IT IS TIME TO BUILD LOVE BONDS!

Dear Beloved Reader,

I am writing a timely and necessary word to us the Body of Christ about true and genuine love bonds the Lord wants us to have. Please take the time to read this word and consider where we truly are in our walk of love with our God and one another? Is it all God desires for us to be? Please read this article with an open heart:

The Lord spoke this word to my spirit, "It is time to build love bonds and not work bonds. He said Henry, Work bonds don't last and love bonds can't brake. Love one another as I have loved you."  The words reverberated through my spirit. Love bonds, love bonds, kept coming to over and over again.

As I meditated on what I was hearing, I had a vision of the leaders, Pastors in the body of Christ in a particular city coming together to do a certain project. It could be an evangelistic outreach, feeding the hungry, or youth outreach etc. The leaders would plan together, eat together, laugh together and do their work together and lives would be changed.

At first that looked like a good thing, but then the Lord had me focus on the "after that." The "after that," was that all the Pastor's and Leaders went back to their "own homes" and stayed there until the next project. The Lord said to me, "This is a work bond relationship and can't last." My leaders worked together and did a job together, but they did not grow in covenant love and this is not the love bonds I am looking for in my house."

Once again the Lord spoke to me, "no greater love than this that a man lay down his life for his friends." Immediately I saw the Lord on the day of the last supper get down and take his robe off and get down and wash His disciples feet. I remembered how Peter said, "no Lord this won't do, I must wash your feet." Then Jesus said, "If you don't allow me to wash your feet than you will have no part of me." Peter of course said, "then wash all of me."

The discussion continues until Jesus closes this discourse by saying in John 13:12-16, "So when He had finished washing their feet and had put on His garments and had sat down again, He said to them, Do you understand what I have done to you? You call Me the Teacher (Master) and the Lord, and you are right in doing so, for that is what I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher (Master), have washed your feet, you ought [it is your duty, you are under obligation, you owe it] to wash one another's feet.

For I have given you this as an example, so that you should do [in your turn] what I have done to you.I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, A servant is not greater than his master, and no one who is sent is superior to the one who sent him.

In my pondering with the Lord, Why this illustration and why these words "work bonds never last and love bonds never break." Why is there such a lack of true covenant love in the Body of Christ?  I thought perhaps the reasons for the lack of love was the fact there is a lack of trust, faith, or the hurts and wounds that are still in leaders hearts that don't allow us to love each other as Jesus said to do. Some of that is true, but I think God really spoke to me "the true underlying reason" of why we can't love one another as He has loved us.

The reason I believe God spoke  this word to me is that we don't understand God's authority and government. Love itself does not seem to be a word that you equate with God's kingdom authority. Power, Majesty, Dominion are words that we would equate with His Kingdom, but love itself? Yes we know God is love and we have read 1 John 4:7-8, but we often just think of love as a feeling or an emotion we or God have, but it is much deeper than that and much more powerful. It is the very foundation of the Kingdom.

How far does love go? How far are we to truly love one another? Well Jesus said, "no greater love than this that a man lay down his life for his friend." That is covenant love. That is a love that is ready to go lower and lower in reality that can say, I must decrease and He must increase.

I am not going to go into the mechanics of "how to love" because it is not mechanical it is relationship built. I have gone to many Pastor's meetings over the years and most of it is to "build relationships and friendship" but often time they fail in truly what the Lord desires to build which is love bonds.

Most of our experience of love came from our roots in the world system of government. It is love that is based on "love me and I will love you." That is why Jesus words on the Sermon on the Mount were not understood. He was speaking the Kingdom of God love which said, Love your enemies, bless those who persecute you. In the world, most people see themselves better than they really are, and others lesser than they are. This has filtered into the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

One of the signs that the end of time will be upon us is found in Matthew 24:10-12, "And then many will be offended and repelled and will begin to distrust and desert Him Whom they ought to trust and obey and will stumble and fall away and betray one another and pursue one another with hatred.And many false prophets will rise up and deceive and lead many into error. And the love of the great body of people will grow cold because of the multiplied lawlessness and iniquity."

The Bible teaches us to "esteem others better" than ourselves. I believe our lack of doing this is the root reason we can't love as Jesus desires. We see ourselves righteous or more righteous than others. This is rooted in the pride of our heart. We unconsciously need to be number one. Our church must be the best church, the biggest church, and the most effective church in our city. Our own "vision" from God separates us to focus on "our ministry needs" and not even seen the needs of the other churches around us?

Though we may work together and even attend prayer meetings together or do good things together are hearts are not truly united in the Love of God. They may be united in the love "for" God, but not the Love of God. Brothers and sisters there is a million mile divide between the love FOR God and the love OF God. Love for God can do many things to prove its worth, but the Love OF God in us can do no such thing. IT just is and it is freely given because it freely was received.

The true love OF God could never bring forth a spirit of competition amongst us. It can only bring the spirit of completeness amongst us. Each joint supply what the other needs.

The issue that causes us not to walk in true love bond relationships is our lack of understanding God’s governmental authority. In a Kingdom, a King gets the highest regard and respect from His subjects, yet our King became a slave for us, and yet we reviled him in Isaiah 53.  He became a man and took the lowest form of a slave as an example the book of Philippians tells us in Chapter 2.

He was born in a manger not to wealthy parents, and He was called a root out of dry ground that we would not desire him. He wasn't born in a palace of royalty, but He was the very royalty of God Himself. He told us His heart and His ministry calling. "I am a man under authority. What the father tells me to do, I do. What the Father tells me to say, I say, My Father has given me this honor to do so."

He says the "Father loves me and I love him because I obey what he instructs me to do." This is the very same word Jesus said to us, " If you truly love me, you will obey my commandments, and my commandments are not grievous."

His command to us was to take the lowest place amongst all men. Philippians tells us in Chapter 2 "Let the mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus though he was equal with God did not consider this equality to be eagerly grabbed, but humbled himself to become a man and even more to become a slave...  and because Jesus stepped SO LOW, God gave him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of the Father."

Because Jesus stooped so low, and because He was completely submitted to the FATHER’S AUTHORITY, He is now forever our High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. It is in His High Priestly office that through intercession He can now send the Holy Spirit to shed this "same governmental rule of love in our hearts."

This love was under His Father's orders and never questioned His Father’s instruction and direction. In this high governmental place Jesus says, "love one another (exactly) as I have loved you." Can you imagine what the Lord truly desires in establishing love bonds and not work bonds.

Work bonds are what the "flesh that loves God" can produce. Love Bonds  are the work of love that only God can produce in bringing forth true unity through true and genuine love for one another.

When the Holy Spirit of love comes to invade our heart, as we continue to dwell and live in that love a "new creation man" is brought to maturity. As much as I love 1st Corinthians 13 explanation of what love is, it is verse 8 that burns in me, "Love never fails." If our relationships are failing it is because fear is still in our hearts somewhere, but perfect love cast out all fear.

Understanding God's authority is where true love bonds can be built, without it, they cannot be established. God's authority told Jesus to humble himself and get underneath us, take our place of punishment, die for us so we could live? Would the Body do Christ be able to truly do that for one another today? In Acts chapter 2:42-46, we see the power of love bonds and the how God's government was established in earth as it was in heaven.

In this chapter we see the "birthing" of this Kingdom authority and the Royal law of love of His government being established. Notice what it looks like:

⁴²And they steadfastly persevered, devoting themselves constantly to the instruction and fellowship of the apostles, to the breaking of bread [including the Lord's Supper] and prayers.⁴³And a sense of awe (reverential fear) came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were performed through the apostles (the special messengers)

 ⁴⁴And all who believed (who adhered to and trusted in and relied on Jesus Christ) were united and [together] they had everything in common;⁴⁵And they sold their possessions (both their landed property and their movable goods) and distributed the price among all, according as any had need.

    ⁴⁶And day after day they regularly assembled in the temple with united purpose, and in their homes they broke bread [including the Lord's Supper]. They partook of their food with gladness and simplicity and generous hearts,

    ⁴⁷Constantly praising God and being in favor and goodwill with all the people; and the Lord kept adding [to their number] daily those who were being saved."

Many preachers have preached let's go back to the book of Acts, and many have tried to reproduce these verses of scripture in their own strength, but it won't happen and will never happen. Why? Because it requires the establishment of God's government in our hearts and His headship over the totality of our lives. It can never be man made.

As long as we continue to have a wrong opinion (to highly) of ourselves and we are exalted in pride, we can never truly enter or possess the kingdom. In the work bond relationships we can keep our own kingdom to live in and run! Where we are King and God is not. We can continue to live in our own little (church vision) kingdom. It can become an ugly kingdom of selfishness, self seeking, self righteousness and self filling filled with competition and mistrust of one another.

Work bond relationships in the body of Christ are built with the desire to "network and fellowship" instead of laying our lives down for one another. We may pray for one another, but never give our lives for one another as Jesus desired. We may even fellowship for lunch together, but never wash our brothers or sisters feet. It may look like the true love of God and unity, but it is not. It is rooted in a love for God, but not the Love OF God burning in us.

Love Bonds are rooted in covenant as in a marriage covenant. It is a giving up of your life for the other. Love one another as I have loved you. Many marriages in the Body of Christ are failing in divorce because they have not come to grow in the knowledge of WHO LOVE IS, and WHAT TRUE LOVE IS! God's love is a Kingdom. It's foundation is sacrificial love that will esteem others better than themselves.

In the church today our lives and ministry presently wrap around our own needs first. Let's take care of our "church needs" first and then we will help others. Imagine a large church in a city giving their entire tithes and offerings they receive for a week and dispersing amongst the smaller churches in the same area? Imagine a smaller church giving up their building fund to help the largest church in their city to purchase a bus to send medical teams down in the heart of their city?

Beloved, we don’t have the right to pick how we love, when or where we love, or the cost of love when we are under God’s Governmental Rule of Love. We must love others in true love-bonds because He commands us to love one another exactly as He had loved us. NO EXCEPTIONS!

We are to love without any sense of obligation or pay back to those God sends us, including our families. The Love OF God opens our eyes to see from His Kingdom perspective. The Love OF God gives us a different sense of values, priorities, and plans, and it never fails to produce all God intends in us and through us.

This type of genuine love bonds only comes from being under God’s authority and the Royal Law of love. It must rule over your entire life every second of the day. If God is love and He is than He (love) must be our head and we must come under His headship of love. The church age has truly missed this over 2000 years. That is why the love of the great body will wax cold. It is taking the unfolding of the 3rd day or 7th day of the Kingdom of God to bring us back to the Love of God."

In the book of Revelation chapter 2, Jesus is standing in the midst of the church with eyes like fire and feet like brass and He says to the church in Ephesus, "I have one charge against you, you have deserted me your "first love." Repent and remember from where you have fallen before I remove your candlestick from your midst.

God will not have a love for God house, but a love OF God house filling His temple.This church loved God and their works were greater than they were at first. That seems like a complement, but Jesus exposes their true condition, you have deserted me your first love. You are doing all you are doing in a work bond relationship and not a love bond relationship and I WON'T ACCEPT IT!

Love bonds requires us to be under the authority of God’s government and His royal law of love. If you truly come under that authority and government then you will bring forth the true love OF God, and you will bring forth fruit that will remain.

The true living fruit of a life totally surrendered to the Master demonstrated by our giving up the right to our life to lovingly and willingly serve our Lord in this Royal Task of Love. Our only desire will be to live a life that will please Him who loved and died for us.

This same governmental authority produces genuine and perfect love-bonds with Christ, one another,  and with all others that will accept this gift from God through your poured out life. We must become broken bread and poured out wine for the nations just as Oswald Chambers wrote in My utmost for His Highest if the world is going to behold the Glory of God!

Will we, God's people allow this kind of submission of heart to God's governmental Divine law of love to burn in us with Holy Fire? Will we come under God's authority that will esteem others better than ourselves no matter where they are or what they do? Will we take the lowest of all places in the love of God and for His church?

Only genuine and true love-bonds born from the Governmental Kingdom of Love can prove to the world we are His disciples. Jesus said, "They will know you are my disciples by the love you have one for the other!"

Let the Royal Law of Love, the very governmental authority of God capture your heart today! It will lift you up from the kingdom of this world into the POWER AND BEAUTY OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND CHRIST!