Devotions from Jan Johnson’s book, Invitation to the Jesus Life

Do you know what the most frequent command in the Bible is?  Fear Not! Don’t be afraid!
Don’t be afraid speaks to our anxiety that drives much of our waywardness. When we’re afraid, we often use anger to protect ourselves. In fear we may try to manage others.  We may deceive others to get our needs met because we don’t trust God to meet our needs.
Part of what Jesus did routinely was to help people move from a place of fear to trust.  This a journey each of us takes every day. Will I trust Jesus today with this task that’s too big for me?
As we grow in Christlikeness, we let go of fear and learn to trust Him.

Jesus never refused anyone’s invitation of hospitality, even when it meant going to the house of his enemy. He was not intimidated but peaceful.

He can overpower our fear and chaos and quiet us with His peace, like HE quieted the storm.

We can offer the prayer of Eph 3:16-21 in which we ask him (1) to strengthen us with power through the Spirit in our inner being; (2). To give us power to grasp His love and (3) to help us acknowledge that because God’s power works in us, God is able to do more than we can ask or imagine.

I memorized Ps. 27 some time ago and it is a great one for facing our fears.  Example “though_____encamp against me, my heart will not fear; though_____rise up against me, yet I will be confident”

Devotions from Jan Johnson’s book, “Invitation  to the Jesus Life”
 When Jesus got up every morning, He knew why He was here…to reveal God, to demonstrate how to live interactively with God, and to pass on this love to others. He didn’t concern himself with being accepted or applauded in speaking.  He was secure in his identity.

When we examine our intentionality or lack of it, we might ask ourselves the question, “What is it you want?”  When James and John and their mother came to Jesus and asked for places of honor, that is the question Jesus asked them. (Matt. 20:20-28)  He also asked them , “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”

Without realizing it, our soul, which is almost totally beyond conscious awareness, is running our life according to our true wants.  This shows up in our behaviors on which we spend most of our time and effort every day; the thoughts to which our minds drift; the things on which we spend our money etc.

It is a good thing to ask God to reveal to us in prayer what our real wants are. Then we have a place to start because we know what truly governs our life. What do we hope to accomplish and how can I further God’s purposes. What do we want people to remember most about us? 

Can we drink the cup ( of sacrifice) that Jesus drank. To do so would mean giving up normal self-focused desires–reputation, having my way, being entertained.
We may need to set aside even good things so that we can know God better and follow Jesus.
Solitude is important so we don’t get sidetracked by peoples’ demands.  Practice reflection so we can hear our real thoughts and know what we really want.

He wants our hearts and to join Him in the circle of love, joy and peace.

Devotions from Jan Johnson’s book, Invitation to the Jesus Life

Luke 6:45  “For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” Are we often surprised at what comes out of our mouth that seems to have bubbled up from nowhere?  But the mouth can respond only according to what has been cultivated in our hearts…the thoughts, feelings and intentions. Spur of the moment anger comes from the reservoir within us of contempt. Contempt is studied anger that shows itself in sarcasm, name-calling, forceful speech, cynicism, playing the victim etc. You get the picture. Though we may not speak it, it shows through our facial expressions, gestures and tone.

Contempt was not in Jesus because He trusted God and lived within that life of God. He spoke the truth in love without contempt.

Speaking the truth without love does more harm than good because people tune us out.

To speak the truth without contempt means that I show respect for people.  Contempt-free truth is spoken without moral superiority or exaggerated opinions about ourselves, without boasting or presuming to know the entire situation.

God’s truth can be spoken with discernment but never in condemnation. That takes thought, prayer and practice.

“Cultivating a heart that trusts God with people we might otherwise have contempt for transforms the soul.

Devotions from Jan Johnson’s book, “Invitation to the Jesus Life”

Was Jesus ever angry?  Jesus style of anger was not mean, but drenched with compassion.  His’ way involved loving people by focusing what was best for them. He wanted to restore their souls.

Even when he was scolding the Pharisees, he was after their pride in wanting to be applauded, their willingness to show off with religious duties, and their hypocrisy but missing the big picture of who God is: justice, mercy, and faithfulness.  He mourned the harm that their anger did to their own souls.
Our way of being angry with people does not usually involve having a heart that focuses on loving them. Many people bury their anger, or pretend it’s not there or vent their anger on others. . But we need to process our anger in God’s presence and see what He says to us. We can ask Him to give us a focused heart-wanting what is best for the person we are angry with. We can ask Him for a clean heart-one that refuses to be bitter or mean or defensive. We can ask God for a compassionate heart-mourning the harm this person is doing to self.

As we process our anger in God’ company, the central issue is usually needing to trust God more. Anger seems necessary only when we’re not sure God will help us.

Devotions from Jan Johnson’s book, “Invitation to the Jesus Life”

We read so often that Jesus was moved with compassion and even His miracles flowed from His love and compassion.  He was never harsh, hardhearted, remote, cold, distant, calloused, or without pity. He was attentive to the hardships of others and was often interrupted by other’s needs.  He was a person of both prayer and action, who could be continually mindful of God and yet be fully present with people as an attentive empathetic healer.

May we avoid slipping into complacency and have that same blend as we pray for others, to be moved also into action.   He wants to teach us to respond to each nudge of compassion with merciful action.

“Being present and attentive to those in crisis is part of how we colabor with God as a light in the darkness.”

We can love only because He first loves us. So as we connect with God and receive His compassion, we will hear the cries of others needing His love and be guided into prayer and action.

Devotions from Jan Johnson’s book

Jesus emphasized the practice of welcoming the stranger as he welcomed all kinds of people into His life and identified with them.  He challenges us to welcome others with His love, and to do that we have to let go of self-absorption and our indifference to people that are not in “our group”. They may fit into the category of outcasts like the lepers, or wrongdoers like Zacchaeus, or people longing for a home like Jesus parents when they fled to Egypt. Or it could be anyone who is not like us, newcomers, or anyone in power-down positions. As it says in Romans 12:16 “”Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with the nobodies; don’t be the great somebody.”  To befriend someone normally overlooked may transform us. We learn from them how not to be haughty or think we’re wiser than we are. We can open our selves to them and be willing to be helped by them. The Lord wants to help us cultivate a welcoming heart and let His love flow out of us into others.  Who are the strangers in our lives that Jesus wants to love through us?

Devotions based on Jan Johnson’s book ,”Invitation to the Jesus Life

Today’s devotion is on being a good listener and I certainly have a long ways to go in being an attentive listener.

Do we often listen with half an ear and presume we already know what the other person has to say, waiting for our chance to speak?  And when we interrupt others when they are speaking are we really telling them that what they say doesn’t matter as much as what we have to say?

Jesus, on the other hand, focuses on us and listens to us, and loves us.  He looks for what is going on inside of us, and never tires of us.

.We aren’t born knowing how to listen to God. As we spend time connecting with Him through out the day, we learn to respond to His voice and follow His leading.

We can practice this more by reading scriptures, meditating, praying and paying attention to teaching.

From the experience of being listened to by Jesus we can learn to be present to others and listen deeply to their soul cries.

Listening is one of the most basic ways we submit to each other. It teaches us to die tour own desires and live to theirs.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “He who can no longer listen to his brother will soon no longer listen to God either. “ As we listen to others it can be a greater service than speaking

As we live life in union with God, we will have empathy and genuinely care for others with a willingness to really listen to them.

You might want to try this practice as you talk to people. …try praying for them as they speak to you, to know what is really going on inside of them 

Devotions based on Jan Johnson’s book ,”Invitation to the Jesus Life

Today’s devotion is on being a good listener and I certainly have a long ways to go in being an attentive listener.

Do we often listen with half an ear and presume we already know what the other person has to say, waiting for our chance to speak?  And when we interrupt others when they are speaking are we really telling them that what they say doesn’t matter as much as what we have to say?

Jesus, on the other hand, focuses on us and listens to us, and loves us.  He looks for what is going on inside of us, and never tires of us.

.We aren’t born knowing how to listen to God. As we spend time connecting with Him through out the day, we learn to respond to His voice and follow His leading.

We can practice this more by reading scriptures, meditating, praying and paying attention to teaching.

From the experience of being listened to by Jesus we can learn to be present to others and listen deeply to their soul cries.

Listening is one of the most basic ways we submit to each other. It teaches us to die to our own desires and live to theirs.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “He who can no longer listen to his brother will soon no longer listen to God either. “ As we listen to others it can be a greater service than speaking

As we live life in union with God, we will have empathy and genuinely care for others with a willingness to really listen to them.

You might want to try this practice as you talk to people. …try praying for them as they speak to you, to know what is really going on inside of them

Devotions from Jan Johnson’s book Invitation to the Jesus Life

Jesus calls us friends! Is that a radical thought? Too often we frame God’s invitation to share His life as a contract. We may view Him like a vending machine.. If we put in the coin of good deeds, church activities etc then He will reward us with a life free of problems etc.  But this is really using God, not loving Him. We are only seeing God’s blessings rather than His own self. But He is more than a solution to our problems. He is a daily companion of our souls.
Without a close soul-friend relationship with God, prayer becomes an attempt to manipulate God. But when we live in union with Him, answered prayer becomes a natural part of abiding in Him, not something sought in the mechanical view of God..

He wants us to be our companion and invites us to a life in Him!

Today I woke with the words of a song, “Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”  The sky was so clear with moon and stars and so awesome. Our whole trip home last night was one of beauty as the moon looked like a ball of fire.

Devotions from Jan Johnson’s book, Invitation to the Jesus Life

People often view eternal life as an existence that starts when we die but in reality it begins now.  Eternal life not only refers to the length of life but the quality of life in which we experience wholeness and union with God.

It is daily tasting the love of God, experiencing joy, peace, etc. “It is nothing else than the life of God himself in you.”
John 17:3 says” Now this is eternal life that they may know you, the only true God.” And know here means an intimate fellowship, and interactive relationship with Him.
God invites us into a transforming, soul-friend relationship with Him
Rather than a life  of self-centeredness, self-preoccupation and self-interest, we now know it is not about “Me” but Him and His kingdom.
We become people who bless the difficult people in our lives, care for others, go the extra mile, live with purpose, let go of pride, let go of grudges….you get the picture.

It’s not just about outward behavior but a transformation of our hearts. The inner life of our soul must be transformed if good things will flow out of us naturally. Trying to be good won’t work but we need to connect with Jesus Himself.

“God doesn’t love us because we are good, but because God loves us, God makes us good.”