Author: S. Tory Teller

“The third basic we touched on the other day,” said Stan,” deals with walking humbly with God.”

“This,  I believe, is at the heart of everything dealing with a Christian disciple’s life on this side of eternity.”

Stan continued, “One of the hardest things in my Christian life has been to do what this basic says, to walk humbly.  To do so requires moment-by-moment denial of self.”

“Self does not want to be humble, it wants to be in charge.  I struggle with this constantly,”  Stan admitted.  “It is the old reminder that He is God and I am not!”

I added, “Yes, I have to constantly remind myself that He is the creator and I am the created.  For the created being to fail to be humble in walking with the Creator is contrary to our respective roles.”

Stan then added, “Through the years of drawing ever closer to God through my journaling time with Him, I have the sense that something special has occurred.  I know that that is true, but I have to keep in focus that even though God has created a special relationship, it does not make me special.”

“I’m not sure I understand what you are getting at Stan.”

“A special relationship is what God wants with each one of his disciples.  Just because a lot of those bound for Glory do not reach for that sort of relationship with Him on this side of eternity, does not mean that those who do are special.  Rather, they are the norm of what He wants.”

Continuing, Stan added, “And it is to be a humble walk that begins with a humble surrender at the foot of the cross.  It took a humble heart for me to admit that I cannot save and I cannot sanctify myself.  That is the work of my Creator.  My role as a created one is to continue to walk  humbly with Him wherever He wants to lead after I have denied self and taken up the cross He has for me.”

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For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives

Himself.  Galatians 6:3

Prayer:  Lord, I know you want me to walk humbly with you.  I also know that you know how difficult that is for me.  Please help me in being constantly reminded that a special relationship with you does not make me special.  And I ask you to move in me to create the exact kind of humble walk you want for me.  Amen. 

Stan opened our conversation with, “The second basic we talked a little about the other day has to do with loving mercy.  Some of the Bible translations use the word ‘kindness’ instead of ‘mercy,’ but let’s lump them together under ‘mercy.”

“God wants us to love mercy, loving to receive it as well as show it.”

Stan continued, “While grace is receiving what we do not deserve, mercy is not getting what we do deserve.”

“The cross of Christ is the greatest demonstration of God’s mercy towards me.  He took upon Himself all of the punishment I deserve so that I can be perfectly right with God the Father.  When I stand before Him in eternity, there will be nothing to condemn because in His mercy I am forgiven.”

“That demonstration of mercy is to be my blueprint for showing mercy to others on this side of eternity.”

Continuing, Stan said, “Too often I am tempted to retaliate against those I think have wronged me.  When those kinds of thoughts occur to me, I know it is the work of Satan who does not want me to show mercy.”

“Why would Satan not want you to show mercy?” I asked rather innocently.

“Satan knows that he cannot affect my eternal destination.  That was settled for all time when I accepted the free gift of salvation.”

“However, Satan can affect my testimony on this side of eternity.  If he can get me to fail to show mercy to another person, my testimony is muted and any possibility of impacting that person regarding his or her life and eternal destination may be lost.”

My response was, “When mercy is looked at from that standpoint, I can certainly see why God wants me to love mercy!”

“Amen,” was Stan’s closing.

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Love mercy.  Micah 6:8

Prayer:  Lord, I thank you for your mercy in not giving me what I deserve.  I thank you for the finished work of Christ Jesus on the cross that paid the full price for my salvation.  I ask you to help me in showing mercy to others in ways that will help them see your mercy.  Amen.

“The other day,” Stan began, “We were talking about the basics of what God expects from us.  The things that we need to get a handle on before going on to the more complex assignments He may have for us.”

“Yeah, I remember,” I said.  “The first one had to do with justice.”

“That’s right,” Stan replied.

“It is natural for a person to want to receive justice, to want to be treated fairly by others, but God wants us to show justice as well in everything we do.  We must be absolutely just in how we treat others.”

“As an example,” I chimed in, if I have told someone I will do such and such, I need to make certain I keep my word.”

“Yes,” Stan replied.  “And if I have borrowed something from someone, I am to be absolutely certain to give it back — or to pay back if it has been a loan.”

“It is kind of embarrassing,” I replied, “to think of all of the times I have borrowed something and then failed to follow through with my promise to give it back.”

“We can avoid those embarrassing memories if we just commit to living a life of absolute integrity.  Commit and then follow through”

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Whatever you want others to do for you, do so for them.  Matthew 7:12

Prayer:  Lord, you are absolutely just, and you want me to be just in all of my dealings with everyone.  You know there is no problem with my wanting to be treated justly, but you also know how much I need your help in being just. I give that all to you and ask you to move in me in exact accord with your will.  Amen.

“Are you a football fan?” Stan asked me one morning.

“Not really,” was my response.  “I watch a few games, but I’m not really a fan.”

“Ever heard of Vince Lombardi?” Stan asked.

“Sure, but I don’t know a whole lot about him.”

“There’s a famous story about him that has some real application to what you and I talk about.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“After losing a crucial championship game the previous season, Vince Lombardi, who coached the Green Bay Packers professional football team, began the 1961 training camp by gathering the players, holding up a football, and saying, ‘This, gentlemen, is a football.’”

“In other words,” Stan continued, “he was going back to the very basics. The point is obvious.  Knowing the basics is essential for proceeding to the more complex.  The same is true with our relationship with God.”

“Do you have any basics for my relationship with God?” I asked.

“It is not I who have the basics, it is God,” Stan responded. 

“In one of the books of the Old Testament, God used one of His prophets to proclaim the basics of what God wants for each one of us.”

“If I get the basics right,” Stan went on, “I am ready to proceed with what God has for me to be and to do.”

“What are those basics?” I asked.

“Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.”

“Each one of those basics is essential.  It is just like a child who crawls before standing up to walk and eventually to run.  Master the basics to be prepared for what the Lord has in store.”

“We’ll talk more about all of this in the future, but for now I suggest you begin to focus on these basics.  Pray about what the Lord wants you to see.”

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And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.  Micah 6:8.

Prayer:  Lord, thank you for showing me the basics of what you want in order for us to grow in an ever-deepening relationship.  Please, Lord, help me with the basics so I will be prepared for all of the more complex things you have for me to be and to do.  Amen.

“Do you think you have ever been used to answer another person’s prayer?” Stan asked me one morning.

“I don’t know,” I said.  “I have never thought about that.”

“How about you?” I asked Stan.  “Has God used you in that way?”

“All the time,” he responded.  “That is part of the process of being His.”

Continuing, Stan said, “I take seriously my role as being a blessing to others.  I believe I am to bless others in God’s name and for His sake so that others have their vision of God expanded and enhanced.”

“What kind of blessing are you talking about?  Money?”  I asked.

“Blessings can be financial and they can be more valuable than financial.  For example, blessing another person with the truth of God is priceless.”

“Such truth can change a person forever.  It can change his or her eternal destination, as well as how he or she lives on this side of eternity.  Such people can then become a blessing to others in their own right.”

“And on and on it goes,” said Stan.  “That is how the church is built.  That is how God uses people to answer prayers.”

“You never know what words will make a difference.  Just the other day I shared with a friend who was struggling with something he had read in the Bible.  He told me later that he had been praying about his question.  The words I was able to share from insight I had been given by God were a big breakthrough for him.”

“It was a blessing from God through me.”

“Stan,” I asked, “How can I be used by God in those ways?”

“Have an open heart that receives and embraces all that God has for you.  Then, keep an alert spiritual ear to hear what you may provide to others as an answer to their prayers.”

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Pray without ceasing.  1 Thessalonians 5:17

Prayer:  Lord, I know you want to use your people to help others in whatever way they need.  I ask you to move in me to have a totally open spirit so I hear the needs of others, along with receiving and embracing the provision you have to pass to them through me.  Amen.

“Sorry I am a bit late,” I said, “but I had to park a long way away.”

“That’s OK,” said Stan.

“I walked by that church at 4th and Elm,” I remarked.  “Haven’t been by it for a long time.  It sure is a beautiful church.”

“How can you say that?” Stan asked.

“Just look at it; it’s beautiful.”

“A beautiful building, by itself, doesn’t make a beautiful church,” Stan countered.  “It’s the people who are the church, not the building.”

“OK, I stand corrected,” I kind of muttered, “but it sure is a beautiful building.”

“I can agree with that,” Stan said, “but I have been in some magnificently beautiful buildings that are totally dead as the home of a church.”

I chimed in, “Yes, my wife and I were in Europe a few years back.  Saw some amazing cathedrals that seemed really dead.”

“Don’t have to go to Europe to see that, and you don’t even have to go into a cathedral to see that,” Stan said.

“In fact,” he continued, “I have been in some pretty ugly buildings that were just as dead as churches, and I have been in ugly buildings that had beautiful churches.  It is all a matter of who is sitting in the pews or on the chairs inside of the building.”

“Be a part of a vibrant church.  It is essential.  Beautiful church buildings can be a delight to the eyes, but God is more interested in what is inside of that building.”

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Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.  1 Corinthians 12:27.

Prayer:  Lord, I know your desire is for your church to be strong and vibrant so it makes a difference for you.  I pray for each person in each body of believers that each one will be only what you intend.  Please help us focus on building up the body of Christ, not on constructing beautiful buildings.  Amen.

Stan opened our conversation with, “I saw something interesting this morning.”

“What’s that?” I responded.

“In the beginning of chapter 11 of Matthew’s Gospel there is the account of John the Baptist sending some of his disciples to ask Jesus if He was the ‘Coming One’ or if they should look for someone else.”

“What’s so interesting about that?” I asked.

“Well, I was given the thought that God asks me something along the same line.  He does not, of course, ask me if I am the ‘Coming One’, but He does ask me if I am the one He can use in a particular situation, or whether He should look for someone else.”

“I’m not sure I am following you,” I responded.

Stan went on, “There is no doubt whatsoever that God’s will is going to be done and that His purposes are going to be accomplished.  The only question is whether I am going to be a part of what He is doing.”

“I have to be alert to what God is doing, and be willing to join Him in His activity.”

“If it turns out that I am too self-focused to see what He is doing and/or too self-absorbed to be a part of what He is doing, He will look for someone else, and it will be my lost opportunity to be involved with Him.”

Stan concluded, “It is not a question of affecting my eternal destination, but it surely affects what God has for me to do on this side of eternity.  And I don’t want that to happen — and neither does God!”

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Are you the Coming One, or shall we look for someone else?  Matthew 11:3

Prayer:  Lord, every moment of every day you are moving to accomplish your will and your purposes.  I do not always see what you are doing.  Even when I do see, I do not always take the steps to be a part of what you are doing.  You show me what you are doing so that I will choose to be a part of your activity.  I surrender all of my self-focus to you so you can know that my answer will be “yes” when you ask if I am the one you can use.  Amen.

“Do you consider yourself to be a disciplined person?” Stan asked.

“In some ways, yes, and in some ways, no,” was my response.  “What about you?” I asked Stan.

“I was a mess at one time,” Stan said.  “And if I am not careful, messiness can creep into my life when I am not paying attention.”

“In what ways were you a mess?” I asked.

“There were many,” Stan said, “but I will give just one for now.  We can revisit this whole subject another day.”

“Alcohol was a problem for me,’ Stan began.  ‘I come from a long line of alcoholics.  I do not consider myself as being an alcoholic, but I was certainly alcoholic.”

“What’s the difference?” I asked.

“Alcohol became too important to me.  I was looking forward too much to feeling the sensation that alcohol gave me.  It wasn’t that I couldn’t control the drinking, it was that drinking was simply too important.   I focused too much on alcohol.”

“How the Lord took alcohol out of my life is another story for another day, but the important thing right now is what removing that clutter meant to me and my relationship with the Lord.’

Stan continued, “With the clutter of alcohol in my life, there were also a lot of other things that came along with it..”

“Such as?”

“Wrong relationships, improper motivations, missteps of all sorts.  Those sorts of things.”

“When the alcohol was gone, those things went away also.  One of the things that really surprised me was the number of people who I considered friends that no longer wanted to be around me if I wasn’t joining them in drinking.”

“At first, I was disappointed at that, but then realized they were part of the clutter that needed to be removed.”

With a real determined look on his face, Stan said, “It is crucial for me to examine all of my relationships on an on-going basis, especially my relationship with God, to make certain everything is as it should be and that there is not clutter that needs to be cleaned out.”

“And I recommend it for you, my friend.  I think it is real important.  Clearly one of the most important thing you can do.

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If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.  2 Corinthians 5:17

Prayer:  Lord you know all of the things you want to remove from my life, the things that are nothing more than clutter in the way of the relationship you want with me.  I, too, want those things removed.  Please, Lord, move in me in accord with your will to remove all you know that needs to be removed.  And replace that clutter with what you want.  Amen.

Stan and I sat across from one another at breakfast.  “Would you pass me the salt?” I asked.

Stan handed me the salt shaker and I promptly shook it over my scrabbled eggs.

“That was interesting,” Stan said.

“In what way?”  was my response.

“First, you didn’t even check to make sure it was salt in that shaker.  Second, you didn’t even taste your scrabbled eggs before you started shaking the container over them.”

“You think I should have tasted to see if it was really salt?”

“Yep.”

“I always put salt on my scrambled eggs, so there was no need to taste them first.”

“But you never know.  You could have ended up with really salty eggs.  Or they could have been covered with something else if it wasn’t salt in the shaker.”

“Stan, are you always that careful with your own food?”

“Yes, I usually am,” was Stan’s reply.  I enjoy food too much and hate to waste money too much to risk ruining a perfectly good meal!”

Stan continued, “And I have another point I want to make about salt.”

“O.K.”, I said.  “Let’s have it.”

“Salt has two basic purposes, to enhance flavor and to preserve.”

“Jesus told His disciples that they are the salt of the earth.  He had a very important reason for saying that.”

“Which was what?” I asked.

“His disciples are to enhance and preserve. They are to make a difference for Him on this side of eternity.  They are to shine light into the darkness to remove it, thereby enhancing His presence.  And they are to preserve the goodness of His presence by being His disciples.”

I chimed in, “And that consists of denying self, doing what He has for me to do, and following Him wherever He leads.  Right?”

Stan responded, “That is what being a disciple is all about.”

“And it is not a once for all time thing,” Stan continued.  “Choosing to accept the free gift of salvation is a one-time forever decision.  But choosing to be a disciple of Jesus is a daily, moment-by-moment choice.”

“It is choosing to be the salt and light He intends,” Stan concluded.

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Let you light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.  Matthew 5:16

Prayer:  Lord, you know how hard it is for me to be and to do what you intend.  I ask for your help in leading me to be the salt and light you want for your purposes to be accomplished in and through me.  Please, Lord, lead as you choose, and help me to follow wherever you want to take me.

I didn’t feel like eating much one morning, so I didn’t order anything other than coffee.

“On a hunger strike?” Stan asked with a smile.

“No, just not up to eating anything this morning.  But don’t let me stop you” I responded.

“No chance of that!  I’m always hungry in the morning”

“But, you know what?” Stan asked with a serious look on his face.

“What?”

“I was once on a spiritual hunger strike,” Stan said.  “Didn’t eat for a long time, and it was not a good thing.”

“I simply refused to feed on all that God had for me.  I was a believer and I had the Holy Spirit living in me, but I purposefully chose not to feed on Him.”

I was surprised to hear Stan talking like that so I asked him, “What was that all about?”

“Self” was his one-word answer.  “I simply refused to get self out of the way of what the Spirit had for me.  He had all I needed for everything, but I refused to eat.”

My response was “Why did you do that?  Why would anyone do that?”

“It’s all part of the natural man.  It’s called free-will.”

“God knows what He wants for each of us, but He does not impose His will.  He lets me choose.  Sometimes I wish He would just make me do what He know is best for me, but that is not how it works.”

Stan continued, “God wants me to choose Him of my own free will.  In that way, free will is a very good thing.  But when I use my free will to choose a course that is contrary to what God wants for me there are consequences, none of which is good.”

“I’m not sure I understand,” I said to Stan.

“Welcome to the club” Stan replied with a smile.  “I can’t say I understand all there is to know about free will, but I do know that when I choose His will over mine it opens the door for me to feed on all He has for me through His Holy Spirit.”

Continuing, Stan said, “This is a subject we will re-visit.  It is important and deserves our full attention.  For the time being, however, I say choose to get self out of the way and feed on all God has for you.  Don’t be on a hunger strike!”

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The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Galatians 5:22, 23

Prayer: Lord, I thank you for the Spirit of Truth Who lives in me.  I confess that I do not listen to Him as often or as much as you want.  You know that, and I know that.  I ask you to help me to want to feed on all of His fruit.  To feed on all He has for me in every aspect of my life.  I ask for your help in choosing what is right and best for me.  Amen.