Jonathan Evans

Baby Sofia and Jesus

My son Joshua was born prematurely and needed to remain in the hospital for an indefinite amount of time. My wife visited him every day. She held him, talked with him and took care of him. Joshua thrived and was welcomed into our home sooner than expected. But there was another little boy who was also born prematurely. He was in the same condition as Joshua and was given the same care. The only difference that emerged in the following days was that no one came to visit him. While the hospital and staff provided everything he needed medically to thrive, he didn’t. His health declined.

 

A husband and wife I know are currently in the process of trying to adopt a baby girl. They think she was born on Christmas day, but they’re not sure because she was found in a suitcase. She had been abandoned. While the legal process of adopting is difficult to navigate and to endure, there is a much larger concern and burden upon their hearts. The baby’s name is Sofia, and as of the last few days she has become unresponsive to physical touch and to the human voice. Her face is blank and her cry is silent. The sad reality is that due to her circumstances she has not bonded with another human being. This father and mother are trying to change that. 

 

In the absence of a significant bond between a baby and another person, the baby may not survive. Human interaction is important. Human bonding is crucial. Even the absence of a human voice can affect a baby to the point of death. A touch, a face, a voice can save a life.

 

OUR BOND WITH CHRIST

A believer’s heart must bond with Christ like a baby must bond with its mother. A baby who does not bond will suffer. A believer who will not bond will also suffer. As Christians, we are in constant need of hearing God’s voice and knowing His touch. If this need is not met, our spiritual health declines. Our bond and fellowship with Jesus is life-giving and life-sustaining. To not abide in Him is to our detriment. It is to remain thirsty, though we are standing at the Fountain of Living Water. It is to remain hungry, though we are sitting at the table of the Bread of Life. Without Jesus our spiritual bones grow weak and our spiritual eyes grow dark.

 

THE LIFE OF CHRIST

True life flows from Jesus Christ alone. All other bonds we may have in this world are not life-giving nor life-sustaining. But at God’s right hand are pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11), for Jesus Christ is there, seated and exalted at the right hand of God (Luke 22:69; Acts 2:33; Romans 8:34). In Him is our strength and rest, our joy and peace, our light and hope. In Him the height, the depth, the length and the width of God's heart is revealed to us (Ephesians 3:18-19). In Him the fulness of God’s love is contained. In Him is a bond that can never be broken.

 

May Jesus give Sofia a life-giving and life-sustaining bond. May her eyes brighten and her heart feel. And may we who are alive and found in Jesus, rejoice in our bond of fellowship with Him. May our eyes behold the glory of His face and our hearts be thrilled with the majesty of His voice.

 

The threshold of obedience

A while back my wife, Alissa, and I made some big decisions that impacted every area of our marriage, family and home. I prayed, we counted the cost, sought counsel and made our decision. That was the easy part. The hard part was what happened after.  

 

LISTEN

All decisions begin with listening. In 1 Samuel 3:9 it says,  “Therefore Eli said to Samuel, ‘Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.” ‘ So Samuel went and lay down in his place.”  Do you think Samuel went back to bed with anticipation and expectation that he was going to hear from God? There’s no way Samuel went back to sleep. You and I believe that God speaks. This is fundamental to the Christian life. Therefore, we should rise from our bed each morning, anticipating and expecting to hear from Him. God is our Father and He delights to communicate with His children. As I sought the voice of God for my home and family, God began to speak and I began to listen.

 

OBEY

What God was speaking to me was something new. Yet, like a puzzle piece, it fit and joined together with other pieces that He had already put on the table by His voice. This new piece made the picture clearer, as I saw how God was organizing things and ordering my steps. Here’s a principle: if you listen and obey, God will speak and command again. Through obedience, you will come to learn when your thoughts are really His thoughts, not yours, and when your ways are really His ways, not yours. So with faith, conviction, and assurance, we made our decision.  

 

ENDURE

There’s a moment that comes after we obey that I call the threshold. You cross the threshold every time you enter your home. It’s the strip of wood or metal at the bottom of your doorway. After we made our big decision, immediately there was a period of unrest and doubt. It didn’t feel like I thought obedience would feel. The threshold moment came a few weeks later, when I thought to myself, “I wonder if I made the wrong decision? It would be easier to go back.” This was the critical hour, the moment that would determine whether I would enter into what God had on the other side of obedience or exit and return to what I knew was easier. Thankfully, by God’s grace, Alissa and I talked, prayed and endured. After that moment we immediately began to feel and see a difference in our hearts, in our family and in our home. The threshold had been crossed.

 

As you listen to and obey the voice of God, remember that often the critical point is not when you obey, but after you obey. It’s in the suffering that character is built. It’s in the fire that gold is refined. For Jesus, it was after he was nailed to the cross that he endured the most pain and anguish of body and soul. He hung to his death on the cross. So also for us it is often after we obey that we endure the most pain and anguish of heart. But Jesus rose from the dead and is alive forevermore! Thankfully, He gives us grace to endure in our obedience, so that we might come to know more of “the breadth and length and height and depth” of His love for us (Ephesians 3:18).

Does your heart cast shadows?

In the process of editing photos, you have the option of increasing or decreasing the shadows found in it. Simply speaking, you have the ability to reveal the details that the shadows have hidden.

As Christians, because “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5), we are called to “walk in the light, as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7). Paul writes for us in Ephesians 5:9 that “the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true.” Therefore, since there is no darkness or evil in God because He is holy and pure, there should be no darkness or evil hidden in our heart because we are His children (see Ephesians 5:8) and desire to walk as He walks and to be where He is.

Does your heart cast shadows? Are there areas of your heart that are not exposed to the light? Are there details being kept hidden in the shadows? The more we grow, the more self-aware we should become. Many of our leaders both in and outside the church fail because their self-awareness does not grow in equal measure with their success. But as children of God, we are children of light and our self-awareness comes from the searching, probing and knowing of our hearts by the Holy Spirit. 

 

We cannot live from within the shadows

There are times in our lives where it seems like God in his “kindness” is convicting us on every side. It sure doesn’t feel like kindness! Under his conviction we find ourselves living from within the shadows and our lives are troubled. Our sin has been exposed by God and our flesh is fighting to stay alive. Most people will admit to themselves the wrongness of something, but will convince themselves that it will correct itself. It won’t. Little things become big things and big things become disasters. 1 Samuel 24:5 says, “It came about afterward that David’s conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul’s robe.” Are you being bothered about something by the Holy Spirit? David experienced conviction and repented quickly. If any part of our heart is casting a shadow in the presence of God, we must quickly pray, leave the shadows and invite the Holy Spirit to come search us, change us and bring us to the light.

 

We can live from within the light

In the new heaven and the new earth, the glory of the Lamb of God will be our sun (Revelation 21:23). I don’t know if there will be shadows in heaven, since the brightness of Jesus will be brighter than the noonday sun and He will fill all in all. I do know that nothing will be hidden from His sight. This same light shines into our hearts today and in its warmth there is peace, joy and life. For us, the children of God, joy is not found in running from the light and hiding in the shadows, but in running from the dark and living in the light. “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). May our hearts radiate Jesus Christ!

What No One Can Do For You

Time is precious. So is our energy. Before you know it, the sun will set, the week will end and the seasons will change again, all in the blink of an eye. A proper understanding of our days serves to encourage and motivate us to use our time wisely. 

 

A good and wise principle to live by is: invest your time in the things that no one else can do for you.

 

1. No one can love Jesus for me
   When I was a child, my parents used to read me the Bible. When I was a child, my parents used to pray for me. But now, as a maturing Christian adult, no one should read the Bible to me or pray to God instead of me. Jesus has saved us and brought us into a living relationship with Himself. A revelation in the knowledge of Jesus should be ongoing in our hearts, as we seek His face day after day and the Holy Spirit opens our eyes.
2. No one can be a husband for me
   Jesus calls me to serve and lay down my life for my wife. As her husband, it is my duty and delight to protect her, to provide for her, to lead her, to listen to her and to love her. A husband and wife must always reserve time and energy for each other. It must be a priority. Friendship is built over time.
3. No one can be a father for me
   My children are God’s gift to me. Raising them is both my responsibility and joy. Because I often spend more time out of the house than in the house, the amount of time I do have with my children is  all the more important. Spending five minutes fully devoted to a child can be more effective than 60 minutes in and out of conversation with them because we’re distracted by less important things.
4. No one can take care of my body for me
   Sooner than later, we must begin thinking about our health or we’ll be forced to. No one can exercise for me, no one can eat healthy for me. Children eat what’s on their plates; adults, not always! While all of our schedules are different and we have different amounts of time available, we all can make room for some form of exercise. You may not have a 45 minute slot in your day for a walk, but you may have three 15 minute slots. Making small changes over time to our diet, habits and sleeping patterns can have a longterm effect.
5. No one can enjoy life, family & friends for me
   Every good and perfect thing comes from God. Life is to be enjoyed. Family is to be treasured. Friends are to be valued. From food to music to reading and more, no one can enjoy God’s gifts for me. And there should be no guilt in our enjoyment of any of these things. We’re not wasting time when we do things that don’t always have tangible results. How can you measure a good conversation? How do you measure delight in a song?
6. No one can be faithful in ministry for me
   God has called us each to run our own race. We do run side by side and we should encourage one another and at times carry one another. But at the end of my race, I won’t be waiting for someone else to cross the finish line and hand me my trophy. I run my own race. Our faithfulness is not measured by doing all that we can do, but by doing all that God tells us to do. As small as it is, do what God tells you to do and you will live a life that is glorifying to God, benefitting to others and satisfying to you.

 

How can the Gospel spread?

Trying to convince someone about Jesus is like trying to pull a car out of a ditch with your bare hands. You’re not going to be able to do it. The power to convert a heart and turn a sinner towards Jesus is not found in your emotional passion, intellectual capacity or persuasive argument. However, the fruit of the Gospel in our lives can become the seed of the Gospel in other’s lives.

 

Paul said that he planted and Apollos watered, but that it was God who gave the growth - who saved the sinner (1 Cor. 3:5-7). Neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, in that the power to bring about growth, to bring about salvation, is not in their hands. We are all called to plant the seeds of the Gospel in people’s lives and to water those seeds, but to do so fully trusting in God as the only one who can give the growth. 

 

In Philippians 1:12-14, Paul highlights three ways we can spread, plant and water Gospel seeds with our lives:


THROUGH OUR CIRCUMSTANCES

“I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.” (verse 12) What do your circumstances say about Jesus? Look back on your circumstances and remember how God worked things together and how he has changed you. Look around at what you’re going through and don’t waste your circumstances.  Look forward and see that as long as you’re on earth, God has fruitful labor for you to accomplish in someone’s life (Phil. 1:22-15). Sooner or later, someone will want to talk to you about how you live your life, about how you’re dealing with a particular circumstance or about how you got through a hardship. As with Paul, what happens to us can serve to advance the Gospel. The fruit of the Gospel in your circumstances is the seed of the Gospel in another’s life.


THROUGH OUR REPUTATION

“so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.” (verse 13) What does your reputation say about Jesus? Your reputation and name goes before you. You favorite restaurant is either happy to see you or dreads seeing you, depending on your tips! A good name opens doors. When you leave a place, they remember what you said and did, what you looked like and how you looked at them. A good name has an open invitation. Your reputation, your character and your witness will either serve to advance the Gospel or serve to hinder it. Our words are important, but they are welcomed or rejected as a result of our reputation. The fruit of the Gospel in your reputation is the seed of the Gospel in another’s life.


THROUGH OUR WORDS

“And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.” (verse 14) What do your words say about Jesus? The way Paul spoke and what he spoke riveted and influenced those around him. But Paul’s speech was riveting and inspiring because he was riveted and inspired - even in jail! How we live is not enough. The Gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ must be spoken, heard and believed (Rom. 10:14-17). There is no substitute for the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, whether from a pulpit, at a table or through a card. Yet, it is our circumstances and our reputation that often serve to provide opportunities and invitations for us to speak of Jesus. We must boldly and joyfully accept those opportunities. The fruit of the Gospel in your speech is the seed of the Gospel in another’s life.

 

The Measure of a Relationship

When God created humanity, He created us in His own image, the image of a God in relationship. So it makes perfect sense to say that people are happier when they’re in significant relationships.

Theologically, this means that as Christians we should be the happiest people in the world, having the greatest friendships, because we’re in relationship with the living God. Practically, though, this doesn’t mean that we should invest the same amount of time, effort, attention and care into each and every relationship that we have. Jesus didn’t and neither can we.

So, with the many social networks we have today, both online and off, how do we measure which relationships are worth the best portion of our time and effort?

 

PRIORITY

For Christians, there should be an order of relational priority. When speaking to his disciples, Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). Our first and biggest investment of relational time should be with other Christians. This results in the greatest testimony of the love of Jesus to the world.

 

CONCERN

Do the relationships you are currently investing in increase or decrease your concern with knowing and worshipping Jesus? Time is the only thing you can’t get back, so you must determine what relationships are worth the most and best of your time. If a relationship distracts you from your responsibilities at home, with your spouse or with your children, then you are not investing your time in a God-pleasing way. 

 

SIGNIFICANCE

If you consider yourself more or less important because of what people think about you, then you are drawing your significance from the wrong source. If the start or end of your day revolves around what happens on your Facebook wall, then you may be worshipping certain people other than Jesus. If your mood changes for better or for worse based upon what you hear and read that people say about you, then you are in danger of giving up your heart to please someone other than Jesus. He is the source of your significance and delight. 

 

INFLUENCE

You must consider whether the fruit you are gathering from any relationship is Jesus-like. If over time there’s no fruit in your life or your friend’s that points to Jesus, then it must either be pruned or cut. You can’t force influence, but you also can’t pretend it’s there when it’s not. Ultimately, we need to ask the Holy Spirit to search our heart, asking him to show us if there’s negative influence, no influence or positive influence.

 

What is the measure of your relationships in the area of priority, concern, significance and influence?