GraceCreates

by Jon Walker
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7 (NIV)

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If you lived in a frontier town constantly harassed by raiding parties from an enemy, one option for your military would be to send troops to actually live beside you. These troops would be garrisoned to your town, and their presence would not only provide protection during an attack; they, hopefully, would dissuade the enemy from even launching any more attacks.

This is the implication of Paul’s language in this passage; that the peace of God will be garrisoned within your heart and mind, providing an ever-present protection from within as opposed to the need to stressfully search the horizon for the Calvary to arrive just in the nick of time.

God’s peace and presence is closer than a brother, not a mental state reached by working yourself into it. Jesus became flesh and garrisoned among us (John 1:1–14), and now the Holy Spirit garrisons within us.

It’s a garrison of peace that mingles and indwells your heart and mind, protecting you even as it heals the wounds of worry and fear that once invaded your life.

The peace that garrisons within you is a peace that passes all understanding because it is God-powered and Spirit-connected: “. . . we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand” Romans 5:1–2 (NIV).

Jon Walker is the author of “Growing with Purpose: Connecting with God Every Day.” This article is copyrighted 2010 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)

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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).

Jon Walker is the author of “Growing with Purpose: Connecting with God Every Day.” This article is copyrighted 2010 by Jon Walker. Used by permission.

by Jon Walker

The law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. Galatians 3:24–25 (NIV)

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I recently read about a state enacting a law requiring motorists to pull over when being passed by a lights-on, sirens-blaring emergency vehicle.

Now most of us recognize this as a standard requirement when driving. We learned it in Driver’s Ed, memorized it for the written test, and have seen it modeled by drivers every time an emergency vehicle approaches.

So why would there be a need for this law? Isn’t pulling aside for emergency vehicles ingrained in us?

It may have been at one time, but I’ve noticed over the past few years that many drivers seem reluctant to pull over. Maybe we’re less concerned about following the law, or we’ve forgotten that emergency vehicles are responding to a critical, time-is-of-the-essence, lives-may-be-at-stake crisis situation.

Then again, maybe it’s because we’ve become so busy and self-absorbed in our own lives we don’t want to be inconvenienced by slowing down, no matter what kind of emergency crosses our paths.

When it comes to pulling over to the side of the road, a rule that used to be “in our hearts” now requires a written law for all to see, in order to get everyone to comply.

As silly as that seems, God had to do the same thing. He never intended for us to live under the law; he designed us to live by his Spirit. But because we refused to comply, God sent us legislation—starting with Ten Commandments—to push us toward holy living.

To echo the apostle Paul, the law is a school of Christ, teaching us the holy ways of God. More importantly, it points to the fact that we must be dependent upon God’s grace (not just his ways), that we must be guided by his Spirit or we’ll never successfully graduate from milk to the meat of an abundant life.

In short: God wants you to operate in such a way that you don’t need legislation (or willpower, or guilt) to force you to follow the rules because the rules are now written on your heart by the very hand of God.

Jon Walker is the author of “Growing with Purpose: Connecting with God Every Day.” This article is copyrighted 2010 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)

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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.

Jon Walker is the author of “Growing with Purpose: Connecting with God Every Day.” This article is copyrighted 2010 by Jon Walker. Used by permission.