Cooperating with a smile

Cooperating with a smile
by Jon Walker

“Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had – though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave ….” (Philippians 2:5-7 NLT)

Discipleship — Cooperation is doing with a smile what you have to do anyway. You’ll never find that sentence in the Bible, but I think its spirit is implied throughout God's Word. We are called to be obedient to God's commands, and part of that obedience is having a sensitive servant’s attitude.

I learned this lesson years ago when I was working for someone, who at the time, I didn’t respect. I would do whatever he asked me to do – eventually – but I tended to drag my feet, complain, or point out how wrong he was.

But God used that relationship to teach me godly obedience. Through his Word, God taught me to obey my earthly authorities. He showed me that Christ-like character required me to work with the same servant’s attitude regardless of how I felt about my work environment or my employer.

God not only changed my attitude, he led me to seek forgiveness from my boss for my disrespectful attitude. It was a major turning point in my life, as I came to understand what it meant to be a man under authority, regardless of who was in authority at the time. God could work through a boss who was a believer, and he could work through a boss who was a tyrant – because he is God and in all situations I ultimately should be responding to his authority.

Eventually, I developed considerable respect for my boss, and he became one of my greatest mentors and supporters. Though not a believer, he taught me, “Cooperation is doing with a smile what you have to do anyway.”

So what?

· Live the Gospel – How you conduct yourself at work is part of your Christian witness. Today, go beyond the minimum requirements and see how those around you respond. To quote Francis of Assisi: “Share the gospel; if necessary, use words.”

· Change your attitude – Be respectful, helpful, and gracious to those in authority over you – no matter how difficult it may be.

· Go the extra mile with a smile – Christ said, “If someone compels you to carry his pack one mile, carry it two.” People are more likely to listen to what you say when your actions show respect and concern for them, when you do more than the minimum required.

· Hey God, a little help! – Ask God to turn those tough situations at work into opportunities to share the Gospel, but check your own attitude first.

A Hopeful Future

A Hopeful Future
by Jon Walker

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you … thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” (Jeremiah 29:11 KJV)

Discipleship — When you hear about the sickening shootings at Virginia Tech, it’s only human to wonder if God is fully engaged in the events of this world.

Why, God, do you allow these things to happen?

Over the years, as I’ve shouted this question to God, grappling to understand the explosion of evil into the lives of good people, I’ve encountered what seemed to be an unsettling silence from God.

I know that his Word tells us evil exists in this world because of sin, and that the fists of the Evil One are indiscriminate, hammering on the innocent along with the guilty. God’s Word also teaches that the Evil One will take direct aim at us as we walk more closely with God.

But, still, why, God, do you allow these things to happen?

I say it seemed like unsettling silence from God until one day, in the Divine’s still, small voice, I sensed God asking me a question in return – you know, the way Jesus often said to the Pharisees, “I’ll answer your question after you answer mine.”

God’s question: “Jon, do you serve the One True God (Deut. 6:4), or do you serve the ‘god of understanding it all.’”

More questions followed: “Are you trying to be the god of understanding, believing that if you can just understand what is going on, then – and only then – you’ll be able to accept it, live with it, or live through it? Is your faith in me based on what you understand, or is it based on your faith in my hand?”

When we’re facing trouble, we often quote Jeremiah 29:11 (KJV): “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you … thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

Listen carefully: God is telling us that we may misunderstand his plans for us, that we may wrongly perceive his plans as evil, but those plans are the very thing — the only thing — that will give us, literally, “a hopeful future.”

To echo Eugene Peterson, in the midst of our distress, we think that we’re being pushed to the very edge of our existence; but once there, we realize we’ve been pressed into the very center of God. The peace that God speaks of in Jeremiah is not an absence of conflict; it’s about wholeness (shalom). It’s about becoming a people who are whole again because we are face to face with God, learning to think, not like mere men, but like God.

So what?

· Nasty now and now – The things we truly believe emerge in what Peter Lord calls the “nasty now and now.” Your faith is hammered out in the everyday, mundane experiences of your life, and when you face the fists of the Evil One. Faith is not resolved in heady discussions about the nature of evil.

· God is at work – Like a dormant tree in winter that appears to be dead until the buds of spring, God is always at work in our lives and throughout the world – even today on the campus of Virginia Tech. Don’t assume the tree is dead in winter; look expectantly toward the buds of spring.

· Seek God’s face – Seek God’s face, instead of seeking to understand. Trust that God will give you insight and understanding when the time is right. Until then, he’s developing your faith in him.

Opening up to others

Opening up to others
by Jon Walker

“Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand – shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16 MSG)

Fellowship — Giggling as he played on the floor with his Aunt Merilee, my young son’s eyes danced with pleasure. Christopher’s laughter was so captivating that Merilee leaned into his face and said with a grin, “I’m going to steal your giggles!”

Without warning, Christopher grabbed Merilee in a baby bear hug and planted a playful kiss on her cheek. Merilee fell back and – guess what – she giggled.

And then she giggled some more.

Finally she said, “Oh, Christopher! I was going to steal your giggles, and you gave them to me instead.”

A lesson in life from a 2-year-old! So often we walk through life thinking we have to steal or earn or grab or protect the objects of the joyful life we see in others.

We listen to worldly voices that urge, “Go for the gusto. You only live once. Grab what you can get.”

Yet from a simple child we can learn that true joy is not taken. It’s given.

Today, instead of stealing giggles, give them away and see how many more come back to you.

So what?

· You bring pleasure – You were made to be a source of pleasure and joy – to God and to others.

· Become a joy dispenser – Laugh loudly and as often as you can. Smile at a stranger. Bless people with your joy. If you don’t have joy, then ask God to guide your heart toward the joy found in Christ.

· Thank God that he is a Father who delights in our enjoyment and loves our laughter. Ask him to increase your joy that you may share it will others.

· “… Be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16 MSG)

Teaching by living

Teaching by living
by Jon Walker

“Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise. Use his words to teach and counsel each other.” (Colossians 3:16a NLT)

Mission — Every day you teach people about God. You may teach Truth or you may teach mythology; either way you teach. You teach others that God is faithful or that he can’t be trusted, and you do that by reflecting faith in God, or by behaving as if he can’t be trusted.

As if.

Some of us carry a myth in our minds that the only people who can teach are the gifted or the professional, yet the Apostle Paul says, “I know that you have all the knowledge you need and that you are able to teach each other.” (Romans 15:14b NCV)

Certainly teaching includes unpacking Bible stories and giving theological insight, but we also teach as we model biblical behavior when it comes to the stuff of life, such as how to love/respect your spouse, how to make godly decisions, how to keep our thought-life pure, or how to get out of debt.

That means we become teachers when we tell, show, reflect how God is working in our lives, and we become teachers when we respond, act, walk as if Jesus himself were living through us (and he is – Romans 8:9-11). By watching you, others will see what “Christ in you” looks like in another human being. (Colossians 1:27 NIV)

So what?

· Being a living teacher makes you wise – Paul says, “Let the words of Christ live in your heart.” You need to know God’s Word before you can teach it through study or by living it. By hearing, reading, studying, memorizing, and meditating on the words of Christ, they’ll take root in your heart, and this will make you wise. (Romans 15:14b NCV)

· God’s wisdom over conventional wisdom – Too often we look to the world’s conventional wisdom when we’re seeking answers, yet the Truth is found only in God’s wisdom.

Being honest with each other

Being honest with each other
by Jon Walker

“No more lies, no more pretense. Tell your brother the truth. In Christ’s body we’re all connected to each other. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself.” (Ephesians 4:25 MSG)

Discipleship — Honesty deepens our relationships, allowing us to be transparent with one another. (Proverbs 24:26) It keeps our fellowship open and authentic, freeing us to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15) as we practice remarkable integrity. (Titus 2:7) It keeps us sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s guidance (John 16:13) and helps us battle deceptions that corrupt our lives in Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

Being honest with each other requires us to say what we mean and mean what we say. (Matthew 5:37) It means we show the same honesty in public as we do in private. (Acts 20:20) It calls us to remain committed to the One Truth – God’s truth. (John14:6)

As new creations in Christ, we’ve taken off our old selves, and accordingly we should no longer lie to each other. (Colossians 3:9) In fact, the father of lies is the evil one: “There is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar ....” (John 8:44 NIV; italics added)

Being honest in Christian community means we no longer use pretense to keep others from seeing who we really are – “We refuse to wear masks and play games. We don’t maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. And we don’t twist God’s Word to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:2 MSG)

There should be no need to “read between the lines or look for hidden meanings” because we speak a “plain, unembellished truth.” (2 Corinthians 1:13 MSG)

In fact, we’re to “use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5 MSG)

So what?

· Dishonesty pollutes – When dishonesty pollutes our lives together, it becomes difficult to develop a deeper trust for one another. (Luke 16:10 NLT)

· There are two kinds of lies:

Lies of commission – These are lies where we specifically make false statements.

Lies of omission – These are lies where we fail to tell the whole truth, or we wink at the deceptions of others.

Do you struggle with either of these? Both?

· Practice telling the honest truth – God says that one day “every tongue will tell the honest truth that I and only I am God.” (Romans14:11b MSG)

Hopelessly in love

Hopelessly in love
by Jon Walker

Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37 NIV)

Worship — We were singing praise choruses during a worship service when I noticed the typo. The lyrics for the song were supposed to be, “I'm hopelessly in love with you.”

But someone had accidentally typed: “I'm hopefully in love with you.” It was just a one-word typo, but it carried a message equal in power to a sermon containing thousands of words.

Think about it: What’s the difference between being hopefully in love with God as opposed to being hopelessly in love with him?

‘Hopefully’ suggests tentativeness: “Gee, I hope I can love you, God.”

On the other hand, ‘hopelessly’ suggests total abandonment, an ice-tea plunge into the pool: “God, I'm in this relationship from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. No matter where it leads. No matter what it means.”

We express a desire to deepen our relationship with God – and all the while he’s already in the deep end, urging us to jump in and join him?

And there we stand, testing the Living Water with our toes, hesitant to take the flying leap into the deep that would fully immerse us into the life of Christ because it would require us to drown out so many pesky, little things that we think – that we imagine – give us life, when our real life is in Christ (Colossians 3:3). Our true life comes through the grace of God and our holy Spirit-connection with Jesus.

I know why I pause by the edge of the pool: It means I’ll have to put away childish things (1 Corinthians 13:11) and toddler-like attitudes (1 Corinthians 3:2). It means maturing when it’s easier to stay immature.

The thing is – and this is what deflates all my excuses and rationalizations – abandoning myself to God is a choice. The only thing hindering me from a deep, deep abiding relationship with God is – me. It is my unwillingness to give up those things that distract me from God and my stubborn refusal to make time with God a priority in my life are also choices I choose.

And, my friend, the only thing hindering you from a deep, deep, abiding relationship with God is – you.

In that sense, you choose to become hopelessly in love with God. It doesn’t take a saint or a special kind of person; it comes down to the simple, yet incredibly difficult choice to love God with “… all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”

You don’t fall into that kind of love; you purposely immerse yourself in it. God is in the deep end, calling out: “Come on in; the Living Water refreshes!”

So what?

· Your choice – The only thing hindering you from a deep relationship with God is – you.

· What hinders? – Ask God to reveal anything that is hindering you from developing a deeper relationship with him. As he reveals the hindrances, face them honestly and talk to God about where to go from here.

· God guides the heart – Ask God to guide you deeper, bringing you to a place where you are hopelessly in love with him.

· How do you adjust? – What would it look like if you loved God “with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind?” (Matthew 22:37 NIV) How would you adjust your behavior and your thoughts?

Jesus stopped

Jesus stopped
by Jon Walker

“Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions.” (1 John 3:18 NLT)

Ministry/Service — Jesus stopped. He stopped when people needed his help; when they needed his comfort; when they needed his protection; when they needed an answer to a perplexing problem.

Jesus saw the interruptions in his life as divine opportunities to show God’s love to people in desperate need.

Jesus approached love from a show first, then tell perspective.

He defined love as meeting needs, and when he touched people, they realized “… they were in a place of holy mystery, that God was at work among them. They were quietly worshipful – and then noisily grateful, calling out among themselves, ‘God is back, looking to the needs of his people!’” (Luke 7:16 MSG)

Jesus expressed his love through action. He calls us to be action figures, but he never wants us so busy saving the world that we ignore the interruptions of those in need.

Like the Good Samaritan, Jesus wants us ever ready to help someone in need (Luke 10). The Bible says, “If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.” (1 John 3:17 MSG, italics added)

Jesus showed that faith and service go hand-in-hand. When the woman of poor reputation anointed Jesus’ feet with expensive oil and tearfully washed them with her hair, Jesus said to her, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” Her act of service was a reflection of her faith in God.

When the disciples of John the Baptist asked Jesus to verify he was the Christ, his response was to point to his service. He said, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” (Luke 7:22 NIV)

And the Jesus-follower James stressed that we are to be doers of the word, not just hearers: “Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup – where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?” (James 2:14a-17 MSG)

Francis of Assisi once wrote, “Preach the gospel; if necessary, use words.” In showing our love, no task should be too menial. Jesus specialized in acts of service most people usually try to avoid: washing feet, helping children, fixing breakfast, and serving lepers. Nothing was beneath him, because his service flowed from his love.

So what?

· Practical love – Jesus indicated our acts of love should be very practical; even giving a cup of cold water in his name is an act of love (Matt. 10:42).

· Serve today – Ask, ‘How can I serve you today?’ Look around and address what you see: Help mow the lawn, watch a neighbor’s child, bring food to a shut-in, visit a sick friend.

· We serve God by serving others, and we can serve even better when we serve with other believers (Ecclesiastes 4:9). Think about a ministry that you can share with a small group of friends.