. Now, I want let's go back. So I want you, after we're done here, I want you to read this passage slowly. Because what you are reading is not a description of a religious program. And although we have tried to make it that, it is not a description or a framework of a religious program. Collectively, daily, and without the exhaustion of performance. I want you to get this. I want you to see this. Without the exhaustion of performance or striving, it says they sold possessions and gave to anyone who had a need. This is not the act of the protective self-doing. This is not the act of a false self or of the flesh or of the old nature. This is not generosity offered to earn standing or to manage guilt or to be seen as virtuous. This is not religiosity dressed up in giving. No, it's not that. Right? It's the kind of joy that overflows. I want you to catch this now. It's the kind of joy that overflows because it had been filled from within. The river flowing. The empty, ceremonial jugs being filled. All metaphors, it's all right here. This is a ga pow flowing. Agapow as the overflow. Jesus said, fill the jugs to the brim. This is the community of the beloved. This is the community of the beloved, giving because they had already received everything. The Kairos time had come and they were living out of what was already placed in them. This to me is the picture of the priesthood of believers. This is what it means to be part of the priesthood of believers, living from belovedness, being filled by God, and allowing that filling to overflow or to flow out of us to others. But here's here's what I want. And notice what follows. The key of what we read. Notice what follows. They enjoyed the favor, the favor of all people. Notice, not a person, but of all people. You see, when a community loves from genuine belovedness, agapitos, rather than from the protective self performance or ego, or the false self, the world notices. I want you to catch that. The world notices wherever you are, the world will notice when a community of people or the remnant of God loves from the genuineness of agape tos rather than from the protective self. Not because they are impressed, but because they are real. They get it, they see real organic agape in action. The world notices not because they are impressed, it has nothing to do with the vessels. So if you're listening to this and you're trying to get people to be impressed, and you want to do it in God's name, or you're doing it for God, it's not going to work. We can't do anything for God. All that we must do must be with God. God is the originator. He allows us to be a part of his plan. Ephesians 1. His plan. Right? Didn't Paul say, we're going to talk about this later on, but didn't Paul say that he prays that the eyes of our understanding will be enlightened that we may know what it is, what is the hope of his calling? Right? For what? For our lives, for the beloved, the beloved of God's lives. This is it, man. And here's the key: there is something about authentic agape that resonates with the deepest longing of the human heart. Because every human being was created by agape and recognizes it when they encounter it. You cannot run from it because your heart, that inner room, that inner chamber, that secret place was reserved for God. Or let me say it this way: it was reserved only for agape. And anything else that is taking up residence in that secret place is never going to be, it's never going to sustain you. It is never going to give you the peace that passes all understanding that guards our heart and our mind. It's never going to work. And here's what I want to say here. The early church did not attract people by programming. They attracted people by agape, by the visible reality of a community that has found its source and was living from it. And that source is agape. Let me say that again. And was living from it? I don't want to rush through this. I want to pause. Because a lot has come forward here. And I want to use this time to pause. So I want you to think about this. What would your community, your household, your church, your small group look like if every person

Guided Breath Prayer And Sending

Donald E Coleman 37:16

in it were living from agapitos, from belovedness, rather than the protective self? What would change? What would be released, or what would you release? So I want you to think about that. Hold on to that. And as you are in this moment, and we're in this pause here. If you're driving, you don't want to do this, but think about on the inhale. I want you to inhale. Take a deep breath in and let it out. And you take another deep breath in. And remember, every time we breathe in, we're breathing in the love of God. And exhale the love of God. So I want you to breathe in again. And as you breathe in, listen, agape received becomes agape shared with others. Exhale. Inhale again. Love received becomes love shared with others. Let it flow. Exhale. Now let's try this again. I'm gonna do it both together. You ready? Inhale. Agape receive becomes agape, agape shared with others. Exhale. I will carry agape in every room, in every life situation I enter. Let's do this one more time. Ready? Breathe in. Agape received becomes a gap shared with others. Hold pause. Now exhale. I carry a gap in every room and every life situation I enter. So as you leave here, know that the more you create that space for agape, agape will flow out. And until next time, keep living daily for Christ.