Loving Jesus

Today’s reading is about surrendering all to Jesus. Yesterday’s sermon compared the supremacy of Jesus with trying to keep the Law of God. I say trying because I cannot do it. My efforts and ideas all fall short.

My plans also miss the mark. The past two weeks have been filled with interruptions to my agenda. Today I’m thinking that the interruptions are part of what God wants for me. Many of them were difficult: requests for prayer from a family in trouble, a relative in the hospital and his care-giver burned out, the death of an infant, threats to the well-being of a family member, people asking us to referee their feud with other people, my husband’s back injury still not healed, unexpected tasks added to my to-do list, and the pressure of not getting enough sleep.

All these added to the usual challenges to trust God with everything — yet as I pray and let Him interrupt my plans, there are lovely surprises: calls from loved ones, conversations with Christians young and older that were like tonic to my soul, words of affirmation, understanding and love, and enough energy to get the important chores done. Jesus is a faithful and wise ‘business manager’ for want of a better term, or perhaps ‘personal assistant’ — but more. He is Lord of life. I need to rejoice when He interrupts my schedule for He not only knows more and is wiser than I am, He wants to use me to somehow do what He wants done.

Yesterday a person that has seemed unteachable and stubborn asked me for help in three areas of life. A teen told all in hearing range that I am his favorite senior person. A couple about to move into a new home asked us come and pray for their life in that house before they enter it. In a long chat, a child asked me a dozen questions about life. One of our busy adult children called several times just to talk. We had a marvelous visit with a woman who is nearly 100, no dementia and delighted we came. Normally these would not seem huge, but with the other events, they were like a feast to a starving and very tired person.

Surrendering to Jesus means letting Him control life. I tried to do other things, but nothing happened that was not interrupted by His better plan. Now I see that He was using all this to affirm  that I can trust Him with the control of life’s events.

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. (James 4:13–17)

I’ve not boasted about what I will do, but the Word of God makes it clear that even resenting those interruptions would not be right. When the Lord wants something from me, I should gladly say YES.

Today’s reading says: “Be generous in your self-surrender! Meet His measureless devotion to you with a measureless devotion to Him. Be glad and eager to throw yourself unreservedly into His loving arms and to hand over the control of your life to Him. Whatever there is of you, let Him have it all. Give up forever everything that is separate from Him. Consent to resign, from this time forward, all liberty of choice, and glory in the blessed nearness of union…”

PRAY: And Jesus, I say amen. Thank You for the ability to not only see that You are in the interruptions, but that You have more in mind than just teaching me to humbly surrender. You are blessing others too and gladly going along with Your will is my opportunity to love them and love You with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. Thank You.

Transparent about my weaknesses?

 
The Christians my husband and I spend time with have been talking about how to know the will of God, particularly to know which motivations come from Him and which are from our selfish old nature. All realize that just because that flesh nature is dead (separated from God) does not mean it shuts up and leaves us to hear God only.

Even Jesus, who is God in human flesh, was pressured by the world who wanted to make Him king and later to kill Him. The devil also tempted Him. He did not have a sin nature yet He was able “to sympathize with our weaknesses” because “He was tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15) How did Jesus know the will of God? He gave a big clue when He said:

If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. (John 7:17)

Being willing to do whatever God tells me is important to knowing what He wants. Why would He reveal anything about His plans to a person that is not willing to do whatever He says! So yielded to obedience is a major part of knowing the difference. Not my will but Thine be done.

My level of concern for others is also a measurement. If all I think about and pray about is me and mine, then I’m out of His will. Today’s devotional puts it this way…
We never care about the little details of people’s lives unless we love them. It is a matter of indifference to us what the majority of people do, or how they spend their time. But as soon as we begin to love someone, we begin to care.

This goes both ways. I become more certain of God's love for me as I experience it in the details of life. As I realize He is caring for me in every way and at all times the more I am interested in what He is doing for others. This happens in relationships and is evidence that when God’s love is “spread abroad in my heart” I am less focused on me but them. His love becomes a daily, even a minute-by-minute guidance and motivator. Knowing how much I am loved translates into knowing what God is saying, knowing how He speaks and what He asks of me. This involves listening but it also involves shunning the devil’s lie that says the Lord does not want the best for me. When I am convinced He does, I can ignore all threats that say otherwise. I also become a better listener and have more freedom to focus on those around me.

Another way to know His will is to believe His promises. He says:

God works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life… (Philippians 2:13–16)

I can trust Him to work in me as well as guide me. If flesh and other sources lead me astray, the Lord works in my will so I will do His will. I can know it by lack of complaining and arguing on my part, and by holding to what His Word tells me. No deviations or excuses, but joyful contentment.

As this passage says, God promises to work in me a desire to do His will. He is the Savior and works in my nature so I want the same things as He wants and will behave and do things that please Him. He produces that desire in such a way that I know the liberty of following those inner desires  rather than doing anything out of duty. The requirements might be a challenge but the desire to obey is strong and certain, not a sense of being driven. He puts His will on our hearts and minds (Hebrews 10:16) so we know what He asks.

PRAY: Jesus, I’ve a problem with a person who never speaks of weakness or doubts or any struggles with the flesh. That seems unrealistic, even foreign to me. Even You, in Your perfection, sweat blood in the garden about going to the cross. This person never seems to wrestle with anything. Am I envious? Or is this discernment from You and a signal to pray for the ability to glory in weakness like Paul did (2 Corinthians 9-10) so this person will experience a much deeper grace? Again, show me Your perfect will.

Learning to Love

A teenage girl told me that she wanted to have a baby because, “I want someone who will love me.”

While my heart went out to her, an abused and neglected child, how could I tell her that this is not the way it works? Infants are born with the same need for love as their parents. Without being loved, they will be concerned only to have their own needs met. Love for others needs to be developed. No one is born with it.

Yesterday, I was told of twin boys, age ten, whose mother is in jail for abusing them. They have been described as ‘feral’ and without any sense of boundaries. Without loving care, they have no care for others. The only time one of them looked happy was when he was abusing and beating his brother.

Children generally respond to love. If parents care for them, they develop the ability as nurture overcomes that me-first nature all of us are born with. However, as important as this family love is, it is not the same as the love our heavenly Father has for us, or the love that He wants us to have for one another. This love was unknown to me until the day that Jesus Christ came into my life.

On that day, a change of heart happened and astonished me. I’d known the commands to love God and love others, but I did not feel that I was doing it, at least not to the standard the Bible describe. Then, suddenly, that love was there. Many theologians will describe it not as a feeling but as the action of obedience, so perhaps the feeling I had would best be described as a sudden and very real desire to do what God said. I immediately loved Him and immediately became far more interested in others and in the needs of others than I’d even imagined. This happened because God sent His Spirit into my heart.

“And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.” (1 John 3:23–24)

By nature, I am a ‘why’ person, pragmatic and constantly seeking the bottom line, the reason for doing anything. God often obliges this desire and showed me the reason Christians are supposed to love one another . . .

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34–35)

This love is an important way to show the world that I belong to God and follow Jesus Christ. It is also a way of verifying that He is real and that He changes lives.

Not only that, He showed me that the love among family members, or between husbands and wives is not the same kind of love as the love of God. How is God’s love beyond ordinary human affection? John 3:16 is a big clue: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

The love of God cares about others to the point of self-sacrifice for their eternal well-being. It includes taking care of physical and emotional needs too, but isn’t about indulging people or being their resource or doormat. Instead, God wants me to demonstrate all of what He is like in His love for them. This is difficult to describe because it is both an attitude and action:

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:4–7)

As a new Christian, I felt differently, but it didn’t take me long to realize that loving God and loving others is a fruit of the Spirit (see Galatians 5). The Lord produces it, motivates it, makes it happen, but only in the heart of a person yielded to Him in obedience. That is why the Bible says to love God and keep His commandments. It is in obeying God that I can express love to Him and His love to others. As soon as I start putting myself first, love is gone.

^^^^^^^^^^

Lord Jesus, this journey with You is filled with opportunities to love others. It can be little things like making lunch when I feel like having a nap, or being patient when someone is slow to respond to a simple request, or refusing to compare myself with others who are making mistakes. It is also far larger sacrifices such as seen in the actions of your people in times of disasters such as fires, floods, and tornadoes, risking their lives for the good of others. The more I realize how much You love me, the more I’m inclined to drop that me-first attitude that I came wailing with into this world. What can I say? You are an amazing God and from You, I’m learning how to love and obey You, knowing that it is You who makes such love possible.

Loving others is not about me

The Christians in Galatia had entangled themselves in a pattern of trying to establish their righteousness by keeping the Law of God. They didn’t say ‘We are saved by our own works’ because Satan knows how to put a lie into our hearts without being so easily detected. Only when Paul wrote to them was that lie exposed.

At least two major denominations teach that we are saved by grace, but only if we keep the law. Others put variations on this such as, ‘We are justified by grace alone, but sanctification comes by keeping the commandments.’ However it is phrased, both are trying to mix law and grace. In doing so, they deny the Gospel of salvation by grace alone.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8–9)  

As I think about this, Satan can be even more subtle. He tells me that I am saved and being sanctified, but constantly is at me with stuff like “you are not good enough” or “try harder” pressuring me with the idea that pleasing God is about my performance.

Many people grow up with that idea. We want to please our parents and are praised when we behave. We want to please our peers and are accepted by them as long as we fit in. For me, it was pleasing my teachers by good grades and pleasing myself by accomplishments.

While obedience to God is the way to go, I need to be aware of my motivations. Who am I really trying to please? Who will get the glory in the end? Am I doing this for me because ‘me’ always likes to pat myself on the back?

Jesus came in perfect humanity not only to die for sin, but to show sinners what God intended when He created us. For Jesus, it was all about others. He fulfilled every law, every commandment, every ideal that God describes. This is how we express love to God by loving one another.

One of the ways to love others is this: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2) This verse speaks of the law of Christ, but that law and that love is never about me or my performance. In other words, the love of Christ is not measured in how many pies I bake for the neighbors or how many orphans I support. It is measured by releasing all my I-wants to God and letting Him live out His live through me. It is living in the power of the Holy Spirit and doing what He says. It isn’t about what I want or my needs, but about caring for the needs of others because Christ takes care of me . . .

“So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus . . . .” (Philippians 2:1–5)

Just as the traits of others rub off on me when I hang around them, the mind of Christ becomes more and more evident as I hang around Him. I learn how to love by observing His lack of selfish ambition and conceit. He considers others more important than Himself. He listens to their hearts and meets all their needs. He loves and serves people, an expression of His perfection, not a way to gain it or prove it.

Bearing the burdens of others is not about worrying, or removing their responsibilities. It is sharing their load in whatever ways God has gifted me and blessed me with the resources to do so. By looking at Christ as the example, I see that love expressed in burden-bearing is also sacrificial. If I am in this for Jesus, it will cost me something rather than building up me or gratifying my pride. Just as He gives the description, the glory of love also always goes to its source — the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Jesus, Your Word is plain; we are to love one another. Because I have been born of God, You live in my heart and make possible that kind of burden-bearing love. This is how the world knows that God sent You. This also gives me confidence as I walk with You because this kind of love casts out all fear. This seems an odd prescription but I am thankful that Your remedies always bless Your people and glorify Your name!

Spiritual fruit and serving God

My mother often told me, “You are never happier than when you do things for others.”

For a time, I wondered if that was a selfish reason. We had a neighbor who said, “I love doing things for others because it makes me feel good.” I realize now that is not what my mother meant.

Loving others is how Christians show their love for God. It is also tied to being filled with the Holy Spirit and bearing fruit. Like a tree does not bear fruit for itself to eat, so also do Christians not bear fruit for themselves. His “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22–23) is for others.

While bearing fruit does feel good, biblical love is a sacrificial love; I don’t do it for myself just as Jesus sacrificed His own life for the sake of humanity. That means that bearing fruit has an element of sacrifice in it and is closely tied to loving other people. These verses show that connection:

“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.” (John 15:15–17)

Yet, as Jesus points out, bearing the fruit of the Holy Spirit is not about serving God as a servant (the Greek word is bond-servants or slaves), but as His friend. Fruit-bearing and loving others are about relationships of love, not servitude.

I remember getting up in the middle of the night to take care of one of my children who just threw up in his bed. That is not the action of a servant! I was motivated by my love for that child. As Jesus indicates, we love and serve others because we love and serve Him — as friends who love each other, not as ‘me master, you slave’ with emphasis on making a sacrifice to do the serving.

Actually, if I’m feeling like what I’m doing is a sacrifice, I’m very likely not filled with the Spirit and bearing spiritual fruit. From what I know about it, Spirit-filled fruitfulness is not a chore, not something I would ever resent or consider difficult, or measure by how much I had to give up to do it.

This is why Chambers can talk about “the joy of self-sacrifice” and why it happens to those who absolutely abandon themselves in devotion to the Lord. “The final aim of self-sacrifice is laying down our lives for our Friend. When the Holy Ghost comes in, the great desire is to lay down the life for Jesus; the thought of sacrifice never touches us because sacrifice is the love passion of the Holy Ghost.”

Jesus delighted to do the will of His Father. What He did for God the Father was never about slavery or servant-hood, but about their relationship. This is how it should be for me too, that I walk with Jesus as my friend, the One that I love and the One who knows and loves me more than any other.

Chambers rightly says that this friendship is based on the new life created in us and has no affinity with our old life. It is humble, pure and absolutely devoted to God — because it comes through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in me.

If it is not there, then I am walking in the flesh and need to repent.