Your Job Description

Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear.  For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Philippians 2:12-13 (NLT)

When I first see the line “Work hard to show the results of your salvation,” I balk. Your salvation is by grace and grace alone through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. So what does this mean?

Let’s start with verse thirteen. “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” First and foremost, God is in it. He is active in your life and in your heart. He is prompting you, filling you with the desire to do what he’s calling you to do.

This is where our work comes in. We have to do what he says. The words “work out” here mean “to complete, to accomplish”. The process starts with God’s prompting, moves to us obeying said promptings and is finished with grace because let’s face it, we don’t obey perfectly.

That process, that relationship ends in our salvation.

The Bible is very clear. This whole Christianity thing is about being in a relationship with God. It’s about living life with God working in us and following his leading. If we were going to put together a job description for Christians some of the Job Responsibilities would be:

• Listen to God every day and do what he says

• Read the instruction manual and follow it

• Share what you’ve learned with other people so they can learn too

• Other duties as assigned (my personal favorite)

Do we have work to do as Christians? Absolutely! But let’s not confuse our role in the relationship versus the saving sacrifice of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

A Minute In It - The Eyes Have It

A minute in Gods' word will change your life.  Read through the Bible text and ask yourself the questions at the bottom of the post.

54 So they arrested him and led him to the high priest’s home. And Peter followed at a distance. 55 The guards lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat around it, and Peter joined them there. 56 A servant girl noticed him in the firelight and began staring at him. Finally she said, “This man was one of Jesus’ followers!”

57 But Peter denied it. “Woman,” he said, “I don’t even know him!”

58 After a while someone else looked at him and said, “You must be one of them!”

“No, man, I’m not!” Peter retorted.

59 About an hour later someone else insisted, “This must be one of them, because he is a Galilean, too.”

60 But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.

61 At that moment the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Suddenly, the Lord’s words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.”62 And Peter left the courtyard, weeping bitterly. Luke 22:54-62 (NLT)

When Jesus looked at Peter, what did his eyes say?
Did it say “How could you!”?
Did his expression express his disappointment or his love?
How does Jesus look at you when you do something that disappoints him?

Your answer to the last question says a lot about how you perceive God. If your perceptions are not of love and forgiveness, then you need to get to know him better.

What Does Grace Look Like?

I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us. Romans 8:38-39 (NLT)

As I read through the Old Testament, over and over again it says things like “He did evil in the Lord’s sight” or “They followed the sins of their ancestors” or “They refused to follow the Lord.” After a while, I start thinking “Of course they did.” It makes you wonder why they can’t keep themselves on the right path.

And then, I start to wonder why God keeps putting up with them. Sure, he let them face their consequences. And sometimes they were severe. But the Bible also tells us when Israel repented and cried out to God that he responded to them. “But the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion on them and turned to them.” 2 Kings 13:23

I began to marvel at a God who would continually step in and rescue the very people who got themselves into trouble because they ignored what God told them. I began to see the unconditional love that God has for us. Over and over again, we do the same thing that the Israelites did. We know what God wants but we do what we want instead. We get into trouble and then cry out to him. And he shows up.

Sure, we may have consequences to face because God is just and fair….until it comes to our future. What we justly deserve is death. What would be fair is that we are never rescued. But Jesus died for our sins so that we do not get what is just and fair.

As I read the stories of the Israelites and their continual failure to follow God, all I can do is praise him. I praise him because in reality, I am just like that. And when I call on his name, when I cry out to him, “The Lord is gracious to me and has compassion on me and turns to me.” He does the same for you.

Crowding The Throne

But Naaman became angry and stalked away. “I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!” he said. “I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me!  2 Kings 5:11 (NLT)

Naaman. A mighty warrior. He demanded respect where ever he went. He went for help with enough money to buy favor from anyone. Except God.

When Elisha only sent word instead of addressing him face to face, he nearly lost the opportunity to be healed. His pride was in control and because of it, he almost missed out. However, the true council of his friends got him to refocus and he gave in to Elisha’s request.

He went to the Jordan River to dip seven times. He dipped and dipped and dipped. At the seventh time God showed up. Do you think as he was dipping he was thinking to himself that this was ridiculous? He already said they had perfectly fine rivers in Damascus. Do you think his mind was reeling with the thought that if this didn’t work he was going to kill Elisha? He was an accomplished warrior after all. Was this guy trying to make him look foolish? Do you think Elisha told him to dip seven times because God knew it would take seven times before his prickled pride was eased?

After the seventh time, Naaman was healed. The Bible says his skin was as healthy as a child’s. And as he rose from the river the seventh time, he surrendered. He understood who God was and where his heart belonged. After he was healed, he went back to Elisha still trying to pay for God’s grace but Elijah refused. God’s grace is free.

How do we know Naaman’s heart was where it belonged? Because the Bible says in 1 Kings 17-18:

Then Naaman said, “All right, but please allow me to load two of my mules with earth from this place, and I will take it back home with me. From now on I will never again offer burnt offerings or sacrifices to any other god except the Lord. However, may the Lord pardon me in this one thing: When my master the king goes into the temple of the god Rimmon to worship there and leans on my arm, may the Lord pardon me when I bow, too.”

He was so concerned about God’s feelings that he wanted him to understand when he bowed with his king, he was only doing it because the king was leaning on his arm not because his heart was in it.

Naaman came full of pride to receive something from God but, he could not. God could not help Naaman until Naaman got out of the way. It’s the same with us. God can’t sit on the throne of our hearts if it’s already occupied (with us or any other god we put there). In order for God to work in our lives, we have to remove ourselves from the seat of power and give that position to him.

Attracted To The Temple

Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God?  1 Corinthians 6:19 (NLT)

I heard this text a lot growing up. And primarily the focus was about taking care of yourself. Your body is the temple of God so you should take care of it. It’s God’s; not yours.

You know, we are called to be good stewards (someone who manages or looks after something) of what we are given. God gives us our bodies so really, we should take care of it.

I agree with all that. But recently, the thought popped into my mind that we sometimes limit this text to physical stewardship. Couldn’t it be so much more? Back in Paul’s day, there were temples on every corner. Temples whose primary purpose was to bring glory to Poseidon, Aphrodite and many others. The temples were beautiful and attractive. As such, people were drawn to them.

What if we looked at ourselves the same way? Are we a place people are drawn to? When people interact with us, do they want to come back? Does the way we behave draw them closer or push them away? Does our character and interactions with people scream “God lives here!”? Do we glorify God with beauty that shines brightly from the inside?

Just something to ponder….how does the light that radiates from your temple represent God? What do people see on the inside?

Minute In It - Letting Go

A minute in Gods' word will change your life.  Read through the Bible text and ask yourself the questions at the bottom of the post.

And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Then he *said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother; and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man *said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property. Matthew 19:16-22 (NLT)

What did the rich, young ruler want from Jesus?
When Jesus told him to go and sell everything he had, why was the rich, young ruler sad?
Why did the rich, young ruler leave without doing what God asked him to do?
Would you sell everything you had, give it to the poor and follow Jesus?
Maybe money isn’t your thing, what in your life would you want to hold on to if Jesus asked you to let it go?
Is there anything in your life that is keeping you from a closer walk with God?

No Regrets

So she did as she was told.  2 Kings 4:5 (NLT)

The widow in our story today was in a desperate situation. Her husband died and left her with a lot of debt and no inheritance. Back in those days, if you couldn’t pay a debt your family would be taken as a servant to work off what was owed. In this case, it would be her two sons that were taken. Possibly, this was the only family she had left.

She went to Elijah and told him of her predicament. He told her to gather as many empty jars as she could. I wonder if any sarcastic thoughts were running through her head. Excuse me? What am I going to do with jars? How are jars going to help me? Empty jars are empty!

But the Bible says “She did as she was told.” Her sons gathered as many jars as they could and God worked a miracle to save her family. She sold all the olive oil, paid off the debts and had enough to live on.

What would have happened if she’d thought “This is crazy! What are jars going to do? And what will it look like if we are running around town asking everyone for spare jars? What will they say about me? It’s going to look like I don’t know what I’m doing.” Or maybe she could have gathered a couple of jars, not put a lot of effort into it. She could have rationalized that she was still doing what the prophet said.

In either case, whether she didn’t do it at all or if she did it half-way, she would have lost her sons. She would have lost the good gift God wanted to give to her.

How often do we do this? We may not be in as desperate a situation as the widow was, but God still wants to give us good gifts. When he asks us to do our part and we don’t because we don’t want to look silly or it’s just not logical or we do it half-way, we miss out on the good gifts he wants to share. What would happen in our lives if we listened to what God was telling us and followed, no matter what it looked like? I bet, just like the widow, we’d experience the good gifts of a loving Father.

I bet the widow never, for one second, regretted collecting all the jars in her village. I would also bet that if we “Did as we were told”, we wouldn’t’ regret it either.

Whisper In The Wind

“Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.
And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 1 Kings 19:11-13 (NLT)

Elijah was tired. He had just prayed down fire from heaven; prayed for rain to start again; fought the prophets of Baal and faced down King Ahab. He suddenly felt alone and afraid. And he ran away from all of the things that were overwhelming him.

After he got to Mount Carmel, God showed up. Funny thing though, God did not show up in the windstorm, the earthquake or the fire. God showed up in a very quiet whisper. And in that whisper, he started a conversation.

So many times when things are going all wrong, we want God to show up in something huge and miraculous. We want him to come in and “fix it” for us. But more often than not, God shows up in a soft voice whispering to our hearts. We tend to tune it out because we want to see God’s power. What we don’t realize is the power of that conversation.

There is power in a whisper that tells you he sees. There is power in a gentle thought that shows he understands and there is power in the fact that the Almighty God of the Universe has chosen to draw very near to one of his kids.

Don’t discount the whisper. There is more power and love in that gentle whisper than there is in all the windstorms, earthquakes and fires that you encounter. Because God is the one whispering to your heart. Listen for him and like Elijah, come out of the cave and talk to him.