Are We Cooperating Or Resisting?

When I was around 25 years old I was coming home to my home town of Santa Cruz, California after spending about five years in a ministry called Youth With A Mission in which I traveled as a missionary throughout the US and Europe. I was coming home with no money, no job, no car and no church family. My parents were not Christians and did not understand why I would be so serious about my faith to the point that I would spend my self and my resources in serving God’s purpose. Because of this, they would only provide a place for me to live temporarily until I got a job and a vehicle.  Approaching my grandfather for a loan seemed to be about my only option.

I had found a VW bug for $800 and needed money fast or the car would be gone.  When I talked to my grandfather about the loan he was more than happy to grant my request.  I told him I would sign any paper promising to pay him back in installments and he got a little mad, which surprised me. You see, my grandfather was the most generous man I had ever known. He lived a lifestyle of generosity yet he rarely said more than a few words. So, when I made the offer and he got perturbed with me he made this statement, “Either a man’s word is his bond and a hand shake is all that is required or his word means nothing.”  How Contrary is the idea of “Your Word is Your Bond” in our day and age. Today, when you buy almost anything of value there are tons of papers called “contracts” to bind you to your word lest you forget or refuse to pay what you originally owed someone. How many of us have seen or heard tons of commercials about bankruptcy and the ways you can get out of paying anyone, whether it’s the IRS or some business. We have lost our sense of our word is good and we don’t need to be threatened to pay what we owe.

As a follower of Jesus, I am constantly reading the scriptures to not only discover the values I should have as a Christ follower, but as well the way to apply those values. How often my heart is grieved to see professing Christians say they trust God with everything and yet most of their lives are spent on themselves and their own pleasure rather than on the lifestyle God calls us all to have through Christ. For instance, take the following passage that Jesus spoke which the apostle Paul wrote down.

Acts 20:35 

“In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

Now you will be hard pressed to find this quote in the four gospels but as the apostle John said.

John 20:30-31 

Jesus did many other miracles in the presence of his followers that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Then, by believing, you may have life through his name.

It is so easy to quote scripture and yet have no intention to let those same passages transform our character and lifestyle. There is a phrase that is quite true that states, “Words Are Cheap When Action Is Missing”.

As a teacher and Pastor in the body of Christ for over 40 years I have desired to learn how to allow the Holy Spirit to be my guide in understanding the truth of the scriptures as well as their application. Reading is fairly easy but at times the application can be very hard. Take letting Jesus do open surgery on my heart. My heart like others has been wounded by life circumstances and people to the point that it is easy to put invisible walls around it so that I am not wounded again in the same I was as in the past. The problem is those walls are not only invisible to others, but also to myself. Secondly, those walls which I put in place as a protection are actually keeping my wounds tormenting me and my future. When we bury our hurts those dead corpses produce all kinds of maladjusted characteristics in us that distort not only reality but as hinder us from experiencing true friendship and genuine love.

Jesus, when he is getting ready to go to the cross, teaches one of the most important lessons possible to his disciples at the Last Supper.

John 13:3-8 

Jesus knew that the Father had given him power over everything and that he had come from God and was going back to God. So during the meal Jesus stood up and took off his outer clothing. Taking a towel, he wrapped it around his waist. Then he poured water into a bowl and began to wash the followers’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

⁶Jesus came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷Jesus answered, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but you will understand later.”

⁸Peter said, “No, you will never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “If I don’t wash your feet, you are not one of my people.”

Let me unpack this principle that all believers should desire to apply in their Christian life.

1) God gave Jesus complete “AUTHORITY” to heal our broken lives.

2) As the ultimate authority he demonstrates “SERVANTHOOD” to show us how to help others.

3) Some things God desires to do in our live require our “COOPERATION” to be completed.

4) Many timeS God’s ways don’t make sense at the time but, looking back, we can see the “REASON” if we submit.

5) Jesus needs to regularly “CLEANSE” our walk or we can not experience his presence or healing power.

So many Christians have been taught a foolish way of learning by thinking if we just memorize scripture our lives will be transformed and then discover we end up feeling guilty because we don’t measure up to God’s standard. Without the help of the Holy Spirit daily guiding our thoughts and actions we become religious people rather than “Lovers of God” who are renewed day by day with the grace of God.

Questions:

Do you daily come before the Lord Jesus for cleansing of your daily walk?      1 John 1:9

Do you allow God to do things in your life that you don’t understand?             John 13:7-8

May God help us all to yield to the wisdom of the Holy Spirit daily.

Pastor Dale