Will Davis Jr.'s Blog, page 39
March 19, 2014
Reward
If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward.
1 Corinthians 3:14
I find this to be one of the most encouraging and one of the most frightening verses in the Bible, depending on the day.
You see, this verse talks about our heavenly reward.
When a Christian dies, he isn’t judged for the sins of his life. Those sins are long gone, washed away by the beautiful blood of Jesus. But he will be judged for how he lived his Christian life.
This passage teaches that God will set fire to the works of every believer. Those who have used their gifts, skills, time and money to serve God’s Kingdom will find that their works withstand the fire and they will be greatly rewarded in heaven.
But those who have lived for themselves and invested in themselves and earthly treasure, their works won’t survive and they will have little to no heavenly reward.
Thus, my mixed emotions about this verse.
Because some days, weeks and even years I live a very kingdom-centered life. And in those times I have confidence that my works will stand.
But I also know that there have been plenty of seasons in my life when I lived totally for me, and that those seasons have no Kingdom fruit. They will be burned up. In a flash of the holy fire of God they will be gone, and I will have wasted entire seasons of my life, with nothing eternal to show for them.
Today you have an opportunity to invest wisely.
Every decision you make today will effect your eternity.
Every action you take today will effect your eternity.
Choose wisely.
Jesus encouraged us to pursue treasure. He just wanted us to be sure it was the eternal kind.
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21
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March 18, 2014
Saints by Calling
To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. 1 Corinthians 1:2
When Paul first wrote to the Corinthians, they were a rough and tumble group of believers. Infighting, pettiness, gossip, turf wars and even moral decadence filled the church.
Like I said, rough and tumble.
But Paul didn’t see them that way. He wasn’t naïve. He knew all too well of the troubles in Corinth. Which is why he felt led to write this letter. He wanted remind them of how God viewed them.
Saints by calling. That’s who they were. They were saints.
The word saint is literally holy one. From God’s point of view, this group of rowdy men and women were holy.
Saints by calling. God had named them saints. That’s the term he chose for them. And because of the blood of Jesus, they were. They were holy.
Saints by calling. God was calling them up. He was calling them to be holy. It’s like God was saying, “Hey, I’ve made you holy, now act like it.”
Brothers and sisters, we are saints by calling. When God looks at you, he does so through the lens of Jesus. He sees only what’s in Jesus, so he sees you as holy.
And because you’re a holy saint, he’s calling you to act like a holy saint. He wants you to step up. He wants you to embrace your holy nature and reject your former, sinful one.
And every day is another opportunity to become a little more of what we are—saints.
Today, embrace your holiness. Be holy.
Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:13-16
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March 17, 2014
Behold the Lamb
The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said,
“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29
We’ve all had them. They come serendipitously, like brilliant flashes of lights in the darkness. They’re unexpected, refreshing and sometimes life altering.
I’m referring to those moments of unusual mental clarity that seem to surprise us in life. You know what I’m talking about: like the first time you met your spouse and you knew that this was the person you were supposed to marry. Or that time in a worship service when you knew that you’d found your church home. Or the time when a verse of Scripture jumped off the page so clearly for you that you had to immediately start making changes in your life. Or that time that God spoke so loudly that you had to look around the room to see if he was actually there.
We could list others, but you get the point. In short, they’re moments of inspiration.
In this beautiful verse, John the Baptist is having a true moment of inspiration. He’s seeing at a level of spiritual insight that was clearly beyond his norm. What he uttered changed history, literally.
John had met Jesus before. He knew Jesus as the Promised One of the Hebrew Scriptures, and he knew that his own role was to prepare the way for Jesus. And while John knew Jesus was the Messiah, but he wasn’t quite sure what that meant.
In John’s day, Messianic hopes were more political than spiritual. Israel was an occupied nation, and had been for centuries. One foreign power after another had taken advantage of the smaller nation. The current foe was Rome, the mighty empire that dominated so much of Europe in that day.
Many Hebrews thought that the Messiah would come and liberate Israel, putting an end to the tyranny brought by foreign invaders. They longed for the glory days of the Davidic kingdom and they prayed for the Messiah to make them real again.
So why is John the Baptist calling Jesus the Lamb? That certainly isn’t a title that fits a conquering king. And what is John doing connecting Jesus with the removal of sin? That thought wasn’t on anyone’s theological radar screen in John’s day. No one was thinking that the Messiah would actually be a human sacrifice for sin.
No one, that is, but God. And in this moment of clarity for John the Baptist, God was allowing him to see seeing what he had planned.
This inspiration was personal for John. He wasn’t just seeing Jesus as Israel’s Savior, he was seeing Jesus as his Savior. His confession of Jesus as God’s Lamb was also a confession of Jesus as his own Lamb, one that would die for his sins as well.
In short, this was John’s act of worship.
God creates moments of inspiration that allow you to clearly see Jesus. This may be one right now. He will usher the Lamb of God right into your life where there is no chance of you missing him. What you do then–what you confess about Jesus and how you respond to Jesus–is your choice.
Why not seize this moment of inspiration and make the confession along with John: Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
Confess it as a Christ-follower as you dedicate this day to Jesus.
Confess it as a spiritual wanderer who has suddenly found what you’re looking for.
Confess it as a rebellious, prodigal son or daughter who is finally returning home.
Confess the beautiful Lamb of God, then adjust your life to him.
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March 14, 2014
Who are You?
Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us.
What do you say about yourself?” John 1:22
Who are you?
How would you answer that question? If someone approached you today and asked, “Who are you? What do you say about yourself?” how would you answer? It really is a profound question.
The religious leaders weren’t seeking John the Baptist’s identity. They knew exactly who he was. They knew that John was Zechariah and Elizabeth’s son. They knew how old he was and where he was born. They knew most everything about him. But there they were, begging the question to John, “Who are you?”
What were these religious leaders after? What were they really seeking from John? In a word, his purpose. They wanted to know how John saw himself. They were looking to hear firsthand from John just what he was really up to. Who are you?
It’s a great question, and one we’re faced with nearly every day.
As you navigate the routine courses of your life you are bombarded with Who are You questions. There is a daily downpour of opportunities and invitations to rethink not only your identity, but also your purpose. If you walk into the world unsure of your life’s mission and meaning, you will be an easy target for the life marketers who want you to align with their causes. They may not necessarily be evil, but neither are they eternal.
God wants you to be able to answer the Who are You question at any time. He wants you to be certain, not just of your identity in him, but also your purpose. Jesus died to grant you, not just life in heaven, but his mission on earth. As you embrace him and grow in your faith, he will reveal his holy plan for you.
Who are you? What do you say about yourself? Can you give an eternal answer?
Ask Jesus today to make his plan clearly known to you. Ask him what he wants you to do. Seek his mission for your life. In Christ-following, there’s always a plan that is bigger than you are.
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March 13, 2014
One Guaranteed Way to Improve Your Relationship with God
I know of one simple thing that we can all do right now to greatly deepen and strengthen our relationship with God–it’s praying for ourselves.
Do you pray for yourself? Do you think it’s selfish? I am amazed at the number of people I meet who think it’s sinful to pray for themselves.
And I want to be very clear–that’s a lie from the devil. Praying for yourself is nothing more than discipling yourself. It gives the Holy Spirit permission to work on you.
Years ago I wrote a book as part of the Pray Big series about how to pray for yourself. It is basically a book about how to disciple yourself by praying for yourself. I feel so strongly about this topic and praying for myself has had such an impact in my life, that I’m going to publish the entire book here for you, one little section at a time.
The book is currently being published by Guidepost Books under the title Pray Big for Your Life. They’ve done a great job producing the book in a beautiful, hardback format. It makes a great gift for new believers, those getting baptized, and any believer who wants to turn up the heat on his or her relationship with God. Click here for more info.
Here’s today’s entry:
Section 1
Learning to Pray for Yourself
Welcome to Pray Big for Yourself. In the following pages, you will learn why it’s important to pray for yourself. You’ll discover how to pray big, hairy, audacious prayers for very specific areas of your life. You will also be reminded of some extremely helpful spiritual disciplines that will boost your own personal prayer habits.
In this first section, let’s talk about pinpoint praying and why you need to pray pinpoint prayers for yourself.
Chapter 1
Tired of Just Hanging Around?
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Mark 1:35
It’s amazing how quickly your prayer life kicks in when you’re suspended eighty feet above a rocky riverbank by a thin rope. Actually, suspended and stuck. With all that time to gaze at the rocks below, prayer is bound to happen.
When I was a college student, I fell in love with the sport of rappelling. You know rappelling: You tie a rope onto something very high, run it through a harness on your waist, and then proceed to walk, run or skip down the face of a sheer drop-off. I actually kept ropes and a harness in my car just in case I saw a ledge, a building, a cliff, a bridge or a mountain face that was just begging to be walked down.
The hills near my college campus provided a great spot for serious rappelling. The Brazos River flowed about 120 feet below an overhanging cliff. Several large trees and even part of an old wall provided many secure places to which I could tie my rope. After the first few steps down the face of the cliff, the wall dropped away and formed a huge overhang, about 30 feet deep. In order to touch the wall, you actually had to swing in big arcs like a giant pendulum. You could get a good 40 or 50-foot swing going on that overhang. Let me tell you, hanging 100 feet over the riverbank and acting like a pendulum is quite a wild ride.
And it was that wild ride that had lured me and a buddy to the cliff early on a Saturday morning. My friend was a rappelling instructor at a Christian camp in the summertime, so I felt pretty safe. So safe, in fact, that I decided to go first. I hooked on to the rope, checked my harness, and then leaned back out over the ledge. I took a couple of quick hops down the face, and then I started into my big swinging motions. Few things can compete with the sensation of swinging in the wind over a beautiful riverbank in the fresh morning air.
That is, until I came to a sudden, jerking stop. A piece of small masking tape that I had wrapped around my rappelling rope to mark its 75-foot point got caught in the small safety line I was using. The result was that the safety line locked into place and froze me in midair. It worked too well. I was totally stuck. My weight on the rope kept the safety line taut. The good news was that I wasn’t going to fall. The bad news was that I wasn’t going anywhere. I was hanging about 80 feet above the riverbank, with absolutely no way to free myself.
As I hung there, the harness that was wrapped around my waist and thighs began to cut off my circulation. Within just a few minutes, I couldn’t feel my legs. I knew that I was in real trouble.
So, what do you do when you’re dangling nearly eight stories above the rocks below? How do you pass the time? After a while, the view got old, so I started thinking. I thought about my friends, my girlfriend and my parents. I thought about how mad they would all be at me if I didn’t come out of this little escapade in one piece. I thought about how stupid I was to not know that the tape would catch on the safety line. And, I thought about God. I even talked to him.
Sometimes you have to get really stuck before you realize how much you need God.
Going Nowhere Fast?
Maybe you can relate to being stuck. I don’t mean stuck like I was above the river; I mean stuck spiritually, stuck in your relationship with God. I certainly can. I know what it feels like to have the spiritual doldrums. When I’m stuck spiritually I have little or no momentum in my walk with Christ. I know he loves me and that I’m going to heaven, but that’s about it.
Some people live years suspended in the Christian life. The view is nice enough—they can see God’s Kingdom-work, they see others moving and growing in their relationships with Christ, they even have a hope of heaven. They’re suspended somewhere between spiritual infancy and becoming a true disciple of Jesus. They’re stuck, and their faith is suffering because of it.
So, what’s the cure for this spiritual rut? Prayer. That’s right—good, biblical, bended-knee prayer. If you want to jolt your life out of its spiritual rut and really begin to see God’s presence and power take hold in your relationships, your job, your ministry and your own attitudes and actions, then start praying for yourself. Even if you’re not good at prayer, even if you feel like you tried prayer and failed miserably, even if you don’t know where or how to start, don’t fret. Prayer is still your answer. You really can learn how to change your life through personal prayer.
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The Biblical Case for the Chill Pill
Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
Philippians 4:5
In this beautiful and flowing passage on anxiety, Paul included a call to the believers in Philippi to be outwardly gentle. The word “gentle” implies a sweetness, a confidence and a meekness that in this rough and tumble world might be misinterpreted as weakness.
And I can assure you, Paul was not calling these believers to weakness.
He was telling them to chill out. He was telling them to be less aggressive, lest defensive and less assertive. He was calling them to a quiet confidence that would yield peace and gentleness in their relationships and daily lives.
And why should they chill out? Because standing before, behind and beside them was the powerful and unconquerable Lord Jesus. The Lord—King, God, Master of everything—is near.
Paul was basically telling the Philippians that they could afford to walk patiently and confidently through life because the biggest, baddest and most powerful being in the universe was standing right there with them.
That’s enough to make anyone chill out.
So can we? Can we chill out? We don’t need to be so defensive. We don’t need to protect our turf. We don’t need to explain our actions. We don’t need to promote ourselves.
God is near. He’s right there with you, even now. And he has your back. So relax and embrace gentleness. The Lord is near.
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March 12, 2014
Are You a Disciple?
The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee.
Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” John 1:43
I wonder how you might answer these two questions:
Are you a Christian?
Are you a disciple?
No, I’m no trying to trick you or playing word games. There really is a difference between believing in Jesus (being a Christian) and following Jesus (being a disciple).
When Jesus called Phillip and the other men mentioned in John 1, he wasn’t calling them to belief in him. It wasn’t a call to faith. These were very devout Jews who were as “saved” as any person could be before Jesus’ death and resurrection. Their belief in God had been “credited to them as righteousness” just as Abraham’s faith had “saved” him (Gen 15:6).
Jesus did not invite these men to believe. He invited them to abandon one form of life and take on another. He gave them new names, new missions and new occupations.
In short, everything changed. Everything.
That’s the difference between just believing in Jesus and really following Jesus. The former gets you saved, secures your place in heaven and offers you the potential have having an amazing relationship with God. But that potential will only be realized to the degree that you choose to follow.
I wonder if you’re willing to weigh your following against your faith. It’s really good that you know Jesus as Savior. Perhaps it’s time for you to surrender to him as Lord.
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March 11, 2014
Get Your Free E-Copy of Enough Today!!!!!
*****Today only–March 11, 2014–my book Enough is FREE in e-version! Tell your friends. Links are:
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Scattered
Those who had been scattered preached the word
wherever they went. Acts 8:4
Have you moved or relocated in the last few years? If so, was it related to a job opportunity or some other career-driven decision?
This verse has changed my thinking about moving to new neighborhoods or across the country.
Right after Saul and the Jewish leaders killed Stephen, a serious persecution broke out against the Christian Church. As believers fled Jerusalem in the effort to avoid jail or even death, they relocated to cities and villages all over the Middle East and Western and Central Europe.
And as they went, they told their new neighbors about Jesus. They didn’t leave their Gospel behind in Jerusalem. They took it with them and shared it freely.
Imagine the conversation between a fleeing Christian and his new neighbor in Ephesus:
Ephesus local: Hi neighbor, what brings you to town?
Christian: My family, friends and I were being persecuted for our faith in Jesus, the Son of God, so we fled here.
Ephesus local: Wait . . . What?
And thus the conversations began.
So there you are in your new digs in your new hood. What if, when asked about how you got to town, you responded with something like, “We’re just following Jesus, and Jesus led us here.”
Hmmm . . . that will either start a conversation or shorten your friend list. And based on the response of the people all over the world to the fleeing Christians, it will start a conversation that might just end in salvation.
Okay, let’s practice:
Hey, what brings you to town?
*****Today only–March 11, 2014–my book Enough is FREE in e-version! Tell your friends. Links are:
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