No Excuses... in His Word 6-29-2020



No excuses…for Jesus’ sake! ~ In His Word 6-29-2020




We are living in a well, wild and crazy time in history. Yes, though we are living it today constantly in transition to one thing or another, we can be confident that what work God has begun in us He will complete it! We can know that God is with us in all that we both suffer in and have victory over. As long as we believe and share that faith with others, we will have the assurance in our hearts and minds that Jesus died for us and He will come again for us.
Therefore, since God in his mercy has given us this new way, we never give up. We reject all shameful deeds and underhanded methods. We don’t try to trick anyone or distort the word of God. We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know this. If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. 2 Corinthians 4:1-5
We need to share what God is doing in our lives in one way or another for it to make sense to have suffered or lived through it. Our God shall supply all our needs according to His riches in glory, so we need to spread the news!  As our pastor said we need to spread the seed too! When we share what God is doing in our lives, and that of those we know, including in the Word, we are doing just that!
We are planting seeds of faith that may not seem to be received at first but may spring up and grow in the next year's planting!
When I was seeking God, trying to find out who He was and if I believed in Him; a pack of Christian teens hit the mall I worked at handing out Track booklets. No one at work knew I was looking so I just played along with them laughing at the stories, but after everyone else left them on the counters I gathered them together and read everyone to find out who He was, etc. Eventually this lead to my salvation through my Gideon's Bible. Long story short there, but we never know who will take what we say and hold it dear to their heart secretly and come to know the Lord in the shelter of their room at home. We need to share! We need to be Christ to them because we may be the only Jesus representation that they ever see!
You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.  Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. So, we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you. 2 Corinthians 4:1-13
It is all for Him, for them to come to Him and realize how great He is and how much God loves them, us. All that we do or say must be in a way to draw someone to the saving freedom of Christ in their lives. We do this so that when they run up against a shutdown, or a virus, or a riot, or some sort of injustice then can know that their God is able to bring them through it, in Jesus’ name.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us Jesus to save us. Help us to share all the good things we live through for Christ’s sake. Help  strong in Your power and speak the truth in love, In Jesus’ name, amen.
Suggested reading 2 Corinthians 4:1-18, Romans 8: 1-39 and Psalm 139:1-24.