Everlasting Father, Immortal, Invisible, God only Wise, We here to worship You, heaven and earth are full of Your glory. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord and let the living proclaim, O Lord is good!
We thank You Lord for Your Are Holy, Powerful is Your Name, we worship You forever and ever. In presence there is fullness of joy and there is nothing too difficult for the Lord to do. Our help comes from You, open the flood gate of heaven let it rain, let it rain on us afresh to heal us, to cleanse us, purge us from every unrighteousness and make us holy and acceptable to You. Let us be a vessel of honour not of dishonor in the Name of Jesus.
You want to be on mission for the Lord? Do you want to share Jesus with the dying world? Here is an opportunity to equip yourself for the task ahead and know yea that whatever you lose in the Name of the Lord Much more than that will He repay with. Come let go:
Sharing Christ
After hours of driving in torrid heat, the air conditioner on our vehicle gave out. Wheeling into an automotive repair shop, “Cliff,” a burley, seasoned expert on things mechanical, breathed life back into our ailing carriage. Half way through the repair work, in an attempt to share Christ, I asked, “Cliff, do you have any kids?” “Yeah, I got five.” “How‘s it going, raising them ‘an all,“ I inquired? “Better now,” he offered. “How‘s that?” “Well, for 20 years I boozed and chased my way through two marriages. Four years ago, my wife took me to church, and I met Christ. Then, things began to change.“
“Cliff,” I asked, “do you know how to get into God‘s Word?” “No, I don‘t.” “Would you like a couple of simple, practical suggestions?” “Sure would,” came his reply. After a few minutes of explanation, I asked Cliff, “Would you mind if I prayed for you and your family, that God would give you the wisdom you need to keep your marriage and family together in this tough world?” “Yeah, I‘d like that.“
Upon the completion of the repair job, Cliff and I parted with a hug, and his insistent, “There‘s no charge, Mr. Hill.” As I turned to walk toward my car, I detected just a trace of a tear in his eye, hidden behind his sweat soaked face.
This morning, while meditating in 2 Timothy, chapter 2 – with my encounter with Cliff on my mind – I came across several principles of evangelism that will be of help to me in the future:
- Be willing to suffer for the Gospel, Paul stated, “This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal.” (2 Timothy 2:8b, 9a) (See Acts 9:16; 1 Peter 3:16)
- Be sure that you are a clean vessel whom God can use, “If a man cleanses himself… he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.” (2 Timothy 2:21a,c) (See Ephesians 2:10; 2 Timothy 2:20-22; Titus 3:14)
- Openly acknowledge Him before others, “If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” (2 Timothy 2:12b, 13) (See Matthew 10:33; Revelation 3:8)
- Make a diligent effort to accurately communicate the truth of God’s Word, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth… able to teach… ” (2 Timothy 2:15, 24b) (See 2 Corinthians 4:2)
- Avoid getting unnecessarily embroiled in foolish argumentation, “Don‘t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord‘s servant must not quarrel… ” (2 Timothy 2:23, 24a) (See 2 Timothy 2:14, 16, 25; Titus 3:9)
- Recognize God’s sovereign role in bringing a person to Himself, “Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth.” (2 Timothy 2:25) (See Acts 8:22; 1 Timothy 2:3, 4) (adapted from FOTM)
There is always a prize to pay in serving the Lord. Early apostles of Jesus Christ had their encounter with one mishap but in all these remember that Faithful is He that calleth you He will also do all that pertaining to you. Much more than you think He will grant to you. The heaven and the earth belongs to Him:
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will find it.—Matthew 16:25
Christians are commanded to lose their lives. This means they ought to deliberately release their lives to God and His kingdom. One of the greatest hindrances to you being on mission with God will be your view of what constitutes your “legitimate rights”; that is, those things that you feel you have a right to experience and enjoy. It’s not difficult to turn over to Christ those things that are not a sacrifice or that you would prefer to do without anyway. Rather, it is the things that are good and that are dear to you that may stand between you and God’s will.
It’s good to be near your grown children and grandchildren, for example, but God may want you to go to another city or continent on mission with Him. It’s good to get adequate rest, but you may receive a call of distress in the middle of the night. You may assume that you have a right to certain material things, yet God may ask you to release all of your possessions to Him and His purposes (Matt. 19:21).
Jesus modeled perfectly this attitude toward life. He had a legitimate right to enjoy the comforts of heaven. Yet, He did not look at it as a right He should hold on to, nor did He see leaving all that was His as a sacrifice too costly to make (Phil. 2:5–11). As a result, God highly exalted Him and brought salvation to a broken world.
Has the world convinced you that there are certain rights that you must protect? Are you trying to save your life? Have you noticed that in so doing, you are actually losing the life God wants you to have?
Offer your life to Him and see Him decorate you in His glory (Ps 119:117; 1 Pet 4:14-16). Always remember that you are saved to serve. Remember also we are co-workers with God (1 Cor 3:9; 2Cor 6:1). Finally, those that wash their robes will partake of the tree of life (Rev 22:14).
Beloved, I believe that God is too faithful to fail, whatever be it hold on to Him for He never fail nor disappoint them that diligently obey His precepts. And whatever you lose for the sake of this gospel He will multiple back to you.
I will conclude with these “He lead you in that path which you knoweth not and turn darkness into light before you” (Isa 42:16). Beloved, we will testify before the end of the year, shout Alleluia!!!
Remain blessed in the Lord.
