In the Center of My Will
Note from Jesus Dear Follower of the Way, The growth of My Kingdom will not necessarily be an easy undertaking. Spreading the good news of the Father’s grace is often met with opposition. However, do not see that opposition as an indication that you have done something wrong. After preventing Paul’s team from continuing to their intended destinations in Asia Minor, I sent Paul a vision of a man inviting his mission team and him to come over into Europe and help the people of Macedonia come to faith (Acts 16:6-10). I sent him this vision to show him it was My will that he and his team should go into Macedonia. From there they continued on to Achaia and Greece. They would need a sense of certainty because they faced challenges, hardship, opposition, physical abuse, ridicule, and jail when obeying this call. Nevertheless, they were doing what I wanted, where I wanted them to do it, and how I wanted them to do it. They were in the center of My will, yet many things about this missionary journey were hard for them. However, in the middle of these difficulties, great churches were planted, and incredible people were brought into My family. Important people among the Gentiles, especially among the women, became disciples. Paul grew incredibly close to the churches of Thessalonica and Philippi. He invested a lot of time in the Corinthians and a lot of prayer for them. Despite their early problems, these disciples became strong churches and congregations close to the apostle’s heart. The point I want to make is this: don’t try to determine if something is My will simply by seeing if it is immediately “successful” or if it is easy! Often, time must pass before you can see your efforts bear fruit. Satan will frequently viciously test you in the initial stages of your ministry to try to get you to give up. When I call you into a ministry or mission opportunity, don’t give up on it until I call you to do something else. Prayerfully ask the Spirit to help you discern the truth about what is happening. Be faithful to your mission. Leave the success of the mission to Me. Sometimes these tough times are necessary to reach those I’ve called you to reach. Sometimes the times are tough to prepare you for future efforts that need even greater endurance and perseverance. While endurance and perseverance aren’t always appreciated in your instant-everything society, these qualities are necessary if you are to truly develop the character and compassion of your Father. Being in the center of My will sometimes means hardships. Remember what I told my disciples on the eve of my death: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.” (John 15:18 NIV) Verses to Live Notice that Paul had a strategic plan that he used to reach the cities of Macedonia. While he faced stiff opposition, he also influenced key people to follow Me. These were people who would later be important in the life of My church and for their Christian influence on their communities. The events recorded here occurred after Paul and Silas left Asia Minor and went to Macedonia in response to My call through Paul’s vision. After leaving Philippi and passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia, Paul and Silas came to Thessalonica. There was a Jewish synagogue there. As he had done in other cities, Paul attended the synagogue and presented arguments, based on the Hebrew Scriptures, that the Anointed had to suffer and rise from the dead. Paul: Who is this suffering and rising Anointed One I am proclaiming to you? He is Jesus. He came back the next two Sabbaths — repeating the same pattern. Some of the ethnically Jewish people from the synagogue were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas. Even more devout Greeks who had affiliated with Judaism came to believe — along with quite a few of the city’s leading women. Seeing this movement growing, the unconvinced Jewish people became protective and angry. They found some ruffians hanging out in the marketplaces and convinced them to help start a riot. Soon a mob formed, and the whole city was seething with tension. The mob was going street by street, looking for Paul and Silas — who were nowhere to be found. Frustrated, when the mob came to the house of a man named Jason, now known as a believer, they grabbed him and some other believers they found there and dragged them to the city officials. Mob: These people — they’re political agitators turning the world upside down! They’ve come here to our fine city, and this man, Jason, has given them sanctuary and made his house a base for their operations. We want to expose their real intent; they are trying to overturn Caesar’s sensible decrees. They’re saying that Jesus is king, not Caesar! Of course, this disturbed the crowd at large and the city officials especially, so they demanded bail from Jason and the others before releasing them. The believers waited until dark and then sent Paul and Silas off to Berea. When they arrived, they went to the synagogue. The Jewish people here were more receptive than they had been in Thessalonica. They warmly and enthusiastically welcomed the message and then, day by day, would check for themselves to see if what they heard from Paul and Silas was truly in harmony with the Hebrew Scriptures. Many of them were convinced, and the new believers included — as in Thessalonica — quite a few of the city’s leading Greek women and important men also. Reports got back to Thessalonica that Paul and Silas were now spreading God’s message in Berea; the Jewish people who had incited the riot in Thessalonica quickly came to Berea to do the same once again. The believers sent Paul away. A small group escorted him, first to the coast, and then all the way to Athens. Silas
Imprisoned to Redeem
Note from Jesus Dear Beloved, Grace can have a strong touch of redemptive irony! As you read in the verses below about Paul and Silas being thrown into jail, notice some of these touches of irony: By divine intervention, the prisoners’ chains are unlocked, and their cell doors opened but they remain in their cells, and when the jailer discovers what had happened, he brings them out of their cells and even takes them home with him rather than locking them back up. The jailer washes the wounds inflicted by those he supervised in the jail. The prisoners tell the jailer and his family My story of grace, baptize them, and free them from being bound to sin and death. The prisoners eat at the jailer’s table rejoicing with a family that was saved after the jailer did not lock the prisoners back up immediately after his baptism. All of this begins with Paul liberating a young woman who was being manipulated and exploited for money because of her “occult spirit.” The story ends with those in charge begging not to be humiliated for their grievous error of beating Roman citizens without a trial. And as a small sub-plot, Paul and Silas go free because they are both Roman citizens. However, if Paul were still partnered with Barnabas, Barnabas would have gone back to jail because he was not a Roman citizen. Many things that happen behind the scenes of history empower the spread of the good news. You will never know many of these things. Little subtle connections between people and events that lead to the spread of the good news may appear to be random “coincidences” from your side of history. They are, however, better called “God-incidences.” I’m talking about Our — Father, Son, and Spirit’s — purposeful acts of providence that help bring redemption to those in need of grace. You are not alone in your work for the Kingdom. Even when things appear to be disastrous messes, please know that Paul’s declaration remains true: We are confident that God is able to orchestrate everything to work toward something good and beautiful when we love Him and accept His invitation to live according to His plan. (Romans 8:28) As you’ve seen time and again, when the good news message about Me is shared, and people truly believe and are baptized, great things happen. Not one of these things happens by accident. Remember My promise made early in My ministry: Just ask and it will be given to you; seek after it and you will find. Continue to knock and the door will be opened for you. All who ask receive. Those who seek, find what they seek. And he who knocks will have the door opened. (Matthew 7:7-8) Verses to Live Read carefully the following verses that tell of the continuing work conducted by Paul, Silas, and Timothy. Notice how We — Father, Son, and Spirit — are involved in redeeming each situation and bringing grace. It was true when the events you read about happened, and it is true today. One day [in Philippi], as we [Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke] were going to the place set aside for prayer, we encountered a slave girl. She made a lot of money for her owners as a fortune-teller, assisted by some sort of occult spirit. She began following us. Slave Girl (shouting): These men are slaves like me, but slaves of the Most High God! They will proclaim to you the way of liberation! The next day as we passed by, she did the same thing — and again on the following days. One day Paul was really annoyed, so he turned and spoke to the spirit that was enslaving her. Paul: I order you in the name of Jesus, God’s Anointed: Come out of her! It came right out. But when her owners realized she would be worthless now as a fortune-teller, they grabbed Paul and Silas, dragged them into the open market area, and presented them to the authorities. Slave Owners: These men are troublemakers, disturbing the peace of our great city. They are from some Jewish sect, and they promote foreign customs that violate our Roman standards of conduct. The crowd joined in with insults and insinuations, prompting the city officials to strip them naked in the public square so they could be beaten with rods. They were flogged mercilessly and then were thrown into a prison cell. The jailer was ordered to keep them under the strictest supervision. The jailer complied, first restraining them in ankle chains, then locking them in the most secure cell in the center of the jail. Picture this: It’s midnight. In the darkness of their cell, Paul and Silas — after surviving the severe beating — aren’t moaning and groaning; they’re praying and singing hymns to God. The prisoners in adjoining cells are wide awake, listening to them pray and sing. Suddenly the ground begins to shake, and the prison foundations begin to crack. You can hear the sound of jangling chains and the squeak of cell doors opening. Every prisoner realizes that his chains have come unfastened. The jailer wakes up and runs into the jail. His heart sinks as he sees the doors have all swung open. He is sure his prisoners have escaped, and he knows this will mean death for him, so he pulls out his sword to commit suicide. At that moment, Paul sees what is happening and shouts out at the top of his lungs, Paul: Wait, man! Don’t harm yourself! We’re all here! None of us has escaped. The jailer sends his assistants to get some torches and rushes into the cell of Paul and Silas. He falls on his knees before them, trembling. Then he brings them outside. Jailer: Gentlemen, please tell me, what must I do to be liberated? Paul and Silas: Just believe — believe in the ultimate King, Jesus, and not only will you be rescued,
Guidance for Seeking Hearts
Note from Jesus Dear Follower, I promised My followers that the Holy Spirit would guide them in their witness to the nations (Acts 1:8). Today, I want to talk to you about an example of that guidance. I also want to show you an occasion when this guidance produced fruit in places that Paul and his missionary team had not planned to go. Closed doors and changed plans are not necessarily reasons for discouragement or a sense of failure! The Spirit guided the mission efforts of My first disciples. The Spirit indicated that Barnabas and Paul should be sent on the first missionary journey (Acts 13:1-3). The Holy Spirit helped the church decide what to do about welcoming Gentile converts they brought to Me in Antioch and on their first journey (Acts 15:1-35). My church was growing and reaching out to the lost in more areas. Meanwhile, the Holy Spirit guided Paul and his partners Silas and Timothy in the direction and to the places they needed to go on their second journey. Part of the way through this journey, they were kept from going to their intended destinations. Instead, Paul had a vision that a man from Macedonia invited them to come to Macedonia and help. Although sharing My story was challenging almost everywhere they went, they also enjoyed success essentially everywhere they went. What began as frustration and closed doors ended up as great victories for the kingdom of God! My disciples in every era can become discouraged when they have a plan to carry out My mission, and their work is thwarted at every turn. Please read carefully what happens in today’s verses. Paul and his team didn’t get to go where they thought they should go as the door to these places was shut by the Holy Spirit. Instead, I opened another door to go into Europe — Macedonia, Achaia, and Greece. People were waiting to have the message shared with them in these places. Paul and his team couldn’t foresee this opportunity, but I knew and yearned for these people to find My grace! Philippi was one of those places where this was true. Lydia and those in her household who worked for her in her fine fabric business were some of those people whose hearts were yearning for My grace. In Philippi, Paul continued his strategy of going “first to the Jew, then to the Gentile” (Romans 1:16 NIV). There was no synagogue, so he went to the Jewish place of prayer by the river. Lydia and her household were there. They heard My message from Paul. They believed that message and were baptized. Their hearts were ready for the gospel. They not only responded to the message, but they also opened their lives up to work for the sake of the gospel. Lydia offered her house to be the place for the missionary team to stay and also for this new church to meet. More became My disciples in Philippi in the days that followed Lydia’s conversion, but her story is enough for Me to make My point to you today. Remember what I said earlier to the disciples: Here’s the knowledge you need: you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And you will be My witnesses, first here in Jerusalem, then beyond to Judea and Samaria, and finally to the farthest places on earth. (Acts 1:8) Sharing My message does not depend just on you and your plans. It’s about My guidance and power given to you through the Holy Spirit along with your willingness to respond to the Spirit’s leading. Verses to Live Please don’t become discouraged when you find closed doors. Some doors the evil one closes. Some I close for strategic reasons. Trust in this: I know those who are seeking Me. I long to get My people into position to share My grace with these seekers. Don’t let closed doors dishearten you. Instead, seek the Spirit’s guidance and trust that I will get you to the place and the people at the time that is most effective in sharing My grace. This trust was true in Philippi in Paul’s day. This confidence is also true for you in your day! Leaving there [Derbe and Lystra], now accompanied by Timothy, they [Paul, Silas, and Timothy] delivered to the churches in each town the decisions and instructions given by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. The churches were strengthened in the faith by their visit and kept growing in numbers on a daily basis. They sensed the Holy Spirit telling them not to preach their message in Asia at this time, so they traveled through Phrygia and Galatia. They came near Mysia and planned to go into Bithynia, but again they felt restrained from doing so by the Spirit of Jesus. So they bypassed Mysia and went down to Troas. That night Paul had a vision in which a Macedonian man was pleading with him. Macedonian Man: Come over to Macedonia! Come help us! This vision convinced us all that God was calling us to bring the good news to that region. We set sail from the port city of Troas, first stopping in Samothrace, then the next day in Neapolis, finally arriving in Philippi, a Roman colony and one of Macedonia’s leading cities. We stayed in Philippi for several days. On the Sabbath day, we went outside the city walls to the nearby river, assuming that some Jewish people might be gathering for prayer. We found a group of women there, so we sat down and spoke to them. One of them, Lydia, was a business woman originally from Thyatira. She made a living buying and selling fine purple fabric. She was a true worshiper of God and listened to Paul with special interest. The Lord opened her heart to take in the message with enthusiasm. She and her whole household were… washed through baptism. Lydia: If you believe I’m truly faithful to the
Humbly Yield Control
Note from Jesus Dear Disciple, Yesterday I talked to you about letting the Spirit lead the dance of your life. Today, I want you to notice what happens when a person takes the lead of his or her own life. This is what happens when a person’s “constant pursuit of gratification” and continual “focus on self-indulgence” have control of his or her heart: Prayers go unanswered. Envy and jealously control life in ways similar to an out-of-control addiction. Pride and arrogance rule over a person’s heart. Overbearing criticism shows up regularly in conversations. Accusations are made against good people. A sense of control of one’s destiny makes a person oblivious to the fragility of his or her own life. Good things that need to be done go undone and neglected. Just as Paul emphasized in the verses yesterday, James reminds you today with strong words that you must consciously and humbly offer yourself to the Father. Don’t be afraid to be physically demonstrative with your humble repentance. Not only ask for His forgiveness but also offer Him control over your heart and your life. Offer your whole self to the Father — heart, soul, mind, and strength — to be used as His person and controlled by His Spirit. Rid your heart of the evil influences that poison it and that make it inhospitable to the Holy Spirit. I sent the Holy Spirit to live in your heart. The Spirit wants to bring God’s character, compassion, and blessing to life in you. So resist the power of evil, Satan, and the demonic world. Drive the evil one away and invite the Holy Spirit to take control! Verses to Live In the verses below, James uses his typical straightforward style to challenge his readers to look at their hearts. He wants you to be aware of what motivates your heart. He warns of all sorts of ways pride and arrogance sneak in and steal a person’s heart from God. So offer yourselves to God… in humility. Where do you think your fighting and endless conflict come from? Don’t you think that they originate in the constant pursuit of gratification that rages inside each of you like an uncontrolled militia? You crave something that you do not possess, so you murder to get it. You desire the things you cannot earn, so you sue others and fight for what you want. You do not have because you have chosen not to ask. And when you do ask, you still do not get what you want because your motives are all wrong — because you continually focus on self-indulgence. You are adulterers. Don’t you know that making friends with this corrupt world order is open aggression toward God? So anyone who aligns with this bogus world system is declaring war against the one true God. Do you think it is empty rhetoric when the Scriptures say, “The spirit that lives in us is addicted to envy and jealousy”? You may think that the situation is hopeless, but God gives us more grace when we turn away from our own interests. That’s why Scripture says, God opposes the proud, but He pours out grace on the humble. So submit yourselves to the one true God and fight against the devil and his schemes. If you do, he will run away in failure. Come close to the one true God, and He will draw close to you. Wash your hands; you have dirtied them in sin. Cleanse your heart, because your mind is split down the middle, your love for God on one side and selfish pursuits on the other. Now is the time to lament, to grieve, and to cry. Dissolve your laughter into sobbing, and exchange your joy for depression. Lay yourself bare, facedown to the ground, in humility before the Lord; and He will lift your head so you can stand tall. My brothers and sisters, do not assault each other with criticism. If you decide your job is to accuse and judge another believer, then you are a self-appointed critic and judge of the law; if so, then you are no longer a doer of the law and subject to its rule; you stand over it as a judge. Know this — there is One Who stands supreme as Judge and Lawgiver. He alone is able to save and to destroy, so who are you to step in and try to judge another? Listen carefully, those of you who make your plans and say, “We are traveling to this city in the next few days. We’ll stay there for one year while our business explodes and revenue is up.” The reality is you have no idea where your life will take you tomorrow. You are like a mist that appears one moment and then vanishes another. It would be best to say, “If it is the Lord’s will and we live long enough, we hope to do this project or pursue that dream.” But your current speech indicates an arrogance that does not acknowledge the One Who controls the universe, and this kind of big talking is the epitome of evil. So if you know the right way to live and ignore it, it is sin — plain and simple. (James 4:1-17) Response in Prayer O Father, please forgive me. Forgive me for trying to live my life by my own power. Forgive me for the times I’ve wandered from the Spirit’s lead in the dance of my life. Forgive me for my willful sins. Please forgive me for those sins of neglect and laziness when good things have gone undone. I humbly offer myself — my heart, my mind, my spirit, and my body — to be controlled by You and used for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. ‘A Year with Jesus’ is written by Phil Ware. © 1998-2024, Heartlight, Inc. ‘A Year with Jesus‘ is part of the Heartlight Network.All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated,
The Importance of Affirmation!
Note from Jesus Dear Child of the Father, While Paul was in Corinth, he waited anxiously to hear how the new believers in Thessalonica were doing. The Thessalonians had made a huge change when they became Christians, as he wrote to them: [Y]ou turned toward God and realigned your life to serve the one true living God — leaving your idols to crumble in the dust — and how you now await the return from heaven of His Son, Whom He raised from the dead — namely, Jesus — our rescuer from the wrath to come. In addition to the huge change in their lifestyles, the Thessalonians had endured some hardships because of their faith: You took to heart the word we taught with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, even in the face of trouble. Since Paul was prevented from returning to Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians 2:17-18), he sent Timothy “to strengthen and encourage” them in their faith (1 Thessalonians 3:2 NIV) and report back to him on how the Thessalonian Christians were doing (1 Thessalonians 3:5). Paul was relieved that in the face of real suffering for Me, these new believers in Thessalonica were remaining faithful to Me and still thought favorably of him, My apostle. As Paul began the first of his two letters to the Thessalonians, he affirmed My new disciples. He thanked God for these new brothers and sisters in Thessalonica. His thanksgiving was not generic appreciation for new believers, but he was genuinely excited about their signs of true Christian maturity — faith, hope, and love (1 Corinthians 13:13). In his letter to them, he said: Your actions on behalf of the true faith, your tireless toil of love, and your unfailing, unwavering, unending hope in our Lord Jesus… To affirm them further, Paul then reminded these new believers that he knew God had selected them. He emphasized three things that show they were chosen by the Father: The way the “life-empowering, Spirit-infused message” had come to them. The way they (Paul, Silas, and Timothy) as messengers from God had come to them — they had lived “transparently” as great examples of My lifestyle for the Thessalonians. The way the Thessalonians had come to be a great example of outreach and faith to other churches. How important was it for Paul to start with affirmation? Extremely important! Remember that the Father affirmed Me right after My baptism by saying: “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.” (Luke 3:22 NLT) The Father gave Me assurance that I was His beloved Son Who brought Him joy, and He did this immediately before I faced a time of testing from the evil one. I faced struggles with the evil one, but I had been prepared by My Father! Paul is doing a similar thing with these new believers facing hardship, troubles, and sufferings. Paul had some very important doctrinal and moral truths to communicate to the Thessalonians and also some things to correct in them. However, he spent over sixty percent of this letter affirming them, praying for them, and stressing how important his relationship with them was to him. Despite all that they lacked in their understanding about morality and My return in glory, Paul began with an affirmation of their progress in their faith and confirmation of his love for them. Paul’s emphasis on affirmation is important for you to notice. As you encounter new and struggling disciples, I hope that you will remember his example of affirmation. The evil one is always sowing seeds of doubt in new believers’ hearts. When hardships and troubles come, new disciples can easily doubt their importance to Me and the growth of the kingdom. They need affirmation that they are loved. They need to be assured that faith in Me is the right choice. They need to be reminded that the sacrifices they are making and the hardships they are enduring are worth it. This affirmation is especially important at the earliest stages of faith. I don’t want the evil one to steal away new believers’ joy at being My disciples. I don’t want Satan to use hardships and suffering to lead My new disciples to fall away from Me. I don’t want the cares of the world to keep them from being effective in their discipleship (Mark 4:13-19). Please affirm new and struggling believers and help them stay on track in their lives of faith! Verses to Live As Paul begins his first letter to the Thessalonians, notice his emphasis on what these new believers are doing right! He is thankful for them. He sees the good work they have done and the great example they set even in the face of hardships. He reminds them of how they turned their lives around to follow Me. Paul begins with affirmation! Paul, Silvanus [also known as Silas], and Timothy to the church gathering in Thessalonica, those living in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus the Anointed. May grace and peace be yours from God our Father and the Lord Jesus the Anointed. We always thank God for all of you in our prayers. Your actions on behalf of the true faith, your tireless toil of love, and your unfailing, unwavering, unending hope in our Lord Jesus the Anointed before God our Father have put you consistently at the forefront of our thoughts. O brothers and sisters loved by God, we know He has chosen you. And here is why: what you experienced in the good news we brought you was more than words channeling down your ears; it came to you as a life-empowering, Spirit-infused message that offers complete hope and assurance! We lived transparently before you so that you would know what sort of people we truly are. We did it for your sake, and you have modeled your lives after ours just as we are modeling ours after the Lord. You took to heart the word we taught with
Prayer and Mission
So if they didn’t and couldn’t, how dare we? If you want to discover your congregation’s God-given purpose, there can be no starting point other than prayer. If that’s not immediately apparent, a cursory glance at the book of Acts should make it clear! Acts begins with a group of disciples who had received the Great Commission, but had no clue how to fulfill it. Had they attempted to draft a mission statement at that point, it would have borne little resemblance to God’s divine plan. Their strategic initiatives would have been based on woefully wrong-headed assumptions. Of course, any such plan would have failed anyway for lack of spiritual power. Acts chronicles a series of crucial junctures where God challenges and changes the disciples’ false notions, surprising them with new directions and fresh opportunities that they could have scarcely imagined on their own. There is a common theme at each of these critical crossroads: prayer! For the earliest disciples, the generality of the Great Commission became a specific and focused strategic plan in response to intense prayer. God revealed the gospel message and poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit onto a group of disciples who had been praying constantly for ten days (Acts 1:14; Acts 2:1-4). God’s shockingly unexpected plan to receive Gentiles into the kingdom was revealed to Peter, who was deep in prayer at the time (Acts 10:9). Peter then inaugurated the Gentile outreach by teaching Cornelius, who had been praying at the same time (Acts 10:2). When Saul of Tarsus first appears in Acts, he is intent on fulfilling his personal mission statement, which is to intimidate and incarcerate all who follow Jesus (Acts 9:1-14). But because Saul is fervently praying following his Damascus road encounter with Christ, God sends Ananias to give him a radical new mission: carrying the message of Jesus to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15). Another radical shift in mission occurs when the Holy Spirit directs Saul (now known as Paul) away from Asia and into Macedonia. Paul and Lydia — who becomes the first European Christian — meet each other because they both seek out a place of prayer (Acts 16:13). Only through prayer could the first disciples have grown to understand the surprising twists and turns of God’s purposes. In response to prayer, they received boldness in the face of opposition (Acts 4:24-31) and they united around common goals (Acts 2:42). No wonder that the leaders of the Jerusalem church placed a higher priority on prayer than on “church management” (Acts 6:4). Today, even skilled, educated, and well-meaning leaders will go badly astray if they attempt to sharpen the church’s focus and define its purpose apart from an emphasis on prayer. Leaders of churches that are searching for preachers need to give special prominence to prayer. Again, the book of Acts is instructive. Through prayer, the early believers met the daunting challenge of fitting the right people with the right gifts into the right places at the right time. The apostles knew that their limited wisdom was insufficient to choose an individual to join their ranks, so they prayed and left the decision to God (Acts 1:23-26). With fervent prayer, six men were appointed to minister to the widows in Jerusalem (Acts 6:6). Through prayer, Barnabas and Paul were set apart as missionaries (Acts 13:3). And by means of prayer, elders were appointed to lead each fledgling congregation they established (Acts 14:23). One thing that cannot be discerned from a résumé is the internal state of a person’s heart. That is why those who selected spiritual leaders in the first century prayed to the God who “knows everyone’s heart” (Acts 1:24). Wise leaders today will learn from their example and do likewise. If you are a leader in a church that needs to rediscover or redefine its mission; if your church needs to hear a fresh call from God; and especially if you are in the process of searching for a minister, prayer must be your top priority. Without it, we stand no chance of recapturing the purity, the wisdom and the spiritual power of the earliest Church. This is part of an ongoing series of messages from the partners at Interim Ministry Partners on a church discovering its mission. These messages are based on a proven set of moves a congregation needs to make as it is transitioning in its preaching leadership and wants to focus on its mission. The following chart illustrates the key moves and the direction each of these moves should help the congregation move. About the author: Mark Frost has been in ministry for 41 years, 34 of which were spent with a single congregation. He is now working with churches in transition with Interim Ministry Partners. Mark is a loving and insightful minister who is loved and trusted by the congregations with whom he has worked because of his kind and loving demeanor, positive outlook, good grasp of Scripture and faithful ministry experience.
Let’s Go Somewhere Else
Why would Jesus leave someone behind? When they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!” Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else …” (Mark 1:37-38 TNIV). Following Jesus and ministering in his name fills life with hard choices. I faced some of those tough choices this past Friday. These hard choices led me to ask some hard questions: When does compassion become the opportunity for others to take advantage of God’s community? Is there a time to ignore the professional “panhandler” who continues to live irresponsibly by taking advantage of well-intentioned people? Can you walk away from someone, even those who are trying to take advantage of your kindness, and move on to another pressing need you feel is more important? How do you know the difference between your own self-serving avoidance of a needy person and true mission-guided opportunity? Jesus faced these challenges often. Many folks are startled to learn that Jesus actually did walk away from folks who were seeking him for a miracle (Mark 1:35-45) and he did “run off” folks who were trying to take advantage of his miracle-working ability for their own selfish interests (John 6:26-66). Yet, as the story about healing a man with leprosy makes clear (Mark 1:40-45), Jesus ministered out of his deep compassion for broken and wounded folks who needed his touch, his grace, and his power. So how can we know how to do what Jesus did and do it appropriately? Clearly, Jesus didn’t walk away from folks in need out of selfishness or avoidance. When he left behind those who were looking for him, he did so to specifically live out his God-ordained mission (Mark 1:38). He was able to discern between the two because he had tuned his heart to that mission through his regular times with the Father early in the morning while it was still dark, in a time and place of intentional prayer (Mark 1:35). What’s more, when presented with a need directly in his path, Jesus did more than just physically heal: he touched and validated the value of people even when it wasn’t culturally acceptable to do so (Mark 1:41). When Jesus did “run off” folks with his strong teaching, he didn’t do it for selfish reasons. He did it to avoid the misperceptions and wrong desires of those seeking to highjack (John 6:14-27) — in other words, people were wanting Jesus to abandon his God-ordained ministry to give them what they wanted. So what are we to make of all this? For me, Jesus’ example provides us some good principles to help us in this struggle to balance compassion and mission. First, I’m called to be compassionate as a follower of Jesus and I will be judged based on how I respond to people’s needs (Matthew 25:31-46). Second, I must stick to the mission God has given me and not get side-tracked by doing what is good when God has called me to do what is best (Mark 1:38; Acts 20:24; 2 Timothy 4:6-8). Third, when a person who has needs is in my path, I must act with compassion and care, even if it interferes with some things I have planned to do (Mark 1:40-45; Luke 10:25-37). Fourth, and the focus my concern today, I’ve got to spend time with the Father tuning my heart to his will if I’m going to know how to stay on mission (Mark 1:35-38). While we can distill guidelines — like we’re doing here — there’s nothing that can replace living in the stories and events of Jesus’ life to help us get a feel for how to live for him in these situations. When added to personal prayer where we offer ourselves to God and ask for his wisdom, this time with the Father in Scripture and prayer becomes a conduit of God’s guidance and grace to help us (James 1:5-6; cf. James 4:17). Those of us who claim to follow Jesus are so often involved with books about Jesus and Christian stuff, we are so into the personalities and events of our religious world, and we are so busy in our regular lives that many of us have simply given up spending time with God on a daily basis. We’re often just living off the residue of a past relationship with God, but are no longer in direct daily communion with our Father. What we offer at www.heartlight.org — daily devotionals, Scripture graphics, and articles — are supplements to your daily walk with God. They can’t replace regular daily Bible reading and prayer time. I strongly encourage you to commit yourself to daily time in the word using a method like Wayne Cordeiro outlines in his new book “The Divine Mentor” or by using one of the daily Bible reading plans from Heartlight. Without opening our hearts to God, without his stories from Scripture in the hands of the Holy Spirit to shape us and form our values, we are left adrift on the sea of good intentions, caught in the winds of our own culture’s biases, and left to decide based on our own selfish whims. How do open your heart up to God so you can be tuned by the Holy Spirit to live out your mission in the world? How do you decide whether to “go somewhere else” or spend time with the folks clamoring for your attention and service? What are some Scriptures you would add to this discussion that can be used to form us into the people God wants us to be? I’d love to hear from you on my blog: http://blog.heartlight.org/phil/2007/09/tuned.html About the author: Phil Ware has authored 11 years of daily devotionals, including VerseoftheDay.com, read by 500,000 people a day. He works with churches in transition with Interim Ministry Partners and for the past 21+ years, he has been editor and president of HEARTLIGHT Magazine, author of VerseoftheDay.com, God’s Holy Fire (on the Holy Spirit), and aYearwithJesus.com. Phil has also authored four
Flying High with Freedom!
We have been set free, so let’s not give up our freedom? Freedom has always been purchased at a high cost. For years, I listened to a dear friend and Elder share his experiences of Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge during the July 4th holiday. He spoke of the terror. He reminded us of the blood-stained water. He talked about surviving the biting cold of a brutal winter. He spoke of the weariness, worry, and despair as ammunition and food ran low right at Christmas. He reminisced about the hard nights sleeping on the cold hard ground so far from home. For us as Christians, we must use every opportunity to reawaken our hearts to the high price paid for our spiritual freedom. Jesus’ coming, his life, and his death all testify to God’s incredible and sacrificial love to redeem us. At great cost, Jesus purchased us from law-keeping, sin, and death. So we shouldn’t be surprised by the apostle Paul’s biting words, sharp toned warnings, and urgent pleadings in his letter to the Galatians to hold on to their freedom. Paul spoke specifically of two great dangerous temptations back toward slavery for Jesus’ followers: For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. … For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another (Galatians 5:1; Galatians 5:13 NRS) The first of these temptations is to use law-keeping as the basis for our personal sense of righteousness. This process is sometimes called legalism. This practice is not to be confused with Christian obedience, which arises out of our sense of love and appreciation for the salvation given us by grace. Law-keeping becomes our way of identifying ourselves as better, more saved, more holy, and more righteous than others. We choose the laws that are most important to keep and define our righteousness by those laws. The problem with law-keeping, Paul told the Galatians, is that if you break any law, then you are a lawbreaker and guilty of all the law. While the Mosaic Law was good and holy because it pointed to the character God was seeking in our lives, the law could only help us see how we failed to measure up to God’s holiness. We needed a Savior to pay for our sin. We needed the Holy Spirit to empower us to a new way of life. This new way of life is the way of the Spirit — not the written code — and is built on the righteousness of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:1 and 2 Corinthians 3:1-18). To go back to trying to justify ourselves by keeping the Law, any law, is to fall from grace and abandon the justification that comes only through the sacrifice of Christ (Galatians 5:4). Paul went ballistic with those who were trying to make law keeping the basis of their Christian faith in the book of Galatians. The second form of slavery is to say that we are saved by grace and then get caught up again in immoral and unrighteous living because we know that grace will cover that sin. If the first form of slavery is called legalism, the second is called license. Jude warned about such teaching and such people (Jude 1:4). While doing what our desires lead us to do can feel like freedom at first, it is actually another form of slavery. Jesus warned that if we sin, then we become a slave to that sin (John 8:34). The Lord came to liberate from sin — not just our past sin, but from a life of sin in the here and now. We must not think we can go on recklessly sinning and nonchalantly depending on grace to cover our sin (Romans 6:1-2). In fact, when the Spirit is at work in us, the power of sin is broken (Romans 6:11-14) and the fruit of God’s character comes to life in us (Galatians 5:22-26). To go back to our old sin, Peter warns, is like a dog returning to its own vomit (2 Peter 2:22). For me, one way to understand the differences between grace, license, and legalism is to look at a kite. A kite may decide it wants to be free — not bound by a string, but free to go anywhere the wind takes it. After all, isn’t this true freedom? The problem is a kite can’t sail or soar without the string that ties it to the kite master. Instead, it is at the mercy of the wind. Blown in whatever direction any ill wind wants to take it. It will not rise to the skies. It will be bounced along the ground and torn by all sorts of obstacles until it is destroyed or shoved under a mound of wind-blown debris. At the same time, legalism can be understood as trying to fly a kite without the aid of the wind. We can try all we want to make the kite fly and soar. However, any flight is temporary. We are not strong enough and fast enough to keep our kite in flight by our own efforts. Sure, the kite is tethered and controlled. Yet without the wind, it cannot soar, dart, and dance as it was designed to do in the wind. When all is right in the world of kites, the true Kite Master lets the kite rise on the power of the wind. It soars, dips, sways, rises, dances, darts, and dives with great elegance and freedom. It is kept from danger and disaster by the true Kite Master’s careful influence, guidance, and care. The kite is then free to be all it’s supposed to be powered by the wind and guided by the true Kite Master’s loving control. If we understand the wind in this analogy to be the Spirit of God,
Your Life in God’s Mission
Can you visualize your workplace as your mission? For the sake of argument, let me assume that you have a career path. It may have been challenged of late, and you may be functioning outside your sweet spot. But there is something for which you see yourself best suited. You hope that career will make it possible for you to pay your bills, take care of your family responsibilities, and provide a certain standard of living. You probably also expect it to provide certain less-tangible rewards as titles and social standing. But do you also have a calling? Consistent with the way most people hear that term, a calling involves a clear sense of being commissioned by God for some holy task. It is an awareness of the sovereignty of God over who you are and what you are doing with your life. It is the sense that God’s hand is on you and that he has a sense of genuine pleasure in what you are doing. The real secret to fulfillment is for career and calling to merge into one. Don’t you sense Billy Graham has viewed his as one and the same? What about you? I believe God is offering you an opportunity to make a difference in the world. I am convinced he wants you to change the world. And I further believe that he wants you to see your job, business, or profession as an extension of his kingdom reign on Planet Earth. Here’s what I mean. The sense that one’s career is also a holy calling really shouldn’t startle us. If slaves-become-Christians were counseled to “render service with enthusiasm, as to the Lord and not to men and women, knowing that whatever good we do, we will receive the same again from the Lord” (Ephesians 6:7-8 NRSV), then surely you are supposed to be the best employee or employer the Acme Widget Company has ever seen. If not, why not? Above paycheck or promotion, do something that contributes to the good of your world. Let your routine reflect the character and excellence heaven is building into your life. Know that your work is inseparable from your spiritual life — and reflects its authenticity. When your faith cleanses and consecrates your workplace to God, you have found a calling larger than your career. Solomon put it this way: There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in their work. This, I saw, is from the hand of God; for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? (Ecclesiastes 2:24-25). Ready to change the world today? God is ready to be your partner. About the author: Rubel Shelly preached for decades, been a professor of medical ethics, Bible, and philosophy at multiple universities and a med school. He is currently Professor of Philosophy & Religion at Lipscomb University. He is the author of more than 30 books and hundreds of inspirational articles.
What is CORE: Finishing
I remain convicted that these passages give us the CORE of what we must believe and practice as Jesus’ disciples. Sometimes, I make things more complicated than they need to be to make sure I haven’t missed something important. That might work when you visit your future mother-in-law for the first time, and you eat more than you should while bragging about how good a cook she is! That no longer works when you are in your sixth decade of life and visiting your mother-in-law. She sees through your compliments and worries that you are ruining your health with your overeating. Trying to say too much when writing about clear and simple truth can have a similar effect. As I have focused on “What is CORE” in the New Testament, I have emphasized three key passages. Each passage claims and stresses that it is central to our faith. Much of the rest of our Christian doctrine and teaching hangs on the structure of those CORE truths: The things of “first importance” we must believe about Jesus (what I call “The Great Faith”) (1 Corinthians 15:1-7). The two “The Great Commands” that Jesus said were the most important commandments in the Scriptures (Matthew 22:34-40). Jesus’ last commandment about making disciples of all nations, what we call “The Great Commission” (Matthew 28:18-20). I remain convicted that these passages give us the CORE of what we must believe and practice as Jesus’ disciples — what we need to become JESUShaped. I don’t believe these truths are CORE because I am a great theologian who discovered something novel or new. I believe they are CORE because they claim to be essential. I also believe they are CORE because much of what the Bible teaches elsewhere orbits around these key ideas. As we conclude this series, let’s finish using a principle important for us in a world with so much noise and so many distractions. We need to live faithfully and teach the truth of the Bible using the KISS principle — Keep It Short and Simple. So, here is a KISS statement to help us remember “What is CORE”: I will live for Jesus by loving God, loving people, and making a difference in the world. To put it another way in bullet format: Jesus is our Lord and Savior because of death, burial, and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-7 — The Great Faith). We will love God and love people like Jesus did and commanded us to do (Matthew 22:34-40 — The Great Commands). We will make a difference in the world by reaching out to all people and inviting them to become disciples of Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20 — The Great Commission). I hope these short summaries help you grab hold of the truths of this series for yourself. We do need to explore the deeper truths about “What is CORE.” Those deeper teachings matter. However, we must not cloud our understanding of the clear and simple CORE principles of our faith. If we live these principles, we are disciples of Jesus. Our goal as Jesus’ disciples is to honor him by becoming like him in what we do and say (Luke 6:40; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Colossians 1:28-29; Galatians 4:19). So, let’s get busy doing “What is CORE”! Which brings us to the questions we want to ask each week of our series: Do I believe this? Do I let this change who I am? Do I let this guide me to what is important in life, in fellowship, in worship, and in doctrine? How can we not? Articles in our series entitled: What is CORE? Jesus! Believing Disciple-making Going Baptizing Training Loving Communing Worshiping Finishing Special thanks for the use of images related to Jesus’ ministry from The Lumo Project and Free Bible Images. About the author: Phil Ware has authored 11 years of daily devotionals, including VerseoftheDay.com, read by 500,000 people a day. He works with churches in transition with Interim Ministry Partners and for the past 21+ years, he has been editor and president of HEARTLIGHT Magazine, author of VerseoftheDay.com, God’s Holy Fire (on the Holy Spirit), and aYearwithJesus.com. Phil has also authored four books, daily devotionals on each of the four gospels.