The power of presence

Reading: temptation of Jesus, first miracle, first passover

I've been thinking the past several days about the incredible reality of the incarnation of the Son of God.  He was born a human.  The begotten Son of God.  Immanuel.  God with us.  Present with us.  One of us.

He came to engage us.  He came to be with us.  He lived with us, experienced life as one of us.

Perhaps the most influential and impactful factor in our lives is the people that we spend time with.  If behaviours are artifacts of values, and values are a function of an ethical/moral framework, then the power of presence and relationships is shown by the shaping of that ethical/moral paradigm through those relationships.

But it takes time.  And effort.  Intentionality.  Listening. Compassion. 

This is what Jesus did.  This is His character. 

As a disciple of Jesus, I want to love Him, learn Him, and live Him.

So, I need to be present and intentional.  To affect change and be changed. First of all, I need to be present with Jesus.  I need to spend time conversing with Him every day, throughout the day.  I need to be present with the Holy Spirit.  I need to be present with the Father at His throne.

I need to be present with my wife. (Ironic, because I'm on an airplane from Boston to El Paso.) And of course, more than ever, i need to be present with my sons.  Perhaps there is no greater opportunity and responsibility to make disciples than of my own children.

And I need to be present with friends and colleagues. 

That's a lot of presence.

I need to be strategic.  Selective.  Not exclusive or discriminating, but strategic.  I need to love everyone while significantly investing in a few. 

That sounds hard.  I should pray about that.

Heavenly Father, thank you for your presence.  Thank you for always being with me. Please help me be present with you.  And help me be present with my family.  Give me wisdom in investing time with friends and colleagues.  May I be useful in your kingdom.  I love you, and i ask in the name of Jesus.

Sonship

Luke, John

(Wow!  I am so excited to finally be in the New Testament!)

John 1:14, 16-18 ESV
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. ... For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

Jesus is the only Begotten Son of God, and He is full of grace and truth.  He reveals God to us, and He is God.

John 1:12 ESV
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God

By grace, through faith in Christ, we are adopted sons and daughters of God.

Ephesians 1:5-6 ESV
In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

 

1 John 3:1 ESV
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; ...

It is because He loves us.

Heavenly Father, thank you for your love for us.  Jesus, thank you for coming to us and taking on flesh so that we can be with you.  Thank you for your grace, your grace upon grace.  Thank you for adopting us and making us sons and daughters; you are so kind to us.  May I be a faithful son, one who looks more and more like Christ. I love you, and I pray in the name of Jesus.

discipleship

Joel

2:28  "And it shall come to pass afterward,    that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
    your old men shall dream dreams,
    and your young men shall see visions.

I've been thinking about "discipleship".  I think disciples of Jesus make disciples who make disciples ...  Replication is implicit.  And thinking about Matt. 28:19-20, it seems like baptism could be an indicator (not a metric, but an indicator).  However, "primary baptisms/disciples" (i.e., those baptisms/disciples facilitated directly by Disciple A) are not really a good indicator; the indicator would improve in accuracy if associated with "secondary" baptisms/disciples (i.e., those baptisms/disciples facilitated by Disciple B, whose baptism/discipleship was facilitated by Disciple A). Better still would be an indicator based on "tertiary" baptisms/disciples.

When our indicator (sometimes metric) of "discipleship" is church attendance, we like to think pretty highly of ourselves.  When the indicator is changed to primary baptisms/disciples, the bar is raised, but I think the model in 2 Timothy 2:2 is actually secondary or tertiary disciples:

and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Timothy was a primary disciple of Paul; "faithful men" would be secondary to Paul; "others" would be tertiary.

While I have had the great privilege of sharing the Gospel with several people and seeing them follow Christ in baptism, I am embarrassed to say that I don't think I have discipled them to make disciples who make disciples.

Heavenly Father, please forgive me for my lack of obedience and investment in your Kingdom.  Lord, please help me be a disciple maker.  I love you, and I ask in the name of Jesus Christ.

confession

Nehemiah

9:33 Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly.

Brandi and I visited a home group of the Charles River Church (http://www.thecharlesriverchurch.com/) last night, and we discuss the passage of Nehemiah 1 that the pastor shared on Sunday morning.  This theme of confession has been reiterated in my reading these past few weeks, and I am beginning to realize that I need to be consistent in confession.  

I think confession facilitates brokenness, humility, and repentance.  I think two big things happen when we are broken: (1) we get closer to the Lord, and (2) we are more available for the Lord to transform us more into the image of Christ.  In short, our lives become more united with His.

Heavenly Father, please forgive me for my hard heart.  Lord, it is so easy for me to grow calloused and religious.  Lord, it takes so much work to be broken.  My flesh doesn't like it.  But, Lord, you look with favor on the broken; you are present with the broken.  You show yourself strong to the broken.  Lord, I'm afraid to ask, but I know I must ask you to break my heart for my own sin, the sin of my Brothers and Sisters in my faith communities, and the lostness of so many people around me.   Lord, please give me the heart of Christ.  I love you, Lord, and I ask in the name of Jesus Christ.

Joy of the Lord

Nehemiah

8:10 ... the joy of the Lord is your strength.

What does that mean? 

Maybe by implication, it means that my own strength is not my strength.  Maybe my intellect and good looks are not my strength.  Maybe my good personality and charm are not my strength.  Maybe it is silly to think that I have strength, intellect, good looks, or personality, because these are all fleshly perspectives of myself. 

Maybe I need to focus on the Lord and enjoy Him.  Maybe as I delight in Him, I will be filled with joy, and I will realize that I am undeserving of His mercy and favor.

Heavenly Father, you are so kind and patient.  Lord, please forgive me for my prideful attitude of thinking I can pull it all together and get it done.  Lord, may I humbly walk with you, knowing that it is you who allows me to rise up and go.  May I go and make disciples.  I love you, and I pray in the name of Jesus.

Warriors on the wall

Nehemiah

4:17-18 ... Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other. And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. ...

Offense and defense at the same time.  While we build the Church, stone by stone, we have to be on guard against the enemy.

One of the enemy's most frequent attacks (even in the case of Nehemiah) is through discouragement and intimidation.  We must constantly be protecting our Brothers and Sisters by encouraging each other in our pursuit of Christ.

Heavenly Father, please help me be an encouragement to my Brothers and Sisters in Christ.  Please continue to grow in me a love for you and your Church.  I love you, and I ask in the name of Jesus Christ.

Confession and repentance

Nehemiah

Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel all prayed prayers of confession and repentance on behalf of their people, even though, presumably, these guys were relatively "righteous".  I bothers me that Jeremiah was so whiney in his Lamentations; why wasn't he more apologetic and repentant?

This past Sunday, we attended the gathering of the Charles River Church, and pastor Josh began a sermon series on Nehemiah.  He talked about seeing Jesus in the Old Testament, and he pointed out that Jesus, like Nehemiah, wept over the spiritual condition of the people of Jerusalem.  Pastor Josh asked us to pray that God will break our hearts for our city.

To be honest, I would rather not be broken.  I would rather just bump along in my routine and not experience the compassion and pain that God does over my city.  I would rather devote my thoughts and energy to more convenient and entertaining things like television and Facebook.  But the reality is that both El Paso and Boston are cities where many people don't know Jesus, and they live lives of pain and hopelessness without a Savior.  I need to be broken for their brokenness, because that is the heart of Jesus.

Heavenly Father, please forgive me for having a hard American heart.  I confess that my desires are for entertainment and professional success.  Lord, please forgive me, and give me a heart of compassion for my own family, and brokenness for my city.   May the words of my mouth and the attitude of my heart be pleasing in your sight.  I love you, and I pray in the name of Jesus.