Why you’re here

 

Someone remarked to me recently, “Jerry, I thought you were retired but you are still doing ministry.”  That person did not understand that ‘ministry’ is not the same as a profession. It is the purpose of every Christian. Yes, I have retired from the daily administration of a local church, from preparing weekly messages, planning a calendar, and the rest of being employed but I am still a Christian. Thus, I continue to visit and pray with the sick, do nursing home services, comfort grieving families, and encourage others in their faith -  wherever I find opportunities to do so.   

Whatever your work, my Christian friend,
your purpose is to advance the cause of Christ!

 Jesus said "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." (John 14:12, NIV)  Usually we focus on the second part of that statement because it is hard to understand but I want us to look at the first part - I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.  What did Jesus do?  He loved, He shared, He cared, He brought God’s truth to His world. So must we!

God commissions us to be ambassadors of the Kingdom.  Let’s not get swept up by the warrior concept of Christianity that has made so many Christians militant, angry people who attack the world in which they live.  Rather we should be more like Jesus that night before His crucifixion. When He saw His friends confused and fighting among themselves, He did not climb onto the table and shout at them about the sin.  Instead, He took a towel and basin to wash their feet. He ministered to a basic need and invited them to humble service like His! Oh that we would be like Him, humbly choosing to serve, to care, to comfort, to love.   As we do, let us pray with faith, "Your kingdom come, (in me) Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Those who would do the work of God’s rule, must first live under it. If we are not obediently living with Jesus as our Guide, experiencing the life of the Spirit, we cannot even hope to lead others to a rich and full experience.  We reproduce who we are and what we know.  When we are authentically living with Jesus, loving Him, conforming our lives to His design, His goodness will ‘infect’ others, the Spirit spilling over from us as ‘living water’ in the words of the Lord.  Please remember, perfection is not the prerequisite for showing Jesus to our friends, family, and neighbors. Were that true all Christians would all be compelled to silence on life’s sidelines. In humility we admit that we do better some days than others, that we are a work in progress, and that we are imperfectly who we are because of Who He perfectly is.

Let me ask you – are you alive to God, a person living in His reign, knowing His peace?  You can enter in, right now, where you are, by faith. Jesus says, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Rivers of living water will brim and spill out of the depths of anyone who believes in me this way, just as the Scripture says.” (John 7:37-38, The Message) Invite Him to forgive your sins, to enter your life, to make you new and alive to God. That’s the start of a life of faith.

Christian, I leave this promise with you, a word from the Word.  As you pray to represent the Kingdom today, know that you are empowered by the Holy Spirit. Lean on the power He provides, using the gifts He will give, and make a Kingdom difference.

The word from the Word says "But thanks be to God, who made us his captives and leads us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now wherever we go he uses us to tell others about the Lord and to spread the Good News like a sweet perfume. Our lives are a fragrance presented by Christ to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those being saved and by those perishing. To those who are perishing we are a fearful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved we are a life-giving perfume. And who is adequate for such a task as this? You see, we are not like those hucksters—and there are many of them—who preach just to make money. We preach God’s message with sincerity and with Christ’s authority. And we know that the God who sent us is watching us." (2 Corinthians 2:14-17, NLT)

(Video of this blog at this link)

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Kingdom Come 

Oh let it start with us
Oh Your kingdom come

Blessed are the poor in spirit
Who long for You long for You
Blessed are the heavy-hearted
In need of You need of You 

Your hands are healing
Your heart is hope
Your word is freedom from all of the world
You are redemption
You are our help

So let Your kingdom come and Your will be done
On earth as is in heaven
Let Your kingdom come and Your will be done
From now until forever
We'll keep on singing

Oh let it start in us
Oh (Your kingdom come) 

Lover of our souls redeem us
We live for You live for You
Spirit lead us to forgiveness
We cry out to You cry out to You

Right here right now we're reaching out
With humble hearts we're kneeling down
No other name no other way
Lord hear us as we pray

 

Revive us restore us
Rebuild us redeem us
Refill us rename us
Your kingdom come
Your kingdom come

Joel Smallbone | Luke Smallbone | Rebecca St. James | Seth Mosley

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