GraceCreates

By Jon Walker

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:18 (NIV)

What you believe inevitably shows up in what you do.

If you believe the chair is going to collapse, you’ll be very careful about how you sit on it, if you even sit on it at all.

The same principle shows up in our faith. If you believe you’ve been created with little value, then you’re likely to live like a tom-petty-refugee. If you believe God created you with great value, then you’ll see things from God’s perspective and live accordingly.

If you deeply believe God forgives you, then you’ll be compelled to forgive others. If you believe you’re constantly being judged, then you’re more likely to judge. If you believe the law is the standard for Christian behavior, then you’ll measure others by the law. If you believe the spirit is the standard for Christian behavior, then you’ll measure others by evidence of the spirit at work.

Dallas Willard says, “You can live opposite of what you profess, but you cannot live opposite of what you believe.”

When we believe God’s love is working through us, it will show up in the things we do.

Paul says love is present when you see — Patience, kindness, humility, other-centeredness, even-handedness, goodness, truth, protection, trust, hope, and perseverance. (1 Corinthians 13:4-6, NIV)

Jesus says love is present when you see – The hungry being fed, hospitality being offered, clothes given to those on the streets, care for those who are sick, and concern for those in prison. (Matthew 25:35-26)

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

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 1 John 4:9 (NIV)

She said, “Since the two babies are due almost at the same time, it would be like having twins. I’d love to have two babies at once.”

She was talking about adopting a baby; she was talking about adopting the baby my girlfriend carried; she was talking about helping us through a crisis pregnancy.

Years ago my big sister spoke the words of love and she showed her love by action. Love is not a passive noun; it’s an active verb. It’s something you do more often than something you feel.

We speak love with action: There is a famous Peanuts comic where Sally, Charlie Brown’s little sister, stands inside a warm, dry house looking through a window at Snoopy, who sits on top of his dog house freezing and wet. Instead of inviting Snoopy into the house, or providing for his comfort, she says, in effect, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well.” (James 2:16 NCV)

When we do things for others, we show God’s love in action. As we drink deeply from God’s love, he fills our hearts to overflowing and the overflow of his love pours into the lives of those we love. The Apostle John describes this as rivers of living water flowing from us (John 7:38).

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

Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God. John 3:20-21 (NIV)

Although you and I share the same Holy Spirit within, we still might find difficulty developing a deep, transparent friendship. Of course, the depth and breadth of diversity among Jesus-ones means there are many who neither one of us will become intimately connected.

But the truth is – most of us don’t have any deep, deep, authentic relationships, even among our friends in Christ-community.

There’s a fear in all this is that, in order to truly know other people, I must be willing to be known, allowing others to get close enough to see the real me. And that sounds a little scary, doesn’t it?

What if there are parts of me of which I’m not proud or that need a lot of work?

Never fear! Truth is here –

Jesus invites you to know him, so you can get used to being in a transparent, authentic relationship. He’s not afraid of intimate friendships; Jesus went to the cross and beyond to guarantee you would be accepted into God’s family through your intimate relationship with him (Eph. 1:6).

You now live by the Truth, so you can stay in the light, letting people plainly see what God is doing in your life – including how far he’s brought you from your past and how he’s still working with you, despite your failures and fears.

And that’s Gospel Good News! When we push that part of our life back into the shadows, others are unable to see the redemptive power of Jesus, his blood and righteousness. (John 3:20-21, NIV)

Your intimate friendship with Jesus helps others see that it’s not so scary to know and be known. A godly community emerges when we observe, practice, and model transparent, authentic, unconditional love-filled relationships.

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

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:16 (NIV)

God enables us to love the fear out of one another as we live in community with each other.

We drive fear away from our families and friends by loving one another so supportively that every one feels safe inside the group. This safety allows us to bring our humanness into the open, including our pain and joy, our ups and downs, our victories and defeats, our fears and faith. (1 John 4:18)

My friend Steve Pettit says this means we give to others the same uncommon safety Jesus gives to us – the freedom to be real, to be sad, to be messed up, to be confused, yet to still be loved. We offer an uncommon support to each other, and often in the New Testament that kind of God-energized support means we increase one another’s potential (Romans 14:19).

In Christ, we live and move and have our being, and in Christ-community we help others reach their full potential as Jesus-ones (Acts 17:28; Romans 14:19).  With this uncommon, authentic support, we can laugh together and weep together. We can comfort and confront, warm and warn, cherish and challenge, all within an atmosphere of Christ-centered safety that loves the fear out of one another. (1 Peter 1:22; Acts 17:28; 1 Corinthians 12:25-26; 1 John 4:16)

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.