Willing?

 
A British statesman and Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom was criticized for his policies and replied: “Gentlemen, get larger maps.”

I get that. Yesterday God clearly told me to do the right thing, and the decisions made to obey Him produced what Jesus calls “abundant” life — clearly better in comparison to what it would have been had I selected my options.

Today’s devotional says something similar. An abundant life in Christ is not about using my  talents, doing great deeds, having fervent emotions, or being given wonderful revelations. It is simply to want what God wants and do what He says. Stop waiting for some grand experience or feeling, just listen to the indwelling Holy Spirit and follow His directions. These are simple truths, learned early yet it seems to take me years to consistently do life His way. I am a most stubborn saved sinner.

God’s plan is to transform me into the image of Christ. His glory was having His will set to do the will of His Father. When faced with His own “Do the right thing” He replied, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42)

Even though Jesus makes a distinction between His human will and the Father’s will, God does not leave me to “do the right thing” by the power of my human will. He says;

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12–13)

Now may the God of peace . . . equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20–21)

How does He do this? That is not a short answer. The reality is that He does do it. Paul knew that:

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. (1 Corinthians 15:10)

God’s grace is shown in His love and when loved like He loves, doing His will is a delight — not because my life is godly but because His love shows me that His will is best. Even when what He wants seems unpleasant to me, satisfying Him gives me delight — and that is what makes life abundant.

His love is not the same as human love, which expects a return. God loved me while I was a sinner and He had no return whatsoever. The NT expresses it like this:

I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less? (2 Corinthians 12:15)

Essentially, the writer was saying, ‘I do not care whether you love me or not, I am willing to destitute myself completely, not merely for your sakes, but that I may get you to God.’ He reflects God’s love…

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor.” (2 Corinthians 8:9)

This love is tied to obedience for it produces a glad willingness to do what God asks. It may mean household chores, calling a shut-in, giving finances, sitting with a senior, and doing everything without asking why or being concerned about what’s in it for me. Obedience without reserve.

PRAY: Jesus, You speak to me continually about making right choices and following through with obedience. You know I have days of feeling useless, or filled with fatigue, or just wanting to do nothing. May grace and love motivate me to pay close attention; not only listening with obedience but  doing Your will from the heart and with great joy.

Value of Gratitude

Being thankful, or not, reveals much about a person. Those who are thankful seem to be more apt to acknowledge being needy. They also realize that someone else provided for them, maybe even God. Thankfulness is a biblical virtue, even commanded.

It used to bother me if I gave something to someone and they didn’t thank me. I felt disappointed and unappreciated. However, God has shown me that I should badly for their sake. Anyone who has forgotten or neglects to be thankful is missing out on gratitude, which is very important to Him.

Chambers says it is natural to expect some return when we are helpful or generous. This is true. However, God looks for spiritual fruit in the lives of others as a response to His grace. That suggests that if a person is not thankful, or does not acknowledge love and kindness, then a Spirit-filled person will feel badly also, not for being unappreciated but from a concern that the recipient is missing out on being grateful. Paul illustrates this when he wrote to the Christians in Philippi. He told them . . .

Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. (Philippians 4:16–17)

The above serves as explanation for something I noticed this morning. The devotional reading used a different translation from what I use. The New King James Version says this:

And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved. (2 Corinthians 12:15)

From the way it is translated, it looks like Paul is talking about serving them along the lines of, ‘I do not care whether you love me or not, I am willing to destitute myself completely, not merely for your sakes, but that I may get you to God.’ In other words, the focus is about making a sacrifice regardless of the response.

However, the version I use gives a different perspective, one that I like better. It says:

I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less? (2 Corinthians 12:15, English Standard Version)

In this translation, Paul seems to be looking for a return, even asking a rhetorical question as if his readers should understand this should be their response to his ministry. He reflects the clear teaching in the Bible that sinners do not love God until we realize how much He loves us. This applies also on a human level. If someone loves us to the point of being spent for us, should we not love that person in return?

The original language agrees with that idea. Paul isn’t offering the example of selfless service to point out that the more he is rejected, the more he will love them. This isn’t about him, but about what he wants to see in their lives. He is glad to serve them selflessly, but expects that they will respond to his love.

Jesus gave Himself for me. The Bible says: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9)

The point either way is that I do things for others without reserve just as Jesus died for sinners whether they responded or not. Paul preached to everyone, regardless of their response. The ministries to the homeless in our city feed these men and women whether they are thankful or complain about the food.

From this, it seems that willingness to serve others without a return is important, yet doing it with hope that there will be a fruitful response is more like Jesus, more like Paul. I am not to martyr myself in service with a focus on ‘look how sacrificial I am’ but with a focus on, “God, use this to bring forth a godly response that pleases You and blesses those who bear the fruit.”

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For the family: My brother-in-law’s funeral is March 5.

Selfless service?

Serving the Lord might sound lofty and idealistic in the sense that ‘if I do this, I will be a far better person’ or even ‘I might change the world,’ but I’ve realized that serving God so I can be exalted is not serving God at all. However, I remember the first time I read this verse . . .

And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved. (2 Corinthians 12:15, NKJV)

How noble! I imagined selfless service and great love for people and being spent for their sake without any reward. But that is a wrong motive. For one thing, serving others is for Jesus, not for me. It also considers the cost without any foolish idea that this activity is going to make a hero out of me.

Paul scolds the Corinthian church because they were idolizing Christian service and attributes of the faith as if doing good deeds and having those gifts made them superior. In 1 Corinthians, he points out that genuine love is not like that and chastens them for thinking that what they are doing makes them more favored.

Instead, when God’s Spirit fills our hearts with the love of God, we begin to feel and treat others as being far more important than ourselves. The others include all people, not merely those we feel comfortable with, or those who fawn over us for what we are doing.

Paul’s purpose was to win people to Jesus Christ. He pointed them to the Lord, not drawing attention to himself. He was also willing to identify with anyone . . .

For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. (1 Corinthians 9:19–23)

The part of Chambers’ devotional that most convicts is his statement that a holy life with God is not developed alone. If I put myself away from people to ‘be with God’ (like a monk?) without doing anything for the people around me, I am of no use to anyone. I’m to be like Paul whose life was so yielded that wherever he went, Jesus Christ helped Himself to his life and used it in whatever way He wanted. If I have my own agenda, then Jesus cannot help Himself to my life. If I am abandoned to Jesus, I have no plans or agenda of my own to serve.

Part of the reason for seclusion can be the possible pain of rejection, being misunderstood or mocked, all of the things that Jesus endured for my sake. While I am not Jesus, He lives in me. Certainly He is able to ‘roll with the punches’ so that I am able to endure for the sake of others.

I know these things. Life’s experiences prove to me the adequacy of Christ in serving others. Yet He takes me deeper. In my own home where I used to think I was somewhat shielded from the demands of meeting needs, I’m not safe. He has brought needy people to me, even to live here so I could do as Jesus asks. And He says if I cannot take care of those who are close and those whom I love, what about the multitudes outside the door that I’ve no particular affinity with?

All service for others is supposed to be a joy because it is serving Jesus. Many Christians have given themselves to serve without pity parties and regrets. Again, I’m not there yet.

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About ten years ago, my husband had a heart attack. He’d felt some odd symptoms and a co-worker drove him to the nearest ER. The attack happened in the hospital, he was given a shunt, and has been fine every since. This morning he had chest pains that lasted many minutes. I was still sleeping so wasn’t there to be in a panic. He looked it up on the Internet and was calm and in control when he told me. My first thought after the concern for him was ‘what next?’ Again, God isn’t finished teaching me about being selfless.

Why love hurts

Many years ago, I read a short article about why people struggled to love others. It said that love required giving, a sacrifice, and that part of love is too painful. Rather than pain, most of us will choose not to love.

This morning, convicted of lack of love in my own life, I asked the Lord to enlighten me, to point to the root of it and dig out that root. He reminded me of that article then took me back to the same verse as recent days, this time with a different application . . .

But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings... (Hebrews 10:32)

The author of the reading compares truth enlightening the mind with love enlightening the heart. That is, when Christ came in, He brought light to the way that I think, causing discord and readjustment in my mind, but He also brought love to my heart, changing my attitude toward people.

I remember the former days when those sacrifices to love others seemed like nothing. For example, I would play for hours with children, never once considering it a waste of time. Yet love brings the other side of this blessing from God, struggle and suffering.

Today’s reading illustrates love awakened when a mother holds her firstborn in her arms. Everyone sees the glow that radiates from her eyes and the gladness of having this small bundle to love. Yet all mothers recall the other side of that love, the sleepless nights, hours of weary watching, agony when life was threatened, struggles to do the hard things when strong wills rebelled and childish lips told lies. This is the anguish of love just as light also brings its own anguish.

I love my work, yet in that light I’ve experienced weary wrestling. I love my home and country, yet in that I am deeply burdened by both. I love Jesus Christ, yet in His light my life is often a battleground as I struggle, not against flesh and blood but against the rulers and the powers of this dark world (Ephesians 5:10-20).

Love has its mountain peaks, but also its valleys. It can be paradise but also hell. It has its mountains of transfiguration and its gardens where the sweat flows like blood. Love is the “secret of the sweetest song that ever was uttered by human lips, and love is the secret of the keenest suffering that ever pierced the heart.”

Now I see that my focus has gone away from the love that God “sheds abroad in my heart” to the debilitating and painful experience of being “poured out for others.” Instead of trusting God with both extremes of love, I’ve blocked its flow by often choosing what seems safer and less painful. The trouble with doing that is that in the process, others are missing out on that sweetest song — and so am I.