Agape First Ministries presents AGAPE FIRST PODCAST, with Nate, Daren, and Luca discuss the ministry and the hope we have in Jesus Christ for transformation.
Nate, Daren, and Luca give brief introductions and discuss some of the hallmarks of Agape First Ministries, including a testimony.
Pastor Luca Groppoli shares her message at Freedom United Conference. Main points:
1. Repent
2. Be Baptised
3. Transformation
“BE BAPTIZED for the remission of sins; AND you shall receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38
“Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’” Genesis 1:28
You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet. Psalm 8:6 Rend your heart, and not your garments, return to the Lord, your God. Joel 2:13
Today I am reminded of the words of Politician Paul Wellstone, yes, he was a Democrat, and… wisdom comes from many places.
He said: Do not let your words be different than the way you live.
Very wise, I believe Jesus addressed this issue as well, its called hyprocisy, when you do, you give the enemy a place to attack. This is how a foothold, becomes a stronghold.
Bless you in the name of our Lord Jesus the Christ
Luca
Greetings everyone,
Please forgive me for the length of time since my last blog.. though I know it’s a blog, I’d rather say “my last letter” I do enjoy writing letters, more so than a “blog” it sounds so, I don’t know, not personal, disconnected, an act of doing, while a letter is more heart to heart.
It takes me a while to get rolling, so I like to chat a while first, since it is my belief that writing you a letter, is more personal, I like to chat, so you can have some insight into me, Luca, the person, not just a blogger.
Didn’t you love it, when you were younger( I’m 58, so I have a lot to look back on) and you received a letter in the mail? Not a bill, or post card, but a real handwritten letter? Me too, I felt special! Well, if I understood technology more, I could hand write a letter and share it here, but I’m not that savvy! (Why the need for two Vs?) See, there I am all over again!
This morning in my reading, as I finished my OLDER Testament, and moved to the NEWER, I was in Matthew 5, the lovely BEATITUDES! Oh my, talk about the “How to rule and reign and have dominion on the earth.” Genesis 1 and Psalm 8
I could write an entire sermon for hours on each beatitude, however, for this purpose and point, today we shall focus on Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
As I listen to parents, and families, loved ones of the LGBTQAI, goodness that’s a lot of letters LOL. I imagine myself being in their position, I’ve never been married, nor did I ever give birth, so I can only try, best I can, to place myself in these people who are so hurt, and try asking Holy Spirit “How can I comfort people?” HELP ME!!!
The hours these folks must spend, on their faces, crying out for their loved ones, to belong to Jesus and or be restored. Ya see, the thing is, with this specific issue, is, there really is no difference than any other flesh issue. Adam and Eve blew it in THE GARDEN, the issue there was the pride of life, lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh. Oh Eve, why didn’t you just say “I don’t talk to strange snakes while my husband isn’t home” LOL Honestly!
Then we see in Matthew 4, After our Lord was baptized, He went in the wilderness to be tempted, I always ponder, to be tempted, as in ON PURPOSE?? this woman says yes, intentionally!!! God cannot let us feel only good. However, and for 40 days (hmmm I wonder how that coincides with the counting of Omer, or the leading up to Shavout, the day of Pentecost?” Just another rabbit trail I can go down.
Jesus was tempted with the same things as in the Garden, the pride of life, lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, but this time, Jesus defeated Satan with what? THE WORD OF GOD!! “NO Satan, it is written.”
“Blessed are those who MOURN for they SHALL be comforted” (Emphasis mine) What is up with this mourning business? I thought we are only meant to feel good? No, NOT!!! God doesn’t care about our comfort level, perhaps He does care about our willingness to join Him in His suffering of weeping and mourning. Taken from Enduring Word commentary, David Guzik . “Blessed are those who mourn: The ancient Greek grammar indicates an intense degree of mourning. Jesus does not speak of casual sorrow for the consequences of our sin, but a deep grief before God over our fallen state.”
As my pastor says “O my then” The book goes on to say “The Greek word for to mourn, used here, is the strongest word for mourning in the Greek language. It is the word which is used for mourning for the dead, for the passionate lament for one who was loved.” (Barclay)
“The weeping is for the low and needy condition of both the individual and society; but with the awareness that they are low and needy because of sin. Those who mourn actually mourn over sin and its effects.
Beloved, that is pretty intense, perhaps the Lord Jesus is saying to us, to join Him in mourning, why? It is my hypothesis, when we mourn, it moves the heart of God, Jesus was moved by compassion, God is close to the brokenhearted, what do you do when your children weep? You comfort them, you draw closer to them, you want to give them the desire of their heart, within reason of course. What if our mourning for our loved ones, is the position the Lord intends for us to have towards the entire people, HIS PEOPLE, HIS creation, not ONLY our children specifically, but all HIS CHILDREN.
If…Did you know the word “If” is mentioned in scripture more than ANY other word, including His Name” If, it is all contingent, in a way, on that if, IF we love God, we will keep His commands, yes? Anyway, bunny trail.
Anyway, God loves His creation, and He wants that NONE shall perish, but have life eternal, God is moved by our tears, it’s in scripture beloved, so allow yourself, to feel the sorrow of these matters, and watch it move the heart of the Father, not in a manipulative way, but out of love for the Father, I want Him to receive all the glory for His suffering, the reward is us! I want Him to have all His babies with Him.
If I love God, than my heart will want what He wants, He wants His children, He wants a full table at the wedding feast of the Lamb. My natural response will be, then I will love people, because my heart loving God, will be asking What is the desire of HIS heart, and not my own. When God says I will give you the desire of your heart, that can go both ways.
Do not be depressed that your child is far from the Lord, but stand on His promises, there are over 8,000 of them in scripture, God spoke the world into being, speak the truth over your children, scripture says, His word cannot come back void beloved, that means the word you speak (Good and bad) watch it, have an assignment on them, as if to say, what you say, leaves your mouth, and looks to accomplish what you said. There is life and death in the tongue. Proverb 18:21
Do not be afraid to feel godly sorrow, allow yourself time, often, to be brought to your knees and cry out to the Lord, ask Him, weary Him, but also, remind Him of His word, and speak those things that are not, as though they were, Hebrews something. LOL. You’ll get use to me.
“You shall be comforted” there you go, you’ll be comforted, and I will be comforted, because God is going to respond to His word! He is obligated to Himself, to hold true to His word. Scripture says, it is HIS name, HIS reputation at stake, not ours, He has more a vested interest in seeing it happen that ANYONE ELSE. I hope this helps. If there is something you wish I address, or if you have questions, please feel free to reach out. If you wish to help me in the work of the ministry, it would be appreciated.
Bless you.
Leaving a comment is lovely
I was reading in Judges 10 this A.M. Israel had prostituted herself to other gods again, Israel cried out and God said, the heck with you Luca translation. He said I will deliver you no more.”ouch! Then down in verse 16 something amazing happens.
Judges 10:16 “Then they removed the foreign gods from among them, and worshiped Adonai. So His soul could not bear the misery of Israel.”
What the heck?! Unpack that one if you will.His SOUL??? HE was moved by the cries of their heart!!!
Repentance is a POWERFUL WEAPON, it’s not just lip service, it takes action, they removed the foreign gods….And, worshipped Him. God was moved, from their position of DESPERATION!! MY LORD
What if repentance isn’t just feeling remorse in your heart, what if it looks more like how Jesus lived His life. We know repentance in Greek is Metaneo (proounced Met-an-o-eh-o) which IS A VERB!!! and means to change the inner man- particularly with refrence to acceptance of the will of God-REPENT
Helpful word studies # 3340 and 3326 “Meta” changed after being with! or # 3359 Noieo think differently after changing mind. Those are a few concordance refrences.
So back to the scripture, it said, “So His soul could not bear the misery of Israel” WHat does that sound like to you? It sounds like Israel hit that spot again, where they felt all good and comfy again “Yeah God I got this now” mmm hmmm, alright, let me know how that works out saith the Lord. LOL
How many times we been there? Are we there right now as a nation? All the nations? Perhaps it’s in the suffering scripture talks about that gets our hearts to cry out to the Lord, perhaps desperation is a good place to be? Do I want to? No, it terrifies me a bit to think of, and, I know that seems to be a place where God shows Himself glorious.
The part that gets me in that scriptre is it says “His soul could not bare” His soul? GOD HAS A SOUL? How many times in scripture do we read “Jesus was moved by compassion”? Many to tell you the truth, He responds compassionately, when He sees people in need, and I don’t mean in need like “I need a Snickers” although now that i mention it, I think I do need one. LOL
The needs of humanity, we NEED God, and needing Him keeps us connected to the vine, and we are His branches.
God bless you. Would love to hear from you in the reply section below. See it, it’s right down there. I like chattin back and forth, Ill respond to you if you text, you can also email me.
If you wish to have me speak at your event, church, small group or even a picnic, reach out.
Last but not least, I am a missionary who lives on the blessings of others, if you feel compelled, please consider a love offering.
God bless you
Luca
Joy. What is it?
Have you ever experienced it?
Is it the same as happiness?
Is it possible to have joy in the midst of difficult circumstances?
How do you get joy?
How do you keep joy?
What does joy feel like?
These are all really good questions. Joy, according to the Dictionary of Psychology, is a feeling of extreme gladness, delight, or exaltation of the spirit, arising from a sense of well-being or satisfaction; or a feeling of great pleasure and happiness. It would seem that joy is the same as happiness, but more intense. If that is true, it would be very hard to have joy in the midst of difficult circumstances, because who is happy with adversity? Getting joy would seem to be getting a lifestyle without conflict, and keeping joy would seem only possible when you maintain a lifestyle without conflict. One dictionary says it is a feeling of extreme happiness or cheerfulness, especially related to the acquisition or expectation of something good, like a child on Christmas morning.
In the book “Building Bounce,” one of the authors wrote, ”Life is hard. We all get overwhelmed at times. But some people seem to be able to handle hardship better than others…Thanks to the latest brain science, we now understand that there is a secret to emotional resilience. It is joy. The more joy you have, the more hardship you can handle.” Dr. Wilder explains joy as, ”someone is glad to be with me.” We recognize this joy visually in the emotional (or right side) of our brain before we recognize it in the left side (or cognitive side) of the brain. How do we recognize it? Visually, by seeing someone’s smile, or the light in their eyes when they see us.
Joy is relational. The more healthy, strong, and safe the relationships we have, the more joy we will experience. The Bible declares again and again that the joy of the Lord is our Strength; He gives strength to the weak and power to the powerless; He is able to make us strong and steadfast; He is our joy. The Bible also talks repeatedly about how God makes His face to shine upon us. He connects with us emotionally. He smiles on us. He is glad to be with us.
Our brains have “circuits” that guide our relational connections with God and others. These circuits are formed and changed in relationships, and so they are called “Relational Circuits.” Relational Connection Joy (or Connection) is the experience of being in an attuned relational engagement with God, oneself, or another person, AND perceiving that they are glad to be with you.
Attunement is an especially important form of interpersonal, emotional connection that feels like “we are on the same page”–we feel seen and heard; someone correctly understands our internal experience, and joins us in the emotions we are experiencing. Someone genuinely cares about us and is glad to be with us.
Our minds and brains have been designed to live in a relational world where everything is in shalom; where everything is in the right relationship, at the right time, in the right place, at the right strength, and in the right amount for God and people. At the center of this shalom is our brain’s relational circuits. If we lose our peace, particularly in relationships, these relational circuits can start to shut down. With our vital relational circuits partly or deeply off, problems get bigger, and we can start to treat people like objects. Our cravings become monsters, and we can deeply hurt those we love. We feel alone, disconnected, and purposeless.
The easiest way to know if your relational circuits (or RC’s) are on or off is to ask yourself a few questions:
We can turn our relational circuits back on and regain shalom by deliberately focusing on appreciation/gratitude or having someone else “tune in” to us and how we’re feeling.
The Immanuel Lifestyle is a process that helps us to grow our emotional capacity to withstand adversity by helping us to grow our relational strengths. How do we do that? By helping to increase each person’s capacity to have an interactive relationship with God. It is this experiential connection with God that is the foundation for deep and lasting spiritual growth and maturity; for healing from painful experiences and life events; and for developing relationships with others and unity in the Body of Christ.
We use:
Immanuel Prayer offers a process that is very useful to help people connect to the Lord in a prayer ministry session. It is a process of connection personally and interactively with the Lord, and removing barriers and hindrances to an intimate, interactive lifestyle of connection with Him. The goal is to build and deepen a securely attached relationship with the Lord, one that increases our capacity to stay connected to Him even in difficult life situations or painful experiences.