What Will You Do This Year?

 New Year’s resolutions. Let’s face it, they have become a joke. Some people even laugh as they say, “I resolve to watch less tb this year.” or ” I think I’ll be more responsible this year.” One of my favorites, ”This year I’m going to loose weight!” We say these things in passing and almost give them no thought what so ever. But, should it be that way?
Here’s what I mean. We are coming to the end of a year. It will never again be 2012. Is it really that bad of a thing to take an inventory of what we have done the past year and look at what we could do better? Have we gotten so comfortable in our failures that we can joke about them? I know there are lots of things I want to do better at. I want to be a better husband. I want to be a better father. Most of all, I want to serve God more. Can I really do those things without looking at how I am doing now and in the past and being purposeful in changing the way I am living?
So, here is my New Year’s Resolution: I want to be more in love with Jesus this next year than ever before. I want to be seeking Him and His will more than I did this year. I want to love the people around me more than I did this year. I want to love my family more than I did this year. Because I know I can always do better.
Teach me Your way, Yahweh,
and I will live by Your truth.
Give me an undivided mind to fear Your name.
I will praise You with all my heart, Lord my God,
and will honor Your name forever.
Psalm 86: 11, 12
What do you want to do this year? The real question is: What will you do this year?
In Christ,
jon walton

What Will You Do This Year?

Thank You, God, For The Instructions...

I was sitting at home relaxing today when my son, Isaiah, came in the living room to ask me a question. I was pretty tired and was somewhat groggy, but that would soon change with the question he would ask. He often comes to my wife and I when he is wondering about something. Usually it is something about a video game or a toy he has, but sometimes he knocks you right off balance. He walked in, sat on the couch and asked, "Dad, would you give me up if God asked you to?"

"What?" I asked back in a bit of shock. "Where did this come from?" I further questioned.

"I was just thinking about it and wondering." He replied with great innocence.

I took a deep breath. I knew the answer that I would want to give, but how on earth do I explain this to my 8 year old son? How do I explain to him that the answer was yes?

Then it hit me. "Buddy, come sit with me and let's read a story from the Bible." He jumped in my lap and we read Genesis 22:1-14.

After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he answered.

“Take your son,” He said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering and set out to go to the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there to worship; then we’ll come back to you.” Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac. In his hand he took the fire and the sacrificial knife, and the two of them walked on together.

Then Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, “My father.”

And he replied, “Here I am, my son.”

Isaac said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

Abraham answered, “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Then the two of them walked on together.

When they arrived at the place that God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.

We took our time as we went though it, me stopping to ask questions to make sure he understood, as well as explaining words he didn't know. He fully understood what God was asking Abraham to do. He almost cried a time or to. So did I as I read this account to my son. I can not fully express the joy I had as I read the next few verses.


But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”

He replied, “Here I am.”

Then He said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from Me.” Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide, so today it is said: “It will be provided on the Lord’s mountain.”

Talk about Scripture coming alive! I felt such a weight lifted as I read that to my son! I then plainly told him, "Isaiah, if God asked me to give you up for Him, I would say yes. But I also believe my God is so great, wonderful, and loving that He would provide a way for us to keep you, just like He did with Abraham and Isaac!"

My son hugged me and I hugged him back. Hard. He asked some more questions about God and Jesus which I was happy to answer. Then my wife and I tucked him in, prayed with him, told him we love him, told him Jesus loves him, and told him goodnight as we turned out the light.

Thank you, God, for the instructions. How lost would we be if we didn't have them? I thought of how hard that question would be to answer if I didn't know that example from the Bible. I would have been dumbfounded. Thank you, God, for Your Word.

In Christ,
jon walton

Hard To Feel Close To God...

Let me begin this post with this: I hate messing up. Not that I think anyone likes it, but I am particularly hard on myself when I do. Even more so when I look back on how I messed up and easily it could have been avoided and just how stupid I was. I get disappointed, irritated, and down right mad with myself when I do. I feel like a failure.
Now, don't misunderstand what I am saying here. This is not a "poor pitiful me" message. This is just part of the process I go though due to my struggle with pride. You see, I feel like I always have to have it all together. So, when the mess ups come (and make no mistake, they seem to come much more often than I would like) I go through all kinds of emotions and feelings that I know are not productive. I dwell on the issue, how I messed up, how to fix it, and how to avoid it in the future. It causes stress, robs me of my joy, and just makes for some lousy days. Which in turn, usually leads to even more mess ups.
The big thing I have come to realize from this downward spiral is this: Its hard to feel close to God when you are in the pit if despair.
I know i'm not alone in this. David had some of these same feelings. Look at Psalm 13:1-4.
Lord, how long will You forget me?
Forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
How long will I store up anxious concerns within me,
agony in my mind every day?
How long will my enemy dominate me?
Consider me and answer, Lord my God.
Restore brightness to my eyes;
otherwise, I will sleep in death.
My enemy will say, “I have triumphed over him,”
and my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.
So what are we to do when we feel like this? We have a choice to make. Either we can continue to stress and fret over our mistakes and beat ourselves up and continue to feel removed from God, or we can cry out to Him for forgiveness and ask Him to restore us back to Him. I need that. I need that because I hate feeling separated from my Savior more than the suffering I get from being mad at myself for messing up. David felt the same way. Look at how he finished Psalm 13 in verses 5 & 6:
But I have trusted in Your faithful love;
my heart will rejoice in Your deliverance.
I will sing to the Lord
because He has treated me generously.
Thank you God, for Your faithful love. Even when I have messed up. Thank You, Jesus, for Your forgiveness that you offer when we ask. Restore me, Oh Lord.
In Christ,
jon walton

It Means So Much That You Called...

Over the past year I have made lots of phone calls when people have lost a loved one or friend. I was calling just to see if there was anything I could do. I know it is a difficult time and many times people just don't know what to do. So, any comfort that I can offer I do.

Something I have learned from this is that you really don't have to have all the right answers, you just need to show that you care. I think so many times we don't do something because we are afraid we will mess up, say or do the wrong thing, or hurt someone. How many times have you not spoke to someone who needed comfort or to hear about the gospel of Jesus Christ because of one of those reasons? Yet, when I call people to let them know I am praying for them or to see if there is anything I can do, it isn't the words I say that makes them feel a bit better, its the fact that I called. When we witness to people its isn't our vast knowledge of the Bible that will bring people to Christ, its Christ working though us that will bring that person to accept Jesus. We don't need be so consumed with saying the right thing, just doing the right thing!

What would you do differently in your life if you took these verses seriously?
"Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” - Matt. 28:19, 20

See, I think the problem is too many times, we try to do the first part of those verses without remembering the second part. We try to do everything on our own, we get scared, and we wind up not doing it because we are afraid of saying the wrong thing before we even try. We need to remember the second part of those verses so we can effectively do the first part.

Tell you what, let's try this together and encourage each other along the way!

In Christ,
jon walton

Unforgettable...

I have been thinking about the past year a lot lately  I know its not quite time for end of the year reflections, but sometimes it just hits me. Over the next few weeks, I'll be sharing some of these moments with you. The first one that comes to mind is a very powerful display of true repentance.

I got a call late one night. I usually silence my phone before I go to sleep, but this time I hadn't. I could never have expected what I would hear. It was one of the most unusual requests I have ever had. A trembling voice asked me if I was busy the next day and what time I normally got up. Then they asked an unforgettable question: "Could you meet me at the jail tomorrow morning?" You see, they had a family member that was running from the police. They had came to our church, heard the Word of God preached, and had been convicted by God. They were repenting and wanted to turn themselves in.

Wow.

I was truly in shock for a moment. I had no words. Finally, I heard, "Are you there?' come from the phone. "Yes, yes!" I stuttered. "I would be honored to be there with you."

I met them at the local jail. Through many tears and prayers in the parking lot, they told me their story. How they were tired of running and felt like God had lead them here. They were truly broken before God and willing to do whatever He asked of them. We all walked together to the jail where I was able to talk to officers. They treated her with respect and assured me they would take good care of this person turning themselves in.

I will never forget that moment. That was one of the truest pictures of repentance I have ever witnessed. Going from running away from the law (both God's and man's) to running to it. Thank you God for allowing me the honor of being there, praying with this person, and bringing them to repentance.

In Christ,
jon walton

The Struggle...

I have had several interesting conversations with people lately. Particularly with things they have been told in the past about the Bible, the character of God, or traditions in the churches they are attending or have attended in the past. It usually always leads to the statement: “Well, this is what I have always been told.” Can I tell you that statement scares me to the core. My response is usually, “I understand, what does the Bible say about what you believe?” The response too many times is: “I don’t really know. It’s just what I have be told.”
Allow me to share a principal I have learned that has never let me down yet. I never take a stand on anything that I can’t back up with scripture. Let me explain why. At some point in our walk with Jesus Christ, our faith, what we believe, will be questioned. Someone will ask why we believe what we believe. Someone will disagree with what we believe. Someone will make fun of us for what we believe. When that time comes, a struggle will begin between ourselves and our faith.
I have talked to so many people who wish they never had to struggle. They have said they wish they were just told the truth in the beginning and never had it questioned. But I have learned that the struggle is one of the best things to strengthen my faith. Because when I am questioned, when I am challenged, I dig for the truth.
I want to be able to say, “Here is the scripture from God’s Holy Word that leads me to believe this.” God’s Word is my source for how I live my life. If I base my beliefs on my or other people’s opinions, I am not fully submitting myself to the teachings of Jesus Christ. Instead, I am setting myself up as the ruler of my own life and if I have given my life to Jesus, I am not my own. I am bought by His blood. I am redeemed from myself.
I understand where these people are coming from. No one really likes the struggle because it is hard. But Jesus knows how to make us more sure in our faith.
And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions,because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured out in our heartsthrough the Holy Spirit who was given to us. – Romans 5:3-5
Don’t run from the struggle. Thank God for it.

In Christ,
jon walton


The Struggle...

Losing...

I read this devotional this morning from Tenth Ave. North and wanted to share it. All credit goes to them. It is really good.
Have you ever stopped to wonder why forgiveness is so hard? Seriously. It's such a pleasant ideal in theory, but in practice it's the quite possibly the hardest thing to do on the planet. Why does it seem so down right impossible? Why does it feel like losing?
Well, I guess that's because it is. To forgive someone you do have to lose. Whenever there's injury, someone has to live with the pain, and to forgive means you accept it, and the offender goes free. Even though you're not at fault, if you're going to turn the other cheek, you have to absorb the pain so that you don't turn around and inflict the one who hurt you.
I suppose you could liken it to falling on a grenade. If you have a grenade thrown at you, you can do one of three things. You can run, but then who knows who'll end up collateral damage. You can throw it back, which I must admit is quite alluring, but that can't stop the fire from spreading, it just redirects it. There is one other thing you can do though. You can fall on it. Absorb it. Take the explosion and die the death. Let everyone around you live.
And you know, whenever we forgive there's always a death involved. Isn't there? That's why Jesus had to die for us. To let us be counted right, justice had to be paid. The bomb had to go off. But instead of throwing it back and giving us what we deserve, He wrapped His arms around us and took the hit Himself.
"He was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed." -Isaiah 53:5
You see, the reason grace isn't popular or easy is because it's not cheap. To give grace costs us our right to be resentful. It robs us of our privilege to be bitter. It requires death. But friend, if Christ said to forgive the very men who drove nails through his wrists, and the same power that flung Him from the grave lives in us, then surely, surely He can give us the power to lose, so that our aggressors weapons are rendered useless. Rob your enemy of their ability to offend you, by gladly taking the full brunt of their attack. It is then, and only then, that hostility is defeated and love conquers death.
Remember who you are. Remember how you have been forgiven. You're only going to feel like you have the right to be bitter if you think you're better than them. "Oh no," we say, "I would never…" Never? Really? Remember what it cost Christ to redeem you, and may that knowledge drip down so deep in your heart that it becomes your joy to accept the cost of forgiving others.
Yeah I know it feels like losing, but it's what forgiven people do. As the old saying goes, "Hurt people, hurt people." Well, "Forgiven people, forgive people."
"To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because Christ has forgiven the inexcusable in us." -C.S. Lewis