GraceCreates

By Jon Walker

For even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than pulling you down, I will not be ashamed of it. (2 Corinthians 10:8 NIV)

My son came home from middle school the other day and told me there’d been a reward-day-type assembly, where some neat stuff was given away. Then a teacher put all the student’s names into a bucket for a drawing to determine who would win the biggest prize of all!

“I know you’re only supposed to use special powers for good,” my son said, “But if I had special powers, I would have been tempted today to stop time just before the teacher called out the winner. And I would have slipped up and put my own name in her hand.”

My first thought was, “Wow, that really would be cool!” – but then, out loud, I agreed that special powers should only be used for the good of others. As the great theologian, Spiderman, says: “With great power comes great responsibility.”

But then my A.D.D. brain start pinging like a pin ball wizard running wild in the arcade. (OK, I’m showing my age.) It occurred to me that, as Christians, we do have special powers. In fact, we have the most special power of all planted deep within us: the Holy Ghost, spirit power of Jesus Christ.

Paul, the Blind Man of Damascus Road, refers to this special power when he’s speaking of his role as an apostle. He said the power and authority that emerged from Christ’s spirit within him was given to him to build others up, and that it should never be used to tear others down.

It’s possible you could render the Greek: “With great power comes great responsibility!”

The Spirit of Christ lives within us and, as faithful stewards, we’re to use the special power that flows from him to build up rather than pull down. In a sense, Oswald Chambers speaks to this when he teaches that, when God shows us the faults of others, we’re to use that knowledge to intercede for them and not to criticize them.

That’s a pretty hefty truth to carry, and I think the weight of it is one reason many of us struggle to keep it balanced on our shoulders. When we see other people’s clay feet, our first response should be to go to our knees. Too often, however, we shrug off the weight of truth in order to free our hands for finger-pointing.

What’s the difference between building up and tearing down? Consider these contrasts:

• Greet people with the positive vs. Open with the negative
• Point out what is right vs. Magnify what is wrong
• Expect excellence vs. Expect perfection
• Listen intently vs. Don’t listen at all
• See the individual vs. See the stereotype
• Applaud positive changes vs. Say, “You’ll never change!”
• Acceptance vs. Rejection
• Respect vs. Ridicule
• Apology vs. Blame
• Forgive vs. Shame
• “You can do it” vs. “You’re hopeless”
• Promises kept vs. Promises broken
• Unconditional love vs. “Strings attached” love
•  God interprets circumstances vs. Fear interprets circumstances
• Point toward things above vs. Point toward problems
• “He’s a child of God” vs. “He’s a problem to be dealt with”

You have great power; how will you handle the responsibility?

What does this mean?

• Your heart speaks through your mouth – [Jesus] went on: “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’” (Mark 7:20-23 NIV) Meditate on what comes out of your mouth on a regular basis. Talk to God about what that reveals about your heart.
• Praise the Father and encourage his creations with your tongue – “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. (James 3:9-10 NIV)
• Encourage vs. discourage – Go through the list of contrasts above and rate yourself on each item. What does your rating reveal? What’cha gonna do about it?
• Pray today – “God, I want to be a good steward of the spirit-powers you’ve invested within me. I want you to use me to encourage every person I come in contact with today, showing them the depth and breadth of your love.”

If you’d like to receive these devotionals regularly, you can sign-up at www.gracecreates.com/subscribe/. Jon Walker writes from www.gracecreates.com. He is a Zondervan author, and the former writer/editor of the Purpose Driven Life On-Line Devotionals. This devotional is copyrighted 2008 by Jon Walker. Used by permission.

By Jon Walker

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10 NIV)

Oh God, create in me a pure heart …

• A heart that won’t run with lust after physical pleasure.
• A heart that obediently refuses what you’ve fenced away as sin.
• A heart of love that never insists on its own way. (1 John 2:16)

Oh God, create in me a pure heart …

• A heart that knows no greed when it looks upon worldly treasures.
• A heart that thinks of others, and not itself.
• A heart that argues for love instead of fairness.

Oh God, create in me a pure heart …

• A heart that never boasts about what it has or what its done.
• A heart that walks humbly, not trying to appear more important than it is.
• A heart that takes no pride in the flesh.

Oh God, create in me a pure heart …

• A heart that chases after you.
• A heart that looks to you for its provision.
• A heart that trusts you are redemptive-ly at work in others.
• A heart that does not manipulate people or circumstances.
• A heart that looks upon the things above and not the things below.

Heavenly Father, renew a steadfast spirit within me …

• A spirit committed wholly and solely to you.
• A spirit that is not double-minded.
• A spirit that is focused, and single-minded on your purpose.
• A spirit resolved to know Christ and Christ alone.

What does this mean?

• Start from the top of the devotional, and work your way down.

If you’d like to receive these devotionals regularly, you can sign-up at www.gracecreates.com/subscribe/. Jon Walker writes from www.gracecreates.com. He is a Zondervan author, and the former writer/editor of the Purpose Driven Life On-Line Devotionals. This devotional is copyrighted 2008 by Jon Walker. Used by permission.

By Jon Walker

Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Romans 12:10 (NLT)

The Bible tells us that all believers “belong in God’s household with every other Christian.” (Ephesians 2:19 TLB)
This means church is not something we go to, rather it’s something we belong to – a family of God’s people. It’s more than an organization, more than an institution, even more than a group of like-minded people.

We are a family forged by the fires of God’s love, and we are to “be devoted to each other like a loving family.” (Romans 12:10, GW) We are to love one another like brothers and sisters. This sense of family togetherness allows us to create authentic Christian community, where we are accepted, supported, and challenged to fully live out the purposes of our lives. We belong, and we help others belong.

Family is synonymous with a deep, unwavering commitment to support one another, no matter how rough it may get. You do things for family you wouldn’t do for any one else, and you make allowances for family members you might not make for anyone else.

For many of us, this image of family fails because we’ve never really been in a loving, wholesome family. We’ve only seen broken models, shattered relationships, and hurting hearts. The Good News is that God wants to provide you with the very things you’ve longed for in a family, and he can do that in Christian community.

As we learn to love one another, we can create the sense of family necessary to trust one another, accept one another, and serve one another. We learn the power of unconditional love. Our small groups – family circles – are meant to be Holy Spirit-led laboratories for learning to love one another deeply and earnestly (1 Th. 4:9; 1 Peter 1:22).

What does this mean?

• Belonging helps you develop healthy relationships – We may have learned unhealthy methods of relating in our physical families, but in a community of believers we can see models of good relationships. We’ll learn that it takes honesty, vulnerability, effort, and a lot of forgiveness to make relationships work.
• Belonging develops godly character – Character tends to be more caught than taught, and in Christian community we’re able to see, up close and personal, the character traits of others. We’ll see maturity modeled, and we’ll see immaturity displayed, and we may get to model or display some of that ourselves as we all learn and grow together.
• Belonging teaches biblical values – We’ve all picked up values intentionally and unintentionally. Some of these values may be right; some of them may be wrong. By bringing them into the family setting of a Christian small group, we’re able to measure our values against the standards of the Bible and in the context of mature Christian beliefs.
• Belonging gives you a fresh start – You may be fortunate enough to have already seen healthy family relationships modeled in your home, or in your congregation. But there are many of us who emerged from shaky home environments. This is your chance to belong to a loving family and to start fresh in developing healthy relationships, godly character, and biblical values.

If you’d like to receive these devotionals regularly, you can sign-up at www.gracecreates.com/subscribe/. Jon Walker writes from www.gracecreates.com. He is a Zondervan author, and the former writer/editor of the Purpose Driven Life On-Line Devotionals. This devotional is copyrighted 2008 by Jon Walker. Used by permission.

By Jon Walker

“Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” (John 13:35 NLT)

The whole world is watching how we love one another.

Jesus gave the world the right to judge the authenticity of our faith by how much we love other believers. We prove our faith in Christ, not by the rules we keep, but by the love we give.

Notice Jesus didn’t say, “Love me,” as proof of our discipleship. He said, “Love one another, and that will show the world you belong to me.” Our love for one another is a tangible reflection of God’s love, allowing the world to witness the power of transformed lives.

Before we ever engage our neighbors about the truth of Christ, we already are telling them about God’s love by the way we love each other. Until the world sees the love of God modeled in Christian community, they’re going to have trouble believing it could ever exist. When we care as Christ for one another, we show the world a love so authentic and contagious that they can’t help but be attracted to it.

The world is desperate for love and a sense of community, and we’re meant to be the salt (Matthew 5:13) that increases their thirst for the living water (John 4:10). “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” (John 7:38 NIV)

What does this mean?

• Community requires unity – Our love for one another shows the world our unity with the Father, and also shows them that community requires unity, a oneness about the purposes of life. Jesus said, “I want all [my disciples] to be one with each other, just as I am one with you and you are one with me. I also want them to be one with us. Then the people of this world will believe that you sent me.” (John 17:21 CEV) 
• Use words, if necessary – We make a statement about God by the way we love one another. It may be a positive statement or it may be a negative one, but the fact is that people often form their opinions of God based upon our individual reputation: “You may be the only picture of Jesus people will ever see.” Or they may form their opinion of God based upon the reputation of our congregations – how we get along, how we support each other, how we criticize, how we love one another.
• Shining lights – We’re to let our “light shine so that others will see the good” and praise our Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16) My friend, are you known for what you are against, more than what you are for? Our lives need to broadcast the Good News of a love so “wide and long and high and deep” that it encompasses more than any of us could ever imagine. (Ephesians 3:18 NIV)

If you’d like to receive these devotionals regularly, you can sign-up at www.gracecreates.com/subscribe/. Jon Walker writes from www.gracecreates.com. He is a Zondervan author, and the former writer/editor of the Purpose Driven Life On-Line Devotionals. This devotional is copyrighted 2008 by Jon Walker. Used by permission.