Tag Archives: salvation

Loving as a Primary Goal, Loving like Jesus

Rhythms: IN (Developing a Love First Mentality)

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Watchmen Nee wrote that his mentor, Margaret Barber, cared more about life than work. She focused on loving the people God brought her way rather than the work she needed to get done.

What a beautiful focus. This is my desire as well, but too often loving people gets lost behind the pressure to get things done.

Story

A while ago, I needed to get the name of diabetic test strips which would be covered under our new insurance plan. My pharmacy told me to call my doctor. My doctor told me to call my insurance company. My insurance company referred me to a third party, which handled pharmacy issues.

After navigating a labyrinth of computer generated voices, I finally spoke to a person. His name was John. His voice was slow and shaky. I had the call on speaker and my wife and I could tell John was elderly.

John didn’t know the answer to my question and suggested I call my pharmacy. When I told him I had,  he suggested I call my insurance company. I tried to calmly explain that my insurance company was who told me to call him.

By this point, I had no compassion for John. I really just wanted to mark this nagging to-do off my list. I didn’t care what John might have been going through.  I’d lost sight of any opportunity to love him. 

I did not have a love first mentality.

John put me on hold so he could try and get an answer. While we waited, my wife helped me see the situation differently. She could tell he was having a difficult time.  She felt bad for him.

When John got back on the line, he had an answer. As he explained it, my wife made a signal for me to pray with him. This wasn’t on my radar, but when he was done, I said, “John, is there anything I can pray for you about?”

“Yes,” John answered quickly.

Then there was a silence.

“What can I pray for you about?” I repeated.

“My salvation,” John cried out.

Wow.

I prayed with John right there on the phone, though I’m sure the call was being monitored. I prayed he would recognize God’s tremendous love for him. I let him know God was willing to allow His Son, Jesus, to die in his place to rescue him and give him salvation.

When I finished and said goodbye, we could hear what seemed to be sobs from John before we hung up.

What a wonderful interaction. But I almost  missed it. I was so focused on getting things done, loving John had dropped from any consideration. I’d lost sight of the most important thing.

The Great Command

Jesus, on the night before his crucifixion, gave his disciples a single great command. He told them that as they followed this one thing, they would stay connected to his love and their joy would be made complete.[1]

“This is my commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.” John 15:12

Earlier in the evening, in John 13, Jesus had washed their stinky, dirty feet. The next day, He would endure a cruel death on a cross to save them. This is how He’d loved them. This is how He’s loved us.

Jesus’ new command to them, and to us, is to love others in the same sacrificial way He’s loved us.

It’s not the work. It’s the people. The things we do are not an end but a means to bring us to the people God wants us to love.

As we yield to God’s Indwelling Spirit, He will accomplish the work He wants done through us. But the Lord wants our focus to be on loving.

But what about everything else?

Having a love first mentality is absolutely what I’ve been called to do, but how do I keep my duties from becoming my primary focus, especially when to-dos mount and time is crunched?

I’m learning that, in God’s greater plan, tasks and even the problems I face, can be aids to my loving, not deterrents. It all depends on my overall intensions. Am I doing to love or just plan doing?

Looking back at my conversation with John, I was frustrated even before I talked to him. I felt like I was getting the runaround trying to get a simple answer. Finding the right test strips was one of many nagging to-dos on my every growing task list. 

I ask myself what could have made a difference and given me a love first mentality with John?

  • Trusting God that His love for me has nothing to do with me completing my task list, but is based purely on what Christ has done.
  • Remembering that Christ’s new command, to love others as He’s loved me, should supersede all other concerns.
  • Seeing duties and problems, not as purely negative, but as ways to bring me people like John to love.
  • Yielding to the Holy Spirit within as my source of patience, kindness, gentleness and love.
  • Trusting God with every task and problem, realizing they are not surprises to Him.

Conclusion

God has created a path of love. Trusting everything else to Him and His higher ways, He’s calling us to love as our primary focus.

When we do, our duties stop being the end goal and become a means to a greater purpose.

And, as we see in John 15:9-12, loving others as Christ has loved us. keeps us in the flow of His love and gives us His full and complete joy.

This sounds too good to be true, but God says it is.

Prayer

 Most gracious, heavenly Father. I’m sorry I so easily get caught up in the swirl of duties that I lose focus on loving. I see You all around me in Your creation and in the people You bring my way. Please help me trust You that the work will get done. Please change the paradigm of my day to care less about accomplishments and more about loving every person You bring my way.

Personal Study

Highlight John 13

Explain it in your own words

Apply it to your life

Respond to God in prayer 

[1] John 15:9-12

Previous posts in the Rhythms series:

God’s Amazing Love

God’s Essential Love

What Hides God’s Love

Christ Lives in Me

Raised up with Christ

Who’s your Treasure?

Obtaining the Joy of Jesus 

Orienting Life from Above

When Things Get Hard

Communing with God

Receiving God’s Love to Give it Away

.Please Check out the new Cola City Podcast . Discussions that impact the vision of reaching every man, woman, and child with the gospel.

Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.

Subscribe below to get email notifications of new posts. We post a few times a month. Thank you for reading. 

 Novels by the Author:

Rob Buck

What happens when a professor figures out how to send messages to his younger self to try and avoid the suicide of his best friend? Did he change more than he bargained for?  Beyond Time

By finding two undelivered letters in a old shack deep in the woods, Cassie and Daniel unknowing set off a series of events which uncover a plot to wipe out a whole family Hope Remains

 

God's Greater Story, The Lord is Near

Under the Thumb of Circumstances

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In 1966, the Rolling Stones released Under my Thumb, a song about pinning a person down. The other day, I felt held down by my circumstances. Part of it was being depleted by a nagging cough, but it was also because of tough parts of life which have long lingered. I’m not one who deals with depression, but the way I felt rendered me emotionally useless. It gave me a greater appreciation for those who battle low mood on a regular basis.

In my journal, I wrote the word CIRCUMSTANCES. Then I wrote ‘me’ below the line. This is how I felt. In keeping with a long-standing practice, I poured out my heart to God. I wrote ‘YOU’ (speaking of the Lord) above CIRCUMSTANCES. I sensed the Lord saying to me, “When you begin to commune with Me above your circumstances, My Spirit fills your heart.”

I know Jesus indwells me by His Spirit, but my union with Christ doesn’t always produce communion.

Communion – “The sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings, especially when the exchange is on a mental of spiritual level.”[1]

I read and pondered the following verses, “Christ’s resurrection is your resurrection too. This is why we are to yearn for all that is above, for that’s where Christ sits enthroned at the place of all power, honor, and authority! Yes, feast on all the treasures of the heavenly realm and fill your thoughts with heavenly realities, and not with the distractions of the natural realm.” (Colossians 3:1-2 TPT)

I began to thank the Lord for His great love, poured out to purchase my salvation, eternal life which has already begun. Using a Psalm, I praised Him.  The heaviness began to lift. Rather then being under my circumstances, I saw my life oriented from God’s greater story; a story not about my worldly happiness, but about me being transformed into the image of Jesus. I was reminded that, in His sovereignty, even the most difficult circumstances are being used to show me the complete Joy of God’s nearness.

In reality, my circumstances are under His thumb.

Challenge: What circumstances have you pinned down? In the midst, draw near to God and allow the Joy of His presence to cheer your heart through every grief and sadness.

The Almighty is alive and conquers all! Praise is lifted high to the unshakable God! Towering over all, my Savior-God is worthy to be praised! (Psalm 18:46 TPT)

[1] Siri

Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures. Subscribe below to get email notifications of new posts. We post once a week. Thank you for reading. 

Novels by the Author:

Beyond Time

Hope Remains

The Source of all Joy

How do we Find Joy in Our Journeys?

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Teddy is outwardly friendly and easy to talk to. This afternoon, at the drive through window we struck up a conversation. I mentioned I was a blogger and handed him my card. He asked what my blog is about. I told him I write about finding joy in our journeys. He smiled and said he was my target audience. When he handed me the chicken and rice soup, he smiled and said he’d be reading my blog tonight. It would give him something to do.

Teddy, this one’s for you.

Why do we need joy? We’ve been created with cravings which must be satisfied. These deep longings for completeness are like a ravenous hunger which won’t ease up until we have our fill.[1][2] This internal cavern will only be satisfied by Joy.

But what is Joy and how do we find it? First, we must realize lasting joy can’t be found in circumstances. Consider a person who has all the success, fame, riches and appeal the world has to offer. Wouldn’t that person have joy? History is dotted with folks who had it all but were utterly empty. Michael Jackson, Marilyn Monroe, Earnest Hemmingway and Howard Hughes were just a few. Solomon wrote about the empty pursuit of worldly satisfaction in Ecclesiastes chapter 2. Happy circumstances will not fulfill our deep longings.

There are strange verses in the Bible which say just the opposite. James[3] and Peter[4] wrote of a joy associated with trials and difficulties. How could this be? Both reveal that once we stop searching for joy in this broken world; once we give up chasing the wind, we’re in position to find Everlasting Joy.

God spoke though the prophet Jeremiah, “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters, To hew for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns That can hold no water.”[5]

Living water, to satisfy our deepest thirst, can be found in God’s nearness. God Himself is the source of all Joy.[6]

But what if life is really hard? What if we’ve said I’ll be okay unless this happens and then it does? What if there’s illness, separation, poverty and loneliness? Where’s the joy then?

There’s a greater story going on, an eternal story which can chase away every tear. Our lives are so short, but eternal Joy can start today. We can’t live good enough lives to be reconciled to God. Going to church, being nice won’t cut it.

Jesus invites us, “Are you weary, carrying a heavy burden? Then come to me. I will refresh your life, for I am your oasis. Simply join your life with mine. Learn my ways and you’ll discover that I’m gentle, humble, easy to please. You will find refreshment and rest in me.  For all that I require of you will be pleasant and easy to bear.” (Matthew 11:28-30 TPT)

Teddy, you told me you hadn’t been to church in years and you said you didn’t know why. Perhaps you’ve been disillusioned. Maybe life is hard. I’d love to hear about your journey. We didn’t have much time in the drive through line.

Perhaps you’d say as I did, “I need to clean up my life before I can begin a relationship with God.”

Must we take a bath before we take a shower? God wants us just as we are. He’s waiting to give us all Everlasting Joy, even in the midst of life’s sadness.

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2nd Corinthians 5:21)

Teddy, how do you find Joy in your Journey? Only one way. Being with the One who created the longing in you in the first place. I hope we can talk more.

Joy is a person.

[1] Ecclesiastes 3:11

[2] Psalm 16:11b

[3] James 1:2-4

[4] I Peter 1:6-8

[5] Jeremiah 2:13 (NASB)

[6] Psalm 16:11b

Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.

Subscribe below to get email notifications of new posts. We post a few times a month. Thank you for reading. 

 Novels by the Author:

Rob Buck

What happens when a professor figures out how to send messages to his younger self to try and avoid the suicide of his best friend? Did he change more than he bargained for?  Beyond Time

By finding two undelivered letters in a old shack deep in the woods, Cassie and Daniel unknowing set off a series of events which uncover a plot to wipe out a whole family Hope Remains

God is our Reward, The Source of all Joy

The Monkey Trap

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Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls,and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. (Matthew 13:45-46)[1]

Troublesome monkeys have been known to be caught with a simple trap which plays on their unwillingness to open their hands. A coconut is hollowed out with a hole just big enough for the monkey’s hand to fit in. Sweet rice is placed inside. When a monkey reaches in and grabs the bait, their fist is stuck in the hole. Unwilling to open their hands and give up the prize, the monkey is trapped and eventually caught.

We can learn from their ignorant stubbornness. We’re to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and mind. But we can be fooled into loving the good things of life above Him. God wants us to experience Him as our highest Joy. When we hold tightly to earthly idols, our hearts are trapped and limited to fleeting, temporal joys. We’re unstable and tossed into the changing seas of circumstance. But we need to know  God is at work in us to conform us into the image of His Son and to free us into the complete Joy of knowing Him as our Pearl of Great Value, worth all we have.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; (Romans 8:28-29)

The ‘good’ God is causing in our lives may require the violent prying away of the sweet rice we clutch in our hands. It may hurt, but it’s for our greater good. It might seem unloving, but as a parent protects a child from harm, God is at work in His children.

For Paul, he needed to learn to not depend on himself. See what he wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:8-9.  For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead;

What’s keeping us bound up in the monkey trap? Do we depend too much on ourselves? What are we afraid to let of go because we don’t think we’ll be okay when we do? Among other things, I’ve needed to let go of self-effort, family, success and peace as the world give it. When I value these things above God, I’m trapped. I can feel discouraged  and the flow of joy being drained from my life.

See Peter’s conclusion of this process toward the end of his life: In this (our Living Hope and Inheritance) you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which]is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. (I Peter 1:6-9)

When we understand God’s greater purposes for our lives and grow in our realization of His eternal love, we’re infused with courage for the trials we face.

 Lord, please continue to show me things I’m holding onto which keep me trapped to this world. Like Peter, may I embrace the trials which chisel me more and more into Your image and reveal the utter joy of Your presence. I know You love me and have my better good in mind. I open the hands of my heart to You.  

[1] All quotes from Scripture and from the New American Standard version of the Bible (NASB)

Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures. Subscribe below to get email notifications of new posts. We post once a week. Thank you for reading. 

Novels by the Author:

Beyond Time

Hope Remains

Love

Love is All You Need

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Watchmen Nee wrote that his mentor, Margaret Barber, cared more about life than work. She focused on loving the people God brought her way rather than the work she needed to get done.

What a beautiful focus.This is my desire as well, but too often loving people gets lost behind the pressure to get things done.

A few months ago, I needed to get the name of diabetic test strips which would be covered under our new insurance plan. My pharmacy told me to call my doctor. My doctor told me to call my insurance company. My insurance company referred me to a third party, which handled pharmacy issues.

After navigating a labyrinth of computer generated voices, I finally spoke to a person. His name was John. His voice was slow and shaky. I had the call on speaker and my wife and I could tell John was elderly, probably in his seventies.

John didn’t know the answer to my question and suggested I call my pharmacy. When I told I had,  he suggested I call my insurance company. I tried to calmly explain that my insurance company was who told me to call him.

By this point, I had no compassion for John. I really just wanted to mark this nagging to-do off my list. I didn’t care what John might have been going through.  I’d lost sight of any opportunity to love him.

John put me on hold so he could try and get an answer. While we waited, my wife helped me see the situation differently. She could tell he was having a difficult time.  She felt bad for him.

When John got back on the line, he had an answer. As he explained it, my wife made a signal for me to pray with him. This wasn’t on my radar, but when he was done, I said, “John, is there anything I could pray for you about?”

“Yes,” John answered quickly. Then a silence.

“What can I pray for you about?” I repeated.

“My salvation,” John cried out.

Wow.

I prayed with John right there on the phone, though I’m sure the call was monitored. I prayed he would recognize God’s tremendous love for him. I let him know God was willing to allow His Son, Jesus, to die in his place to rescue him and to give him eternal life.

When I finished and said goodbye, we could hear what seemed to be sobs from John before we hung up.

What a wonderful interaction. But I almost  missed it. I was so focused on getting things done, loving John had dropped from consideration. I’d lost sight of the most important thing.

Jesus, on the night before his crucifixion, gave his disciples a single great command. He told them that as they followed this one thing, they would stay connected to his love and their joy would be made complete.[1]

“This is my commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.” John 15:12

Earlier in the evening, in John 13, he’d washed their stinky, dirty feet. The next day, he would endure a cruel death on a cross to save them.

This is how he’d loved them. This is how he’s loved us.

His one charge to them, and to us, is to love others in the same sacrificial way he has loved us.

It’s not the work. It’s the people. The things we do are not an end but a means to bring us to the people God wants us to love.

As we yield to God’s Indwelling Spirit, he will accomplish the work he wants done through us. The work will get done as we focus on loving people.

Our job is to love first. It’s really all we need. Maybe the Beatles had it right after all. (8^>

Prayer: Most gracious, heavenly Father. I’m sorry I so easily get caught up in the swirl of duties that love becomes secondary. I see you all around me in your creation and in the people you bring my way. Please help me trust you that the work will get done. I’m asking you to change the paradigm of my day to care less about accomplishments and more about loving every person you bring my way.

 

[1] John 15:9-12

Love and Grace

Choosing Life Over Work

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Of his mentor, missionary to China Margaret Barber, Watchmen Nee wrote, “She cared for nothing but life… [and to pay] more attention to life than work.”[1]

 I long for this mindset, but too often the opposite is true. Consider what occurred only a few days ago.

On my to-do list was to get the name of diabetic test strips which would be covered under our new health insurance plan. My pharmacy told me to call my provider. My provider told me to call my insurance company. My insurance company referred me to a third party which handled pharmacy issues.

After several tries, I finally found myself talking to a person. His name was John. His voice was slow and shaky. I had the phone on speaker and my wife and I could both tell he was elderly, probably in his 70s.

John didn’t seem to know the answer to my question and suggested I call my pharmacy. When I told him I'd tried that, he told me to call my insurance company. I told him my insurance company had referred me to him. I tried to keep my voice from sounding as frustrated as I was feeling. This "to-do" was taking much longer than I'd hoped.

That's the sad thing. At that moment I wasn't thinking about John at all, other than the fact that he was blocking  me from marking this nagging duty off my list.

When John realized I wasn't going to go away, he  put me on hold.

"I bet people laugh at the way he talks all the time," my wife offered, feeling compassion for him. This unsolicited comment began to shift my heart and my thoughts moved slightly towards John. I emphasize slightly, because my goal was still resolution, not encouragement. I hate to admit this, but it's true.

When John got back on the line, he had an answer for me. In fact, he seemed empowered now that he had information.

During our exchange, my wife caught my eye and mouthed, "Pray for him."

Not yet being fully focused on John, this hadn't even occurred to me and I was a bit reluctant. However, when  John was done giving me my answer, I asked, “Is there anything I can pray for you about?”

"Yes," John said without hesitation.

“What can I pray for you about,” I repeated.

“My salvation,” John cried out.

Wow. I wasn't expecting that at all, but it thrilled me that he would be so honest.

I went on to pray that John would recognize God's loves for him, that he would accept Christ's willingness to die on a cross for his sins.  I prayed that John would believe by faith the fact that Jesus' death was out of love for him and that by receiving Christ's finished work, it would secured the salvation of his soul.

John listened and when I was done we ended our call with the normal protocols. But before we hang up, we could hear John gasp loudly and sob softly. What if he really did surrender his life to Christ? We pray that he did.

When we value life over work, this changes everything.

I recently heard of a man who was an elder serving on a particular church committee for 45 years. He said the experience was totally empty, but that he considered it his duty to God. He said his life was a series of dutiful activities hoping to please God.

But two years ago he finally understood grace. Though he'd heard the word for years, the amazing truth of God's unmerited favor passed from head knowledge to his heart.

Since then, his life has been totally different.  Now, when he wakes up in the morning, he doesn't think about all he has to do. Two simple thoughts have replaced his thoughts of work:

  • Oh, how he loves me
  • I wonder who he will bring into my life today to love through me?

Prayer: Most gracious, heavenly Father. I’m sorry I so easily get caught up in the swirl of duties and work that life becomes secondary. You are life. I see you all around me in your creation and in the people you bring my way. Please help me trust you that the work you want to accomplish will get done. I’m asking you to change the paradigm of my day to care less about accomplishments and more about people, to pay more attention to life than work.

Thank you for loving me so much.  Please work this unsearchable truth more and more into the fabric of my heart.

Who do you want to bring into my life today so that you can love them through me?

1 Peter 3:15 (NASB)  but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;

[1] Watchman Nee, Witness Lee