Dave Burke, TrueFusion Speaker

Day One Relater
A Relater is Connected to God and Others in Community

Read Genesis 2:18
Early in the Bible, the creator God decided it was not good for man to be alone, hence he created a woman. Oftentimes we try to live life as a loner. Sometimes we try to escape and live our lives independently of God and others. Please hear my heart as the writer of this devotional loves being with people, but also enjoys sitting at Barnes and Noble in a leather chair reading a book, alone. The bottom line is that God created us to be in fellowship with God and in fellowship as a “relater.”

How are you as a “relater?” How are your relationships in your home, work, school, church etc…? Even the poet, John Dunne, once said, “No man is an island.” Even as we try to “do life alone” eventually we see that we need God. We need God, we need a relationship with God and we need relationships with others.

One day, the writer of this devotional just wanted to be alone, and since I enjoy Russian history I went to an exhibit of Nicholas and Alexandria, the last Russian tsar and tsarina. As I drifted throughout the historical artifacts and as I was escaping through the Victorian period of Russia, I heard a familiar voice, “David is that you?” I was 2 hours from home and someone from my church found me. Once again God was reminding me, that we can’t live life as a lone ranger, we need God and we need each other.

A relater is connected to God and to one another in community.

Reflect: Take some time to take an inventory of your relationships that are strong as well as your relationships that are week. Where do you need to see your interdependency on God and others in your life?
Pray: Eternal God, remind me today that you created me to be a “relater.” Help me in my journey to not be a lone ranger as I need God and I need other people. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Read Hebrews 3:13
An occurring theme in the New Testament is the use of the phrase, “one another.” There are over 50 times in the New Testament alone that we see the command employed with the use of “one another.” Bear one another’s burdens, greet one another with a holy kiss, serve one another, encourage one another and love one another are just a few examples.

When I was a college student (a long time ago) I used to echo a prayer before I left my spatial dorm in the morning, “Oh God please put people in my path today so that I can be an encouragement to them.” Who in your life, who in your sphere of influence needs encouragement? Ask God right now, to whom can I be a blessing to today? Some of you may be arguing with the Holy Spirit, “no God not that person,” but that’s the person that God wants to use YOU to be an encouragement to today.

Perhaps there’s someone in your sphere of influence that just needs someone to listen; someone might need a hug, an encouraging email, a phone call or a whispered prayer to the throne of God. Maybe there’s a single parent mom or dad who needs someone just to take their kids so they can go to Barnes and Noble and read a good book in a comfy leather chair. The possibilities are endless as someone has a loved one in chemotherapy, a recent death in the family, or someone is struggling with sin and it’s chewing away at the fabric, the core of their very soul. A relater is an encourager and an encourager is a relater. Go for it, big time! “Encourage one another and build each other up,” is the biblical command.

Reflect: Go on the internet and plug in “one another” on a Bible website. Read as many “one another” scriptures throughout the week as you can, and most of all, place them into action.
Pray: Loving God, please use me with all my imperfections to be a blessing to others today. Teach me, O Lord, to relate to others by living a life of encouragement. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Read John 15:2
I have a friend and ministry acquaintance whose name is Mike Lewis. I know Mike from ministry events and we are both a part of the Nashville Speakers Bureau (see www.nashspeakers.com for more information). He is also known as “The Jesus Painter.” You can check out his website at www.JesusPainter.com. I have had the privilege of being in ministry with him all over the country on several occasions. Basically, he paints various portraits of Jesus in about 15-20 minutes during the praise and worship time at ministry events throughout the country.

Every time I see one of Mike’s portraits I am amazed at the talent, but more importantly, they all seem to draw me to the verse that the greatest love is to lay down our lives for our friends. His paintings reflect and depict the sacrificial life of Jesus the Christ. In your life as a “relater” are you experiencing sacrifice? Every time I read the text of Abraham and Isaac in the book of Genesis I stand amazed. What guts Abraham had that he was willing to be so obedient that he would lay his Isaac down even to the point of sacrificial death. It amazes me of the faith of Abraham, that he even said, “after we worship we will come back, we will return.” The good news is that even in the midst of sacrifice, God is our Jehovah-Jireh, which means, “God provides.”

Does your life reflect sacrifice as a relater? Where do you need to be sacrificial in your relationship to God and in your relationship to others?

Reflect: In what areas of your life is God calling you to sacrifice? Who has sacrificed for you over the years? Take some time to thank God for his son Jesus, the living sacrifice, as Jesus is the Lamb of God who laid down his life for us all.
Pray: Sacrificial God, teach me that as important as sacrifice is, you still desire obedience. Teach me what it means by the power of the Holy Spirit to lay down my life for my friends. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.

Read 1John 3:11 and 1John 4:21
Can you think of someone in your life who is hard for you to love? Wow, that didn’t take long? Why is it hard for you to love that person? Do they bug you at work? Do you wonder how they ended up in the same family? Do they talk incessantly? Do you tend to avoid them?

Can you think of someone in your life who is easy for you to love? Wow, that didn’t take long? Why is it easy to love that person? Perhaps because they love you even with your warts and weaknesses. The gut wrenching truth is that it’s easy to love people who love us but what about the people who get on our nerves and “our pot over boils with anger?”

The next time you see the person that rubs you the wrong way (aka, “hard for you to love”) could you think about the scriptures especially throughout the epistles of John towards the end of the Bible that deal with loving one another. These scriptures contain strong words like, “if you say you love God but hate your brother or sister you are a liar.” The scriptures in the epistles of John reiterate the simplistic message of the gospel, “Love one another.”

The next time you encounter the person who is hard for you to love, could you see Jesus hanging in the rain on the cross, could you see Jesus’ blood on the wood of the cross for their sins and yes even yours? If we are going to be a relater in this journey, we will need to have the compassionate eyes of Jesus who loves us all right where we are.

Reflect: Set a goal to ask for God’s grace to love the people around you who are hard to love by showing random acts of kindness. Also, take some time to say thanks to those people around you that show unconditional love to you.
Pray: Loving God, teach me to love as Jesus loves. Teach me as I encounter people that even tick me off, to be slow to speak, quick to listen, and slow to anger. Loving God, may I show random acts of kindness and love especially today to people here, there, and everywhere. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Read Philippians 2:1-11
Can you think of someone in your life who lives for Jesus and is humble? Can you think of someone in your life who has been successful and lives a life of humility? In our “me-driven,” arrogant, haughty world, humility seems to be a value that is eroding away with the tide.

Every time I read Paul’s second chapter to the church at Philippi, the humility of Jesus overwhelms me. Here’s Jesus, who is God, who gave up the riches in heaven, and invaded human history in a stable in Bethlehem, the house of bread. Here’s Jesus who is fully God, fully human, and he has no place to lay his head. Here’s Jesus, who could have called even one angel to take him off the cross, and yet he humbled himself to die a horrific death for your sins and mine.

In order to be an effective witness for Jesus Christ, humility is the key. No one wants to be around people who are cocky, braggadocios and boastful. I constantly remind my 13 year old son, who is an excellent athlete, the following practical advice: “Don’t read your clippings.” In other words, give all the credit and glory to God in everything we do.

There are plenty of people in your life—at work, school, and throughout Harford County who desperately need Jesus. How can you reach these people as a disciple who is a relater? Be humble.

Reflect: Take some time and chew on the following statements from these church history icons: St. Francis of Assisi said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Use words if necessary.” Dwight Moody once said, “Lighthouses don’t blow their horns, they just shine.”
Pray: Eternal God, teach me to be a relater who is humble. Remind me, God, that Jesus gave up the riches in heaven, so help me to live a life of humility. Remind me, Lord, in whatever I say or do—help me to do it all to the glory of God. In Jesus’ name, Amen.