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CHRISTIAN LIFE

Co-laboring With God

Bill Johnson 53

God has made Himself vulnerable to the desires of His people. The disciples lived in awe of this One who called them to leave everything and follow. It was an easy choice. When He spoke, something came alive in them that they never knew existed

Friends are less concerned about disobeying than they are about disappointing

Friends are less concerned about disobeying than they are about disappointing



Co-laboring With God. By Bill Johnson

God has made Himself vulnerable to the desires of His people. The disciples lived in awe of this One who called them to leave everything and follow.

It was an easy choice. When He spoke, something came alive in them that they never knew existed. There was something in His voice that was worth living for—worth giving one’s life for.

Everyday with Jesus was filled with a constant barrage of things they could not understand; whether it was a demoniac falling at Jesus’ feet in worship, or the overbearing, religious leaders becoming silent in His presence; it was all overwhelming.

Their lives had taken on a meaning and purpose that made everything else disappointing at best. Oh, they had their personal issues, for sure, but they had been apprehended by God and now nothing else mattered.

The momentum of the lifestyle they experienced would be hard for us to comprehend. Every word, every action seemed to have eternal significance.

It must have occurred to them that to serve in the courts of this King would be far better than living in their own palaces. They were experiencing firsthand what David felt when he lived with God’s presence as his priority.

The Ultimate Transition

Toward the end of His earthly life, Jesus gave His disciples the ultimate promotion. He told the twelve that He no longer called them servants, but friends.

To be in the same room with Him, or even to admire Him from a distance, was more than they could have asked for. But Jesus brought them into His life. They had proven themselves worthy of the greatest promotion ever experienced by humanity—from servants to intimates.

Perhaps only Esther of old could really understand what that exaltation felt like, as she, a servant girl who descended from captives, was promoted to queen. “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you" (John 15:15).


With this promotion, the disciples’ attention would now shift from the task at hand to the One within reach. They were given access to the secrets in the heart of God.

When Jesus gave His disciples this promotion, He did so by describing the difference between the two positions.

Servants don’t know what their master is doing. They don’t have access to the personal, intimate realm of their master. They are task-oriented. Obedience is their primary focus—and rightly so, for their lives depend on success in that area.

But friends have a different focus. It almost sounds blasphemous to say that obedience is not the top concern for the friend, but it is true. Obedience will always be important, as the previous verse highlights, "You are my friends if you do whatever I command you" (John 15:14).

But friends are less concerned about disobeying than they are about disappointing. The disciples’ focus shifted from the commandments to the presence, from the assignment to the relationship, from “what I do for Him” to "how my choices affect Him.”

This bestowal of friendship made the revolution we continue to experience possible.


Image of Bill Johnson

Bill Johnson

Bill Johnson is a fifth generation pastor. He was pastor at Mountain Chapel in Weaverville for 17 years, and in 1996 he took up the pastorate at Bethel Church in Redding. His ministry has been characterized by a constant revival and the manifestation of miracles.

Cover book of Co-laboring With God

Dreaming With God

Bill Johnson
Dreaming With God book. In every generation, dreamers arise. They think outside of man-made boxes and dare to forge ahead. But today a new breed of dreamers is arising. They not only talk of things to come—they call it into being in the here and now.
We need to write our vision down in clear, compelling language so that it grips our hearts.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

Write It Down!

Zig Ziglar
Some of us wander from one thing to another our whole lives. An out-of-focus purpose can’t inspire us, but a crystal-clear lens on God’s purpose for us rivets our attention and gives us energy to keep going until we reach our goals.
Living in the past, whether failed or successful, takes our lives out of focus.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

One Thing

Zig Ziglar
We’ve enjoyed stunning success, but instead of using our gains as a foundation for future growth, we keep reliving those memories. Living in the past, whether failed or successful, takes our lives out of focus. Paul says, “Forget the past and move on.”
Those who were blessed gave to those who were in need of a blessing.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

The Blessing Of Giving

John Eckhardt
If you want to receive the blessing of God, you have to be ready to give. You cannot expect to live a blessed life if all you do is receive, receive, receive. You will end up like the Dead Sea—becoming too salty and too toxic to support any kind of life.
The only possibility of understanding the teaching of Jesus is by the light of the Spirit of God on the inside.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

Clouds And Darkness

Oswald Chambers
If we have never had the experience of taking our commonplace religious shoes off our commonplace religious feet, and getting rid of al the undue familiarity with which we approach God, it is questionable whether we have ever stood in His presence.
You have to learn to go out of convictions, out of creeds, out of experiences, until so far as your faith is concerned, there is nothing between yourself and God.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

Will You Go Out Without Knowing?

Oswald Chambers
One of the difficulties in Christian work is this question - "What do you expect to do?" You do not know what you are going to do; the only thing you know is that God knows what He is doing.
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