GraceCreates

By Jon Walker

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 5:20 (NIV)

“Thank you so much for pulling together this little soiree so we could meet and greet. I’m honored to be the new Ambassador, here to represent the King and all his interests.

Some of you have asked me about the King, what he’s really like, and I have to tell you in all honesty, I’ve never met the King. In fact, I really don’t even know the King; and, well, let’s just be honest, I don’t even know that much about the King, except, maybe, what other people have told me and a few things I memorized when I was a boy.

But, don’t let that concern you, I have no doubt I’ll serve the president . . . oh, ah, the prime minister . . . no, that’s not quite right. Ah yes, I have no doubt I’ll serve the King well as his ambassador to . . . excuse me, you there, what country is this again?”

Being Christ’s ambassador requires more than just representing his interests; first you need to develop an intimacy with him, and then from that position flows the knowledge and passion needed to represent his interest.

It’s your intimacy with Jesus that energizes your ability to implore others on his behalf, as though God were making his appeal through you. So now, “whatever you do, whether in word or deed, [you can] do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Colossians 3:17 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.

By Jon Walker

I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. John 13:15 (NIV)

Fred was under my car. It needed new brake pads and I couldn’t afford to pay a mechanic. The car had a rusted undercarriage and smelled of mildew, but I was grateful just to have some form of transportation.

In the heat and smudged with grease, Fred stayed steadily at it, even when we realized just about all the parts we needed to detach were rusted together, requiring some ingenuity and brute force.

And as we worked, we talked. We shared our stories of the faithful, hopeful, loving Christ and how he has transformed our lives. In that afternoon, Fred became a living example of faithful work, loving deeds, and continual anticipation of the return of our Lord Jesus Christ (based in 1 Thessalonians 1:3 NLT).

Fred’s example was an echo of Jesus, who, after washing the disciples’ feet, said, in essence, “Look at my life—this is what God at work in a human life looks like” (paraphrase of John 13:12–17).
 
Fred was under my car. Fred was my pastor. Jesus said, “I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you” (John 13:15 NLT).

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

“The servant . . . said, ‘Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.’ The master was furious. ‘That’s a terrible way to live! It’s criminal to live cautiously like that!’” Matthew 25:24–26 (MSG)

Several years ago, as editor of an online newsletter for Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life, I wrote a headline for an article on altar calls.

But I typed out alter calls, and failed to catch the error before it was sent around the world!

Rick responded by saying, “I want everyone on my staff to make at least one big mistake a week. If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not trying anything new.” His point was that he didn’t want us to be afraid to try something innovative and creative, even if it meant risking failure. There should be no small dreams for those belonging to God.

In Matthew 25, Jesus spoke about three servants: One given ten talents, which he doubled; one given five talents, which he doubled; a third given one talent, which he buried in a hole, in essence, saying, “I don’t want to lose it. I don’t want to take any risks.”

When the master found out, he was furious. Eugene Peterson paraphrases the master’s response as: “That’s a terrible way to live! It’s criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least?” (Matthew 25:26 MSG).

There’s another word for risk-taking, it’s faith. But if we’re not taking any risks—if we’re walking in a way that does not require faith —then we’re being faith-less.

Jesus said, “Everything is possible for him who believes” (Mark 9:23 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.

By Jon Walker

John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’” John 1:23 (NIV)

You’re a voice. You’re not the message; you’re simply the messenger.

Like Isaiah and John the Baptist, you’re the “voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord’” (John 1:23 NIV).

Speaking as a Jesus-one, your objective is to reach the place where you are honest when you say:

The message I bring is from God; it’s not anything I thought up on my own. God filled me with his Holy Spirit so that I could understand his message and know without a doubt that his message is true and freely given.

The words I speak are not the result of human wisdom or human imagination or my own opinion; they were formed in me by the Holy Spirit so that I could express “spiritual truths in spiritual words” (1 Corinthians 2:12–13 NIV, with author paraphrase).

I am simply a channel for God’s message. In order for his message to grow in me and to grow in you, he must increase and “I must decrease” (John 3:30 NKJV).

The more I state the message, the more I align with the message; the more I live the message, the more he increases and the more I decrease.

The more I decrease, the more God’s message flowing through me comes to you pure—unfiltered and uncontaminated by my opinions, prejudices, demands, and self-reliance.

This is my God-true assessment of who I am in Christ. Authentic humility means I know who I am and my place in God’s plan. It means my position did not come from my own hands, but is a gift freely given from the one who holds me in his hands.

I’m not the message; I’m the messenger. I am a voice; I’m a God-created, God-cleansed, God-commanded voice.

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.