GraceCreates

By Jon Walker

You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. Galatians 5:13 (NIV)

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Jesus came to earth as a servant. He told his disciples, “That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served – and then to give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage” (Matthew 20:28 MSG).

Our objective-in-Jesus is to serve others just as Jesus served: “I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you” (John 13:15 NLT).

In our Jesus-walk we stress the forgiveness of our sins, our future in heaven, and a holiness that comes only through the blood of Jesus. But what is often forgotten is this truth: Jesus set us free from the power of sin in order that we might become servants.

Freedom and being a servant almost sounds like a contradiction; servants are rarely free. But the apostle Paul teaches a different view of freedom, and service.

Once, we were slaves to sin (Romans 6:6). We had no choice but to serve ourselves and focus on our own needs and wants (Ephesians 2:1-2).

But Jesus breaks the bondage of sin. “In the same way, you should see yourselves as being dead to the power of sin and alive with God through Christ Jesus. So, do not let sin control your life here on earth so that you do what your sinful self wants to do” (Romans 6:11-12 NCV).

Set free from the chains of our own desires, we’re now free to focus on the needs of others with the help of the Holy Spirit, who gives us the power to get beyond ourselves into other-centeredness.

My friend, Steve Pettit, says, “When we were bound to our sin, we couldn’t see past our own noses. But now that we’re free from ourselves we can look for the spontaneous opportunities the Holy Spirit creates for us to do something for someone else.”

So be eager to serve. Pay attention to those around you so you can become sensitive to their needs. “Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, ‘How can I help?’” (Romans 15:2 MSG).

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 2009 by Jon Walker. Used by permission.

By Jon Walker

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 (NIV)

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The enemy’s great lie is that we must remain separate from the Father. Satan may use a false form of guilt to trick us into thinking we’re unworthy to be God’s child, or he may convince us that we can or must act independent of God, which boils down to the basis for pride.

His use of smoke and mirrors splits us off from the reality of our new creation-ness, enticing us to think and choose as though we’re actually disconnected from Christ and each other.

Satan is well aware that every Jesus-one is growing up to be presented full and complete only in Christ (Colossians 1:28). And he knows that when Jesus moves into any area of our lives, his claims are quickly shown to be empty and useless.

Wherever the enemy has a stronghold on our thinking or feelings, the Truth himself sets us free to respond in courage with confidence in his ability to overcome.

We must remember always that the Truth is a person, and he sets the standard for truth. The Truth is not a list of rules nor a set of regulations; he’s not the practice of rituals nor a religion. The Truth is a person, and you’re relationship to the truth is just that – a relationship with God’s own Truth, the only begotten Son, the author and perfector of our faith.

“Jesus, I accept that the truth is not based on my ability to understand your plans or all of who you are; the truth is not dependent on my thoughts and opinions because then they would be independent of you. What you say is the truth; what you think is the truth; what you do is the truth.

You are the Truth and you’re calling me to live with truth, know the truth, trust the truth, and act according to the truth. All glory and praise to you, forever and ever, amen.”

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 2009 by Jon Walker. Used by permission.

By Jon Walker

I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. Isaiah 61:10 (NIV)

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Yahweh, by your Grace, I wear a coat of righteousness.

This coat of many godly colors makes a dual fashion statement when I join the daily parade:

• It draws attention to the truth that I can do nothing of significance – no godly good – in my own strength.
• But it also dazzles the world with your compassion and mercy, proclaiming that I can do all things when I wrap myself in you and trust wholly and completely in your strength – in your righteousness – in this righteousness coat that comes to me through you.

This coat, created by you, the Master Designer, keeps me warmly secure in your grace and love. It reminds me to that I am dependent upon you, and, that in loving obedience to you, I gratefully try to do only what you tell me to do and say only what you tell me to say, just like Jesus.

This coat strengthens me to toss away the thread-bare rags of self-righteousness currently in my wardrobe, and it allows me to serve you and others from deep within the righteousness you’ve wrapped around me.

This righteous coat keeps me in a position of true humility, knowing whose I am and who dresses me in this righteousness, and from this position, I can stand firm before the enemy while also working within the authority you’ve given me to do your work here on earth.

The more I wear this coat, freely given from you, Father, the more others say I look a lot like 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 2009 by Jon Walker. Used by permission.

By Jon Walker

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)

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When it comes to being creatures of our Creator, I think we think in long-distance terms, like a God far off building babies through mass production.

We see God like the CEO of a car company. Looking through a window down into the parking lot, he says, “I made those cars.” We know he’s not talking about making each car individually, but he made sure they got made, and that they were made by the right design; but the fact is the cars were made on an assembly line.

In the same way, it’s easy to think God wasn’t personally involved with our creation; instead, he trusted us to some worker bees who assembled us from stock parts: “Okay, let’s give him the model 1632 blue eyes, and let’s give her the autumn-maple red-83 hair.”

But the Bible says that’s not the way it works. God designed each of us individually and specifically, and then spoke us into our mothers’ wombs, no different than the way he spoke the world into existence.

We need to abandon any thought of creation as mass production and start thinking in the truth of God as a master artist at work. A great creator like Rembrandt or Michelangelo might spend weeks just working on the corner of the canvas in order to get just the right shading and shadow.

God, too, put thought into you, giving you just the right eye color and just the right smile. You are God’s masterpiece and he carefully, lovingly selected your hair color, your nose, your intellect, your personality, and everything else that make you YOU.

As Rick Warren says in The Purpose Driven Life, “You are not an accident.” If you’ve been rejecting God’s design of you, talk to him about your frustrations, disappointments, or confusion.

And when you’re ready, thank God for his design of 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 2009 by Jon Walker. Used by permission.