GraceCreates

By Jon Walker

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.’” Luke 15:22 (NIV)

In the story of the prodigal, we identify with the younger brother, seeing ourselves as prodigals returning to God.

Some of us even identify with the older brother, realizing we’ve sinfully harbored resentment when God shows grace to others who, in our wrongful judgment, are less Christian than ourselves.

But have you ever thought God wants you to identify with the prodigal’s father, who “keeps no record of wrongs” as he scans the horizon always hoping for the return of his son (1 Corinthians 13:5 NIV)?

Consider that we’re on a journey, through Jesus, to become like the heavenly Father—one with his heart, one with his mind, and one with his other-centered focus. When we resemble Jesus, we resemble the Father (John 10:30).

People will see the family resemblance in us; as sons and daughters, they’ll see the maturity of our Father working in and through us. We’re to mature into fathers and mothers of the faith, an idea I’ve reflected on since reading Henri J. M. Nouwen’s The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming (Image Books/Doubleday Publishing Group, 1994).

Our objective in Jesus is to become a father or mother of the faith, a living representation of the Father’s compassion for others. The idea of becoming a father of the faith is alien to me as much as it may be for you to believe you could develop into a mother or father of the faith.

In fact, it seems impossible, but, in truth, it’s what we are meant to become; yet, there are so few.

To echo Oswald Chambers, “Do you not want to be a saint, or do you not believe God can make you one?”

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

“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.  I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’” Luke 15:17–19 (NIV)

While sitting among pigs, the prodigal son finally sees himself as wretched. There’s nothing like having a pig ask you to pass the biscuits to help you see you’re really in a mess.

Rabbi Paul says we’ve got to get to wretched status so we can see we need a Savior: “Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24 NIV).

The problem is, some of us, quite a few of us, need to sink into the sty before we finally cave to the wretched truth about ourselves. Like sin addicts, we have to hit bottom before we’ll get serious about our sin problem.

The prodigal’s father lets him wander off to the far country, just like God gives us the freedom to wallow with pigs, if we’re destructively dense enough to do so. He can wash the pig smell away with the hyssop of Christ’s blood (Psalm 51).

If you’re sitting with the pigs, consider God is pushing you toward the moment when you see yourself as wretched, see your sin as wretched, see your life as wretched, so you can, then, move on to see the One who will rescue you from the cycle of death.

Your stay in the sty will soon seem minor as the truth of God takes deep root within you.

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

On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. . . . For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:12–13 (NIV)

Jesus knew who he was, according to God’s design; Jesus knew whose he was, according to God’s truth; and Jesus knew his purpose for being here on earth. All this allowed him to relax and ignore what others thought or said about him.

It meant Jesus wasn’t worried when others accused him of being a friend of sinners (Luke 19:7) because he was doing exactly what the Father sent him to do: persuade men and women to make peace with God (2 Corinthians 5:20).

Likewise, we’re to represent Jesus, speaking on his behalf to those still on the “outside.” Yet some of us are so isolated and disconnected from unbelievers that we rarely have any meaningful conversations with them.

The tendency is that the longer we’re believers, the more insulated we become from unbelievers, and perhaps the more uncomfortable we become with them.

The result: we no longer have friends who are non-believers.

Jesus’ actions suggest that our witness to non-believers starts with friendship: We earn the right to share the gospel through relationship, where we show that we care about the person, not just baptism statistics.

The apostle Paul encourages us to find common ground with non-believers. Finding common ground is an act of friendship; it guides us to look for the positive instead of the negative in those outside the faith.

When Jesus met the woman at the well, he pointed to what she and he had in common rather than the things he could rightfully condemn (John 4). As a result, she not only became friends with God, she brought her friends and family into the presence of Jesus.

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

“I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3 (NIV)

My son, Christopher, was captivated by birthdays when he was young. His joy overflowed when he saw a “happy cake.” He even kept a party hat in his room so he’d always be ready for a celebration.

Sometimes Christopher would spontaneously designate someone as the birthday boy or girl, and he’d start singing the “Happy Birthday” song. I never failed to see a birthday-designee light up like a candle on a cake when Christopher sang the person’s name. His celebration of each life was infectious; it ministered to those people Christopher celebrated in song.

Henri Nouwen says, “To celebrate a birthday means to say to someone: ‘Thank you for being you.’ . . . On a birthday we do not say, ‘Thanks for what you did, or said, or accomplished.’  No, we say: ‘Thank you for being born and being among us.’”

You, too, can serve others simply by celebrating their lives. And your service to them is not limited to annual birthday celebrations. You celebrate their lives when you let them know how much you appreciate them, when you let them know they’re accepted by you and by God, when you let them know they’re important and uniquely designed by God.

This Jesus-joy in you will bring Jesus-joy to others. It seems to me we need a ministry of Jesus-joy, a service of celebration, as much as any brick-and-mortar ministry we offer in the church today.

So, let me start with you: You are a sweet fragrance to God. He loves you and it brings him great joy when he thinks of you. He celebrates your life, and he wants you to join the festivities. Shhh . . . listen carefully . . . is that someone singing “Happy Birthday” to you, my friend?

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.