Tag: Living the Christian Life

On Keeping Watch

1 Peter 5:1-4 (Phillips)Now may I who am myself an elder say a word to you my fellow-elders? I speak as one who actually saw Christ suffer, and as one who will share with you the glories that are to be unfolded to us. I urge you then to see that your “flock of God” is properly fed and cared for. Accept the responsibility of looking after them willingly and not because you feel you can’t get out of it, doing your work not for what you can make, but because you are really concerned for their well-being. You should aim not at being “little tin gods” but as examples of Christian living in the eyes of the flock committed to your charge. And then, when the chief shepherd reveals himself, you will receive that crown of glory which cannot fade.

A little different format this time…

About 20 years ago, I was the ministry leader for a team at my church that encouraged and supported ministries led by members of the congregation.  With some minor updates to make it more relevant to all, I wanted to share with you something I shared with my team.  So, this is written to a group that already has accepted Jesus as Savior and committed to serve Him. 

If you have not yet accepted Jesus as your Savior, I encourage you to read the New Testament and learn who Jesus was and is and always will be.  You will never regret being His and allowing Him to be a leader in your life.  Wherever you are and whatever your circumstance, Jesus has love, grace and forgiveness ready for you.  Call on His name and He will answer you.

Observations

1.  God is committed to relationship-building.  He wants everyone to have a relationship with Christ and with others in Christ.  Therefore, He has a plan for creating an environment for life that will father, foster, and fertilize spiritual growth and friendships with others – Christian and non-Christian.  God wants us to allow Jesus to shine through what we love to do and whatever else He asks us to do in Jesus’ name.  Our Father’s goal is to have others experience Christ in us so that they will choose to become part of the family of Christ where they can have the same peace, love and security that we have.  Keep watch on who you associate with and how you treat those you meet.

2.  God wants every Believer to GO be His ambassador, evangelist, missionary in and to the world and culture in which they live.  Some are called to go to places that are strange and unfamiliar to them, but, wherever we are planted, we all are called to carry the Gospel in our daily going and being.  Therefore, God is for us as we create opportunity and support for this to happen.  A question I ask myself is:  Am I making GOING a priority in my everyday life?  Do I pray for opportunities to share the Gospel with my actions as well as my words?  How am I encouraging and inspiring others to answer this call?  How am I equipping those who have a heart to go but feel ill-equipped?  How are they responding?  Keep watch on who is in charge of your schedule, as well as what you say and do.

3.  We operate from a position of advantage.  We serve the Almighty God, Messiah, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  He is never surprised by the latest moves of the enemy.  He is never unprepared or taken aback by what happens.  God made His plan before Creation and has no Plan B.  Additionally, He feels no pressure or compunction to react or act according to any plan or timetable other than His own.  He is never concerned about what people will think about an individual battle that seems to us to be lost.  He will partner with us to accomplish His plan and fulfill His will and purpose (which must be like working with a child learning to bake which takes 3 times as long and creates triple the mess).  BUT God will not necessarily bless any short-sighted plan we come up with on our own.  He has already won the war and will lead us into that victory if we will just follow in His footsteps.  It is worthwhile to invest whatever time it takes to hear from Him and be wise enough to embrace His our part in His plan for us.  Keep watch on remembering Whose you are, Who you serve and whose plan you are following.

4.  We have been given superior weapons.  The weapons He gives us are not the weapons the world sees as powerful but are the ones which exercise overwhelming spiritual power and authority.  These are radical weapons against which the enemy has no defense – agape love, unending grace, complete forgiveness, undeserved mercy, self-sacrifice, humility, the armor of God along with all the other fruits of the Spirit and virtues demonstrated by Jesus.  When I truly forgive another, there is no foothold for bitterness or hatred.  I love Micah 6:8: “Do justly, walk humbly, love mercy”.  This is impenetrable armor against the arrows of the enemy of our souls.  The enemy gains no victory if and when we respond according to the Word of God rather than react according to our flesh. While we are not to be ignorant of the enemy’s devices, we should be diligent to learn how to use the weapons God has given.  Keep watch on which weapons you wield in the battles of life.

5.  God is not performance-based.  We live in a culture that defines our worth by our achievements, our status, our possessions gained.  Heavenly culture puts no worth on these.  Will we be judged one day by Jesus for the works we performed in His name?  Absolutely!  James 2:18-24 tells us that our faith is dead without the good works it should produce.  However, showing up at the Heavenly Gates with the many lists of the good things we did in our own strength without consulting Him will not impress Him.  We will enter in simply because we are in Christ.  To hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” will depend on how well we listened and obeyed in whatever He asked us to do by faith.  If we can trust God enough to pray and wait to hear His plan, truly setting aside the urgency creating by our timetable and the need to appear pleasing or productive in the eyes of men, we will find that our joy will be full because we have endured to give Him joy in His heart.  Keep watch on who is getting the praise for all you do.

Devotion

Lord God Almighty, Everlasting Father, Redeemer Son and Grace-filled Holy Spirit, You are so gracious, so patient, so kind to include me in fulfilling the plan You set in motion before Creation.  What a mess I can make by anxiously going off in my own direction to fix the world around me.    My intentions are good, but my actions are foolish unless they are what You have asked me to do.  Slow me down, fill me with Your peace, equip me with weapons that wield Your power and authority, and let me see with Your eyes so I will have faith enough to wait for Your directions and obey them.    I want to be that good and faithful servant.  Make it so, in Jesus’ name.

On Living a New Life in Christ

Colossians 1:11-14  PHILLIPS As you live this new life, we pray that you will be strengthened from God’s boundless resources, so that you will find yourselves able to pass through any experience and endure it with courage. You will even be able to thank God in the midst of pain and distress because you are privileged to share the lot of those who are living in the light. For we must never forget that he rescued us from the power of darkness and re-established us in the kingdom of his beloved Son, that is, in the kingdom of light. For it is by his Son alone that we have been redeemed and have had our sins forgiven.

“He has not been anything like long enough with the Enemy to have any real humility yet. What he says, even on his knees, about his own sinfulness is all parrot talk. At bottom, he still believes he has run up a very favourable credit-balance in the Enemy’s ledger by allowing himself to be converted, and thinks that he is showing great humility and condescension in going to church with these ‘smug’, commonplace neighbours at all. Keep him in that state of mind as long as you can.”  (The Screwtape Letters, CS Lewis; https://www.biblegateway.com/devotionals/).  FYI – This book was written to give insight into demon strategy to disrupt the growth in Christ of a new believer.  Therefore, the Enemy in this context is God.

Observation

Our culture has conditioned us to rate a person’s value by his/her accomplishment, status, possessions, appearance, physical prowess, performance – the visible fruit of our own efforts.  This is only a problem when we begin to believe that any of these visible fruits make us more valuable in God’s sight. No matter what talent, ability, possessions, or other human accomplishment we brought with us when we entered into Christ, He got no bargain, no bonus, and owed us no credit for what we contributed to the cause.  “For we must never forget that he rescued us from the power of darkness, and re-established us in the kingdom of his beloved Son, that is, in the kingdom of light. For it is by his Son alone that we have been redeemed and have had our sins forgiven.” 

We paid no price to be born again – just as we contributed nothing to our physical birth except to show up at the finale. It is what we do with our lives that matters. We need to remember that we have been RESCUED from the power of darkness, an inescapable prison, by the only One Who could pay the price, and He values every soul irrespective of Godly giftings or visible fruit.  Everything we are or do or can be is a gift from God that He wants us – in gratitude for our rescue – to choose to gift back and submit to Him so that He can make the best of us – our talents, abilities, skills and possessions – and fulfill His will and purpose to bring more souls into His Kingdom.  

Impact on Me

So, I find the second half of today’s passage easier to do than the first half. Salvation was free; I like free and have always remained grateful for the gift only Jesus could provide. However, sanctification (“living this new life”) is much more challenging as it apparently has a cost to me that requires strength and courage and may require me to endure pain and distress, all the while thanking God for the opportunity to do so. “As you live this new life, we pray that you will be strengthened from God’s boundless resources, so that you will find yourselves able to pass through any experience and endure it with courage. You will even be able to thank God in the midst of pain and distress because you are privileged to share the lot of those who are living in the light.” 

If I am truly grateful for the free gift, can I really refuse to trust and obey the Giver, regardless of what it might cost me, so that others might receive the free gift of salvation and begin to live this new life?  Have I grasped that I am now part of God’s Kingdom and have a share of both the cost and benefit of “those living in the light”?  Isn’t any cost to me just returning what has been supplied by Him and His resources?  Can I really believe that I bring something to the table that is completely my own?  What is my rescue worth to me?  What price will I be willing to pay so others might be rescued? 

I always come back to consider the price Jesus paid for me – that was equally paid for every soul, that was my only hope, that is a rescue for whosoever will come. When I consider these things, I strive to let the cost of my obedience be in God’s hands and to remember to be thankful that no matter where I find myself or the circumstances surrounding me, God is with me and has a plan to redeem, restore, and rescue.  While I am not at the place where I say, “Thank you, God, for bringing on the pain and distress!”, I am getting better at asking Him what He would have me do and be in the middle of it.  I hope that is a visible fruit of living the new life in Christ.

Prayer

I stand in awe of the path You walked and the price You paid to provide my redemption, my rescue.  And then You offer salvation free to me for the taking.  I pray that You remind me always that everything I have, am and do, I have because You have first given Your all on my behalf.  Remind me that regardless of the circumstances You go with me and will provide all I need.  I want to keep my perspective in line with Yours as I humbly and gratefully walk this Christian life.  I ask this all in Jesus’ name.