Tag: A Word for Wednesday

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An Invitation to Redirection

It was Bruce Cameron who invited me to participate as a volunteer in what would be my first Kairos prison ministry weekend. I had always had a heart for the incarcerated— not in the sense of minimizing their crimes, but imagining the overwhelming sense of failure and hopelessness— so when Bruce asked, I said, “yes.” Likewise, when Rich Mendola invited Peggy and me to participate in International Friendships’ (IFI) Friday night Bible study, we agreed. Through IFI, we had hosted many international students in our home over the years, building warm relationships along the way, so this was a natural step into deeper involvement. In retrospect, accepting these two invitations marked a seismic shift in my spiritual journey, for God worked through these ministries to redirect my gaze outwardly.

One of the last lessons Jesus taught on earth was that following Him means applying internal learning through external doing. After washing each of His disciples’ feet, He addressed them all: “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”1 In essence, Jesus was exemplifying the two greatest commandments: Love God with everything you are, and love others as much as you love yourself. “On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets,”2 He had once said.

Yet over time we find that joining God’s invitations to serve others doesn’t feel like “law” at all; rather, as Paul refreshingly proclaims, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”3 And when we follow the Spirit’s lead into the “good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do,”4 we experience the joy of obedience. For “the obedience that comes from faith”5 is not a means of earning God’s approval, but the joyful celebration that, in Christ, we already have it and the proclamation that others can, too.

God does equip us for His work, and He will call us to it. Some invitations may seem “bigger,” such as ongoing involvement in an established ministry, yet most will seem “smaller,” like the friend who cries out in despair, needing comfort, truth, and hope. Truth is, they’re all big. So watch expectantly and listen carefully. Then go eagerly.

Father, thank You for involving us in Your work. What a great gift of purpose! Draw us close, that we would know Your heart, speak clearly, that we may hear Your voice, and strengthen us in Your Spirit to go bear fruit for You. In Christ we pray. Amen.

1 John 13:13-17 NIV [emphasis added]
2 Matthew 22:40
3 2 Corinthians 3:17 [emphasis added]
4 Ephesians 2:10 NIV
5 Romans 1:5 NIV

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The Glory that Awaits Us

Mercury Morris was a running back with the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the only team in NFL history to go undefeated throughout an entire season. When asked what it was like to have been part of this unequaled feat, Morris thoughtfully reflected, “I asked Buzz Aldrin once, ‘What was it like to walk on the moon?’” Pausing briefly, Morris continued, “I still don’t know. All I know is what [Aldrin] told me.” Which is to say there are some things in life we cannot understand until we experience them. Such is the case with God’s glory.

God’s gift of grace is the overflow of His nature of grace. He is full of grace and truth,1 and in great love He lavishly pours out His merciful kindness to us undeserving people. In prodigious proportions, He showers us with His own righteousness, strength, and sufficiency, and in unmatched generosity, He saves us, redeems us, and transforms us into the image of Christ. Then consider this, also: though “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”2 the “God of all grace [has] called [us] to his eternal glory in Christ.”3 Even now, we are “being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory,”4 and it shows, for God works through our spiritual gifts, which is “the manifestation of the Spirit,”5 and “the fruit of the Spirit”6 in our lives testifies to the divine nature of Christ in us. And in all things, God’s glory in us ultimately glorifies Him. Paul writes, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”7 This is truth; this is grace.

Yet a far greater glory awaits us. To the Colossians Paul wrote, “Your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”8 To believers in Rome, he reflected, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”9 And to the Corinthians, Paul marveled, “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived—the things God has prepared for those who love him.”10 So, what will it ultimately look like to fully experience God’s glory? I still don’t know. All I know is what the Bible tells me. But it’s going to be good . . .

Father, Your promises are sure. Enlighten our hearts, that we may know the hope of Your calling, the riches of the glory of Your inheritance in us, and the greatness of Your power toward us who believe.11. In Christ we pray. Amen.

1 John 1:14
2 Romans 3:23
3 1 Peter 5:10
4 2 Corinthians 3:18
5 1 Corinthians 12:7
6 Galatians 5:22-23
7 2 Corinthians 4:6-7
8 Colossians 3:3-4
9 Romans 8:18
10 1 Corinthians 2:9
11 Ephesians 1:18-21

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Wait ’til You Hear This

She had taken a test designed to identify one’s spiritual gifts, and was sharing her results with me. Being an insightful woman with the wisdom that comes with age, she noticed something beyond the obvious results, as well. “One of my top gifts was faith,” she said, “but I see myself as a naturally fearful person. My other primary gift was encouragement, but I tend to be somewhat critical by nature.” Without saying so directly, she was testifying to God’s grace in her life, His Spirit gifting her with what she lacked for Kingdom life and Kingdom work.

Nearing the end of his earthly ministry, Paul bade farewell to the Ephesian church. “I consider my life worth nothing to me,” said the aging apostle, “my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.”1 Such clarity of purpose and focus! Yet we, too, can testify to the good news of God’s grace, for as we’ve seen over the past 16 posts, God manifests His grace to us “in its various forms.”2 Consider for yourself . . .

“God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus . . .”3 Can you remember when joy in God’s presence replaced the fear of His rejection? If so, you have good news of God’s gift of righteousness.

“[God] saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.”4 Do you recall the relief of rescue from eternal separation from God? Then tell your good news of God’s gift of salvation.

“This same Good News that came to you . . . is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.”5 Have you seen changes in your life that only God could make? Then you have good news of God’s gift of transformation.

“God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.”6 Has God ever done something through you that far exceeded your natural ability? Then testify to the good news of God’s sufficiency.

And what of His sustenance in suffering, His call to works, His renewing of our minds? God writes His story into our lives, so we in turn may testify to His grace. For it is He who equips us with what we lack for Kingdom life and Kingdom work.

Father, You have done much for us. Remind us of Your work in and through us, that we may testify to the good news of Your grace in our lives. In Christ we pray. Amen.

1 Acts 20:24
2 1 Peter 4:10
3 Romans 3:24 NLT
4 Titus 3:5 NLT
5 Colossians 1:6 NLT
6 2 Corinthians 9:8