Don's Devotionals: Learning to love God

John 15:8  This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Colleges periodically go through a process to have their accreditation re-affirmed and extended. It is a significant two year process and we at Williamson Christian College are approaching the culmination of it.  I have learned that the whole process focuses on outcomes – what are we producing.

Apparently, years ago, the focus used to be more on resources – what you put into it.  While that is still very important, it’s the results, referred to as outcomes that are key.  Another way of putting it is are we producing quality fruit?

The process involves addressing lots of questions: What have we done?  Where are we?  What do we want to accomplish?  Where are we weak?  What strategies must we implement to become stronger?  Are we producing good fruit?  Are we producing fruit commensurate with the opportunities and resources given us?  We are held accountable by our accrediting organization (ABHE) – and by ourselves.  It’s not enough to have good intentions and lots of effort.

I am struck by how this process and these questions apply to our lives as Christians.  Think about them in relationship to yourself, your family, your church, your small group, your ministry or your relationships. Outcomes are important.  God’s word lets us know what they should be.  God wants us to be fruitful. But remember the issue isn’t focused so much on the quantities but on the qualities reflected by whom we are and what we do.

John 15 talks about Jesus being the vine; we are the branches; and the Father is the Gardener.  He will do what it takes for the branches to bear fruit.  He helps us discover weaknesses in our lives, goals we are to achieve – all manner of things.  These are daily occurrences in His ‘School of the Spirit’.  He wants us to respond to Him and respond appropriately.  This is how we bear fruit.  He is after ‘sweet fruit’ not ‘sour grapes’.  We must understand the blessing it is that He is holding us accountable; after all, the goal is for people to see Jesus when they interact with us.

Hebrews 6:1a  Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity…

When we are born again, God does an amazing work in us.  We become new creatures in Christ Jesus.  Old things pass away and all things become new.  Many of us experience remarkable transformations in our lives that impact behavior, thinking and speaking.  The Lord becomes the most important thing in our lives.  We are His, but in terms of living our lives here on earth, we have not arrived – we are merely beginning.

Have you ever considered the perspective that Christianity involves a skill set to be learned and lived?  Foremost it is a relationship with our Lord, but that relationship with Him and with others has requirements of us.  Some we find easier than others to meet.  Some we really struggle with because of the ongoing work that the Lord must do in our lives.  Although we are new in Christ, it’s amazing the lifetime supply of ‘stuff’ we have in our lives that God will bring to our attention and help us deal with.

Our Christian walk is to become more and more like Jesus.  We need to know what that looks like. All too often we think we know but we don’t.  Think a moment about it in terms of carpentry.  It is a learned skill.  Items must be smooth to the touch – no splinters!  How often in our lives are we prickly or ripe with splinters in our interactions with others – and we might even be totally unaware of it.  Some areas of our lives are in need of reconstruction by the Master Carpenter – while others He is putting His finishing touch on.

Change doesn’t all happen overnight in terms of our behavior; it’s a life-long transformative process with the Holy Spirit working with us.  When the scripture says that they will know we are disciples of Jesus by our love for one another, it’s talking about how we live – how we act and talk.  What attitudes do we demonstrate?  Do we have a servant’s heart?

We rejoice both in conforming to His word, and in His dealing with us where we have far to go.  Jesus is our focus.  I remember the slogan of the Zenith Corporation, ‘The quality goes in before the name goes on.’  The same is true of us but with a twist.  We receive the quality within us in Christ.  It’s how we live that reflects our name – whether we are truly followers of Jesus.

Numbers 13:1-2   The LORD said to Moses, “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.”

The twelve spies were given an opportunity by the Lord to see if they would be faithful or not.  What kind of report would they bring back?  Would they simply describe what they found – or would they do something else?

It’s important to remember the history that these 12 men had.  They all were leaders who had experienced God’s incredible deliverance from Egypt. They saw the miracles.  They walked through the parted Red Sea.  They saw the pillar of fire by night and pillar of cloud by day.  They knew the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was with them.  They knew that they were exploring the land promised to Abraham and his descendents.

The 13^th and 14^th chapters of Numbers tell us what happened.  We don’t remember the names of ten of the spies but we honor the names of Joshua and Caleb.  The ten didn’t simply report that there were giants in the land along with all the positive things there.  They allowed the giants in the land to provoke fear and unbelief; giving the people a bad report.

Joshua and Caleb focused on the fact that the Lord was with them.  He would enable them to take the land.  The fact that there were giants and enemies there paled in comparison to the Lord being with them.  Unfortunately, the people chose to believe the ten and rebelled against the Lord.

This story illustrates a principle that God uses repeatedly in our lives.  He gives us opportunities to follow Him and accomplish things that He has purposed us to do.  But in the midst of those things, He allows all manner of problems, difficulties and obstacles to arise.  They can be fearful or overwhelming.  How are we going to respond?  Will fear or faith dominate our responses?

We have a choice to make just like the twelve spies and the children of Israel did.  We can be fearful and complain – or we can seek and trust the Lord, lifting all of those problems to Him.  We can focus on the problems or we can focus on our God – unbelief versus faith.  Each is an opportunity for the Lord in His greatness to enable us to overcome.  The choice is ours.  How will we respond?

Romans 12:2  Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

The movie Pinocchio is truly a classic and a wonderful story.  I find myself fascinated by the transformation that this puppet goes through.   In the story Geppetto is a wood carver who creates a magnificent wooden puppet that he names Pinocchio.  He then wishes upon a star that Pinocchio would become a real boy.  His wish is partly granted in that Pinocchio becomes alive but has to prove himself honest, fair and true in order to become a real boy.

This living puppet goes through adventures with Jiminy, his little cricket friend who is his conscience.  He faces and succumbs to temptation but in the end he is transformed into the real boy that Geppetto wanted.  Pinocchio is no longer a living wooden boy, but a real boy with flesh and blood.

On a simple level yet profound level, this story presents a helpful perspective of our walk in Christ.  Before we come to Christ, we are like the wooden puppet.  Then when we are born again, we become living sons and daughters but we have much to learn.  For the sake of illustration, we become like Pinocchio, the living, wooden puppet.  There is still much change that must occur in us.

We are…and we get to become.  Make that, we must become.  While we are truly sons and daughters of God when we are born again, there is a life-long transformation process that we must embrace in order to be transformed into the men and women God wants us to be.  Our lives – behavior, thoughts, attitudes, words, relationships – all have a lot of wooden edges that He wants us to be free of.

This process involves us no longer conforming to the pattern of the world, but conforming to God’s word and ways.  We must make the choices that enable us to become like Jesus.  Through this process the life-long transformation is accomplished.  The wooden edges are replaced by the real.

Psalm 63:1  O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you,  in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Think of the contrast between longing for something we are deprived of; versus longing for something where we are filled with wonder and anticipation that it’s coming.  On the one hand, we can be dominated by our lack – on the other we are dominated by hope and expectancy.

This is one of those verses in the Bible that has gone from being a mystery to me to being a source of unspeakable joy. This was a Psalm of David when he was in the desert of Judah.  Since encountering God when I became a Christian in 1968, I could relate to him writing and saying, ‘O God, you are my God”.  I could also relate to seeking after God.

The thing I had difficulty with was, ‘my soul thirsts for you. My body longs for you’.  I didn’t understand how that could come about.  I wondered how you could get to a place where you could know and feel that your soul was thirsting for Him – that your body was longing for Him.  On the one hand, as Christians we have his Spirit within us.  Jesus has also promised to never leave us.  But on the other hand, I perceived that this verse spoke of something of great value worth pursuing.

I identified the thirsting and longing as passion for the Lord and made it the focus of prayer for weeks, months and years.  These were things that I didn’t have but wanted.  They spoke to me of aspects of relationship with God that were there for those who would pursue them – and Him.

The thing that I discovered in my prayerful pursuit was that these are things that we can experience today.  We can thirst for Him and long for Him. He provides us with living water to satisfy the thirst.  He provides us with His presence to satisfy the longing for Him.

No matter where we are or what we are doing, we can experience Him.  The thirsting and the longing are gifts that He gives that help motivate us to long for Him, to pursue Him, to see Him and to find Him.  He wants to be found.

Isaiah 61:10a  I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God.

What do you think of when asked to name something you delight in?  Is the word ‘delight’ even a word in your normal vocabulary?  By definition, the word ‘delight’ means a high degree of gratification; joy; also extreme satisfaction, something that gives great pleasure.  To me, delight has always had a sense of superlative to it.  It’s more than just being pleased with something, or liking something.

I remember so vividly the time when Becca, our oldest granddaughter, was about 19 months old.  She walked up to me, grinned and said, “HI GRANDPA!”  Oh my!  What I experienced in that moment.  If I could have melted I would have been a puddle on the floor.

What do you experience when someone you love calls simply to hear your voice – to see how you’re doing?  Or how about when the Lord puts someone on your heart and when you call them and give them a word of encouragement, you discover it was exactly what they needed to hear?  The Lord used you to bless them.  Think of how special that feels!

This sense of delight and rejoicing are not to be occasional things.  I think of what I experience whenever my Donna looks into my eyes and smiles at me.  Words simply cannot describe what goes on inside of me.  I never dreamed that I would be loved as she loves me.  I am overwhelmed with the reality that I GET TO love her and be loved by her all the days of my life.  I GET TO be with her – every day.  It never gets old!

Now think about our Lord.  He wants our experience with Him to result in this kind of joy and excitement and pleasure and extreme satisfaction.  He really does!  He has this for us but we have to respond to Him and pursue Him to find it.  If Moses hadn’t turned aside to explore the burning bush, he would have missed what God had for him.

If this is missing in your relationship with the Lord, don’t be disheartened.  Recognize the GREAT NEWS that He has this ‘treasure’ there for you – you simply have to pursue it.  He wants you to want it and turn to Him for help to find it.  The amazing thing is that as you pursue this, you find Him in ways that will thrill you beyond words!

Scripture is at the end.

Imagine living 2000 years ago in the Middle East in the land of Judea; specifically in a region called Galilee.  There are no hospitals, no pharmacies, no vaccinations, no antibiotics and very little medical care of any kind.  Injuries and illnesses that today are no big deal were life changing or deadly back then.

Our neighborhoods and families would likely have individuals who were crippled or sick with conditions that greatly affected their daily lives and the lives of those around them.  Chances are that some of us would be among those with such conditions, with no hope of them ever improving.

Into this mix comes word of a Nazarene carpenter named Jesus who is doing unbelievable things.  He’s going around doing miracles!  Cripples are being made whole, deaf are now able to hear, the blind are receiving their sight, the sick are no longer sick, lepers are being healed, demon-possessed are set free and there are even cases where the dead are brought back to life!  On top of that – we have seen individuals whom we know personally who experienced miraculous healings and restorations through this Jesus!.

Yes he is teaching about God, but teachers have always been a part of Jewish life.  Although people say he is teaching like no one they’ve ever heard.  No one has ever done what he is doing – and it’s not just isolated cases here or there.  He is healing everyone who comes to him!!!!  Multitudes are flocking to him.

Can we imagine the excitement?  Do we think that we’d be sitting around, discussing whether we were going to go see this Jesus – or not?  Rather, doesn’t it seem likely that we would be beyond excited; doing everything we could to gather all our sick and crippled family and friends – helping them to get to him?

Jesus was so much more that a ‘great teacher’ – there has never been anyone like him.  Here is Matthew’s description of the above scenario that we have been imagining together (4:23-24):

 ²³ Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. ²⁴ News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them.

He was AND IS the Christ – the Son of the living God!  He is our Savior and Lord!

2 Corinthians 9:15  Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

Today – a prayer:  For the past couple of days I’ve just been so aware of the wonder we have being loved by our God.  This isn’t just a general Biblical truth but a faith-filled experiential reality. This is one of those precious times when God heightens our awareness and appreciation of Him.

All my thoughts just keep coming back to how fortunate and blessed I am.  I am just overwhelmed with God and His love for me.  What follows is written a bit differently.  I’ve written it in first person so that you can read it and pray it and speak it for yourself.  I pray that it will bless you as much as it is blessing me.

How can I ever thank you Lord for making me your own?  You, the God who created the universe know my name.  That is almost beyond imagining.  I am in awe of the fact that you care about me; that you would want me to be your child – to be part of your family for eternity.  It’s beyond words that you have made me your son and you are my father.

How can I ever thank you Lord that you let me experience your presence; that you give my life purpose and meaning?   How can I ever thank you for allowing me to be your hands extended; that you give me the opportunity to touch others with your love.

How can I ever thank you for Jesus?  Without Jesus, I have nothing.  With Him, I have everything.  How can I ever thank you for your Spirit who lives within me?  I am never alone.  You are always with me; loving me, encouraging me, comforting me, convicting me and helping me to repent whenever I need to.

How can I ever thank you for your Scriptures?  They teach me all about you – but even more wonderfully, they teach me how to love you!  Oh Lord, I do love you!  It is just so amazing that you give me the opportunity to be a blessing to you.  I don’t begin to understand it but I rejoice that I can give you pleasure.

How can I ever thank you for the passion you have put in my heart to live my life for you? – That I can gather with your people and sing to you and worship you and experience you.  Thank you Lord for my heart – that is bursting with gratitude for your kindness and love for me.

Forevermore your child, Don

1 John 3:1a  How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

What would we say to someone who asked us to tell them what Jesus has meant to us – and means to us?  In practical ways, how has He changed our lives and what difference does He make day to day?

These are questions that each of us should ponder and answer for ourselves.  The answers we give will be very revealing because they will reflect how genuine our enthusiasm and joy are for Him.  Are we truly excited to be Christians?  Do our eyes light up when we talk about Jesus?  Do we smile at the thought of Him?  Do we find ourselves overcome with gratitude?

As we think about what our honest answer would be, suppose God spoke out for all to hear and said that eternal life is no more – that once we die, it’s over.  But, that as long as we are alive, all of His promises and provisions in the Bible are still true.  What would our response be?   Would we walk away from Him?

Or – is our life in Christ so rich and wonderful that we would never leave it even if the promise of eternity with God was gone?  This is the point that the earlier questions want to focus on.  What is the reality that we have with Him here and now?  God has lavished His love upon us – that is something He wants us to richly experience and for our lives to reflect.

If your Christian life – your personal relationship with God – was a garden, what would it be like?  Would it be in bloom?  Would it be a tiny corner of the yard or would it be expansive?  Would people love to visit it because of the beauty there?

As we go about our day, please take note of the flowers and blossoms you see.  Let each of them be a reminder of God’s lavish love for us and the rich relationship that He wants each of us to experience daily with Him.

Proverbs 25:11  A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.

Suppose someone gave you a handful of $10 bills that you were to give out during the day to people that you interacted with.  It’s safe to say that the people who received the money would notice and be pleased.  They’d probably look forward to seeing you again on the chance you had more money to hand out.

Now suppose the Lord let you know that there would be included in your day, several people that you met that had a specific need for $10, that they were praying about.  Or possibly they would have a need for the $10 shortly after receiving it.  In both cases, their blessing would be far greater than just receiving a $10 gift.  They would have the opportunity to recognize that it was a specific provision for a specific need – an answer to prayer.  If they did see that, they would likely glorify God for His provision in addition to being grateful for your kindness.

The words that we speak can have a similar impact.  They can bring blessing and provision to those around us.  Think of the people we work or interact with.   Do we recognize the kindnesses they do and do we say thank you?  Do we ever acknowledge the good work that people do?  When we are in conversations that start going in an unrighteous direction, do we gracefully speak words that redirect the conversation?

Think of the opportunities we have to show interest in others – in helping them with their problems or tasks.  The insight we offer might be the missing ingredient they’re looking for.  Proverbs 15:23 adds this insight, “Everyone enjoys a fitting reply; it is wonderful to say the right thing at the right time!”   If we are in the middle of a chore, think of the blessing of someone seeing us and saying, “Let me help you with that.” Or as I wrote the other day about my problem getting the weed-whacker started.  Wouldn’t it have been helpful if someone came up – saw the situation and said, “It might help to turn the switch on!”?

Maybe our words trigger something in their memory enabling them to recall what they need.  Sometimes people are just in need of an encouraging word.  Remember, it’s not just us.  We are God’s hands extended.  He wants to minister life through us that bless and draw others to Him.  We need to pray that the Lord will open our eyes and ears to see the many opportunities that surround us where we can bring blessing through the words we speak and the kindness we show.