GraceCreates

By Jon Walker

“But make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God.” (Romans 13:11 MSG)

The movie “Hoosiers” tells the story of a small-town basketball team miraculously making it all the way to the state championship. At one point in a critical game, the coach called a player off the bench and told him to get into the game. The boy was a devout Christian, so before running onto the court, he knelt down and prayed.

And he continued to pray, delaying the game. Finally the coach leaned down and said, “Son, my guess is God wants you out on the court now.”

Some of us are like that – we’re still praying for God to strengthen us for the game, when God wants us to get into the thick of the game, carrying his promise that he will be our strength.

The truth is, just like in a basketball game, time is running out for us to fulfill our life missions!

Even if Jesus doesn’t return for another 100 years, each of us is personally limited to the days we have on earth; we can only share our faith with others while we’re here! For that matter, we can only share our faith with others while they are still in this world.

Back in the 19th century, a missionary to China named Hudson Taylor was talking to a Buddhist leader who had become a follower of Christ. The man asked Taylor how long the Gospel had been known in England.

“For hundreds of years,” Taylor said.

The new convert began to cry. He said, “For hundreds of years! My father sought the truth for more than 20 years, and he died without finding it. Why didn’t you come sooner?”

That question burned in Hudson Taylor’s soul as he began a mission to tell millions of Chinese about Jesus Christ.

What does this mean?

• Get into the game – There still are more than 3,000 people groups in the world with no known church, no local witness, and no eternal hope. Even now, in the 21st century, they still have yet to hear about Jesus Christ.
• Understand this pivotal moment – My friend, Rick Warren, explains it this way: “We are in a pivotal moment in history. We have to stop making excuses for why we cannot go. It’s not too far; it’s not too costly; it’s not too dangerous; it’s not too inconvenient. Not anymore. It’s time to stand up and say we will be the last generation to have to answer the question, ‘Why didn’t you come sooner?’”
• ‘I will go’ – God wants you moving toward your mission now. You may need to pray about your concerns, fears, or indifference. You may need to simply pray, “God, I don’t know when, where, or how, but I will go.”
• Why didn’t you come sooner? You mission may not be halfway around the world; it may be right next door.

Jon Walker is the teaching pastor for “The Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotionals,” and resident writer at www.GraceCreates.com. This devotional is copyrighted 2008 by Jon Walker. Used by permission.

By Jon Walker

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.  (2 Corinthians 4:8-12, NIV)

We are jars of clay, chipped and blemished, fragile by God’s design in order to show the glorious light of God shining through our cracks and crevices. People should look at us and say, “What’s this? That plain jar of clay isn’t creating such a glorious light; it must be the light of heaven contained within. The peace and joy and love I see in that light must be from God.”

And so our older brother Paul says we can rest assured that our hardships are not meant to defeat us. God is still at work in our lives, even if we’re unable to see his hand at work.

We may be hard pressed, yet our hope in God keeps us from being crushed; perplexed, yet our hope in God keeps us from despair; persecuted, yet our hope in God tells us we’re not abandoned; struck down, yet our God keeps us from being destroyed. We are at the crossroads where the street called “When You Can’t See God’s Hand” intersects with the avenue of “Then Trust God’s Heart.”

And God says his heart is not to hurt us, but to help us as we journey back to heavenly wholeness with him. His good plan for us doesn’t mean we won’t be hard pressed, perplexed, persecuted, or struck down. It means we can remain filled with hope, even as we pick ourselves up off the ground.

God’s plan is that every time we face these hardships, we learn to trust God a little bit more, so that every time the hardships press in, we can be a little stronger. God is our strength, not our own ability to carry the weight.

God doesn’t ask us to “work up” this hope – pretending we’re joyful when our whole world is collapsing around us. Rather, our hardships allow the Holy Spirit to work within us, developing joy and peace – teaching us to stop trusting in our own understanding and instead to trust that God is at work within and around our lives.

Paul encourages us to press on toward Christ-likeness. In order to be like Jesus, however, we must be men and women acquainted with sorrow, just like Lord Jesus, who hard pressed, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down, only to rise again.

In him we place our hope, and it is a hope that will not disappoint.

What does this mean?

• See your problems as leading you to be more like Jesus – Ask God to help you see how your problems are helping you grow toward Christ-likeness. Ask God to show you how your hardships are working for you and not against you. Ask him to help you embrace a peace that passes all understanding.
• Skip the ‘try harder’ mentality – The Christian walk is difficult enough without beating ourselves up about the need to “try harder.” Rest in Christ and allow him to give you peace, even as you face hardship. Your ability to “try harder” pales in comparison to Jesus’ ability to be your strength in the midst of trouble. By this, you will discover that God is strongest in your moments of weakness.

Jon Walker is the teaching pastor for “The Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotionals,” and resident writer at www.GraceCreates.com. This devotional is copyrighted 2008 by Jon Walker. Used by permission.

By Jon Walker

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. (2 Corinthians 4:6-7 NIV)

In the same way God spoke light into the darkness at creation, today he speaks light into the darkness of our hearts. He fills us with the light of the Holy Spirit, allowing us to see the face of Christ with greater clarity as he transforms us into the likeness of Christ. We carry God’s glory, and it shines from us so all the world can see that our God is an awesome God.

The glory that shines from within us is not our own; it is God’s glory and his alone. Our brother, Paul, explains that we are jars of clay – fragile, chipped, imperfect – exactly as God designed us to be. In this way, others see the “all-surpassing power” of God through our weakened frames and shattered lives. We are monuments of God’s grace with an inscription written in God’s own hand: “Within this earthen container, the One True God is at work.”

Yet we try to put our own “shine” on our simple jars of clay. We maneuver and posture to make our jars look better. We decorate the outside with ecclesiastical “vain glories” that we call image, power, position, wealth. Quite simply, we try to make ourselves appear more than what we are, failing to grasp that God loves us just for who we are – his own creations.

When we try to make it look like we are the ones who shine, we inevitably reveal our “easily surpassable power.” Yet this gives us greater understanding that in our weakness, God is strong. His light shines through even greater; his strength is revealed when we acknowledge we are God’s jars of clay.

What does this mean?

• See your weaknesses as a gift – You are God’s jar of clay, designed exactly the way he intended. Your weaknesses are an opportunity for God’s light to shine even brighter from within you.
• Stop trying to make yourself look good – Just be who you are, a frail human designed by God to reveal his glory. Frankly, we could use a whole lot more authenticity in the church. If you’re hurt, say it; if you’re angry, resolve it; if you’re in love; show it; if you’ve made a mistake, confess it; if you’re in need, reveal it.
• Don’t make others think they have to appear good – Accept each other in love, just as Christ accepted you – a jar of clay with chips and cracks.
• Magnify the glory of God – Magnify the glory of God by simply being you and letting him shine through. Magnify the glory of God in others, instead of magnifying their weaknesses.

Jon Walker is the teaching pastor for “The Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotionals,” and resident writer at www.GraceCreates.com. This devotional is copyrighted 2008 by Jon Walker. Used by permission.

By Jon Walker

“Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the Word of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:2a, NIV)

It’s easy to look at this verse and assume Paul is talking about the sinful behavior that occurs before we become Christians. That is, we announce our dependence upon Jesus and we renounce the sinful methods we use to make it through each day.

Yet Paul is actually referring to the sinful behavior of a group of Christians who are slandering him while also manipulating other Christians. Instead of slinging mud, Paul, our prefect in the school of Christ, ignores their specific attacks and instead directs us heavenward.

In effect, he says, we once used these same methods to get our own way, but now that we follow Christ, we depend upon him to carry us through the day. We no longer depend upon our own strength, and we no longer depend upon secrecy, deception, or self-righteousness to get our own way.

It seems it always comes back to dependence on Jesus, doesn’t it?

Paul, ever the exhorter, pushes us toward the ideal, but his standards are never imperative, “ought to” statements demanding perfection from us. He, perhaps more than any other student in the school of Christ, understands our desperate need for God’s grace.

We can’t; God can. And because we trust, God can.

This means we …

• No longer do things in secret – Paul says we’ve agreed to no longer do the things that bring shame, the things we’d never do if we knew they’d be broadcast on the JumboTron in New York City’s Times Square. But before we toss this off as a lesson meant for sinners worse than us, think of it in terms of the masks we wear – the attitudes we keep buried deep inside, the actions we take when no one else is looking. Could it be we cling to these hidden things because we don’t, yet, fully trust God?
• No longer lie and manipulate – As Christ-followers, we strive toward transparent lives, where “what you see is what you get.” We abandon the use of lies or manipulation in order to get our way, in order to “give God a little bit of help.”
• No longer use God’s Word for self-serving purposes – For instance, the Bible teaches us to speak the truth in love, with the purpose of growing in oneness with Christ. (Ephesians 4:15) Yet it’s not uncommon, when faced with a conflict, for us to use just a fraction of the verse to excuse our ill-mannered or unloving behavior. We say we’re simply speaking the truth, ignoring the hard work of confronting in a loving manner.

What does this mean?

• Focus on the power of God – Don’t focus on where you’ve failed; there is no condemnation in Christ. Rather, focus on God’s strength to transform you in these areas as you place your faith in him; quit focusing on your ability to make things work.
• Ask God to open your eyes – Ask God to reveal any areas in your life where you resort to forms of secrecy, manipulation, or misusing God’s Word.
• Ask God to guide you – Tell God you want to fully renounce these ways and that you need him to help you trust his ways over your own. “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.”

Jon Walker is the teaching pastor for “The Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotionals,” and resident writer at www.GraceCreates.com. This devotional is copyrighted 2008 by Jon Walker. Used by permission.