Good morning…
Often the truth God teaches me daily, personally is echoed in the online meditation I receive from the Henri Nouwen Society at 5:05 am each morning. Yesterday was no different. I put a microphone to God’s whisper, “Blend your ‘being’ with your ‘doing’ so all becomes an energizing prayer.”
Then I opened Nouwen’s 11.17.16 devotional: “All Jesus’ words and actions emerge from his intimate relationships with his Father. ‘Do you not believe,’ Jesus says, ‘that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? What I say to you I do not speak of my own accord: it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his works. You must believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe it on the evidence of these works’ (John 14:10-11).
Just as all Jesus’ words and actions emerge from his communion with his Father, so all our words and actions must emerge from our communion with Jesus. ‘In all truth I tell you,’ he says, ‘whoever believes in me will perform the same works as I do myself, and will perform even greater works…’ (John 14:12).”
It matters less what we do today. Change diapers. Close deals. Create art. It matters more that we tap into the power of God alive within us. Teach classes. Train employees. Turn burgers. Jesus came to earth not only to free us from the isolation of our accumulated sins, but to empower us as God’s healing presence in this hurting world. Visit lonely. Nurture home. Guide children.
Colossians 3:23-24 in the Amplified translation says it this way: Whatever you do [whatever your task may be], work from the soul [that is, put in your very best effort], as [something done] for the Lord and not for men, knowing [with all certainty] that it is from the Lord [not from men] that you will receive the inheritance which is your [greatest] reward. It is the Lord Christ whom you [actually] serve.
Jesus came into our world to serve us freedom, now, with the Father alive in us, we serve Christ freely.
…Sue…
P.S. As I was crafting this message, 5:05 am came and went. So I opened today’s Nouwen message to receive God’s exclamation point. Today Henri shares: “To act in the Name of Jesus…doesn’t mean to act as a representative of Jesus or his spokesperson. It means to act in an intimate communion with him. The Name is like a house, a tent, a dwelling. To act in the Name of Jesus, therefore, means to act from the place where we are united with Jesus in love.”
