Bob Mumford, a noteworthy teacher, said, “Agape love ~ the God-kind of love ~ is linear. It travels in a straight line, expecting nothing in return.” Contrastly, that which we muster from our humanity results in being “love with a hook in it.” He adds that love with a hook is intentional, with the person expecting to receive something in return.

A Greek word that properly describes self-driven love is ‘dolos.’ Dolos means: bait, deceit or trickery; that is, using bait to allure [or ‘hook’] people, especially those already festering in excessive, emotional pain [brought on by themselves]. [Biblehub]

Another way to explain self-driven love is ‘deceit motivated by guile.’ Decoys are commonly used to snare or deceive people or animals. It is treachery to exploit the naive [or undiscerning] ~ baiting them through greed. The term is best described as bait for fishermen, with the idea of catching the unsuspecting.

Yet there was our Lord in whom there was found no sin: “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile [deceit].” [John 1:47]

Our Lord was the epitome of truth. “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” he taught. He never used clever words or methods to achieve something. He spoke that which would bring life and prosperity to a man’s soul … thus, we can trust Him.

David recorded in Psalm 32:1-2: “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom Yahwah does not charge iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.”

How often we presume “All things work together for good” means things will work together for what we call ‘our good.’ [Romans 8:28] ‘All things working together for good’ applies to those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.

The word ‘call’ comes from the word ‘kaleo,’ which means: “to call, to invite, to summon.” We would best understand it as having received a subpoena. Should we be beckoned by the court system, we would be wise to hasten to the summons. How much more should we heed His call.

“Those who are [being] led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” [Romans 8:14] An infant or childlike son is called a ‘teknon.’ Yet the Apostle Paul is referring in Romans 8 to a ‘huios,’ a mature son who is led by the Spirit.

John writes in his first chapter that, “…To those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become ‘teknon’ [children].” The right to become does not imply the right to remain.  Thus we grow into maturity when we surrender our wills to being led by the Spirit of God.

We first learn to heed a call or a summons while relating to our parents. Delayed obedience is disobedience because the parental call is not to be packaged with three or more warnings. The intention is that the teknon learns at the parents’ influence, thus preparing for the walk of the Spirit. If the teknon fails at learning to heed the call, he or she may always be looking for all things to work together for his or her own good.

“Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”   [Ephesians 5:17]

Godly mantles are not a ‘one-size-fits-all.’ Actually they only fit those who walk in humility. We see the best example of humility in our Lord’s service: “He rose from supper, and laid aside His garments; and took a towel, and girded Himself. After that He poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel that was about His waist.” [John 13:4-5]

Jesus laid down His mantle of glory in order to serve mankind. Taking the towel of humility, and girding Himself about the waist, He was ready to wash and wipe the feet of those following Him. More than washing their feet, He engaged in assuring them of true cleansing.

During the bombing raids during World War II, many cathedrals in Europe were damaged. One large cathedral suffered damage when a bomb blew the hands off a statue of Christ. Though the cathedral was repaired, the statue of Christ stands there today with His hands missing. Inscribed on the pedestal is: “Christ has no hands but yours.”

The mantle of service, which our Lord Jesus wore, awaits to fit those who offer their hands to serve beyond their own efforts. Jesus asks us, just as He did Peter: “Do you love Me?” If we answer ‘yes,’ we are to ask Him for the higher walk ~ one of humble service in His Kingdom.

Here are my hands, Lord.

Through the young years of our children’s lives, I would randomly quiz them, “What is the most important thing?” This simple, yet purposeful, question would prompt them to rehearse what their Dad and I were teaching them: “Yes, we know…to love Jesus with all our hearts!”  This ‘pop quiz’ was intended to establish the most important decision they would ever make ~ a life plumbed in Him.

Anyone who has ever hung wallpaper knows that, before doing so, the walls must be plumbed. The center point of the wall must be determined in order that all strips of paper be hung straight. Otherwise, by the time the last strips have been hung, they would be found crooked.

Young mothers-to-be enjoy the thrill of decorating their infant’s nursery. Mom’s and Dad’s favorite wallpaper colors welcome the baby on the way. As the child grows and chooses their favorite themes, the nursery wallpaper is changed to suit their latest interest, yet with parental approval. This may well be changed a few times before teen years.

Come teen years, however, the young person may well say, “I don’t like any of your colors anymore; I want to choose my own.” Individuating is a normal process of maturing. Therefore they desire their room to reflect their own expressions. Young adulthood reveals whether or not their prior choices had been plumbed in the ways of faith.

Changes in colors, patterns, and themes may happen, but the plumb line must remain central. This portrays the centrality of Jesus Christ in the lives of our children. If the plumb line of their faith is in Him, and their hearts are yielded to His plan ~ His chosen ‘theme’ ~ the layered occurrences of their lives will be centered.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart [plumb line], and lean not on to your own understanding [personal theme choice]; in all your ways [applied choices] acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight [plumb your life].” [Proverbs 3:5-6]

Though many of our children’s lessons are taught, most of the centering themes of life are caught by the examples in the home. If parents’ wallpapers strips hang straight, the children more than likely will emulate the application.

“Point your kids in the right direction [by word and example]; when they are old, they won’t be lost.” [Proverbs 22:6] The Message

Affections reveal what we value. Spending our waking hours seeking after that which represents our personal desires, we will pursue with at least a portion of our heart those things which we hold dear.

God placed within us this hunger for fulfillment. He designed it that we would pursue the heart’s affections with our souls and strength. Therefore, as our wise Father, He commanded us to seek Him with the first and all of our deepest desires.

“Love the Lord Your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.” [Matthew 22:37]

First and foremost, before any thing or anyone else, love Him with all our hearts. To do so would anchor our hearts to the plumbline of Kingdom fulfillment. Seeking Him first, and His righteousness, would then position us to receive “all those things” which He would add. [Matthew 6:33]

Our pursuits, however, are often after “all those things” without first desiring Him. If it’s true that our basic need is to be loved and accepted, then how much of our energy is spent on ‘being accepted’ by those around us? How much time and affection is spent on the things of this world that pass away? Yet, if the compass of our hearts is set towards Him, our affections will stream toward Him.

Jesus’ heart compass was set on Father God, with His mind, will, and emotions in complete alignment. When our thoughts…our wills…and our emotions are corralled by what matters most to Him, then our lives are centered.

What do we use to jump-start our strength? What do we press to accelerate our forward motions? We look for inspiration in all the wrong places. That first cup of strong coffee … that scheduled day that begs our attention, out of which we find little satisfaction and lots of exhaustion. If we accelerate the wrong thing, our emotional response reveals that the day was miscalculated.

Who writes the script of our heart? Who determines what our hearts desire each day? There is One who is the Author and Finisher of our faith, who commands us, as preventative medicine, to love Him first. All else will then come into alignment.

James and John were ambitious to sit on Jesus’ right and left sides. Out of the 70, Jesus had chosen 12; out of the 12, James and John were among the three closest to Him. Surely this meant great favor ~ favor that would permit them to sit nearest to Him in His Kingdom.

Salome, their mother, came to Jesus asking for this special favor. No doubt James and John had put her up to it. The embarrassment would be hers, not theirs, should He decide otherwise. She even bowed down while making the request of Him. Jesus’ reply was…

“You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father.” [Matthew 20:23]

Position placement is God’s job. When He calls us, He places us.

We note that James’ and John’s presumptuous replies were: “We are able.” [Matthew 20:22] Their ambition was tucked behind their mother’s skirt ~ pride being the root. Jesus addressed the sons, not the mother.

At this point, we would imagine that He would be thoroughly disgusted with these two close disciples. Had they not learned any more truth than this? Yet being meek and lowly in heart, He explained the attributes of a true disciple in verses 26-28.

“…But whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slaves; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

“We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” [I John 3:16 NAS]

God demonstrates who He really is–He’s the one who shows us the way to His heart. Jeremiah prophesied it: “I have not lost sight of My plan for you….Then you can call upon Me…and I will listen to you. Look for Me, and you shall find Me, if you will look for Me in good earnest.” [Jeremiah 29:11, 13, Knox transl]

He loves to dwell in our midst. His passionate love knocks on the doors of our hearts and longs to come in and eat with us. The Jewish new day begins in the evening at sunset, so the families gather together to discuss the events of the day, as well as plan for the next. John recorded that the Lord desired to be in the midst of our daily activities. Better still, He would un-complicate matters, if we would listen; and He would lead us into all truth.

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice, and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me.” [Revelation 3:20]

What a loving God ~ one who wants to be central to all that we do. He stirs us to hear His voice. The sound of a knock does not register within a heart …however His voice does.

David was astonished that God would even be mindful of us. “I look up at Your macro-skies, dark and enormous, Your handmade sky-jewelry. Moon and stars mounted in their settings. Then I look at my micro-self and wonder: Why do you bother with us? Why take a second look our way?” [Psalm 8:3-4 The Message]

His mind is on the one wandering sheep. He’s not lost sight of us. He stops everything to pursue us.

There’s an ebb and flow in building relationships. Some build easily as the tide of opportunity flows in; while some wash away as the tide goes out. We may desire to hold tight to the relationship, but an undertow of tide can render destruction.

Undertow is an offshore pull or rip current that can drag a person or a thing below the surface, and even further out to sea. Criticism towards another is a relationship undertow that deems the other person as being ‘the problem.’ Whether the truth is faced or not, the current pulls the relationship downward.

Defensiveness is another under current that reveals itself as counterattack. Whenever we feel threatened with truth about ourselves, we may either take flight or we fight back. Fight against that rip tide and it will take the relationship further out to sea.

Over-confident people can believe they are stronger than the under current in relationships, saying to themselves: “I’m better than they are.” Such contempt only puts one at greater risk of losing ground. The feet will slip right out from under the one who believes he or she can stand against the tide of contempt.

One might ignore the rip tide by shutting down or tuning out; yet, they can find themselves relationally shipwrecked. Stonewall by ignoring the symptoms and lose what could otherwise have been a tremendously valuable relationship.

“[The Lord] will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever.” [Psalm 121:3-8]

What a friend we have in Jesus. Watch out for the rip tide that drags us away from Him ~ and from others.

Hubby’s opening remark was, “I wish our grass would grow as heartily as the weeds in our yard! With no effort on our part, weeds grow overnight; but grass takes great effort to propagate.” Our spiritual growth can be compared to a healthy stand of lush, green grass; or, due to neglect, having the soil overtaken by weeds. Jesus called them ‘tares.’

What gardener doesn’t entertain shortcuts in having a plush lawn? Mow the lawn, spray some weed killer on the obvious, sit back in the lawn chair and enjoy. Such could be compared to the believer’s lazy stride. Trim the obvious, ‘spray on’ a prayer or two, sit back, and wait for Jesus’ return.

Hubby added, “From the upstairs window, I can really see the weed patches; however, from a distance, grass and weeds appear similar.” How true that is to our blind spots, the ones hidden from human, lower-level sight; yet all too revealed from God’s higher view.

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.” … Jesus said, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” [Matthew 13:24-25, 30]

The 1968 Family Circus cartoon illustrates a picture of a small child who ran up to his mother exclaiming, “I need a hug, Mommy. I used up the last one.” Bil Keane’s insight on the need for intimacy in the heart of every reader led him to display family life for over 50 years. Bil reportedly used his own family life as the inspiration for his cartoons ~ though he humbly admitted his mission was simply to warm hearts and brings smiles.

The small child in all of us needs consistent hugs. Strange as it may sound, my hubby’s and my idea of a vacation is time away to ‘pull the plug’ from schedule and to make ourselves free to receive Father’s hugs — and, unashamedly, hugs from each other. That requires un-scheduling even in the vacation itself, along with much quietude, rest, and reflection.

During these times away, we take inventory of our lives. Yet we’ve learned to be careful that our reflections are during communion with Father God; otherwise, we tend to get lost in our own thoughts and plans. We are keenly aware that some thoughts can wander into avenues of worry and anxiety… and into negativism.

So, as Bil so aptly displayed, the little child in us “needs another hug, because the last one was used up.” Used up as life demands our attention. Some hugs can be wasted on such non-Kingdom issues as: the lure of worldly success, draining people, worries about money, and craving favor. A successful vacation, in our opinion, is honing in on what matters most: learning how to walk in agape love and to be faithful to the call of God upon our lives.

Adam hugged Eve, while in communion with God. Adam knew her, and she conceived. We come to know God, receive His hugs, and thus conceive of His plans and purpose. As He draws us to Himself, we come as a child, understand His Kingdom ~ admitting we are needing another hug.

“Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; like a weaned child rests against his mother.” [Psalm 131:2]