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

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If you love a prodigal, you can discover help and hope for your wilderness journey right

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here at When You Love a Prodigal, and also help and hope for your own life journey.

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Today we are wrapping up a month of episodes from my sweet husband, Steve, who moved to

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Heaven almost a year ago.

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I believe his experience, wisdom, and relationship with God offer great help as we seek to live

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well with our prodigals.

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Steve always wanted his life the way he lived and loved and spoke and treated people or

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used his time—everything—to reflect Jesus.

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He wanted people to be drawn to Jesus because of the way he lived.

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Most of us desire that too for all the people in our lives, but especially for our loved

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prodigals.

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Hopefully, these words from Steve will encourage us and help us as we seek to demonstrate what

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it looks like to walk with God both to a watching world and personally to our wanderers.

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So for that watching world, including our prodigals, what do we do?

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How do we reflect Jesus well?

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Well, the first thing Steve talks about is walk powerfully.

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What does that mean?

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Steve says, if followers of Jesus don't live their lives above reproach, then the non-Christians

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around them have some very legitimate room to criticize or question.

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In our own strength, we are all vulnerable.

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But as we stay filled with the Holy Spirit, we have the power to resist sin and live lives

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that are above reproach.

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We was never quit teaching and practicing the Spirit-filled life.

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And many who oppose us may reluctantly have to say, I don't agree with your theology,

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but I have to admit you seem to have something in how you're living your life.

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So he says, walk powerfully in the power of the Spirit of God.

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Then he says, love visibly.

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Loving others is another crucial element that affects how non-Christians respond to us.

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Sometimes I sense Christians can come across as very negative.

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Yes, there are definitely times people need to recognize their sins.

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Jesus did not take it easy on the religious leaders of his day.

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But Jesus was very loving toward the crowds of people who followed him.

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He offered a message of hope backed up by an attitude of love, regardless of how much

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people had sinned.

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When the woman caught in adultery was brought to him, he offered forgiveness and a fresh

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start.

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So we walk powerfully through the Spirit of God.

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We let that flow through us so we love in ways that people can see.

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And then we interact winsomely.

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Many impressions regarding Christians are formed when they interact with non-Christians.

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For example, do I listen respectfully?

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I remember one time when I was sitting next to a man on a plane, he was a member of a

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different religion, and he started explaining to me the virtues of his faith.

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I could have responded, I'm a Christian and I don't agree with you or even want to hear

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what you're going to say.

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But I didn't.

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I listened for an hour.

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At the end, I asked him a simple question.

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Is this work for you in your daily life, giving you more peace and satisfaction?

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His head bent forward some and he said sheepishly, No, to be honest, it doesn't really give me

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peace and satisfaction.

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So I asked, Would you be interested in how I found peace and satisfaction with my faith?

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And he said, Sure, you've listened to me, I'll listen to you.

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So I shared my testimony and the gospel with him.

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And although he didn't respond to Christ, then he eagerly accepted some materials from

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me and commented to his friend as we were leaving the plane, how meaningful our conversation

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had been to him.

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In summary, how we live, love and interact with people should shine like a powerful light

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into their lives.

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And from my experience, most will be attracted to Christ if what they see is something they

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want for themselves.

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On one hand, we aren't trying to win any popularity contests.

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On the other hand, we should want our lives to offer compelling evidence for a relationship

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with Christ.

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Now that's the same thing that we need to offer to those prodigals in our lives, those

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wanderers who are challenging to us.

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So here's what Steve says for that.

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Judy and I have often hosted events in our home for different groups of staff.

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There's usually time for questions.

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And frequently, Judy and I are asked about our experience of walking well with God.

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Here are some attitudes and practices I have found helpful in my relationship with God.

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Let me first say, Steve's wrote, I have a long way to go in my walk and I'm not holding

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myself up as a perfect example.

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But the following do help me stay close to God and his plan for my life and to help me

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reflect Christ to others, to show what he's like and what a relationship with him is like.

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The first thing is to give thanks.

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You all have heard me, Judy, say that many times.

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And Steve says, I make entries in my journal every day and the first category is Thanksgiving.

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I find a thankful spirit is a huge contributor to my overall willingness to trust and be

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close to God.

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When good things happen, that's easy.

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When our daughter Debbie gave birth to our first granddaughter, Grace, it was easy to

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be grateful for a beautiful, healthy child.

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But when bad things happen, it is harder to be grateful.

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When Josh's beloved grandfather, Marty, died suddenly, it was devastating to Josh.

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One of Judy's primary ministries to Josh at that time was to help him be able to say,

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thank you, God, by faith.

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Job says in chapter 13, though he slay me, yet will I trust him?

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So first of all, giving thanks helps us in our walk with God, but is also a model, a

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reflection of what God is like to those around us, including our loved ones.

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A second is to stay close to God.

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This is Steve again.

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I have found that the intensity of my walk with God is directly proportional to how constantly

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I am engaged with him during the day.

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I try to have a running conversation with God concerning what is happening, what I see,

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how I'm feeling.

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In some ways, it is similar to how Judy and I often maintain our relationship by debriefing

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on the day over dinner or by texting or calling during the day or just talking to each other.

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So stay close to God and he'll shine through your life.

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Each next point is be intentional.

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God loves for us to do what he asks us to do.

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He also is pleased when we make the most of the opportunities that he gives us.

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If we learn anything from the master's reaction to the one talent servant in the parable of

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the talents, God is not happy when we aren't proactive in making use of what he gives us.

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In that parable of the talents, the one who made a great investment with his talents and

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produced much, and another who took fewer of the talents and used those well, but one

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who only got one talent buried it.

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God says, no, no, you need to invest it and use it and there will be fruit coming from

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it.

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All of that, Steve continues, caused me to conclude that walking with God involves intentional

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action on our part, action to accomplish what he calls us to do.

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The scriptures are loaded with examples of people who acted on God's call, for example,

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Abraham to leave home for a distant land or David to go and defeat a Philistine giant

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and Peter who left everything to follow Jesus.

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So finally, Steve says, be flexible.

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While we need to focus on certain priorities in our lives, we also need to be flexible

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to redeem the unplanned opportunities God sends our way.

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Just a few days ago, I was working at a restaurant putting the finishing touches on preparation

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for a wedding ceremony I was to conduct in just a few hours.

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I wasn't really looking to minister to anyone at that time.

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However, an older woman was looking for a place to put her tray down and eat.

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The only available spot was the table next to me designated for two people.

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I encouraged her to sit at that table when she asked if her sitting there would bother

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me.

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What I didn't know was that there were two more people with her, and when they all sat

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down, one was right across from me at my table.

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Within a few minutes, I realized I needed to set aside what I was working on and talk

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to them.

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All three were strong Christians but had some questions.

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I had a chance to share some thoughts and give them each a book that I thought would

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help them.

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I had packed the books in my briefcase just in case someone might cross my path who could

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use them.

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I find that God often presents unexpected opportunities, and I have learned to be flexible

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in my walk with Him.

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I hope these thoughts and examples will be an encouragement to you as you walk with God.

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These thoughts have certainly helped me reflect Jesus better to everyone I connect with, whether

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they are strangers or neighbors or coworkers, my family, my prodigal, that Jesus shines through

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me.

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What about you?

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Do you find you need to interact winsomely, to be giving thanks, to be flexible, or one

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of the other things I've mentioned?

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I always write it down.

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What can you do today to let Jesus shine through you, to be a better reflection of what He's

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like and what it looks like to walk well with Him, and especially to show your prodigal what

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it looks like to walk with God?

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Some of Steve's resources are listed in the show notes so you can see what you want to

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read or find that would be helpful to you.

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While you're in the show notes, you might raid and subscribe to the podcast while you

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are there.

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May you find as you apply some of the things that Steve has shared over these four weeks

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about what it means and what it's like to walk well with God, to reflect what He's like,

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and how that can help in your relationship with your prodigal.

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God bless you.