Learning from Steve: Reflecting Jesus, episode 117 (rebroadcast)

0:00 If you love a prodigal, you can discover help and hope for your wilderness journey right here at When You Love a Prodigal, and also help and hope for your own life journey. Today we are wrapping up a month of episodes from my sweet husband, Steve, who moved to Heaven almost a year ago. I believe his experience, wisdom, and relationship with God offer great help as we seek to live well with our prodigals. Steve always wanted his life the way he lived and loved and spoke and treated people or used his time—everything—to reflect Jesus.

0:47 He wanted people to be drawn to Jesus because of the way he lived. Most of us desire that too for all the people in our lives, but especially for our loved prodigals. Hopefully, these words from Steve will encourage us and help us as we seek to demonstrate what it looks like to walk with God both to a watching world and personally to our wanderers. So for that watching world, including our prodigals, what do we do? How do we reflect Jesus well? Well, the first thing Steve talks about is walk powerfully.

1:33 What does that mean? Steve says, if followers of Jesus don't live their lives above reproach, then the non-Christians around them have some very legitimate room to criticize or question. In our own strength, we are all vulnerable. But as we stay filled with the Holy Spirit, we have the power to resist sin and live lives that are above reproach. We was never quit teaching and practicing the Spirit-filled life. And many who oppose us may reluctantly have to say, I don't agree with your theology, but I have to admit you seem to have something in how you're living your life.

2:21 So he says, walk powerfully in the power of the Spirit of God. Then he says, love visibly. Loving others is another crucial element that affects how non-Christians respond to us. Sometimes I sense Christians can come across as very negative. Yes, there are definitely times people need to recognize their sins. Jesus did not take it easy on the religious leaders of his day. But Jesus was very loving toward the crowds of people who followed him. He offered a message of hope backed up by an attitude of love, regardless of how much people had sinned.

3:07 When the woman caught in adultery was brought to him, he offered forgiveness and a fresh start. So we walk powerfully through the Spirit of God. We let that flow through us so we love in ways that people can see. And then we interact winsomely. Many impressions regarding Christians are formed when they interact with non-Christians. For example, do I listen respectfully? I remember one time when I was sitting next to a man on a plane, he was a member of a different religion, and he started explaining to me the virtues of his faith.

3:50 I could have responded, I'm a Christian and I don't agree with you or even want to hear what you're going to say. But I didn't. I listened for an hour. At the end, I asked him a simple question. Is this work for you in your daily life, giving you more peace and satisfaction? His head bent forward some and he said sheepishly, No, to be honest, it doesn't really give me peace and satisfaction. So I asked, Would you be interested in how I found peace and satisfaction with my faith? And he said, Sure, you've listened to me, I'll listen to you.

4:32 So I shared my testimony and the gospel with him. And although he didn't respond to Christ, then he eagerly accepted some materials from me and commented to his friend as we were leaving the plane, how meaningful our conversation had been to him. In summary, how we live, love and interact with people should shine like a powerful light into their lives. And from my experience, most will be attracted to Christ if what they see is something they want for themselves. On one hand, we aren't trying to win any popularity contests.

5:14 On the other hand, we should want our lives to offer compelling evidence for a relationship with Christ. Now that's the same thing that we need to offer to those prodigals in our lives, those wanderers who are challenging to us. So here's what Steve says for that. Judy and I have often hosted events in our home for different groups of staff. There's usually time for questions. And frequently, Judy and I are asked about our experience of walking well with God. Here are some attitudes and practices I have found helpful in my relationship with God.

6:02 Let me first say, Steve's wrote, I have a long way to go in my walk and I'm not holding myself up as a perfect example. But the following do help me stay close to God and his plan for my life and to help me reflect Christ to others, to show what he's like and what a relationship with him is like. The first thing is to give thanks. You all have heard me, Judy, say that many times. And Steve says, I make entries in my journal every day and the first category is Thanksgiving. I find a thankful spirit is a huge contributor to my overall willingness to trust and be close to God.

6:51 When good things happen, that's easy. When our daughter Debbie gave birth to our first granddaughter, Grace, it was easy to be grateful for a beautiful, healthy child. But when bad things happen, it is harder to be grateful. When Josh's beloved grandfather, Marty, died suddenly, it was devastating to Josh. One of Judy's primary ministries to Josh at that time was to help him be able to say, thank you, God, by faith. Job says in chapter 13, though he slay me, yet will I trust him? So first of all, giving thanks helps us in our walk with God, but is also a model, a reflection of what God is like to those around us, including our loved ones.

7:46 A second is to stay close to God. This is Steve again. I have found that the intensity of my walk with God is directly proportional to how constantly I am engaged with him during the day. I try to have a running conversation with God concerning what is happening, what I see, how I'm feeling. In some ways, it is similar to how Judy and I often maintain our relationship by debriefing on the day over dinner or by texting or calling during the day or just talking to each other. So stay close to God and he'll shine through your life.

8:29 Each next point is be intentional. God loves for us to do what he asks us to do. He also is pleased when we make the most of the opportunities that he gives us. If we learn anything from the master's reaction to the one talent servant in the parable of the talents, God is not happy when we aren't proactive in making use of what he gives us. In that parable of the talents, the one who made a great investment with his talents and produced much, and another who took fewer of the talents and used those well, but one who only got one talent buried it.

9:13 God says, no, no, you need to invest it and use it and there will be fruit coming from it. All of that, Steve continues, caused me to conclude that walking with God involves intentional action on our part, action to accomplish what he calls us to do. The scriptures are loaded with examples of people who acted on God's call, for example, Abraham to leave home for a distant land or David to go and defeat a Philistine giant and Peter who left everything to follow Jesus.

9:54 So finally, Steve says, be flexible. While we need to focus on certain priorities in our lives, we also need to be flexible to redeem the unplanned opportunities God sends our way. Just a few days ago, I was working at a restaurant putting the finishing touches on preparation for a wedding ceremony I was to conduct in just a few hours. I wasn't really looking to minister to anyone at that time. However, an older woman was looking for a place to put her tray down and eat. The only available spot was the table next to me designated for two people.

10:36 I encouraged her to sit at that table when she asked if her sitting there would bother me. What I didn't know was that there were two more people with her, and when they all sat down, one was right across from me at my table. Within a few minutes, I realized I needed to set aside what I was working on and talk to them. All three were strong Christians but had some questions. I had a chance to share some thoughts and give them each a book that I thought would help them. I had packed the books in my briefcase just in case someone might cross my path who could use them.

11:17 I find that God often presents unexpected opportunities, and I have learned to be flexible in my walk with Him. I hope these thoughts and examples will be an encouragement to you as you walk with God. These thoughts have certainly helped me reflect Jesus better to everyone I connect with, whether they are strangers or neighbors or coworkers, my family, my prodigal, that Jesus shines through me. What about you? Do you find you need to interact winsomely, to be giving thanks, to be flexible, or one of the other things I've mentioned?

11:59 I always write it down. What can you do today to let Jesus shine through you, to be a better reflection of what He's like and what it looks like to walk well with Him, and especially to show your prodigal what it looks like to walk with God? Some of Steve's resources are listed in the show notes so you can see what you want to read or find that would be helpful to you. While you're in the show notes, you might raid and subscribe to the podcast while you are there.

12:39 May you find as you apply some of the things that Steve has shared over these four weeks about what it means and what it's like to walk well with God, to reflect what He's like, and how that can help in your relationship with your prodigal. God bless you.