We have been with levels for the past couple weeks.
The first week’s declaration was about Levels of Maturity. We dealt with how
you need to realize where you are and it’s important to be challenged where you
are. Each level is designed so you can get better and be ready to move to a
deeper level. Week two (which was last week) was about Levels of Love. We
talked about the many types of love and their significances.
Today’s declaration we will be dealing with
the LEVELS OF LIFE. We have been using the analogy of a swimming pool
and the depth of the water in each level and how that relates to you as an
individual. As I said before and it still rings true, that everyone is in
different areas of the pool dealing with different things. Even if two couples
are dealing with marriage, their situations differ greatly depending on their
individual situation. So you have one person in deep water that is treading
well and managing to float. Then you have another person in the same deep water
that may not know how to tread and is just about to drown. They are in need of
assistance from God, I mean the Life Guard. All they need to do is cry out for
help or even show a sign of struggle and God, I mean their Life Guard will jump
in to save them. But what if it’s after hours and the sign says “NO LIFE GUARD
ON DUTY?” Take note of this. The more you grow, mature and learn how to love,
God will sometimes seem as though he is off duty. Well, you can relax because Psalm 121:3 says, “He won’t let you stumble, your
Guardian God won’t fall asleep. Not on your life! Israel’s Guardian will never
doze or sleep.” Now, relax and trust the process.
Most drowning happen because people were panicking in the water. And if it
seems He’s not in the same place, it could be that He’s got his hand right
under you holding you up.
Now I know for a fact that some of you are right now
dealing with some deep water and you’re not sure if you’ll survive. I have to
admit, I have been in that situation several times and you know what, to be
honest, I’m here right now as I speak. If my testimony can be of any help let
me tell you that just because you grew up without a Dad, don’t mean you can’t
make it. Here is one who did. Just because you had sex out of wedlock and a
baby was born doesn’t mean you can’t make it. Guess what, here is one who did.
Just because you went to jail or prison and had that offense on your record,
doesn’t mean you can’t make it. Here is one who did. Just because you had to go
through a divorce, doesn’t mean you can’t make it. Here, there and there are
about a few witnesses who did and are making it. Just because you failed in
grade school or even college doesn’t mean you can’t go back and make it. Here
is one who can tell you, yes you can!
Okay, wait a minute. There is something we
cannot forget to talk about that is vital to this entire conversation. Let’s
talk about the water! “The water, Marcus?” Yes, the water. As we know water has
several different purposes. For example, we use it to drink, bathe, cook, do an
ice bucket challenge and we even like to swim in it. But what does it
symbolize? I’m glad you asked. One thing water represents is life. But it also
represents what can hurt or destroy you. The very thing that you are using to
keep you afloat is the same thing that can kill you if you swallow too much too
fast. Here is a Marcus not Marcos nugget. You can only be destroyed if too much
water gets inside of you. So life is not bad, but you can’t let your life get
into you because it will destroy you. So how do we keep the water out of us so
we won’t drown? Whatever level or area of life you are in, you must use the
word to declare victory in your life. Whether life is good or bad.
Knowing that, I want to give you some
prayers you can pray or scriptural declarations you say in your own time that
come straight from the word for wherever you are in the water.
So enemy tells you you’re about to drown, use the word and declare
that in Psalm 32:6, the bible says, “These things add up. Every one of
us needs to pray; when all hell breaks loose and the dam bursts we’ll be on high ground, untouched.”
Here is more proof that prayer changes
things. When you pray it doesn’t mean you will be beamed up out of the deep
water like Scotty on Star Trek. It does mean that God will send help or be the
help you need.
You can call out to God like David did in Psalm 69:1 saying, “Save me, O God for the waters have come up to my
neck.”When the enemy tries to tell you that God is gone and He’s nowhere
to be found. You can reassure yourself and tell him, “When I pass through the waters, God will be with me; and
when I pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over me.” Isaiah 43:2
And let me also ask
you this? How many of us are only using the word when trouble comes? We use the
word when things don’t go our way or we made a mess of things. We use the word
when we have some problems going on. We use the word as if it’s supposed to be
some kind of witches brew stirring it up to fit our life and situation. Please
don’t just apply the word when things are bad. Let’s use the word in the good
times so it won’t be so hard to use in the bad times. Use the word to praise
Him and appreciate him for the good times. Isaiah
12:3 says, “With joy you will draw water
from the wells of salvation.” Use your happiness and joyfulness to draw water
from your salvation so that others can see that being a child of God also means
that I am just glad to be his child. Maybe there is someone in your life that
only hears you talk about you going through. Maybe they just need to hear you
say, “I’m just glad to be a child of God and He makes me glad.”
I want to talk to you about LEVELS
OF LOVE. In the previous lesson, we talked about levels and used the
analogy of a swimming pool and how there are different levels of maturity. Now
when I say levels, I am not speaking from the understanding as most people use
the word. I hear people all the time say things like, “I’m going to another
level,” or, “I’m on another level,” or, “You are not on my level.” That is not
what I am talking about in this lesson. Last lesson I shared with you about how
I was attempting to teach my son how to swim and introducing my daughter to a
deeper side of the pool. As I was at the pool, I noticed something. When you
look at a swimming pool from the outside you will notice that it is all the
same level on the surface. You look at one side and you see water and the frame
of the swimming pool. You look on the other side you will notice there is water
and the other part of the frame of the pool. Even in the middle, it just looks
like one balanced level of water. As I continued to look at the pool I noticed
on the outside of the frame there were numbers. One side was labeled three
feet, another was four feet and the other was five feet. However, from the
surface it all looks the same. This can be the case when we are looking at love.
From the surface it looks very similar. But there are definitely different
levels of love.
When I was a little kid, I used to think
that love was just love. I mean I knew that there were different types of
relationships but I just thought love was love and it was just different based on
if it was my relative or a friend. My love for family ran deep. There is
nothing I wouldn’t do for family. I would go hard for my family. And the closer
my family is, the deeper the love ran. Then I thought that it also was different
based on if it was my friend that was a girl or a boy. If the boy was nice to
me, he was my best friend. If he was kind of mean, I was not going to be his
friend. If she was a pretty girl, I might like her. If she wasn’t so pretty, I
most likely didn’t and she was just my friend. Oh, but don’t let me find out
she liked me back and she was pretty? TEAM NO FOCUS in full effect! I
would think about her all the time. I would lose my mind and I felt like I was
falling in love because my entire being was consumed with thoughts of her. What
I didn’t know as a kid, I now understand that I placed people in different groups
of love based on my relationship with them.
There are actually four types of love that
are described in the bible but the actual Greek terms are not mentioned. Let’s
step into three feet. The first love level Greek word, PHILEO or PHILIA (FILL-ee-O or FILL-ee-uh) means brotherly love or close friendship. Love one
another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. (Romans
12:10). This is the kind of love you have for
someone with common interests, common goals, or personalities that are very
similar. When you discover things about someone you know that are common with
you, it makes you feel closer. I like the color blue, you like the color blue?
My birthday is in August and so is yours? We both like the same kind of music? Oh,
it’s on now! My brother or my sister! We need to hang out or something. When I
lived in Lakeview with my grandmother, I met one of my closest friends at
church and his name was Antoine. He was a drummer and I was an organ player. So
we had music on the brain and that was enough to establish some common ground.
Okay, so now let’s step into four feet. The
second love level Greek word, STORGE (STOR-jay), is the kind of love
between family members. An example is the natural love or affection of a parent
for their child like the love of Jacob for his sons or the strong love Mary and
Martha had for their brother Lazarus. And this can even be really close friends
like Jonathan and David. This is where the water is a little deeper. Most
family members love run deep like this. We know secrets about each other. We
cover each other and there is nothing we would not do to make sure each other
is happy. This is where we could call each other and just be on the phone
asking stupid things like, “What-chu doin’?” or “Turn to TV to FOX so we can
watch Scandal at the same time.” And then we sit on the phone like we in the
same room. This is plutonic love that is shared that is not necessarily gender
specific. I just love my friend. We could have just got into an argument and
will still want to hang out together. As I began to spend more time with my
friend Antoine, we became closer just like that. I started spending the night
at his house. Sometimes I would eat dinner with him and his family. His sisters
and brothers treated me just like their real brother. You could not tell them
to this day that I am not their brother. What made it really real? His mother,
Deborah kind of adopted me as her own son. That was deep. At the time, my
mother was not in the picture but I knew she loved me to pieces. She always
had. I believe this was God’s way of giving me my mom in another form. And even
while my mom wasn’t there, I could feel her love through this woman, Deborah
Nicholson Jones. She is still my other mother to this day. I also met two
people at church who were my Youth Pastor Carl Alexander and my Youth Church Mother
Tania Alexander at the time. The more we got to spend time with them I was
drawn in because I had never got to go and see two African American married
people who loved God in their own household just hanging out. They also loved
me like I was their own. I could not believe this. I just wanted to go home and
let this all be reality for me as well. This is what a family should look like.
We move on to five feet of water. The third love
level Greek word is EROS (AIR-ose). This is a
sensual or sexual type of love. This love has its place and is important in a
healthy marriage. When I was coming up, sex was talked about as if it was nasty.
All I knew was that God’s word was clear that sex outside of the context of
marriage was forbidden. I remember meeting this one young lady that I started
talking to over the phone and when we met, it was instant sensuality. What
completely messed me up was that I didn’t take the time to get to know her
ahead of time. If I would have, I would have discovered some things about her
that would have made me not get involved with her. But I was too involved now.
We already did it now and it feels right but I knew in my mind that it wasn’t.
I was so torn between my flesh and my spirit. How in the world am I going to be
the church organist, youth choir director and young minister and having sex
outside of marriage? My flesh didn’t care. It wanted more and I gave it all it
could take. The problem was now I swam from five feet of water to now a deep
ocean that seemed like an abyss. I just knew that if I stopped swimming the
water would rise so far above my head and I could possibly drown.
But something amazing happened….I discovered
another level of love that I had never experienced before. He showed me AGAPE
(uh-GAH-pay) love. Even after I had spent a year being with this
girl and was going back to God crying and repenting and asking for his grace,
He dove into that ocean, took me by the hand and pulled me right back up so
that I would not drown. I felt his Spirit overshadow me like He did when I was
a brand new baby Christian. This happened over and over and over again. Why?
Because God knew my heart was in the right place. Now, let me make this
abundantly clear. I am not suggesting to anyone that you should just go on and
keep sinning and doing wrong because God will forgive you anyway. It’s not wise
to do that. “Therefore,
leaving behind the elementary teachings about the Messiah, let us continue to
be carried along to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from
dead actions, faith toward God.”
Remember earlier when I said, “When you look at a swimming pool from the
outside you will notice that it is all the same level on the surface.” When
you look at a swimming pool you will notice that from the outside you can never
tell how deep it goes. Same is the situation with different people. From just
looking at people on the outside, you will never know how deep they run. Let me
encourage you all like me who have not done such a good job at putting the
people in our lives in their proper places of love. You will find it harder to
stay upset with people you expected to be your brother and they really only
thought of you as a friend. Or that person you expected to be your soul mate that
is now your ex and you are so mad at them because of what they did to hurt you.
Needless to say, you should be glad they are an ex. In fact, God is releasing
you to call them your “Y.” Why did I ever get involved with you in the first
place? I should have known better because God didn’t give you to me, I did.
I declare today, that it’s time to put
people in your life in their appropriate places or levels of love. Those that
belong in three feet, let them stay there. Stop trying to drag them into five
feet. No wonder they drowned. They weren’t able to swim in any deeper water than
what you expected them to. It’s time to put people in their respective places.
Pull those folks out of those deep waters that are drowning in your life or the
water is too deep.
I have realized that recently my wife was in
the big ocean with weights on drowning. I had no idea. She was ready to let my
hand go and I was ready to release as well. God reminded me, “Marcus, if I
pulled you out, you are OBLIGATED to pull her out. This is the meaning of AGAPE.
Selfless, sacrificial and unconditional love. “Love is patient, love is kind. It
does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not
self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not delight
in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes,
always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.”
Who is it in your life right now that is unable to go any further
than three feet that you are mad at for not coming with you? Who is it in your
life that is drowning in the ocean that you need to pull out and rescue just as
God rescued you? God says, “I know it’s
not easy. And I am not expecting you to do it perfectly. I just want you to do
it.” When you think about how much he loves you and sacrificed for you, it
makes it easier to love someone else beyond their faults and see their needs.
I am a Father of four beautiful and well
mannered children, three daughters and one son. One of the things God has
really been dealing with me on is my relationship with my kids. This week my
wife and the two younger kids (Jevon and Markaila) had a great time on work/vacation.
I say work/vacation because every year for the last 21 years I have been
blessed to go on this African-American themed cruise where I go to run the
Gospel activities for the week. I’ll tell you more about that at another time.
I got time to really spend some quality time
with my family, in particular my two younger kids, Jevon and Markaila. One of
the activities they love to do is swimming. Markaila lightweight knows how to
swim. She glides through the water but she goes all the way under. Jevon does
not know how to swim at all. He needs the help of a floating device. I haven’t
taught him how to swim yet. One of the issues with that is all three of the
pools on the boat are four and a half feet. He was only allowed to go on the
water slide since the water slide only is like ankle depth. I noticed my
daughter would get in the four and half feet, but she wasn’t comfortable. Let’s
fast forward a little bit and I’ll circle back to this point later.
So we finish the cruise and get off the ship
on Sunday and take like a 15 minute ride to the hotel where we are staying over
for a night before flying back home the next day. We check into the hotel and I
told the kids, “You guys can go swimming today because we have a whole day to
chill and hang out and half the day tomorrow.” I take them down and I am laying
back in the pool chair reading my book and getting some inspiration and
motivation so that I can continue my maturation in the midst of my situation.
We’ll have to revisit that thought later as well.
We go back upstairs to break and have lunch.
I decided I would put on my shorts and join them in the pool. I get downstairs
and I started to only put my feet in for a little while because I just wanted
to read my book. However, I so sensed something divine here and I decided to
just walk around in the water. As I began to move around I noticed the level of
water we were in was only three feet. Fine for the kids but I am six-three.
Jevon is almost four feet but he wants a floating device.
Now, I watched him go
through this for a while now and I decided that I am going to teach him right
here and right now. I was very reluctant at first because I knew that he was
afraid to go under the water. Two years ago we brought them on the trip and he
was afraid to go under the water then as well. Keep in mind, we live in San
Francisco. Needless to say, we don’t have great, warm swimming type weather
here often. Yes, I know I can always get him some swimming lessons. That’s my
next plan but stick to the story because there is something to learn here. So
as I was feeling led, I said to Jevon, “Come here.” He swam with this
beautifully decorated, blue, white and yellow floating device around him up to
where I was standing still in 3 feet of water. I said, “Jevon, get out of the
floatie. He climbed out and I could tell he had no clue what I was about to say
to him next. I called, “Jevon,” as I tried to keep my voice kind of calm so as
not to alarm him. “Come over here. It’s time to learn to swim.” Saying he
looked like a deer in headlights, would be a severe understatement. I took his
hand and said, “Jevon, let’s go under.” He got really quiet. I told him to hold
his breath and close his mouth. I proceeded to take him under like I was
Reverend Watson baptizing the first candidate at the new member service. When
he came up he was shocked and shaking. I know it sounds bad but, come on. We
are in three feet of water. I know you’re thinking, “Poor baby! Somebody needs
to teach that mean old Daddy a lesson!” Stay with me and I promise it gets
better.
I decided we would sit on the side of the
pool and practice holding our breath. We do that several times. Eventually, I
said, “Okay. Let’s try holding your breath and putting your face in the water.”
He does that several times successfully. “Jevon, it’s time to go under again.
If you did this, you can do that.” He freezes. I have Markaila try to do it
with him. I even jumped in the water and did it and he still would not go.
After about an hour, I just let him go get the floating device.
I go swimming through the water and I notice
Markaila needs to learn to float and wade through the water. She tries but
flops through it splashing everywhere but she does go under. I wanted to see
how deep this water goes so I swim to the other side and noticed it goes up to
five feet. She is about four and a half feet. Ding! Now I noticed why she felt
uncomfortable on the boat! But she can’t keep swimming in three feet and learn
how to swim because she is too tall for it. I got an idea! “Markaila! Come on
let’s go! I know how I’m going to teach you how to swim better than you do now.”
I go get her and proceeded to carry her to the five feet. She climbs up on me
and is as scared as Jevon was. I had to talk to her and convince her to trust
me, much like I did with Jevon. I tried reassuring her that I would not let
anything happen to her. She would not try it unless she felt my hands under
her. The moment I even moved a little, she began to panic.
God immediately got my attention and said,
“Marcus, here is where you need to pay attention.” I whispered, “I hear you,
Lord.” God began to show me some things.
1.
EVERYONE IS IN
DIFFERENT AREAS OF THE POOL AT DIFFERENT OR SAME LEVELS. It doesn’t mean anyone is any better than
another. If one person can swim in nine feet, it doesn’t make them any better
than anyone else. It just means wherever you are you should be getting
challenged. If you are not being challenged where you are (a job, church,
relationship, career, etc.), it’s time to move to a deeper level of the pool or
move out of the pool. In other words, don’t ever allow yourself to be
intimidated by people who can pray longer than you, say lots of words in
prayer, people who can stand in front of people and say such eloquent words and
make people jump and shout. The place where you are should be a challenge.
There are people who have never prayed or never read the scripture
or never even spoke in front of people. If it is a challenge for
you to pray for 8 to 10 minutes, then try practicing in your own private time
praying for like 2 to 3 minutes. All of us started out in 2 to 3 feet of water
at one time. If I was able to take you back to the times when I first learned
to pray, you would laugh or be amazed at how different it is now and would
probably ask, “Who is that?” We all start somewhere. And let me also say that
the prayer does not require you to say long deep and eloquent words. The point
is that you speak from a place of sincerity. You speak with the truthfulness of
your spirit. Of course there is a difference between praying with other people
and praying by privately. But we will cover that later. My main point in this
first point is that you start where you are.
Ecclesiastes
9:11 in the King James Version says, “ I returned, and saw under the
sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither
yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour
to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.”
If that wasn’t
clear, let’s read it in the New Living Translation which says it like this, “I have observed something else
under the sun. The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the
strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry,
and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t
always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the
right place at the right time.”
2. IF YOU DON’T ACCEPT THE
CHALLENGE, YOU WILL OUTGROW WHERE YOU ARE. Much like the levels that my son,
daughter and I, were in the water, if I had never learned how to swim, I would
not be able to function in any level of that water I was in. When you accept
Christ you are like a baby that needs to be fed or you will suffer from
malnutrition or worse case you will die.
Ephesians
Chapter 4 starting at verse 14 says, “14 Then we will no longer
be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of
new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies
so clever they sound like the truth. 15 Instead, we will speak the
truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head
of his body, the church. 16 He makes
the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work,
it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing
and full of love.”
Let me also point out that when you are not
being challenged, this is also how burnout, boredom and complacency become a
reality. We will cover that later.
3.
FIND WHAT
YOU FEAR, AND FACE IT. Hidden in that fear is a warrior that can do
more than conquer where you are. Romans
8:37 says, “Nay, in all these things
we are more than conquerors through
him that loved us.” The New Living
Translation says, “No,
despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who
loved us.” We were not made to just conquer, but to be more than a
conqueror. In order to do that, we have to face the thing we fear the most.
