That Hurt...

My son and I are starting something new this year that has already given wonderful results. Each night, just before bed we are doing a short devotion together. Its only about a page long and has 2-5 verses with it. It is small, bite size chunks of God’s Word that can be easily absorbed and talked about. Although my son is only 9, this is not a kids devotion. Its an adult devotion someone got me for Christmas and it is wonderful. At the end we have been practicing praying together about God helping us obey what we learned in the devotional.

As we were doing it one night, my son was being unusually goofy. I would read something and he would talk about something completely unrelated and laugh. I would ask him to try and focus. He would for an amazing 3-4 seconds, then be off topic again. I would try to wrangle him back in only to hear a few moments later disregarded laughing. I was pretty irritated as I finished the devotional. (I say “I” because my son really wasn’t a part of it) I told my son to go get ready for bed. He asked me, “Dad, aren’t we going to pray?” I turned my head sideways like a confused dog, looked at my son and replied, “Sure. What will we pray about?” His response summed it all up. “Um….”

I told my son with all the love I could muster, “You know, I am trying my best to train you up so that you love the Lord, but tonight you just didn’t really care. That hurt.” My son hung his head. He realized that his lack of attention to what I was doing hurt both me and him. He asked again, “Can we pray?” I agreed. He then asked God for forgiveness, he asked God to help me forgive him, and then asked God to help him take the devotion time seriously.

I hugged my son, told him I did forgive him, and tucked him into bed.

I would love to say that is the end. It makes me look pretty good. Its not.

As I sat down in my chair, I will admit I was still a bit frustrated with my son. I was putting in time and effort to teach him and he wasn’t putting forth any effort back. Then God spoke to me. “Jon, you have no idea how many times I have tried to teach you, but you were uninterested in what I had to say.”

That hurt.

I prayed the same prayer my son had prayed moments earlier.

My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, listening closely to wisdom and directing your heart to understanding; furthermore, if you call out to insight and lift your voice to understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it like hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God. – Proverbs 2:1-5

If you don’t do a devotion with your children, you really should. It will be great for both of you.

In Christ,

jon walton

That Hurt...

Reminder...

Reminder...

Loved...

Over the weekend I got sick. No, let me say that differently so you get a better picture of it. Over the weekend I was attacked by a gastrointestinal evil being that wreaked havoc on my stomach forcing me to sit in the bathroom in misery with a distinct feeling that someone was stabbing in the stomach with an ice pick all night Saturday night. Yeah, that’s a better description. It was so bad I knew there was no way I would make it to church Sunday morning. I hate missing church. Sunday is my favorite day of the week because of the connection with fellow believers worshiping God together. But never the less, I made the necessary calls and covered everything and set up to spend the day at home.

What happened that afternoon into the next day was incredible. I got text messages, phone calls, and even a video from people telling me they missed me and that they were praying for me. I was seriously moved. This isn’t the first time my church family has called out to me like this either. They have been there for me and my family numerous times. Every time people show love to me or my family, I think about this verse:

By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. – John 13:15

So, let me publicly say thank you to my amazing church family and friends. You are a witness to those who are watching and an inspiration to me to show more love to those around me. You are awesome!

In Christ,

jon walton

Loved...

Relationship...

There is a gas station and market not far from my house. I live about 20 minutes out if town, so I stop by this market quite often for gas. After a while, I tried some of their food from the grill they have inside. It turns out they have amazing burgers and subs! So, I began to frequent this little market. I even got to know the people who work there by name.

Now, because of the bad economy, lots of people steal gas. This lead to, as i’m sure you are aware, the pre-pay standard. At pretty much every gas station you have to pay before you can pump your gas. While I understand this policy, I have to admit that it’s a bit of an inconvenience. If the gas station doesn’t have a pay at the pump option, you have to go in. If you want to fill up, you have to guess how much it will cost. If you over estimate, its a headache for all parties involved. The same was true for this little station I visited. But then something changed.

See, after a while, I developed a relationship with the people who run the station. They trust me. Now when I pull up, I just wave at the people inside and they turn on the pump. After I fill up, I walk in and pay. They know I won’t drive off, or try to get away. I have cultivated a great relationship with them.

Now, this is not going where you think it is. I’m not going to ask you if God can trust you. God already knows you. He knows how much He can trust you with. My question is this: Do you trust God the way that market trusts me? Do you trust Him enough to give Him special permissions in your life? Do you trust Him not to take the things you love with out good reason? Do you trust Him to pay you after He takes something from you?

LORD and King, you are God! Your words can be trusted. You have promised many good things to me. – 2 Samuel 7:28 NIrV

In Christ,

jon walton

Relationship...

Far Too Busy...

In our American culture it is easy for me to get wrapped up in everything that is going on around me and neglect some of the most important things. The busier I get, the more I tend to focus on what is right in front of me instead of the bigger picture. I think we can all fall victim to this. As humans, we tend to give the “squeaky wheel the grease,” but just because that is our natural inclination doesn’t mean we should hold that as a constant life style. I know when I do that, I miss out on thing God wants me to see.

Look at Mary and Martha from Luke 10:

Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42 ESV)

When we get wrapped up in what we think is the most important instead of turning to Jesus for guidance as to what is most important, we will most likely regret what we missed. Mary knew how important it was to keep Jesus the priority, even over the customs of her culture. Martha failed to see this, and as a result she missed out on time she could have spent personally with Jesus, the Savior of the world! After Jesus was crucified I bet Martha wished she would have spent that time at the feet of Jesus instead of doing chores.

What about you in your life? Are you so busy you are neglecting your time with Jesus? Is your prayer time or studying time the first thing that gets cut when your calendar gets full? I have to admit, I haven’t been writing in this blog as much because I have been so busy I haven’t felt like I have had time to reflect on what Jesus has been teaching me. I don’t like that.

“Lord, help me keep You a priority in my life. May my time with you be the first thing I run to, and the last thing I cut. May You be glorified by how I spend time with You. Amen”

In Christ,

jon walton

Far Too Busy...

I'm Sorry...

If we are not careful, any of us can become ensnared by the enemy’s traps. They are not always so noticeable. Satan is tricky and would love nothing more than to trick you into your own destruction, even if on a small, temporary level. He knows our weaknesses, he knows how to hit us, and he is waiting to catch us off guard. It can happen to anyone.

I have been dealing with a lot of stress lately. I can’t disclose it all, but there has been an exorbitant amount on my plate. I have lots of great, Godly friends I can turn to, but to be honest I sometimes really stink at that. I tend to try and do it all on my own. (Just for the record, that is never a good idea.) In trying to take care of it all, I had unknowingly began to slowly change my attitude. I had become short with people, taken things the wrong way, and just gotten to be a jerk of a person to be around. Its not a good place to be.

However, what was coming next was an even more uncomfortable place. I got convicted by Jesus durning prayer, then confirmed of my state by a friend. This triggered the next step which usually comes easy for me, but this time was very difficult. I needed to ask forgiveness from some people and say, “I was wrong. I’m sorry.” Yet in all of this, God blessed me.

I was making my final apology to a close friend. Someone who I had been close to. A prayer partner that I respect greatly. It was because of this respect that it made it so much harder to say, “I’m sorry.” I respected them so much, yet I knew over the past month I had been disrespectful. Those are always the hardest. I waited for a good moment, then began to ask for forgiveness. I told them the reasons I had been stressed, why I had acted the way I had, but also made it clear that I had no excuse to be disrespectful. I couldn’t even look at them during the apology. I just looked down at the computer I was standing at, fiddling with the mouse pad. Then I finally mustered up the words, “I’m sorry.” Then I just stood there with my head hung low and waited for it. You know the feeling. Waiting for what I deserved. All the “I told you so” and “You know better,” but God blessed me with this person. I heard words I didn’t expect. “Jon, you have such great potential. We all do. Don’t let the little things be the big things that distract you from doing God’s work. Everything’s good. We’re good.”

And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ. – Eph. 4:32

Remember that. Be kind and forgiving to those who ask forgiveness. Because sometime very soon, you will be the one asking for forgiveness.

In Christ,

jon walton

 

P.S. To the person whom I asked forgiveness and you chose to give me encouragement instead of condemnation, thank you so much.

I'm Sorry...

You Never Know...

It is amazing to me how God can use what you do for His kingdom in the most unlikely of ways. You may think you are serving in one area of ministry, but God will use it for something completely unrelated. It happens more than you would think.

Recently, I was going through a very stressful situation. I was getting ready to take the witness stand in court for the first time in my life. I know this may not seem like that big of a deal, but for what was on the line I was very concerned. Adding to the stress were some of the people involved. They were people who just liked to stir up drama and trouble where ever they went. (I really don’t understand people like that…) As if I wasn’t shaken enough, they were doing all they could to make the situation more tense. I was not amused.

I was sitting in the car with my wife before we went into the courtroom stressing and praying about the situation when all of a sudden Paige (one of my youth) singing a song for our KidStuf service popped in my head. She does a great job at it. It was there, like a song playing on repeat in my head… And that was all I could think about in that moment. I wasn’t stressing anymore, I wasn’t so concerned about taking the stand, and I even started singing along to the music in my head! I texted Paige right away and told her the situation and thanked her.

You never know how God will use what you give Him, but He will always use it for good! What are you giving God?

In Christ,

jon walton

You Never Know...