By Jon Walker
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind …." (Luke 10:27 NIV)
No doubt it sounds strange, but in order to love God with all your strength, you have to admit that you are weak and that your strength is limited.
By doing this, you acknowledge God as the true source of your strength, and that in your weakness, he is strong. You become strong as you become totally dependent upon him, allowing his strength to work through you.
As you allow God to show his strength, you will find yourself doing things you never thought possible. God promises you can do all things through the Father as he gives you his strength (Phil. 4:13). You’ll take steps of faith you never thought possible, and you’ll love others in a way you never imagined as God supplies you with supernatural strength and energy.
God is strong and he wants you strong. He will change you in places where you cannot change yourself, and he will transform the broken places of your life in order to use them for his own glory.
God doesn’t ask you to take steps of faith alone; he is with you in every step, filling you with a grace-charged strength. God only asks you to take one step of faith at a time.
So what?
· Tell God you need his strength – and really mean it this time. Ha! When you try to love and serve others with just your own strength, you’ll inevitably fail. After all, there are a lot of frustrating, unlovable people out there. (Just ask some of my friends!) And that’s OK because God wants you to fail in your own strength so you’ll start to rely upon his strength.
· You can’t love God wholeheartedly – Jesus knows you won’t be able to love God with your whole heart until you become dependent upon his strength to do so. You simply can’t do it through your own energy or strength, but Jesus also knows you’ll come to realize this yourself the more you attempt to love God – and others – on your own. At that point, you’re faced with a very clear but difficult choice: Keep on keeping on in your own strength, wondering why this abundant life thing doesn’t work, or take the “Nestea plunge” into the deep end of dependence on God’s strength.
· One step of faith at a time – Relying on God’s strength doesn’t mean he will require you to take giant leaps of faith. He’s taking you on a lifelong journey, and my experience is that God only asks for one step at a time. The so-called “leaps of faith” you see some people take actually are the culmination of a lot of little steps of faith that you may not be aware of. The first step is to ask God to be your strength as you take your first steps of faith. Willingness to rely on him is a step of faith.
· Question for meditation: How dependent on God am I each day as I walk out my faith? Where am I moving independently of him?
© 2007 Jon Walker. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Christ In You
by Jon Walker
The Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotional
“God wanted to make known to those among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27 HCS)
While moving through the line at a college cafeteria, one of my friends spotted a note stuck in a bowl of apples. It read, “Please take only one apple per student. Remember, God is watching!”
When my friend, one apple in hand, got to the end of the line, he spotted another note – this one hand-written – next to a bowl of cookies. It read, “Take all the cookies you want! God is watching the apples.”
Has it ever struck you how comically absurd it is for us to behave as if God is compartmentalized, convincing ourselves that somehow we can live separated from – or hidden from – God’s omnipresent spirit?
But this belief – and the resulting behavior – is contrary to the Gospel. The brutal and bloody death of Jesus was not just about paying the penalty of our sins; it also released the Holy Spirit to scrub us white as snow so this Jesus-Spirit could live within us.
When you become a believer, God breathes the Holy Spirit into you (John 3), creating a constant connection between you and the Heavenly Father, a flowing fountain of living water springing up into life eternal. (John 4:14)
To echo Ian Thomas, who is an obedient teacher of Christ, the work of Jesus allows God to come out of heaven and dwell inside you. You now have the energy and power of Jesus working actively within you, transforming you from the inside out. (Ephesians 2:10)
You are united with Christ, but not in some New Age mystical sense – He is God, and you are not– I repeat not – any sort of God. As a Christian, you partake in the Divine nature, but you are not divine. (2 Peter 1:3-4) You’re merely – yet quite uniquely – a trophy of God’s grace, wholly and totally dependent upon him for your salvation, your sanctification, and the next breath you take.
The Good News is simply this – Christ in you – and that is your only hope for glory (that is, an eternity with God). “The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, therefore you can look forward to sharing in God's glory. It's that simple. That is the substance of our Message.” (Colossians 1:27b MSG)
So what?
· God is our strength – Here’s a radical “so what?” With the Spirit of God inside, you can stop praying prayers like, “God, please give me strength.” The fact is, he is your strength. Your prayers can move toward allowing his strength to transform you. (Strength is just an example here – this also applies to wisdom, peace, joy, etc.)
· Up close and personal – God is not a distant God. His spirit is working within you. Paul suggests this is a down payment on the eternity to come, but it also shows that God values intimate relationship over rules or religion.
· Expect God to work in you – You are “God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works ….” (Ephesians 2:10a NIV) Don’t hope that he’s at work in you; expect him to work in you, transforming you into a reflection of Christ. Ask God where he’s working in you, and then expect him to show you.
© 2007 Jon Walker. All rights reserved.
The Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotional
“God wanted to make known to those among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27 HCS)
While moving through the line at a college cafeteria, one of my friends spotted a note stuck in a bowl of apples. It read, “Please take only one apple per student. Remember, God is watching!”
When my friend, one apple in hand, got to the end of the line, he spotted another note – this one hand-written – next to a bowl of cookies. It read, “Take all the cookies you want! God is watching the apples.”
Has it ever struck you how comically absurd it is for us to behave as if God is compartmentalized, convincing ourselves that somehow we can live separated from – or hidden from – God’s omnipresent spirit?
But this belief – and the resulting behavior – is contrary to the Gospel. The brutal and bloody death of Jesus was not just about paying the penalty of our sins; it also released the Holy Spirit to scrub us white as snow so this Jesus-Spirit could live within us.
When you become a believer, God breathes the Holy Spirit into you (John 3), creating a constant connection between you and the Heavenly Father, a flowing fountain of living water springing up into life eternal. (John 4:14)
To echo Ian Thomas, who is an obedient teacher of Christ, the work of Jesus allows God to come out of heaven and dwell inside you. You now have the energy and power of Jesus working actively within you, transforming you from the inside out. (Ephesians 2:10)
You are united with Christ, but not in some New Age mystical sense – He is God, and you are not– I repeat not – any sort of God. As a Christian, you partake in the Divine nature, but you are not divine. (2 Peter 1:3-4) You’re merely – yet quite uniquely – a trophy of God’s grace, wholly and totally dependent upon him for your salvation, your sanctification, and the next breath you take.
The Good News is simply this – Christ in you – and that is your only hope for glory (that is, an eternity with God). “The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, therefore you can look forward to sharing in God's glory. It's that simple. That is the substance of our Message.” (Colossians 1:27b MSG)
So what?
· God is our strength – Here’s a radical “so what?” With the Spirit of God inside, you can stop praying prayers like, “God, please give me strength.” The fact is, he is your strength. Your prayers can move toward allowing his strength to transform you. (Strength is just an example here – this also applies to wisdom, peace, joy, etc.)
· Up close and personal – God is not a distant God. His spirit is working within you. Paul suggests this is a down payment on the eternity to come, but it also shows that God values intimate relationship over rules or religion.
· Expect God to work in you – You are “God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works ….” (Ephesians 2:10a NIV) Don’t hope that he’s at work in you; expect him to work in you, transforming you into a reflection of Christ. Ask God where he’s working in you, and then expect him to show you.
© 2007 Jon Walker. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
The Secret
One day, one friend asked another:
"How is it that you are always so happy?
You have so much energy, and you never seem to get down.
You have so much energy, and you never seem to get down.
With her eyes smiling, she said:
"I know the Secret!"
"What secret is that?"
To which she replied, "I'll tell you all about it,
but you have to promise to share the Secret with others."
"The Secret is this:
I have learned there is little I can do in my life that will make me truly happy.
I must depend on God to make me happy and to meet my needs.
When a need arises in my life, I have to trust God to supply according to HIS riches.
I have learned most of the time I don't need half of what I think I do.
He has never let me down.
Since I learned that 'Secret', I am happy."
The questioner's first thought was,
"That's too simple!"
But upon reflecting over her own life
she recalled how she thought a bigger house would make her happy, but it didn't!
She thought a better paying job would make her happy, but it hadn't.
When did she realize her greatest happiness?
Sitting on the floor with her grandchildren, playing games, eating pizza
or reading a story, a simple gift from God.
or reading a story, a simple gift from God.
Now you know it too!
We can't depend on people to make us happy.
Only GOD in His infinite wisdom can do that.
Trust HIM!
And now I pass the Secret on to you!
So once you get it, what will you do?
YOU have to tell someone the Secret, too!
That GOD in His wisdom will take care of YOU!
But it's not really a secret...
We just have to believe it and do it...
Really trust God!
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