Who are You? In His Word 8-7-2023
With that comes great things!
When you took the time to invite Christ to be your Lord, and accept that He was God, there
was more to it than just getting a ‘ticket to Paradise’. He began growing you into
the person of purpose that He planned for you to become.
In this life of purpose, you may be a doctor, or a mechanic,
or maybe a stay at home parent, or Teacher or both! No matter what job you have, business, or
otherwise God has a plan for you to be in that job. Now sometimes the job is
temporary because He is building character in us, but often it becomes our life
passion.
We cannot forget though that God through Christ has given us
the privilege and authority to share the Gospel and direct them to His goodness
as well. The point being in whatever place you are today God has someone for
you to minister to!
Through Christ, God has given us the privilege authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name. And you are included among those Gentiles who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ. I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and are called to be his own holy people. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. Romans 1:5-7
Maybe you’re not a preacher, but you can share the Love of
God with others. Think about it this way, if you had such a great parent, or
friend, you would want to tell everyone you knew how great they are or
were. In that same way you can share
what God is doing in your life today!
The thing is it is not always easy for some of us to speak up even about the greatness of God. In times when we think we should have, could’ have, or , would have done the right thing and put the spotlight on Jesus’ goodness we often fail. We give in to our weaker old self. The great thing is that we can really get over that hurdle and be free of the fear to speak out. We can remember that we are controlled by the Holy Spirit so that we may speak boldly both the God I prayer as well as to our people or mission around us.
He gave you life
and restored your spirit to be renewed when you accepted Christ. So, what is the big
deal? The big deal is that we should try to live a life honoring such a great God who would give up His life for us. That we should get rid of the old and put on the new!
That’s why those who are still
under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. But you are not
controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have
the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the
Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) And Christ lives
within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives
you life because you have been made right with God. Romans 8:8-10
Sometimes
speaking out loud is too difficult so we write. Letters, books , cute little
posts on social media, all these things are part of God’s call on you.
We are writing to the church in
Thessalonica, to you who belong to God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 2
Thessalonians 1:1
1 Peter 5 tells it in a better light, some of us are elders
in the Churches. This is talking about the groups in one building we call
church, not just the body of Christ, God’s Church of Believers.
And now, a word to you who are elders
in the churches. I, too, am an elder and a witness to the sufferings of Christ.
And I, too, will share in his glory when he is revealed to the whole world. As
a fellow elder, I appeal to you: Care for the flock that God has entrusted to
you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of
it, but because you are eager to serve God. Don’t lord it over the people
assigned to your care but lead them by your own good example. And when the
Great Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and
honor.
In the same way, you who are
younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, dress
yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for “God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.”
So ,humble yourselves under the mighty power
of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your
worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
Stay alert! Watch out for your
great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for
someone to devour. Stand firm against him and be strong in your faith. Remember
that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind
of suffering you are. In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal
glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he
will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm
foundation. All power to him forever! Amen. 1 Peter 5:1-11
He came to his own people, and
even they rejected him. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he
gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a
physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes
from God.1 John 1:11:-13
Peace be with all of you who are in Christ.1 Peter 5:3
Let’s challenge ourselves to live in the perspective of the
Father, as His children. Let’s challenge ourselves to accept His love and so
love one another, in Jesus’ name.
Teresa
Check out the full chapter of Romans 8 for more clarification this week!