Dear Friends,

We have been taught that Jesus commanded his disciples to go into the world and make disciples, and indeed, that is true. 

However, if the God of the universe has truly taken up residence in us, radical changes should be inescapable!  No gardener takes over a new plot and doesn’t remove the weeds, prune the trees, and introduce and nurture new, more appropriate and beautiful plants.

Think of it this way: Jesus came to do the will of his Father, which in Jesus’ case, meant a local ministry of healing, teaching preaching, and eventually, crucifixion.
Jesus’ obedience entailed a short life followed by a brutal death, burial, and resurrection.  Jesus’ daily obedience to God’s will gave birth to the global movement that bears his name today.

God’s desire is for us is for each and every one to be transformed and restored personally into an expression of God’s image, which is unique for each individual, just as each snowflake is unique, but yet a beautiful example of what a snowflake should look like.

God wants to restore everything about me and you – spiritual, intelligent, creative, moral, and relational – so that we become whole, or well (the word well comes from a root word meaning whole).  There are NBA players who are scoundrels.  There are mission-driven Christians who want to win the world for Christ, but ignore their family in the process of doing it.  God isn’t interested in trans-forming me so that I can transform the world.  God wants to transform me so that I can become well!
Transforming the world is the by-product, not the aim of becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ.  Trans-forming the world only occurs when transformed individuals seek and do God’s will as Jesus did.

Jesus was able to know and do God’s will because God was central in his life and, as a result, he was not conformed to the culture around him.  Jesus thought differently about virtually everything and therefore stood out from the crowd in dramatic fashion!

You may have noticed the front mailing page of the Focus.  Our Purpose: To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world!

God’s transforming presence will change us, not so we can transform the world, but so we can experience God’s presence more deeply and be restored to God’s image more completely.  When disciples who are being restored do God’s will, they move into the neighborhood as a loving, transforming presence, like Jesus did.  If there is to be a transformation of the world, it will be a by-product of God’s transforming presence in each of our individual lives.

Our transformation begins when we decide that the central purpose of our life is to please God, and consequently, to subordinate our will to God’s will.

Jesus said that the initial requirement for becoming his disciple is to deny yourself.  Similarly, the Apostle Paul taught that our transformation begins by presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice.

Yet, in a self-oriented culture, yielding to God is foreign and profoundly countercultural!  However, for the person who wishes to be a disciple and pursue deep faith, knowing and doing God’s will must be his or her first desire.  It is impossible to nurture God’s presence or to be on a journey of discipleship without acknowledging God’s centrality in our daily life.

When God is central, our life can be aglow with God’s presence.  Think of a kerosene lamp that once lit, sends out bright rays of amber light.  When God is present and at the center, and when we are listening for and doing God’s will, we become the light in darkness described by Jesus.  The further God moves from the center of our life, the dimmer becomes the light of God’s image that is reflected through us. 

When John the Baptist encountered Jesus, he grasped the supremacy of Jesus immediately and said, “He must increase, that I may decrease”
(John 3:30).  This should be our prayer today.

Keep lookin’ up!