“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age…” —Titus 2:11-12

She was his dearest teacher, the one who first taught John Newton spiritual truths. His mother, Elizabeth Newton, was the one who modeled godliness for him when he was a young boy. But her gentle nurturing was short-lived as she passed away at the age of 27. His seafaring dad took him to sea for months at a time where John learned the partying and hard-edged ways of the sailor life.

The young man turned away from his early moral teachings and became complicit in horrifying atrocities with the slave trade, until a maritime crisis in 1748 prompted him to pray, “My mother’s God—God of mercy—save me!” Sometime later, he experienced a spiritual conversion, and his life was dramatically changed. He later became a preacher, abolitionist, and hymn writer, of which his most famous was “Amazing Grace.”

John Newton later said of his mother, “My dear mother, besides the rains she took with me, often commended me with many prayers and tears to God; and I doubt not but I reap the fruits of these prayers to this hour.” John Newton would wander and rebel, but he couldn’t flee the prayers of his mother, or outrun her God. Eventually he would sing, “I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind, but now I see.”

When the Pharisees investigated the healing of a blind man whom Jesus had miraculously healed, they secretly aimed to scandalize Jesus and discredit the miracle (John 9:24). They found out that you can argue against a creed, but you can’t argue against a changed life! The former blind man wouldn’t go along with their smear job, instead testified, “One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

Have you embraced the amazing grace of God in your life? Can you say today, “I once was blind, but now I see”? You don’t have to wait ‘til the ship is coming apart in a violent storm before letting Him rescue you from your own sin and rebellion. Nor do you need to wait until a later time to thank a person who has invested in your life, especially one who has prayed for you so often. How might God be writing His amazing grace upon the tune of your heart this week?

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, thank you for amazing grace… for saving a wretch like me. Thank you for those who have prayed for me when I couldn’t pray for myself, or was just too lost and blind to do so. Jesus, thank you for taking my place on that cross and dying for my sins so that I can be forgiven and have peace with God. Teach me to follow you daily. Amen.

Questions for Reflection and/or Group Discussion

1. In what way are people today spiritually blind?
2. Who did Jesus claim to be? (John 9:37) What did the blind man do when Jesus told him who He was? (v. 38)
3. According to Jesus, why had He come into the world? (v. 39)
4. How has Jesus’ healing of your spiritual blindness changed your life?
5. For what person, who is spiritually blind, will you pray that God would open his or her eyes?

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The post Encountering My Mother’s God appeared first on Jimmy Larche.

“Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away.” —Proverbs 27:10

In the film Amazing Grace—the true account of William Wilberforce’s campaign to abolish the slave trade—Wilberforce has a way of making the distant reality of slavery troubling to those who are far removed from its deplorability. He leads a group of high society dames and dandies on a pleasant harbor tour, eating and chatting on the deck of an elegant ship. Wilberforce has the vessel guided to a particular spot of the harbor, where the high society crowd begin to wrinkle their noses, then cough and cover their faces at a horrific odor that begins to fill the air. He then announces that what they smell is the stench of death, disease, and unimaginable suffering coming from a slave ship docked nearby.

Wilberforce seemed to understand that the only way he could get people to make a difference was to give them an up-close perspective of the pain—a nearness to the suffering.

In chapter four of 2 Kings, a wealthy Shunammite woman who had shown generous hospitality to the prophet Elisha over the course of his ministry, suddenly faced a personal crisis. Her son, whom Elisha had prophesied would be born, later fell dead. She came to Elisha crying out in bitter distress. Elisha’s initial response was to send his servant, Gehazi, on ahead to lay his staff on the face of the child. But when his efforts returned no results—no sound or sign of life—he returned to meet Elisha and told him: “The child has not awakened.”

Upon coming to the house and seeing the child lying dead on his bed, Elisha went in and shut the door behind the others and prayed to the Lord.

Then he went up and lay on the child, putting his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. And as he stretched himself upon him, the flesh of the child became warm. Then he got up again and walked once back and forth in the house, and went up and stretched himself upon him. The child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. (2 Kings 4:34-35)

This imagery may appear a bit strange, yet I believe it yields a parabolic picture of God’s kingdom servants resuscitating life in a world of widespread suffering. God doesn’t need us, but He certainly chooses to use us. Most of the time, we can’t make a difference from a distance. We can’t help heal the brokenness without proximity to the suffering. It’s not enough to merely send our staff like Elisha did with Gehazi; we have to show up hands on hands, flesh on flesh, and life on life.

Jesus said that His disciples would be the “salt” of the earth. But salt loses its preserving and healing qualities without proximity. If we long to see our neighbors coming to Christ, the lost being found, the broken being healed, hearts and minds transformed by the power of God, and revival sweeping across this land, it will require something of us. That something is called proximity. We have to be in the world, not of it (John 17:15-17). This is at the very heart of the doctrine of the incarnation. Jesus didn’t save the world by keeping His distance—He pitched his earthly tent right in the center of its brokenness.

It’s a fallacy to assume we can be God’s change agents solely by electing officials we believe will uphold our values. Legislation doesn’t change hearts. We can’t expect to resuscitate hope for those numb in despair or to bring truth to those entangled in spiritual/moral confusion by simply posting a few inspirational Tweets, Instagram Bible verses, or Facebook sermonettes from a distance. God wants us life on life with people who are struggling, people who are hurting, and those in need of the Gospel. Where can you flesh out life on life ministry to those in need around you—in the workplace, at school, to your neighbors, with your peers, or to the marginalized and less fortunate in your community?

It’s been said that you can impress people from a distance, but you can’t influence them without getting close. Think about that as you seek to abide in Him this week.

PRAYER

God, thank you for all of those who participated in your kingdom work of helping to resuscitate our lives when we were lost without hope. It’s on those shoulders that we now stand as you call us to be agents of resuscitation for those on their bed of despair—those alienated by others, trapped in injustice, deceived by darkness, imprisoned to ideologies, wounded by humanity, or dead in their own sins. Show us how to live in proximity with those in need—life on life—and teach us how to be your ministers of reconciliation. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Questions for Reflection, Small Group or Family Discussion:

1. Who have been the agents of resuscitation God has used to revive things in your life?
2. Whose prayers do you want when you are facing life’s most daunting problems?
3. What did Elisha do when the child didn’t immediately resuscitate (2 Kings 4:34-35)? What can this imagery teach us about persistence in ministering to others?
4. If God can perform miracles without us, why do you think He chooses to use our proximity to cultivate life and healing with others?
5. Where might hope and faith need to be resuscitated in your life right now?

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The post You Can’t Make a Difference Without Proximity appeared first on Jimmy Larche.