God's Love Languages Pt. 1 Series

III. If you love Jesus – Love personified - you will spend quality time with Jesus and Abba Father and have the D.T.R. talk!

a. If you don’t spend time with someone there is no relationship – if you don’t go on dates, or communicate with each other there is no relationship. Don’t deceive yourself!

i. Les Parrots book “The Love List”

1. The things to do to take your relationship to the next level:

a. The Love List:

i. Once a Day . . . ·Take Time to Touch (If Only for a Minute) Find Something That Makes You Both Laugh

ii. Once a Week…Do Something Active That Lifts Your Spirits ·Boost Your Partner’s Self-Esteem

iii. Once a Month…Rid Yourselves of Harmful Residue. Fire Up Passion in the Bedroom

iv. Once a Year… Review Your Top-Ten Highlights, Chart Your Course for the Coming Year.

ii. The same is true with your relationship with Jesus and Abba Father.

iii. No time together means no relationship – How can you say you love someone but never talk to them, spend time together or connect with each other.

1. Please tell me how you think this is how to develop and maintain a relationship?

b. Kyle notes that all relationships must have a Time for the D.T.R. moment between the two parties:

i. “So where do you start in determining if you really are a follower of Jesus? How do you decide if this is even something you would want to consider? Let’s begin by having a D.T.R. talk with Jesus. Some of you will recognize what the letters D.T.R. stand for. If you’re not sure, let me give you a hint. For a young man involved in a romantic relationship, these letters are often enough to strike fear into his heart. He likely dreads the D.T.R. talk. In fact, many young men will postpone, run away from, and put off the D.T.R. for as long as possible. I have even known a few guys who have terminated the relationship when they sensed that the D.T.R. talk was imminent. Now do you want to guess what DTR stands for? Define the Relationship. This is the official talk that takes place at some point in a romantic relationship to determine the level of commitment. You want to see where things stand and find out if what you have is real.

1. Idleman, Kyle; Idleman, Kyle. Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus. Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

c. The Gospels record many examples of people having the D.T.R. talk with Jesus/God the Father. In each encounter the person finds themselves in a position where the question has to be answered: “How do you define this relationship? Where is this relationship going?”

i. Examples of some who Jesus had the DTR talk with:

1. Example of Peter

2. Example of Nicodemus

3. Example of Paul

4. Example of David

d. Important comparison to note: In the Bible the comparison of Jesus is He is the Bridegroom of the Bride of Christ which includes all who are faithful followers of Jesus are the Bride.

i. I found a few verses which speak of this relationship between Jesus/God and His followers – His faithful committed ones:

1. John 3:29: “He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full.”