The Original DIGGIT article

Here is the original DIGGIT article I wrote in 2005 expanding on sermon notes taken during one of Pastor Timothy Paul Jones messages at First Bapt. Church Rolling Hills in Tulsa, OK

DIGGIT-Do I Glorify God In This?

I would like to propose a small modification to and a thorough answer to the question Christians and non-believers alike often ask themselves -What Would Jesus Do?

I believe a follow-up question is called for- Do I Glorify God In This? or ‘DIGGIT’. If we examine the life of Christ, I believe we will find this is how to be perfect as our Father is perfect, ref. Matthew. 5:44-48, and John 17:20-23, to be one with the Father as Jesus was, and we can truly "take up my cross and follow Him", as Jesus asked and commanded us to.  Jesus’ life was a life of perfect obedience, He never chose self over His Father’s wishes, and I as a Christian am asked to do no more, and no less. In Phillipians 2, Paul writes about this, as Christ humbled Himself and took on the form of a servent, obedient even to a death on a cross. I believe we are not asked by our Savior to do things we are unable to do, and that we are not equipped to do, the common adage "the devil made me do it" or "I am only human, I can't be like Jesus, I will sin", are cop-outs if we are to take the Word at His Word. If this is an honest answer, that obedience is all, but everything we are asked to do to follow Christ, which will give glory to God, the logical next question is "How do I know and discern what obedience is as I walk this earth during my life here?" In 1 John 2:6, we are told that "He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked." Instead of " What Would Jesus Do?" , I would like to encourage believers to ask 'What Did Jesus Do?' and that means to 'Walk Like Jesus Walked'.

If you do not currently have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, having had a specific time and place where you have made Him Savior and Lord of your life, asking that His finished, atoning death on account of His shed blood covering your sins, I would propose that John’s gospel be the starting point to discover what Jesus did, as He lived His live in obedience to His Father's Will, prefaced by a prayer, that God would give me wisdom and understanding of His Word, and if He is real, and this book is really His revelation to me, that He would reveal Himself and His Son, that I would know Him, honor Him, and give Him glory. After John’s gospel, follow with the rest of the New Testament and the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, to see how Jesus walked with and obeyed His Father on this earth and what believers in Christ are asked to obey, that we might glorify God, as our Father as Jesus did, and see that He and His Son are one, and both are God.

In addition to reading the Bible to discover God’s will and instruction for our lives, we are told that Jesus "as was his custom" spent daily time in prayer with His Father, and we are again, asked to do no more and no less than follow His example. Daily time in prayer, as a priority and necessity for our lives, will certainly glorify God. If we are reading the Word to see how we are called to live life on this earth, and praying daily , there may be a third thing we need to do to be obedient to God, and thus , give Him glory. That would be to obey anything He specifically reveals to us that we need to do, whether to witness to a certain person that is brought across our daily path, to pray for a certain person that He puts on our heart and mind during the course of our day, or whatever He reveals to us individually that we ourselves are asked to do.

The idea that all believers are called to full time Christian service, 24/7/365, whether we are on a paid ministry staff or in business for ministry purposes, or a stay at home mom or dad, or whatever our position in life is, answers another question-How can I glorify God doing what I do?? It would be easy if I were…….fill in the blank with Billy Graham, Steven Curtis Chapman, anyone who is recognized as a servant of God, serving Him daily through an obvious ministry. We are all called to a life of ministry, and cannot compartmentalize our lives into business, personal, and spiritual portions, we are called to a whole life to be lived Holy, set apart for God’s service and to glorify God in all aspects of our life, how we deal with our neighbor, our family, our co-workers, boss, etc, etc.

When we do not measure ourselves with other peoples ministries, or what it looks like they do for God, or how holy they are, but only are accountable for what God is asking of us, suddenly our lives in obedience are simplified. If we are reading the Word daily, spending time in prayer daily, living a life submissive to the Father’s wishes, not our own, and obeying any of the little things God has laid on our hearts that we need to do at this point and time in our life, we have nothing more to do to know that we glorify God, and are daily taking up our cross and following Jesus as we are commanded to do. I remind myself daily to be content resting in obedience, for there is nothing more to do than obey what we are asked to do.

I believe the cross was only one thing to Jesus- obeying what the Father asked of him, nothing more and nothing less, and in that perspective, we can do the same thing. We are not asked to offer our life as a sacrifice for the sins of many, as Christ was, but we are asked to obey what the Father asks of us, and that we can do. Praise God that He does not ask us to do what we cannot, or are not equipped to do, what kind of Father would ask his children to do that? We are told that God is a kind father, and will not give his children a stone when asked for bread, or a serpent when asked for a fish? The New Testament reveals God for the first time as His children’s Father, and then tells us what a good father is like. We are told to pray to "Our Father in heaven, hallowed or glorified to all who hear it, be Your name". Can you imagine the wonder, and stop dead in your tracks new paradigm this was for the hearers of this prayer? No longer striving to be worthy to be called Abraham’s child, as the upper crust of Jewish religiosity would prop their selves, but now as God’s own child! Now we are told to come to God as a little child, not a tither, not a law keeper, not someone with goods/things/treasures to offer God, but as a little child with needs we cannot meet ourselves, holding up open hands asking for what we never can obtain ourselves, and can never repay, that only can be given graciously and mercifully.

Jesus walked this earth and faced temptation in every way just as we are, and never quenched or grieved the Holy Spirit that dwealt in Him, and is promised to dwell in all believers following their new birth in Christ. Jesus walked in the fruit of the spirit and not in the desires of the flesh, and we are to walk in the same manner, as Galations 5:16-25 describes. Daily we should have these evidences in our life of our walk with Jesus and His Father. All believers are to have these evident and visible in their character and actions, they are not selectively given, like spiritual gifts.

When we walk in obedience, we are what we were created to be. I am greatly blessed to have a Godly wife, for whom I want to be a Godly husband, I want to be the Christ serving daddy my two girls need to show them faith and love in action, I want to be the loving son to my mom and dad, who raised me in a household of love and where the presence of God daily was in the midst of our life. I want to be the brother God made me to be, the uncle my niece and nephew and their children need to show Jesus to them, the brother in the Lord my church family needs, the co-worker my workplace needs to see honor Jesus every moment of every day in the stress and temptation of our American way of life, and so it goes. Instead of driving myself to tears or rage because of how intensely I wish to be all these things to all these people, when I glorify God by obedience, we just are all those things. If I could ask one thing of my Lord and Savior, it would be to walk in perfect obedience, taking every thought captive to the mind of Christ every second of every waking moment of this life. I would not have to worry about striving to balance these relationships of my life, and how to prioritize who I am, I would just be the child of God He made me to be, walking in the fruit of the Spirit, and knowing the peace of Christ every moment of my life. My scripture reference for this is Ephesians 1:3-5. Jesus never failed to be holy, setting Himself apart to serving the Father, and again, that is what we are asked to walk in daily. What a concept, to realize that when we are right with God in relationship, we will be right with those He puts in our daily walk, and Satan is defeated once again.

I believe the peace of Christ that He promises to give us is just this, that when we obey the Father in what He is asking of us, the rest of the concerns of the world cease to matter, if we know we are obedient, we are who God has made and called us to be. John 14:27 shares this promise from Jesus to the disciples, on the night when they were taught so many things, and shared His peace of oneness with the Father that comes from obedience with them. Without the need or temptation to worry about how other people respond or if they respond, and to resist Satan's lie that we judge our life's success on what others think or what other people do, or how they respond, our life is, and we just are, wholly His, and in that, we are all those things we want so badly to be, without having a struggle to equip ourselves or educate ourselves, we recognize that when we walk step by step, as Rich Mullins would write, " Step by step You lead me, and I will follow You all of my days". The confession, " Oh God, you are my God, and I will ever praise you", minute by minute is on our lips and heart and mind, and we rest in that obedience, knowing our Father is pleased, because He sees His obedient Son, Jesus, when He looks at our life. John 14: 15-18 says this again, as when we follow the commandments of Jesus, we are showing Him our love for and oneness with Him. Jesus gave comfort to those closest to Him, on the night He knew they would replay in their minds over and over again, recalling His words and promises to them, preparing them to walk without His physical presence, but to walk through the Comforter with Him for the rest of their lives, once it was revealed to them who was with them, and would never leave, nor forsake them.

We then are asked to love others the same way God loves us, by loving unconditionally, and forgiving when forgiveness is not due, but is given freely, again, because we are asked and commanded to do so, so that the God we serve is modeled and glorified to those we come in contact with here in our earthly walk. What a difference would be made in the world if believers in God and His son, Jesus Christ, lived that way-a life of obedience, giving God the glory He is worthy of and deserves, and that leads us back to What Would Jesus Do? He never did anything or said anything that did not give glory to His Father, and that is His call to us, I believe. It is a call to be answered, and that we can answer, as believers we can do all things through Christ, who strengthens us.

I believe the doing of all things strengthens us, as Philippians. 4:13 refers to, when we walk with Him, as well as being a checkpoint for us in our daily lives, if we find ourselves not doing all things, we are not in Christ, and need to repent, confess our sins, be refilled by the Holy Spirit, and continue the life of obedience we are called to, doing what Jesus would, glorifying God in all we do and don’t do, say and don’t say. If we will take every thought captive to the mind of Christ, as 2 Corinthians 10:5 calls us to, we will live a life that glorifies God. It is God’s will for us , and will cause revolution around us, turning the world upside down, as the first century church did, see Acts 17:6, they did nothing more, and nothing less than this-living a life that glorified God, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year, until being united with Him forever when we are called home by our Father to that place His Son has lovingly gone to prepare for us.

Now I believe the answer to the question WWJD is clear, DIGGIT?, and we can, it is our choice, and our Father's will that we make it so. 

So, WLJL-Walk Like Jesus Walked and peace of Christ to you.

How Is Your Walk Today?

Following another Tuesday evening delving into the book of Genesis with Chris and Philip, and working through Chapter 6, the story of God calling Noah to build an ark brought to my attention one constant comment I find repeated in these first 6 chapters of the Bible.

There are four people who are identified to have had the pleasure to "walk with God". 

The first two of these would be Adam and Eve, naked and unashamed, not only in front of each other, but in front of God, as they had the habit of walking in the evening with their Creator before the Fall . 

The third is Enoch, who we are told walked with God and then was not, for God took him.

The fourth is Noah, of whom it is said that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, and that he walked with God.

As I have tried these past almost 5 months to daily walk with God, following Jesus and striving to take every thought captive to the mind of Christ, and asking that I might have the eyes of Christ, seeing those brought to my path as He would, and have the ears of Christ, to hear our Father's voice clearly, as well as the voices and sounds of those brought to my daily path, the feet of Christ to go wherever He was led by our Father, I have had some good minutes, moments, but far fewer than in retrospect I wish I did.

I have chosen to sit, sleep, relax, entertain myself, eat myself into a catfish coma, but to say that I have walked with God daily for more than moments at a time, or that I have pursued Him with a vengeance, or lived each day as if it were my last, or the last of those brought to my path, seeking to save those who are lost and dying, would be many things, but alas, not the truth.

I walked away from my job as the air export manager this spring, waking up on 01April, a Friday morning, to begin a journey in which I have as one of my daily pursuits to walk with God, seeking Him with my whole heart, and asking Him to draw me close to Him, and that I would obey quickly what His asks of me.  What I have found is that, at least for this 52 year old, once again, even though I am rarely the follower of Jesus I tell my Father I am going to be, He is always there every time I turn back to him, waiting to see me through, He don't ask why it took so long, He just says welcome back my little one, every time I turn.

My family and I recently watched the movie 'UP' again, and more often I am like Dug, easily distracted from the task at hand, and immediately at the sighting of a 4 legged bushy tailed rodent, the good intentions of the waking moments of the day are turned to distraction as opposed to both hands on the plow, yoked to Jesus, who still calls me daily, all that are burdened and heavy laden, come to the Man of No Reputation, who offers rest and abundant life, if you will only come and follow, walking with Him wherever the path may lead.

Only Enoch was to have a life with no regrets it seems, it must be good to be Enoch, taken without tasting death on this earth to walk with his Lord always.  Adam and Eve must have walked with the Lord following getting chased from the Garden of Eden, as their child Abel knew how to bring a lamb to God, offering shed blood to atone for his sin. Don't you know that was a lesson to never forget, having mom and dad show you the skins that were provided by their Creator after their own weak efforts to hide death and sin with works of their own hands?  I bet those aprons of leaves were also at hand, as a reminder, also never forgotten, that even though their walk with God would never be the same as before, with death now daily present in their dying bodies? Where grace was not needed originally, being naked and unashamed and pure and perfect as made, now thanksgiving and praise and worship were offered at the direction of their Lord.  God in His grace had supplied a covering for their shame and shown the proper way to come to Him through the blood of a lamb. 

Today, no current praise or worship song moves me like The Revelation Song, based on descriptions found in the last book of the Bible, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, about the scene revealed to John the Revelator taking place in Heaven, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is and is to come. With all creation I sing, praise to the King of Kings, He is my everything, and I will adore Him. Worthy is the  Lamb who was slain, holy, holy is He, sing a new song, to Him who sits on Heavens mercy seat.

Day by day, I get up, and thank God for another chance to choose to walk with Him, following the example given by His Son, who moment by moment, also chose to walk with Him, day by day, forsaking the world to seek and save those that are lost. 

That is our call as the body of Christ today, to walk like Jesus walked, in obedience to His Father's call and direction.  Jesus died and rose again so that we may have life and life abundant, walking as He did, with our Father.  When we follow this call, we identify with those who walked before us with their Creator and Lord, whether Adam or Eve or Enoch or Noah.  And one day, just as Enoch was found to be not on this earth, for God took him, we are told that in the twinkling of an eye, we will meet Jesus in the sky, to be forever in His presence. 

Let us encourage each other and share the true truth given us and revealed through Holy Scripture, that mankind is sinful totally, but thank God that Jesus saves and makes old things new, and desires a personal walk daily moment by moment with us.  We are declared His workmanship, created for good works that are already established for us to walk in, and are called to be salt and light in a dark and dying world, this is our hope, built on nothing less than the finished work of Jesus Christ and the blood He shed on the cross, covering our death and sin, just as in a garden thousands of years ago, when a real Adam and real Eve were shown their Father loved them just where they were, and loved them too much to leave them there, but supplied a lamb, declaring for all to see, worthy is the Lamb that was slain, holy, holy is He!