Recap Of The Divine Love Arc

Donald E Coleman 0:21

All right, welcome back. And I hope by this time you've had time to digest everything that we talked about during that last episode where we unveiled and you got a chance to really dive in to see the sacred conversions. Isn't it quite fascinating to see how God in our age is using all things that are available to reveal the truth that has come forward? And then we talked about the arc of Christian life. And that's where we're going to focus on today is how do we put this all together? And remember, let me rephrase or let me give you the steps of the ark, and then I'll read that pivotal statement, and then we'll jump right in. So the key here is agape, God's love flowing to us, God pursuing us always the first step in this framework, in the movement. Everything begins with God. So agape is it. And then we come to that place of agape tos, right? That is our belovedness in God. God pursues us because we are loved. We are beloved of God. And that pursuit, pursuing never stops. And I want us to really grab a hold of that and understand that it never stops. And so when you think about agapitos, part of the understanding is a new and living way. And we read in Hebrews 10, 19 through 25, so agape to when you see it revealed, it's since we have confidence to enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is his body. That's 19 and 20. And that's the first aspect of it. I'm not going to go through all of this. You just go back to the previous episode and you can listen to it.

Formation Through Agapitan And Kenosis

Donald E Coleman 2:55

Now, the agape tan is the forming and the shaping. And I will say this to you, and I want you to really listen to me. We spend our life on earth in this flow of agapitan. God is always forming and shaping us that more of agape can come within us. So that's what agapeton is. It's washed by the pure water. And that is if I'm going to read it from Hebrews 10, 21 and 22. I'm just tying this together with Hebrews, right? It says, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience, and having our bodies washed with pure water. But Agape Ton, I want you to really start to think about that. That is the forming and the shaping that happens. It's the Romans 828 that says all things work together for good for those who love God and are called by God, called by his purpose, right? So all of this forming and shaping is God wants every crevice of us, but it happens through what? Kenosis, us willingly letting go and allowing God to

Cana And The Pattern Of Overflow

Donald E Coleman 4:39

move. And then we have Agapow. Agapow is that fourth movement. That's where the love of God that fills us to the brim flows out from us to someone else. And Hebrews 10, 23, 25 says it this way. He said, Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, and let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, but encouraging one another. And I and I shared with you and I went through this again. So I want you to go in and listen. But the key was this when we talk about the miracle that happened at Cana, it was it's where the pattern is first shown. The miracle at Cana shows the pattern of divine love. And here's that here's the pattern: six jars, one household, one wedding. Hebrews 10 is where it is fulfilled at the scale of the whole body. The jars pointed forward, the torn veil is the thing they were pointing to. Did you catch it? And remember the arc of the Christian life statement that I set, and this is this is it, and this is where we kind of ended it. Agapitos is awakened in a moment, and agapitan is formed over a lifetime of intimacy with God through kenosis. And kinosis is the voluntary emptying of self that makes space for agape to fill us and transform. And agape is the release. I'm sorry, agape is released by the Holy Spirit. The agape that is coming, it's flowing out of us by the Holy Spirit, drawn from what has been filled and carried to where the need is. And here's the statement that I said, and I said it this way: I said, in this process, as water becomes wine, believers are turned into Christians, not people who follow Christ, but people who carry his name and his nature. Or let me say it this way: people who become the word becoming flesh. John 1, 14. That is the key. So now, what do I want to do? I want to

When Theology Becomes Lived Life

Donald E Coleman 7:59

spend the rest of my time here explaining to you about us how to live the framework practically and daily. This framework has to become the aspect of our life. It has to become the living, breathing way that we show up. We can't force it, but we do have to exercise in it. It has to become in the same way that we breathe. This is why this is important, because here's the key. Because when you think about a framework, the framework has to be made practical. Because if the framework is not practical, it doesn't become living or incarnate. And the same way that we read the word of God, that word of God has to become practical in order for it to become lived or a lived experience. It's so important for us to understand. Reading our word is a phenomenal thing to do, but that word has to become living. It has to show up in us in our daily walking around, everyday life, exactly the way Jesus did it. John 1.14, let me let me read this verbatim because I want to make sure. For me, this is this is our mission statement. As a believer, as a follower of Christ, as a son of God, as a daughter of God, I believe that this John 1.14 is our mission statement. And it says, and the word became flesh and made his dwelling amongst us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. So now let me explain. And the word became flesh and made its dwelling amongst us. That's what I'm talking about. And here's the key. And we have seen his glory. So when the word becomes flesh in our lives, people see God's glory. They see Jesus' glory, not us. And that's why it's so important that we understand this process. Now, I want to say this before I break down on the uh the framework here or the ark, right? Because here's the key because theology that cannot be lived is theology that has not yet been finished its journey. So let me say that one more time. When you think about it, a framework that is not lived, if the word that is not put into flesh, is this theology that cannot be lived, is theology that has not yet finished its journey. And that's why agapitan is so important because God is always working in us, forming and shaping us.

Daily Kenosis And Centering Prayer

Donald E Coleman 11:51

Now, here's the key practice number one, and I call this daily Christynic Kenosis. And you know what kenosis is, go back and listen to it, but it's Philippians 2, verses 5 through 7. So the key here is to begin each day with a deliberate act of canotic surrender. What do I mean by that? Is when you wake up, a moment, every moment when you wake up, you get up and you say, more or less, Lord, I'm empty before you. Fill me, do whatever needs to be done for this day. That's the first prayer. Thank you for waking me up. I'm empty. And the key to this is I use centering prayer as part of my daily way of staying in presence. It's the practice of learning to bring myself back to the present moment. And that is it. It's very important. So begin each day with a deliberate act of canonic surrender. And that could mean it's like before you start doing any of the demands of the day, take five or 10 minutes in stillness. Like for me, I'm up to at times it could be 20 minutes, it could be 10 minutes, it could be 30 minutes. The time doesn't matter, it's what is going on while you're in stillness. And the key here is if you haven't listened to just look at the episode that says the introduction to centering prayer, and I'll explain it. Because while you are in stillness and in centering prayer or in solitude with God, thoughts are going to come to you. And part of learning kenosis to live from a place of kenosis is when those thoughts drift or take you out of being present, you bring yourself back to the present moment with your sacred word. You're not wrestling with the thought, you're not taking the thought captive. It is a gentle process that you use, you gently say your sacred word to bring you right back into presence. And here's the key: the practice of centering prayer and understanding the deliberate act of kenosis or canotic surrender. It's not to produce a spiritual experience. I want to make sure you get this. You're not trying to feel something, you're not trying to get something. You're there to be in presence with the Father. Presence with God. Because the key here is many people do a lot of different exercises or practices or do a lot of a lot of prayers, but they're trying to receive something as a result of the thing. And that's not what centering prayer or contemplative prayer is about. Contemplative prayer is entering into the gift of contemplation that God has drawn you to. And God will continue working with you until the jar is empty. It's not going to give up on you, it's going to continue working with you. And then that's why notice it says, daily Christ in it conosis, and you start each day with it. And throughout the day, you can use the I'll talk about part two. I almost got ahead of myself. But here's the key: this is not a technique. I want to make sure you get this. It's not, it says practice, but it's not a technique. This is considered worship. So throughout your day, you are going to learn how to begin your day with worship and how to live throughout your day with worship. Because Romans 12 and 1 is practiced in this act. And here's the key. Romans 12 and 1, it says, 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. This is your true and proper worship. And here's the key. That's why it becomes the first thing you do in the morning. And that's it. And for me, stillness is I'm being drawn into it even greater. And it doesn't, it's not there to try to replace, it doesn't replace reading your word or those different things. Because you're you if you're led into to stillness or you're led into contemplation, flow with it. That's what God is doing. God is inviting you into the closeness of contemplation. And then if there's times where you are led to read your word or you're led to listen to the word, then follow that lead because that is the Holy Spirit working. And that work is producing the forming and the shaping, and it is also emptying out the vessel in order for the vessel to be filled to the brim.

The Sacred Pause Before You Act

Donald E Coleman 18:18

Now, practice two is I'm gonna call it, I mean, most I will say diagnostic, but I like to call it the sacred pause because this is the key. Before any significant act of service, giving or love or anything that you're doing, pause. Just take a moment to pause and then ask the question. And here's the question Is this coming from my being or my belovedness or from my wound? And you're gonna know the difference because if it's coming from our belovedness of who we are in Christ, it's going to flow. If it's flowing from our wound or a wound that we currently are holding on to, it means that there is an expectation at the end of it. Something is expected as a result of the thing that I am about to do the service, the giving, the act of love. And that's why it's important. And here's the key you're asking that question, or it's like what James says, it's like looking into the mirror. But the key here is that you don't need to solve the question in that moment, you're just acknowledging in the moment what is it coming from, and simply naming the root changes the quality of what flows. You see, so the sacred pause before doing anything major, even conversations, you take that pause and then you ask the diagnostic question Is this coming from my belovedness or from my womb? And then allow yourself space because the answer is going to show up. And here's the key if you discover that it's the protective self is at the wheel, return briefly, right? Pause again and return briefly to Agapitos. Take a breath, receive the father's love, and then move into the act from whatever has been received rather than from what the wound requires. Did you catch that? So there's the pause before, ask the question, and then once you if you identify that it's coming from the protective self or the wound, you pause again. So now you're getting opportunities to live in the sacred pause. Now, that sacred pause may take five to ten seconds, but there are times throughout our day that we may need to take a sacred pause that's five or ten minutes. Same principle. I mean, the time is not what is regulated, it's what happens when you pause. And notice the second one, when you notice that it's coming from the protective self, the next key is to pause again and come back to the present moment and receive the belovedness of God and live from that belovedness.

Follow The Holy Spirit’s Drawing

Donald E Coleman 22:18

Okay. Now the third practice is this follow. The Holy Spirit's lead. Now, this is what we call spirit-led life. And we are going to spend all of our life learning to follow the Holy Spirit's lead. Because, see, when the Holy Spirit prompts you towards a specific person or an act of love, and you recognize the prompting because it will feel like a drawing. It will feel like something's being pulled out. Remember, remember, remember Kana, draw some of it out and take it to the master of the ceremony. So that prompting will feel like a drawing from the fullness that you already have rather than reaching from emptiness. I just want that to settle there. Because a lot of times we have done things and we knew that it was coming from an emptiness, but we kept doing it. So that, in my opinion, I would shed that is the act of the protective self performing, not the beloved, us living in our beloved self and literally being. Because the key here is for us to simply obey without an announcement. People don't need to know that God's working in you. The act of love is flowing out of you. You're just a vessel. And the vessel is that God gets to work in us, but we get to practice kinosis. We get to let go of any outcomes or anything that we're expecting from it. We constantly keep bringing ourselves back, back to the present moment where God is. And that's the key. That's the principle of take it to the master of the banquet. You do not need to explain it. You do not need to perform anything. Do not wait for an acknowledgement. Just carry what has been filled to where it is needed. And trust that the wine will appear. Even if you never see those who thirst, it quenches. I want you to catch that. Here's the thing: trust that the wine will appear. And it might appear as you are in motion. And here's the key. Even if you don't see whose thirst it quenches. And it's so important to really grab a hold of this.

Return To Love When Depleted

Donald E Coleman 25:27

And here's practice number four. Return when depleted. We have to learn to listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit. When we are depleted and empty, we must go back to be filled. When you find yourself depleted or empty, when I say empty, empty in yourself. So that's why I'm using the word depleted here. So let me stay with depleted. So when you find yourself depleted, when loving has begun to feel like labor again, do you get it now? When the protective self has reasserted itself, when the joy of overflow has been replaced by exhaustion of obligation, do not shame yourself. Do not judge yourself. Simply return. Return where? Return to agape. Return to agape tos. Return to the Father's voice. And that may be the drawing of going back into a prayer session. You can just sit before God. Because what I want you to understand is this depletion is not failure. It happens all the time, every day. This is the sacred rhythm. And it keeps us in the understanding that we must, or I don't want to say must, that we should be willing to continuously go back to the Father. Because the subtle distortion is we can learn how to do this and then think that God is filling us and we are going on autopilot. No. The constant sacred pausing and coming back to the present moment always keeps us connected to the source, not an artificial source, the true source of life. Did you catch that? Because here's the key: even Jesus withdrew regularly to be refilled. The formation journey is not a straight line from empty to full. It's a spiral, and sometimes it's crooked, and sometimes it goes up and down. It can go through the wilderness, it can go through the desert. But here's the key each return is going deeper than the last one. So I want you to really just sit with this. This is not a long one because it's important for us to understand these practical movements, these four practical movements, so that we can live from them and apply them in our daily lives.

Reflection Questions For Your Journey

Donald E Coleman 28:55

Now, here's what I want. I have a couple of reflection questions that kind of touch back into like the last four to five different episodes. And I want to I want you to sit with these. And if you want, you can send me fan mail and just let me know. So here's the key. The first one is this of the five details from Cana, the ceremonial purpose of the jars, the emptiness, the filling to the brim, the spirit, Holy Spirit-led drawing, and then the hidden source, which one speaks most directly to where you are in your formation journey right now? And what does it name that you have not yet had language for? That's the first reflection question. And let me, I think I got a couple more here. Let me just see what this is. Now, what does your current practice of kinosis look like? How are you applying the daily rhythm of letting go, of emptying and returning? And here's the key. Or has your space been crowded out? So let me put it this way Is there a daily rhythm of emptying out and return that you work with, or has that space been crowded out? That's part of the question. And here's the here's the main point. What would it take to protect that space though? Did you get that? What would it take to protect that space? And here's a third reflection question, just something to sit with. Can you identify a moment in your life when a ga pow flowed from you in a way that felt like drawing from fullness rather than reaching from emptiness? Beautiful questions just to get you to think. And here's the thing stay in a place of grace. There's no judgment in these questions. These questions are going to help you locate, it's going to help you look in the mirror. Fourth question here. Not people who follow Christ, but people who carry his nature. Where in your life do you see evidence of that transformation already happening? And the last question, last and final reflection question is this What is one specific change that you will make to your daily rhythm beginning this week that honors the formation journey from agapitos to agapitan to agape?

Stay The Course And Be Loved

Donald E Coleman 32:38

And this is it. And I just want you to know stay the course and be loved. And here before we close out, because here's what's going to happen. In this episode, we kind of went through a lot, and we're coming up to the final last couple of episodes in this series. And in those final episodes, we are going to really focus on what it's all going to take. What is it? How does it all work together? And how does it all flow? So I'm excited. We've been on this journey now. It's been four almost five months, but the key is God is working in us in everything that we do. And the four movements of divine love is always at work. So until we get to that next episode, I want you to carry this with you. You are the ceremonial jar designed for a sacred purpose, and in the process of being filled to the brim. And the water in you is becoming wine. And the bridegroom has saved the best for now. Be blessed and keep living daily for Christ.