Representatives of Christ

A few days ago I read a quote from a ministerial friend of mine.  Pastor Terry Mahan of Florida shared these words and thoughts that challenged my heart.  Pastor Terry: "God never said, Find a church where everyone looks like you.  We are to find a church where everyone looks like Him!"

I was in immediate agreement with these words at first glance.  I am in support of diversity within the local church body where people gather to worship God.  I long for the day when diversity is the norm and not just something that we write or speak about.  I could make a separate post regarding my feelings concerning that desire that is in my heart.  BUT the second part of his statement grabbed the attention of my spirit.  "We are to find a church where everyone looks like Him."  Those words seem to be an innocent statement at first glance because each believer should desire to represent Christ in this world.  Does not each believer desire for their local fellowship to exhibit the qualities and attributes of Christ at work in them and among them?  Does not each believer desire to see Christ glorified and each attender edified as we gather week and after week offering our praise and worship to God?  Isn't that principle to be a natural outflow of the inflow of the Spirit into our lives?  These and many other thoughts began to fill my mind as I began to digest the words of that statement.

I then began to realize that each of us must be diligent in our desire to represent Christ in everything that we do and say.  After all, we are human beings and we have the potential to become selfish and self promoting.  It is easy to fall into the trap of promoting our selves and our agenda rather than promoting Christ and His plan for mankind.  Those "selfish" attitudes can become of the root of divisions and schisms within the local fellowship of believers.  We must apply ourselves to the purposes of God so that each of us can be representatives/ambassadors of Christ in a world that is darkened through the effects of sin and rebellion against God. 

I am sure that each of us desire to represent Christ in this world so that people can not only hear the message of the Gospel but see the message of the Gospel lived out on a daily basis!

Valentine's Day

I want to digress from my normal posts and wish a Happy Valentine's Day to my wife.  This is the 40th year that my wife has been my Valentine.  I am thankful to report today that she is still my Valentine today.  In a few weeks we will celebrate our 40th Wedding Anniversary and I fully realize that we have broken the odds that we would remain married through all of those years.  Our marriage has not always been perfect because we are human beings and we have the ability to not always do things in the right manner or right way.  I was reminded of the words of an old song yesterday and let me share a few of them with you today: "Through it all, through it all, I have learned to trust in Jesus and I have learned to trust in God..." I truly believe that each of us need to let that become the focus of our hearts and realize that all of us will face circumstances that will challenge our faith and our resolve to serve Christ.  But we have someone that is greater than us that we can lean on and someone that is greater than us to trust in during those moments.  I can report that Ann and I learned that principle many years ago and we have tried to allow that principle to direct our steps as we have walked the road of life together.  I can also report that we have found that God is a true friend who will not forsake us during those trying moments and difficult events that we have faced and will face again if Christ does not return before the completion of our life on earth.

Let us continue to place our trust in Christ and walk in the presence of His wonderful love and mercy.

Trusting Christ for our Salvation

I recently read this quote that reinforced the idea that we must trust in Christ and in Him alone for our salvation.  We can not afford to allow any substitutes or additions to be placed in our lives through the spirit of religion and religious activity.  We must look to Christ with genuine faith in our hearts and understand that He is sole provider for our deliverance from sin and the effects of sin in our lives.  

The real danger of legalism is that it produces a sense of
attainment that short-circuits our call to live the life of Yes
through Christ. Self-achievement brings a false sense of
assurance that somehow we can live a pure life in our own
ability. This attitude ultimately leads us to cut ourselves off
from the heart of God and, in turn, to deny our true identity in
Christ.
      -- David Edwards
Let us continue to pursue the Heart of God in our journey through life.

Unimportance vs. Importance

One of the adult Christian Education classes has been studying/discussing the interaction and interdependence of the individual members of the body of Christ.  The intention and design of this time of study is to remind the individual believers that each of us play a significant role in the overall plan of God.  The need for the expression of individual gifting can get lost in the "corporate" expression of what we may define as a successful ministry effort in the Kingdom of God.  We must remember that the sum of the individual members of the Body of Christ is greater than the sum of the individual member who may act as a "lone ranger" in the work of the Kingdom of God.  I can further explain that theory with these words: "We can accomplish more working together as a team than what we can accomplish on our own as individuals."

I see two mistakes that we can make as we become involved in the concept of a team or interdependent body of believers.  1) We can feel that we are unsuccessful or unimportant in the work of the Kingdom because WE identify our efforts as unimportant or in some cases unnecessary.  But in 1 Corinthians 12 Paul says that all members of the body have an important and necessary role.  2) We can over emphasize the importance of our contribution because of the visibility of our actions or role. These thoughts or actions can lead us into the sins of pride and arrogance and these sins become a hindrance or obstacle to the success of the Kingdom of God.  Either one of these thought processes can be detrimental or divisive in the ministry call that we have individually and corporately.  The easiest way to avoid these pitfalls is to be willing to walk in our gifting/call with a true spirit of servanthood. We need to be thankful that God has called us to work with Him in the declaration and spreading of the wonderful message of the Gospel.  Each of you are important to the work of the Kingdom and each of you have much to contribute.  Learn to become comfortable with your spiritual identity and be willing to offer to God excellent service regardless of the task or responsibility.

Look Around

I woke up this morning with two old songs running through my mind.  The first one I heard in the early 70's as my walk with Christ was beginning to develop into a strong desire to follow Him to the best of my ability.  One of the lines of that song says; "Signs of the times are every where..."  I can remember that many believers lived under the influence that the return appearance of Christ (what became known as the Rapture) could take place at any moment.  We were encouraged and challenged to live as though Christ would return at any moment to take His people to be with Him forever.  I am writing these words some forty years later and He has not returned as of this moment.  But we must remember that the signs of the times are still all around us.  We are noticing a constant influence of evil, sin, and debauchery making a greater and more destructive entrance into our society.  We can look around and notice that these signs and events can be very troubling to those of us who are facing these moments and these events.  We may feel somewhat overwhelmed as we look at these situations but we must remember that we are not alone.  Now, let me share some of the words of the second song that has been playing in my mind this morning.  The song includes these words; "If we ever needed the Lord before we sure do need Him now..."  Those words may truly speak to the need of the church in this hour.  The world in which we are living is very complex but the answer to our need may be simple.  I don't mean to demeanor or to defame Christ by using the word "simple" but I do believe the answer for what we need lies right before our eyes.  We must lift our hearts to Christ and cry out in sincere intercession for our lives, the lives of our family, the lives of friends, and the lives of our communities.  Take a moment today and ask Christ to be a powerful influence in your life and then allow Him to direct  your steps in the right direction.

Teamwork

Our Discipleship class last night continued to discuss the role that each member of the family God plays in the expansion of the Kingdom of God.  We discussed that diversity does not preclude the Biblical principle of unity rather diversity can be a strength to the desire for unity if the diversity operates correctly.  We discussed the understanding of teamwork in the framework of the theme of the Body of Christ found in 1 Corinthians 12.  This morning I was reflecting on that discussion and realized that the concept of spiritual teamwork can not be operated in the same manner as the culture may seek to define a team.  When we think of teams in the sports world we think of a group of individuals who may be led or directed by one or two dominant players.  Often these players are identified with the word "star" and the use of that word indicates the possibility that they may have a different status and operate under their own set of rules or guidelines.  The "stars" or leading characters of movies and television programs are often times identified in the credits separately from their fellow cast members of the program.  I am well aware that sports team members and stars in movies/television programs do have different roles and that the team or the cast may depend upon these stars to fulfill their roles. But we must be careful and not allow that analogy to make its way into the family of God.  There should be no stars in the family of God although each member of the family have their own role/purpose to fulfill.  The work of the Kingdom of God can only be fully accomplished as the individual members of the Body of Christ fulfill their purpose.  But each member of the Body is equally important although their role/purpose may differ.  Each of us bring our God given set of abilities, gifts, and talents into the Family of God.  I believe the Spirit is asking the church to lay aside our desire to be stars and pick up the mantle of servanthood in which we willingly and lovingly serve in our communities as we share the message of the Gospel.  Remember that Jesus said that people "would see the good works and glorify the Father which is in Heaven."

Influence

The Lord reminded me of a devotional that Ann (my wife) had written for a group of her co-workers as I finished my prayer time earlier this morning.  Many of us get into such a hurry that we fail to follow the process that God is allowing to work in our lives at any given moment.  We live in a hurry up world that encourages us to ignore anything that might require us to take time to savor the moment and also learn from those moments.  I believe that you will be blessed and challenged through the thoughts that God placed on Ann's heart.

INFLUENCE

Every day we influence someone in our lives either for good or bad.  Influence isn’t about power and getting what we want.  It’s about servanthood and giving our best to others, whatever our position in life. 

Whatever our station in life, we can pray powerfully as we pray persistently for others.  We need to keep at it, as we would our work.  A lack of endurance is one of the greatest causes of our defeat, especially in prayer.  I don’t know about you but I don’t wait well.   You see I am into microwaving; but God on the other hand, is usually into marinating.

If we allow Prayer to be a priority in our lives it will help us juggle the multiple often conflicting duties of work, home, husband, children, friends, ministry, and even ourselves.  Can I share something about ME?   I can write on my calendar 6:30 – 7:00 a.m. PRAYER.   But many times I passed that up.  It was one more thing to pass by that day.  Now I try to think 6:30 – 7:00 a.m. – GOD.  Somehow that’s a little harder to neglect.

When we pray, asking God to center us on Him and His purpose, we will find the balance we need in our work place and in our life.  He will give us guidance and energy in determining priorities.  He will change our attitudes at work and pray daily for our coworkers as they battle the conflicts of life.