A Walk in Love

Last weekend I was invited to a retreat by a friend that was being run by his rather large church. In retrospect, I had a preconceived notion of what was going to happen because he said, "Greg, I think this would be great for you because you could really use this time to be refreshed and renewed in your ministry." I thought it sounded good because I could be gone a few days and take a couple of books to catch up on and refresh my mind some.

Little did I know that this would be one of the most amazing weekends of feeling the extreme and extravagant love of Jesus Christ through His body that I have ever known. This was amazing. Although, I admit, when we arrived and the guy opened up a notebook to read the intro I wondered what I was in for but I soon learned that, read it or not – this was for real and these people were for real! We had an uproariously great time in parts of the weekend and a challenging soul-searching time for parts of the weekend but the entire weekend except for a few short intervals, was completely designed to walk me through a process of introspection, challenge and soul-searching all under the umbrella of over 30 men committed to showing the love of Christ in real and tangible ways. I made some friends so quickly that it almost broke my heart to leave on Sunday knowing that many of them I may not see again this side of heaven – but they impacted me and helped me grow and change in just a few short hours together.

It was funny (an unbelievable) that the leader would say that "Today is good, tomorrow will be better and the next day will be even better and by Sunday, you will not want to go home." I thought, "No, dude, by Saturday I am pretty sure I am gonna be refreshed enough to want to leave. By Sunday I'll be chomping at the bit."

So – seriously, come Saturday morning, I was thinking, "What is next. How far can this go? What is the next talk going to be? What in the world are these Kleenex for?" Well in the next twelve hours or so I found out the answer to all of those questions and more. And, no, I was certainly not ready to leave yet. What was Sunday going to be?

True enough, I was anxious to see my wife and family on Sunday when I left but I really did not want to leave – He was right.

God challenged me. One BIG thought that I walked away with: "There is NOTHING in this life that compares in any way to living sold out for Jesus."

Ministry may be hard – but my reward is not here, not now. Living in the moment of my mission, doing what I am called by God to do and discharging the duties to which I have been called is hard. I have never, never done anything harder or more frustrating or more discouraging. BUT, I also have never done anything more uplifting (by my brothers and sisters), more simple (keep it that way), or more rewarding and encouraging (living life day in and day out with this body of believers that I love) as we see God glorified together through His work in us.

I will walk in love and remember how I was loved completely and selflessly last weekend and for eternity through Christ.

My All for His Glory

Everyone always quotes Paul saying in Philippians 1:21 "For me to live is Christ but to die is gain." I fully believe that Paul meant that – but I ask myself time and time again – do I believe that? Do I live like every waking moment is about Jesus? Is living MY life really about living for Christ?

And the second part of that – do I really feel like physically DYING would be advantageous to me?

I had someone ask me recently why we do not teach more about heaven at our church. I thought about it some and realized we really do not teach specifically on that topic very often at all. In fact, when we do talk about it it is because it is in the text and we give it an "honorable mention" at best. It made me start thinking, "do I really feel like heaven would be a better place for me than earth?" and when I honestly answer that question, I find myself thinking – "I don't want to go there yet but I do want to end up there". So how do I get to the point where I can say…"to die is gain."?

I consider the verse before that in Philippians:

"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death." -Phil 1:20 (NIV)

Paul expected and hoped (with anticipation that it would happen) that he would not be ashamed by his life on earth as he stood before the Judge of the universe and his actions in life were considered. How could he say that? Because for Paul – he lived with the motto that "NOW as ALWAYS Christ would be exalted" in his body whether it was while he was living or through his death. It causes me to reflect upon me… can I say that right now – in this moment – I am living, responding, acting in a manner that exalts Jesus?

Paul could.

He was so passionately in love with his Savior that he lived every day in order to please Him! To exalt Him! To promote Him! To enjoy Him! When I live that way then I cannot wait to be in heaven together with Him. There is no fear in death when life is lived with a white hot passion for the One with Whom we desire to spend the rest of our lives (in heaven). It so changes my perspective when I think about it that way. (however, when I am neglecting my love relationship with Jesus – I sometimes am not excited about being with Him in heaven because I am afraid of being embarrassed, even though there is no need for that feeling – it still nags at me).

So – live all out for Him. Bring Him honor through your life actions.

I pray that God will give me "sufficient courage" to live "now as always" to exalt Jesus Christ. Will you pray with me?

The Real Result of Grace

I recently read David Platt's book, Radical, regarding the way that American church has been affected by our "me first" culture. It was eye-opening and very challenging to me. However, what really struck me most was the way he explained God's grace and its ultimate purpose.

A couple of thoughts stood out to me…

• Grace for salvation is not the end – Salvation is NOT the complete purpose of God's grace.
  
• If the purpose of God's grace is simply to bring an otherwise unreachable reconciliation of God and man – then it is actually about "ME" and not really about God.
  
• Grace is not the end – Grace to glorify God with the rest of my life IS!
  
• God's ultimate purpose for extending His grace to mankind is so that we can live the transformed, Spirit-filled life He intended and thus, return glory and honor to Him.
  

So here is a good question to ask yourself:

How can I live my life and lead my family and others that I influence for God's glory in Osceola, Mishawaka, Elkhart or wherever I find myself?

If we seek to answer that question through the lens of God's Word and His commands for us then we begin to realize that we serve Him as our Master and Savior instead of serving ourselves.

Isaiah seemed to get it straight from the Lord:

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." Isaiah 6:1-3 (NIV)

I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols. Isaiah 42:8 (NIV)

For my own name's sake I delay my wrath; for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you, so as not to cut you off. 10 See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. 11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another. Isaiah 48:9-11 (NIV)