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.

The anchor of our hope

The anchor of our hope
by Jon Walker

“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4 NIV)

Discipleship — God tells us in the Book of James that we can count it all joy when we go through trials and tribulations.

He isn’t saying we have to be happy when we suffer a loss. Rather, we can be confident that a just and loving and merciful Father is working everything out for the good of his perfect will (Romans 8:28) – and we can rejoice because God uses moments of crisis to reveal where we have anchored our hope.

Have you anchored your hope in your circumstances? Or have you anchored your hope “on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness”?

Several years ago my daughter, Kathryn, died. And, to be perfectly honest, my wife and I became angry with God. We’d asked him to save Kathryn, and he didn’t answer our prayer.

But slowly we began listening to God, and gently … very gently … he taught us that our perspective was extraordinarily narrow. We’d placed our hope in our answer to prayer, insisting we knew best what should happen. We did not trust that God knew what he was doing, that with his Father’s heart he had figured it all out, making plans to take care of us and Kathryn, plans to give us the future we actually hoped for in the depths of our hearts. (Jeremiah 29:11 MSG)

We’d hung our hopes on the wrong hook, forgetting our Creator is a God of hope, and that his hope will not disappoint. (Romans 5:1-5)

This is the Truth we can cling to no matter what our circumstances. We can trust in God’s character, even when we can’t see his hand at work. We can trust in God’s plans for us, knowing that he goes before and comes behind. We can trust that God is always in control and that he is bigger than our circumstances.

If our God is not God in times of trouble, then he isn’t God at all.

The Apostle Paul told us that, because we have this tremendous hope inside, we need not grieve our losses like those who have no hope. He’s not saying we can’t or shouldn’t grieve at all; rather, he’s saying that death or any other loss is not the end of the story because we serve the God of Glory.

We believe Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe God will resurrect those in Christ who’ve been taken from us. And we can encourage one another with these words of hope. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 NIV)

So what?

· Let God be God – God is working out the details of your life. Even the darkness is light to him, and he can take even bad situations and redeem them for his holy purposes.

· His hands hold your future – Where have you hung your hope? Is it in a job, a relationship, a dream home, a wishful chance to make a better choice in the past? Tell God you’re giving your circumstances and regrets to him, that you’re placing all your hope in his hands.

· Look above – “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Colossians 3:2 NIV) Look to God and not at your circumstances.

· Change what you do – How would you handle a situation differently if you were 100% sure that God was working the details out, according to his eternal plan and based on his love for you? “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see ….” (Hebrews 11:1 NIV)

Somewhere else

Somewhere else
by Jon Walker

“For I have learned to be content, whatever the circumstances.” (Philippians 4:11 NIV)

Community — Have you ever been somewhere you didn’t want to be? Maybe it was a job, a town, or a marriage. Maybe it was a stage in life, like singlehood, or a state in life, like a disability. It’s very possible that as you read this, you’re wishing you were somewhere else – anywhere else – living a different life, but you know it’s not likely that anything is going to change any time soon.

God has a word for you. It’s the same word he gave a group of people when they were stuck in another country, exiled from their homeland. They’d folded their arms and said, “We’re going to wait this thing out, and when we get home, we’ll start living our lives.”

Through the prophet Jeremiah, God told them, “You’re not going home any time soon, so start making your lives here. Plant gardens, buy homes, let your children get married, and pray for the peace and prosperity of the place where you’re currently living because, by doing that, you too will be blessed with peace and prosperity.”

To use a modern cliché, God was saying, “Bloom where you’re planted.”

Don’t invest your energy in hopes of leaving; instead invest your energy in the people around you. The Christian martyr Jim Eliot expressed it this way: “Wherever you are, be all there.” Don’t be physically present but mentally somewhere else, thinking of the future or the past, thinking of someplace else. Our journey with Christ requires that we be fully present in the present.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer called it “this worldliness,” and said, “It is only by living completely in this world that one learns to live by faith.” This focus allows you to see that your life is centered in God and not the place you live or work, not the person you’re married to – or not married to – not how you feel or how you look.

Investing in the people around you is exactly how you find life. Jeremiah even told the exiles that God had arranged for them to be in exile. So it was God’s plan all along to push them to the edge of their existence, so they would end up centered solely on God.

You may feel like you’re in exile too, but God is still working in your life; and his message to you is: Dig in and fully embrace the life around you.

So What?

· Center your life in God, not in your circumstances. God is constant; your circumstances are temporary. Ask God, “What do you want me to learn or to do in these present circumstances.”

· Change me, God – Instead of asking God to change your circumstances, ask him to change you in the circumstances.

· Practice being in the present – Today, whenever you find your mind drifting to another place, bring it back to the present, and ask God to help you stay in the present.

· Determine to be a good steward of what you have, instead of focusing on what you don’t have. Make the most of what God has given you.

The Holy One of Blessing

The Holy One of Blessing
by Jon Walker

“For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.” (Romans 11:36 NIV)

Worship — Last night I read the book, “Night,” by Elie Wiesel. The narrative was so compelling that I could not put it down. Wiesel described the unholy madness he faced during World War II as a prisoner in the German killing-camp Auschwitz and then as one of the few survivors of a death march to the concentration camp at Buchenwald .

Wiesel, an orthodox Jew, lost his faith in God and in humanity as, day by day, he fought to survive in a catastrophic pit of hell where, as one prisoner told him, “… There are no fathers, no brothers, no friends. Everyone lives and dies for himself alone.”

When he was finally liberated by Allied Forces in 1945, Wiesel was just 16. He’d witnessed the slow death of his father; his mother and sister were presumably dead; and he felt as if everything had come to an end: “… Man, history, literature, religion, God. There was nothing left. And yet we begin again with night” (a reference to the Jewish tradition that a new day starts as night falls).

Throughout the narrative, Wiesel records bits and pieces of traditional Jewish prayers as they’re recited by himself and other prisoners, and he honestly records his anger at God for appearing to ignore those who cried out for the Almighty’s protection.

In my life, I’ve never faced the kind of earthly hell Wiesel faced, yet I’ve found myself angry at God for appearing to ignore my cries for help. I’ve abandoned my faith for much lesser things.

I cannot say how strong my faith would be if I was faced with an evil so mind-wrenching. Just trying to write this devotional, I could not find adjectives strong enough to convey the horror at Auschwitz and Buchenwald , and yet, in my life, I struggle to maintain my faith when I simply don’t get my way.

But then, it’s not about me, and it’s not about you. We serve a God of Blessings, even though we may not see the blessings in our hand. We may not even see the blessings in God’s hand, but as my sweet Southern aunt always says, “When you can’t see God’s hand, trust in his character.”

It would seem the stuff of faith is facing the fire, and like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we say, “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3:17-18 NIV)

In other words, we may not be rescued by God, but we will continue to worship him, and, just to be clear, no matter what happens, we will not worship your gods. We will not worship inferior gods made from gold, stone, and wood. We will not worship inferior gods made from the brick and mortar of self-centeredness, from self-will, from our demands for an easy, understandable life and an easy, “only if I can see it” faith. (Hebrews 11:1)

We worship God when we leave it up to him to interpret our circumstances. We worship God when we take the facts that we can see and offer them to the God-who-sees-all. We worship God when we allow him to define our lives and our purpose.

We worship God when we allow our heartache and our horrible circumstances to crowd us closer to the One who grieves with us because he loves us more than any other.

So what?

· Give your circumstances to God – God sees the big picture, so he is the best one to interpret your circumstances. He is in control of all things, even when it may not appear that way.

· Look for the blessing – When faced with heartache, ask God to show you the blessing, the dark treasures, hidden within. (Isaiah 45:3)

· Instead of asking, ‘Why is this happening to me?’ ask God, “What do you want me to do in this situation?”

· Pray: “Oh Holy One of Blessing, Your presence fills creation. Thank you for this day and for the simple blessings I so often overlook. You go before and behind, and I trust you to turn these circumstances into something that brings glory to you.”

The ministry of acceptance

The ministry of acceptance
by Jon Walker

“So accept each other just as Christ has accepted you; then God will be glorified. (Romans 15:7 NLT)

Ministry/Mission — When I was growing up, I considered my older brother the embodiment of cool. Cole was funny, handsome, athletic, and popular. He married the homecoming queen and then became an Air Force pilot, where he exhibited courage and grace at war in Vietnam .

He’d quite literally been all around the world, and he always returned with fascinating stories about the places he’d been and the people he’d met.

Because I grew up feeling like an outsider, I often wished I could be like my brother, who seemed accepted and liked by just about everyone. One summer, while I was in college, I stayed a few weeks with my brother, and while we were at a restaurant with his many pilot friends and their wives, Cole said, “I think Jon would fit in well with our group.”

Those words count among the most meaningful every said to me. My cool brother was telling me I was accepted, and his cool friends agreed with him.

The need for acceptance is universal; all of us have felt the sting of rejection. Perhaps you were the last one picked on the ball field, or maybe one of your parents let you know you’d never “measure up.” And the problem isn’t limited to adolescence. Perhaps you struggled through an unrequited love, or maybe the company you’ve poured your life into for the last 17 years let you go with all the flourish and finesse of a guillotine.

The Good News is, Jesus accepts “rejects.” We can see throughout the dispatches of the New Testament that Jesus didn’t care who you were or where you’d been. He accepted thieves, prostitutes, sleazy bill collectors, lepers, and the poor.

And, yes, my dear brothers and sisters, even now he accepts nerds, geeks, and freaks, people with zits, split ends, flat chests, or beer bellies. He accepts people who don’t have any friends, and he accepts those who have an abundance of friends. He accepts people who’ve made mistakes and those who will never admit they make mistakes. He accepts you, knowing you will make more mistakes.

Our lesson from Jesus is that he saw every person as an individual – valuable, important, a being created by God. Jesus looks past the surface, deep into our very souls, and yet he still loves us and accepts us.

Once, when Jesus was eating with a bunch of “rejects,” the teachers of religious law asked his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with such scum?” Jesus responded: “Healthy people don't need a doctor – sick people do. I have come to call sinners to turn from their sins, not to spend my time with those who think they are already good enough.” (Luke 5:30-32 NLT paraphrased)

Inherent in Jesus’ approach is his core belief that each individual is a unique creation of God. Your bad behavior is temporary, and through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, it will quickly change to good.

That means Jesus accepts you and loves you, even while you’re still stuck in your sin: “But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us!” (Romans 5:8 HCSB)

What does this have to do with missions? When you learn to accept the love of Jesus, you’ll be able to accept those who need Jesus. But before you rush into the remotest regions of the globe to share this ministry of acceptance, would you do me a favor and look across the dinner table and accept the ones you see there?

So what?

· Do what Jesus did – “So reach out and welcome one another to God's glory. Jesus did it; now you do it!” (Romans 15:7 MSG)

· See people as God’s creation – “So we have stopped evaluating others by what the world thinks about them. Once I mistakenly thought of Christ that way, as though he were merely a human being. How differently I think about him now!” (2 Corinthians 5:16 NLT)

· Practice non-judgmental listening – Listening is a powerful way to show acceptance. Ask God to help you hear the other person. Ask him to give you such grace that you won’t rush to judgment or push to immediately “fix” the other person.

The armor of God

The armor of God
by Jon Walker

“Stand your ground, putting on the sturdy belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News, so that you will be fully prepared. In every battle you will need faith as your shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:14-17 NLT)

Ministry/Service — As you engage in ministry for God, you will be attacked by God’s enemy, Satan. God knows this, and so he has provided you with the tools you need to stand your ground in ministry.

Father, today, in Jesus’ name, I put on the girdle of truth. I thank you, for I know who I am and that I have the power of the Holy Spirit within me. God is in control of my life.

Thank you that I can put on the breastplate of righteousness. In all situations, help me to respond from the truth and not from my emotions. I can refuse to receive lies from the enemy.

Today I strap on the sandals of the gospel of peace. Wherever I go, I can be a peacemaker, helping others make peace with you. Help me to remember that there’s a difference between a peacekeeper and a peacemaker – and that mercy triumphs over judgment.

You, my shield of faith, are sufficient to protect me from any arrows and slings the enemy throws my way, and I recognize that my faith comes by hearing the Word of God.

Thank you that you are giving me the mind of Christ. Because I wear the helmet of salvation, I can receive the truth, and I don’t have to think in old, fleshly patterns. My mind is being renewed by the power of God. I can take thoughts captive for Christ.

The sword of the Spirit is your Word, the Bible. With guidance from the Holy Spirit, I can use your Word to deflect any slings and arrows from the enemy, knowing I do not battle flesh and blood but that the fight is against the father of all lies. Help me also use your Word to spread your Gospel across the world.

Lord, I set my mind and heart on you today. I dedicate this whole day to you. I only want your will for my life. Through the name and blood of Jesus, I ask you to bind the enemy in my home, at my children’s school, and at my job.

So what?

· God already has provided all the armor you need to face today’s battles.

· When you feel a battle brewing, whether it be a temptation or a conflict, remind yourself again of the armor God has given you.

· When you sense conflict, discouragement, or anxiety this week, thank God that he is your shield and deliverer.

© 2007 Jon Walker. All rights reserved.

Radiant Certainty

Radiant Certainty
by Jon Walker

“I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.” (John 16:20-22 NIV)

Worship/Fellowship — There are some days when, frankly, I don’t feel much like worshiping God. There are probably more days like that than I’d care to admit.

But usually those are days are when I’m staring at my circumstances and making faithless judgments about what I see around me. And I struggle with the God-truth that he is in the circumstances that surround my life – all the circumstances.

Have you ever considered that heartbreak is part of God’s plans for you, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”? (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV) We put so much energy into avoiding the hurt when God would have us embrace it. He wants us to know that he can heal our hurts, even use our hurts for his benefit, and for us to faithfully believe that sometimes the circumstances we think are harming us are actually positive situations God is engineering.

God, who is omnipotent, sees the breadth and depth of our circumstances, and he knows his plans for our lives. Thinking, then, like Christ, we can slowly, ever so slowly, begin to understand that avoiding the pain in our lives is actually an act of faithlessness. God calls us to faith in him during difficult circumstances; we’d rather place our faith in avoiding the circumstances.

As always, Jesus shows us the way – because he is the Way. Jesus embraced the pain of God’s plan for his life, and he did it with full faith that God was still working the plan to bring a “hope and a future” to your life and mine. (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV) Christ was so sure that his grief would turn to joy that he showed a radiant certainty in God’s faithfulness (“Radiant certainty” is a phrase William Barclay uses to describe the attitude of Jesus at the Last Supper).

Our Brother Jesus, who is also our King, was heading into a crisis that would cost him His life, yet He was so certain – radiantly certain – of God’s faithfulness that not one of his disciples even discerned the gravity of the crisis! Jesus was so certain of God’s faithfulness that it radiates throughout his whole being.

And we, too, can have this radiant certainty about God’s hand in our lives. We can say, when it comes to God’s faithfulness, “I know because I know that I know.” That’s radiant certainty! The Cross was Christ’s glory, not His penalty – and the same is true of difficult circumstances in our lives.

So what?

· God’s faithful character - You will develop this radiant certainty in God when you learn to trust in his faithful character. Your daily worship of God is irrevocably tied to your faith in God.

· Praise God anyhow - You must choose to praise and worship God every day, no matter what the circumstances of your life. Developing a radiant certainty in God begins with simple steps of faith and obedience.

· Respond to God, not your circumstances - When faced with a painful or difficult circumstance, ask God, “How do you want me to respond to this?” Keep your eyes wise for the ‘Why me?’ traps that lay about your circumstances.

You can be radiantly certain of this: Difficult circumstances are opportunities for you to intentionally focus your faith in God and to see what he will do to give you hope and healing.