It was a Tuesday evening in the little town of Goree, Texas. I was leading worship for a week long conference with an elderly British gentleman, Maj. W. Ian Thomas. I had finished my worship set and sat down to listen to and enjoy the teaching of this man I was coming to admire for his unique understanding and communication of the Scriptures. It had already been an incredible couple of days. Major Thomas was reading a passage out of Acts chapter 2. Little did I know that in a brief few minutes, my understanding of the Christian Life would change forever.
I have this passage marked, tagged, dated, and timed in my tattered old Bible. I remember the event like it happened yesterday. Several very deep conversations had led up to this moment, but if I have ever had a revelation from God, it was at 7:30pm on Tuesday, January 18, 1988. Here’s what the passage said:
“Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.” Acts 2:22 NIV.
At the moment Major Thomas stopped reading, God spoke to my spirit and said to me, “There! That’s what I brought you here to learn.” A light came on in my heart. I understood, for the very first time, what it REALLY meant to live the Christian life and more importantly, HOW I was supposed to live it.
I looked up from my Bible, and my eyes were staring straight into the eyes of the church’s pastor, Charles Culpepper, and he was grinning from ear to ear as he looked at me. He knew. He knew.
So what did I learn that I hadn’t understood before. Nearly 24 years ago, I discovered that living the Christian life wasn’t about my best efforts, my hopes, my tries nor my failures. I learned that God wasn’t interested in me “trying” to be the best Christian I could be. I finally figured out what Isaiah meant when he said in Isaiah 64:6, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags…” Nothing I have in my own self is acceptable to God.
The only hope that I have; the only hope of pleasing God is Jesus living in me. He’s not there to “help” me live the Christian life, He’s there, through the Holy Spirit of God, to live HIS life through me.
I know that all of this sounds very elementary to most of you who follow Christ, but there a twist in this episode I had with God that night. I saw this same lifestyle modeled by Jesus, Himself. Look at what the passage in Acts said:
“Jesus Christ of Nazareth WAS A MAN…”
“…accredited BY GOD …”
“… by miracles, wonders and signs, WHICH GOD DID …”
“… among you THROUGH HIM…”
Hears what God said to me. “Jesus came to earth as a man.” (I knew that) “Jesus didn’t perform any miracles while he was here on earth.” (What?) “I did them all. He was the available vessel. He listened to me, prayed and I acted.” (Why?) “I did it this way to give you hope in living the Christian life. Jesus didn’t live the phenomenal life that he lived because he was my Son, he lived the life he did because he was my servant. That’s all I want from you.” (Wow!)
It all began to make sense. What hope would I have of living a life like Jesus if he had stretched his “God Wings” to make things happen. I’m not God. BUT, if he was a vessel that allowed the power of God to flow through him, then maybe I can be that kind of vessel too.
I’ll have to be honest with you, in the past 24 years, I haven’t always lived the truth that God showed me that night. I’ve been guilty of “trying” rather than “emptying myself.” Some days I didn’t even try at all. On those days, I fail. But one thing I know, when I surrender this shell that I am to a Holy God to live HIS life THROUGH ME, He and I BOTH win!!
