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New Hope Continuing Education February 2007
William Gaultiere, Ph.D.

INTRO

Jesus urged us to “rejoice and be glad.” We all want to live with more joy! And if I asked you, “Do you want to learn to do the things that Jesus taught us?” Probably, you’d reply, “Yes, indeed.”

Let’s put the rubber to road then: Do you want to learn how to rejoice and be glad “when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of [Jesus]?” (Matthew 5:11-12). This is one of the lessons Jesus taught us in his Sermon on the Mount.

Every day in our New Hope Counseling ministry a few of the people we talk with insult, persecute, or malign us. (This is much like life on our “freeways” and even in our various communities!) You can learn to “rejoice and be glad” when dealing with difficult, hurtful people.

I say this not because it’s fun or good to be unappreciated or mistreated! But because, “Blessed are you” – no matter what happens to you – when you realize that being with Jesus in his kingdom is a heavenly “reward” beyond compare! (Matthew 5:3-12).

Let’s learn together from Jesus how we can rejoice and be glad in any circumstance by following him. We’ll discuss specific examples of a “training program” for growing in the joyful strength of God in the midst of life’s challenges and stresses.

You just got the whole class! That’s everything I have to say to you in a thumbnail. We can just end the class right there… Or are you want to learn more with me? I hope you’d like to study and pray with me so that we can grow to become the kind of people who will “Rejoice and Be Glad” even in painful or difficult situations (like we encounter at New Hope everyday) simply because Jesus is with us and we’re a part of his wonderful kingdom.

Dear Jesus, please be our Teacher. Open the eyes of our heart to understand a better way of approaching our lives and our ministry as New Hope Counselors. Develop in us deep well springs of your joy to sustain us. Amen.

WARNING: THIS SERVICE COULD BE FATAL!

We’re talking about a serious issue. Maybe a little levity will help us open up to learn…

One Sunday morning, the pastor noticed Little Alex standing in the foyer of the church staring up at a large plaque. It was covered withnames with small American flags mounted on either side of it.

The seven year old had been staring at the plaque for some time, sothe pastor walked up, stood beside the little boy, and said quietly,"Good morning Little Alex."

"Good morning Pastor," he replied, still focused on the plaque. "Pastor, what is this?" he asked the pastor.

The pastor said, "Well, son, it's a memorial to all the young men andwomen who died in the Service."

Soberly, they just stood together, staring at the large plaque. Finally, Little Alex's voice, barely audible and trembling with fear,asked, "Which service, the 8:30 or the 10:45?"

WHY I TEACH

Just over four years ago I decided to become Jesus’ disciple. I had been a Christian since I was 5 years old and over the next 35 years I would’ve told you that I was living my life for Jesus. But four years ago I decided to organize my whole life on living with Jesus as his apprentice.

Now, in all that I do I seek to be with Jesus in order to become like him and to invite others to join me. As Jesus’ disciple I view whatever I’m doing – caring for my kids, driving the car, teaching a class like this – as opportunity to learn from Jesus how he would live my life if he were me.

My prayer for you as a New Hope Counselor is that being a part of this ministry helps you to be with Jesus in order to become more like him.

Along those lines, I want to talk to you about the trials of New Hope:

• Stuck Frequent Callers
• Rude callers
• Fulfilling your shift when you don’t feel like it

How can you “Rejoice and Be Glad” at times like this? Or when your spouse is angry at you, you get a flat tire, your boss is unfair, your bored and lonely, you have a health problem… Is there a wellspring of joy that sustains us in unhappy circumstances?

WHAT IS JOY?

Joy is not a feeling, though it includes an emotional component. Joy is not dependent upon happy outward circumstances, but can exist in any situation.

Joy is a state of being, a condition of soul, a relational connectivity that appreciates that which is good and beautiful.

In “Renovation of the Heart” Dallas Willard teaches that “Joy is natural in the presence of… love. Joy is a pervasive sense – not just a thought – of well-being… It’s primary feeling component is delight in an encompassing good well-secured. It is not the same as pleasure, though it is pleasant… For joy, all is well, even in the midst of specific suffering and loss… We are always looking at the larger scene in which love rules: Where all things (no matter what) work together for good to those who love God and are drawn into his purposeful actions on earth” (p. 312-133).

“The kingdom of God is… righteousness and peace and JOY in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17).

“The JOY of the Lord is my strength” (Nehemiah 8:10)

DO YOU HAVE THE VISION?

When Jesus was baptized to inaugurate his public ministry “heaven was opened” (Matthew 3:16) and it never closed. The Spirit descended upon Jesus and drove him to go into 40 days of silence and solitude in the desert to fast and pray and meditate.

“From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near’” (Matt 4:17). This was Jesus’ theme throughout his ministry and his disciples after him. It means: rethink how you’re living your life in the light of the wonderful reality that right now, right where you are Jesus is here to be your King and rule your life in his kindness and power.

This kingdom of the heavens is more real and lasting than the ground you walk on! It is more wonderful than anything else in life. Relying on Jesus to govern your life is the source of love, joy, and peace. It is the source of power.

But if Jesus is your King than you’re surrendering control to him. We have a problem with this! We want to rule our own lives and we want God to help us with our project of making a successful life. To have Jesus as your king/governor means that you’re following his will, not trying to get him to do what you want. You’re saying, “Jesus, you are life’s greatest treasure – I want to know you above all and in all. Jesus, you are all-wise, all-powerful, all-loving, and always present I want to follow your leadership in all that I do.”

Who is this Kingdom of the Heavens for?

Let’s return to Matthew’s gospel. The next thing Jesus does is to preach the most magnificent sermon every preached! It begins with the, “Beattitudes”

“Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:1-12).

“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:27-28; see also Matthew 5:44).

Dallas Willard (in “The Divine Conspiracy”) has helped me to see that the Beattitudes don’t mean what we think they do and or what everybody seems to say about them. Jesus is not giving us conditions for being blessed by God. He’s saying that no matter what your condition – poor, grieving, shy (“meek”), hungry, sensitive to others pain (“merciful”), simple (“pure in heart”), trying to bring peace to those in conflict, mistreated by others (“persecuted’) you too are blessed by God when you participate in his kingdom rule.

The legalistic and aristocratic religious system of Jesus’ day systematically excluded people from God’s blessings, but Jesus opened the door wide to all people, including all the categories of people who were thought to be “unblessable,” all the “cast-offs” of society.

What are you struggling with right now? Think of a problem, a hurt, or a health concern. Now hear Jesus’ blessed for you… “Blessed are you with ___________ problem for the kingdom of the heavens is open to you.”

Trials Come…

What Jesus is teaching us is that if you’re standing in the reality of Jesus and his kingdom, rooted in his love and holiness, then you can withstand the storms of the world.

And you can offer compassion to difficult people, like some of the people we talk with at New Hope (and people in our daily lives, perhaps even our family!);

• Unappreciative
• Detached, boring
• Stuck, mentally ill
• Angry, critical
• Manipulative, inappropriate

The blessing of living in God’s Kingdom, under the kind rule of Jesus is beyond compare. When we grow to see our lives this way and in all situations to appreciate God’s presence with us and his kind rule of our lives then we will “rejoice and be glad.”

This is the message of the Bible----

• Jesus: “In this world you have tribulations, but take heart I overcame the world”
• Paul: “Rejoice always” (Phil 4:4)
• James: “Count it pure joy when you suffer trials of many kinds” (James 1:2)
• Peter: “Greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials” (1 Peter 1:6)

We’re talking about a fullness of life that spills out in care and kindness to others. “We love because he first loves us” (1 John 4:19). Rejoicing in God’s love enables us to have a deep and enduring mercy to offer other people, including those who don’t deserve it and aren’t easy to love

A PLAN TO LEARN TO REJOICE IN TRIALS

Vision: See heaven open to you and Jesus beside you - always

Intention: Cultivate the intention to submit to Jesus as your King – right where you are

Means: “Watch and pray” and practice spiritual disciplines

MY TRIAL TO REJOICE IN

Being treated rudely on the freeways of life… It’s a simple, little problem, but that’s what’s effective about it. We all face it everyday. Here was my “VIM” that helped me to change:

Vision: Jesus, you drive my car and I’ll be the co-driver. No matter what is going on in the freeways you’ve shown me that I can be a part of your kingdom of the heavens. You want to help me overcome hurry, selfish ambition, and anger. With your help I can become the kind of person who is prayerful, calm, and generous in the midst of cut-throat traffic.

Intention: Jesus I want to maintain prayerfulness, to always be attentive to and responsive to your graces. And I want to learn to be the kind of person who is merciful and kind to others as you are to me.

Means: God showed me a number of “means of grace” to help me change in this area over time. And so regularly I went into my spiritual gym for workouts.

I meditated on Scriptures, like those we’ve gone over in this lesson.

I visualized the trials I face on the freeways and prayed for God to change my heart and enable me to deal with them as he’s shown me (“watch and pray”).

I fasted for prayer and meditation, training myself that I could be sustained and joyfully cared for by God’s Word to me even when I wasn’t getting what I wanted (food!).

I practiced saying “Father, hallowed (precious) is your name” every time I felt impatient or a driver’s behavior tempted me to anger. I turned my attention to God’s goodness and praised him.

Then one day I found myself praying that the rude driver would know the preciousness of God as Father and would get home safely.

Another Example

A New Hope Counselor shared that she tends to be impatient and her prayer has been “God hurry up and make me more patient!” We can all relate to that.

An example is her heartache over the distance in her relationship with her daughter. She wants to be a blessing and encouragement to her as she is to our New Hope callers and many others (including me – she always has a smile, hug, and word of affirmation for me) but her daughter doesn’t want to talk with her. She’s been hurting over this for some years and it’s so hard for her to be patient.

Vision: She could focus her sights on the Lord who is patient with her and see herself as Jesus’ apprentice and learning how to do all that she does with him in order to become like him. She’d need to see that it’s possible for her, with God’s help, to become the kind of person who waits and trusts and hopes and prays without hurrying, controlling, or forcing.

Intention: She would need to examine her heart. Do you I want to let of hurry and “fixing”? Am I willing to accept God’s timing and turn over the reigns to him to let him direct and control? Then she’d need to cultivate the intention to be the kind of person that God showed her she could be.

Means: After she has a clear vision and has begun to offer her heart’s intention to God she needs to ask him to show her what steps she might take with him – 4 or 5 things she might do to connect with the Lord and his power to transform her.

Maybe he’d lead her to read the gospel of Mark, asking one question, “Jesus how were you patient? Please show me that you’re patient with me.”

She could visualize her problem with her daughter and pray, “Jesus help me to be patient with others as you are with me.”

She could meditate and memorize on a Bible passage on patience or waiting, like Psalm which ends with: “I am still confident of this [even in the midst of my suffering and unanswered prayers], that I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord. Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

She could watch a movie that features a character who is patient and watch the movie with Jesus, talking to him about it.

She could arrange to meet with a prayer partner regularly to discuss her set backs and successes in to appreciating God’s patience with her and then sharing it with others.

Jesus offers disciples his life – real and abundant LIFE that never ends (Jn 10:10).

More LIFE for the Soul (Side 2)

William Gaultiere, Ph.D. ~ ChristianSoulCare.com