The Lord put certain people in your life in order to help you navigate through and fulfill your destiny. These relationships are God ordained relationships. They are not after the flesh. They are Spirit-led and Spirit orchestrated encounters. There is much talk of ‘relationship mechanics’ in the world today and you can find such talk easily on the internet. The difference between Spirit-led, God ordained, relationships and what the world has to offer is like the difference between the 1st Temple that Solomon built and the 2nd Temple that was rebuilt after the Babylonians came in and destroyed the first one.

 The Second Jewish Temple vs. The First Temple

• The 1st Temple that Solomon built had everything in it
• It had the Ark of the Covenant
• The ark contained the Tablets of Stone, the pot of manna, and Aaron’s rod
• It had Urim and Thummim
• The holy oil
• The sacred fire.
• The Menorah (the golden candlesticks)
• The Table of Showbread
• The golden altar of incense, with golden censers.
• The Glory of God
• The 2nd Temple DID NOT HAVE…
• the Ark of the Covenant that contained the Tablets of Stone, the pot of manna, and Aaron’s rod
• Urim and Thummim
• The holy oil
• The sacred fire.
• But the most important thing that it did not have was the Glory!!!
• So, the 2nd Temple was a watered down version of the first.
• This is a constant phenomenon – that is the world having a watered down version of the things of God.
• So, as we talk about ‘God ordained relationships’ understand that…
• Relationship teaching that the world has to offer is but a watered down version of the God ordained type.
• It is the Second Temple stuff as opposed to the First Temple.
• You find this type of human knowledge on the internet and in the corporate world –
• Some of this is called ‘networking’ – i.e. who is in your network?
• Networking is not what we are talking about in this series
• I am telling you that God gets involved with ‘hooking people up’ for His purpose and for His glory.
• God is the one that puts ‘Nathan’ type people in your life as well as some of the other people that we are going to be talking about.

Mark 3:14 (ESV)
14 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach

• Here is Luke’s version of Mark 3:14

Luke 6:12–13 (ESV)
12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles:

• Notice that these individuals that were ‘with Him’ were with Him because prayer had gone up ahead of these decisions and Jesus knew by the Spirit of God who were the ones that were to be ‘with Him’.
• Here is the same idea in New Covenant language, in the language written to the churches.

Ephesians 4:-15-16 (KJV)
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

• Note: it is Jesus who is the instigator and the facilitator of relationships in the body
• He is the one who fits people together. Jesus is the one who joins believers together.
• DEFINITION: ‘fitly joined together’ – συναρμολογέω/synarmologeō – to join together so as to form a coherent entity
• DEFINITION: – ‘compacted’ – συμβιβάζω/symbibazō – to bring together into a unit
• This joining – this coherence, this bringing together into a unit is not carried out by the flesh.

Galatians 3:3 (ESV)
3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

• The people that God puts in your life, does he do it by the Spirit or by the flesh?

Ephesians 4:16 (AMP)
16 For because of Him the whole body (the church, in all its various parts), closely joined and firmly knit together by the joints and ligaments with which it is supplied, when each part [with power adapted to its need] is working properly [in all its functions], grows to full maturity, building itself up in love.

• Now, do not get in a tizzy over this by going home, and beginning to examine every relationship against what I am saying. Do not do that to yourself but do remember…
• That we are here looking at things specifically and not generally.
• Understand the need to be led by the Spirit in all areas
• Understand the need to look to Him for all things
• If you live like this, than everything takes care of itself.
• The ‘knitting together’ of Eph. 4:16 is a spiritual thing performed by the Head of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Colossians 2:19 (KJV)
19 And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.

Colossians 2:2 (KJV)
2 That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;

• God will knit you together with certain people
• People Often Wonder if they are in the right place in life. Are they in the right church for example. How do you know that you are in the right place?
• The answer is simple – are you knit to people in the place you are in?
• Another way of saying this, is do you have people in this church in your heart?
• Places in God are divinely appointed, they are not self-assumed.
• Now, this same Jesus is the head of the church and this same Jesus is at work today pairing people up.
• Remember that there is something about life that requires us to walk it through with someone else.

The Jonathan Connection

1 Samuel 18:1 (ESV)
1 As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.

• Again here is ‘hooking up’ in the life of David.
• The Lord knit David and Jonathan together
• This took place directly after David’s encounter with Goliath
• This knitting has happened to me on two distinct occasions with two different people. I can tell you where I was and what I was doing the two distinct days that it happened.
• It was almost like putting a coin into one of those old style public phones that were located in phone booths. You inserted the coin and you heard the coin as it jiggle its way down into the phone.
• It was distinct, it was not something that grew with time.
• It dropped right inside me and it is still there today.
• These two God ordained, God knit relationships, filled ever hole I had in my life. I have no problems ‘looking for love in all the wrong places’ – do not need to – it is no struggle for me. The Lord did that for me and I am very grateful.
• Understand what he did for me – He will do for you.
• The Lord did these works in my life, long before I even understood any of this teaching on ‘divine connections’.
• Now I am not saying that if you have not experienced this type of thing that your relationships are defective.
• I am just simply telling you what happened to me.

The Importance of the Love Walk

• Even though God knits people together, that does not mean those relationships work by auto-pilot.
• You still have to have operate relationships in the love of God.
• Everything that you have ever heard about walking in love applies to people God has knit you to.
• You still have to walk in love
• You still have to exercise patience
• You still have to humble yourself and yield and let the other person have the right of way.
• You still have to submit to one another
• You still have to forgive and ask for forgiveness.
• You still have to, as much as in you, leave peaceably with the people God has joined you to.
• Nothing in God is automatic
• In every area that involves the things of God, there is a God-ward side and a man-ward side.

‘Love and the Spirit’ and Relationships

• These two areas that I am talking about – the love walk and the role of the Spirit of God in your life are being applied here to this teaching on relationships.
• These two areas are to be applied in all dimensions and there is a good reason why.

John 13:1 (ESV)
1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

• Remember that the ‘them’ in this verse are the ones that Jesus picked that they ‘might be with Him’.
• In John’s gospel Chap. 13-17, in this big section of dialogue, (if you look at those chapters, you will see that the majority of the words are in red.) And we know from Bible timeline or Bible chronology that this monologue that Jesus delivers in these 5 chapters occur in the last two weeks of His life.
• We literally have here the last words of Jesus (on this side of the cross).
• Interesting things about famous last words….they reveal quite a bit about a person…
• How many of you know that the Bible says that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matt. 12:34) – and that principle is true even on your death bed.You are what are right to the end.

JESUS LAST WORDS:

• What were the last things that Jesus talked about with His disciples during these last two weeks of His life?
• What do you suppose was in the abundance of His heart during His last days?
• Now Jesus has preached on many things during His public ministry.He has talked about:
• His Father,
• Faith in God,
• Healing the sick,
• prayer,
• money,
• righteousness,
• the law,
• religious hypocrites
• end time events.
• He talked about a lot of stuff.
• But, during these last two weeks of His life there comes a change!
• When Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father.
• When He knew that He was going to be passing the baton to His handpicked disciples.
• What does He talk about?
• Does He talk about money?
• Does He talk about end time events?
• Does He talk about healing?
• No, He focuses in primarily on two main subjects – and those subjects are – LOVE and the HOLY SPIRIT.
• These two words are mentioned distinctly 43 times in 27 verses!
• In addition to that, the first 20 verses in John 13 centers on the subject of love without ever even mentioning the word.
• Now, let me ask you married folk something.
• Husbands, if your wife talks about the same topic 43x in a two-week period, what would you say about that?
• Wives, if your husband talks about the same topic 43x in a two-week period, what do you think?
• And so, we have all of this coming out of Jesus during His last moments on the earth.And, we have to ask the question, WHY?Why did Jesus spend His last two weeks talking mostly about agape love and the powerful ministry presence of the Holy Spirit?

WHY JESUS SPENT HIS LAST TWO WEEKS ON LOVE AND THE HOLY SPIRIT?

• Do you suppose that maybe we are supposed to gain a clue from that? Do you suppose that maybe we are supposed to pick up on the fact that these two areas are supposed to have a prominent place in our thinking?
• Now, I do not think it has a prominent place in our thinking – and the reason why I believe that is because….

WHAT SHOULD BE OF FOUNDATIONAL IMPORTANCE TO A BELIEVER

• If you were to ask most Christians today, what’s the most important thing for a believer to do on a daily basis to grow up in God, what would be the answers that you would most likely hear?
• I think you would hear answers like….
• Prayer (how many of you think that people need to pray daily?)
• Reading the Bible (ask again…?)
• Going to Church (what else?)

• These are important, you should pray, you should read your Bible, you should go to church.
• But Jesus didn’t spend 27 verses talking about reading the Bible or going to church.He spent it talking about love and the Holy Spirit.
• It is an interesting thing that when you take these three areas, prayer, Bible Study, and going to church that we think are so vital and when you examine, turn them over, and boil them down, do you know what the greatest common denominator is in all of these areas?You guessed it – Love and the Holy Spirit.
• And so, here we are talking about God ordained relationships and people that God puts into your life and do you understand…
• How all these things start in your life?
• How all these things continue in your life?
• The exact same way through love and the Holy Spirit.
• Mark it down what gets you started is what carries you to the end.
• I heard a great man of God make this statement, ‘It takes the same dedication at 70 as it did when I was 20.’
• So, when we talk about the Nathans and the Jonathan’s in your life know the same things that you have been taught, love and the role of the Spirit are what is involved in these God ordained relationships and connections.

Call to Action

Thank God for the ‘God-ordained’ Johnathan type people that He has put into our lives. Do you appreciate them? When was the last time you told them so? Or maybe you are a person that has trouble making friends. Ask the Lord to help in this area. Ask Him to send you a ‘Jonathan’ into your life.

Question: What kind of relationship advice would you give a person who has trouble making friends? Please leave a comment below.