God > Our Fears
God > Our Doubts
God > Our Troubles
I'm so grateful inside that we have God.. that we have one Purpose, one Church, one true Book, one Message, one focus, one Hope.. and it's all because of our one risen Savior. Do you have this one living Hope?
Do you have this Bible Christ? Does your church have Christ as Lord? Do they love to evagelize the Lost like Jesus did? Are you growing in fellowship with God in Christ? He does not say: "Hey you. Clean up before you come in." He says, "Turn. Come in as you are by faith, be willing to be changed, and I'll clean you up."
Just wondering.. perhaps you are an evangelist type. Do you have only one Message? If you do... Good! Nothing at all wrong with that. Giving out that one old Message in a fresh new way ..for decisions ..that's wonderful. Yes, repeating the same core thoughts of truth can be positively intentional - a real blessing for the Lost and the Saved. God loves seeing this happen.
One day when Billy Graham was trying hard to decide upon which sermon to preach at an event, his aid (a real team-worker), Thomas Walter "T.W." Wilson, who has now gone on to be with Christ in Heaven, reminded his boss, Billy, by saying.. "You only have one Message." It was so true. That's exactly how it should be with one called to be an evangelist, but never bore any with it as Billy never did.
"Life is not a solo existence. Effective work in evangelism is not a solo ministry. It is a team of people whose hearts God has knit together. I've been with him (Southern Baptist T.W.) for 56 years. We still feel that same bond of oneness and support. He had a great gift as an evangelist, but he gave that up for what he felt was a higher responsibility when Billy asked him to travel with him." ~ Cliff Barrows
Sure, the theme can change, the illustrations may change, the bait-type might change from music to drama to sports to humor perhaps. The Bible passage address may change, but your talk with the people ought to always comes back to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ ...as well as to the sinner's need to turn from their sins (repentance) and to put their faith in Christ alone for salvation.
Are you in an uber-tough situation today? Are you already a Spirit-born believer? Perhaps you need a refill?.. God gives em out for free you know. Would you pray something like...
“Father, the greatest tragedy is not death, but it's a life without Your presence, without Your purpose, without Your plan, and without Your power flowing on through. Thanks for Your great Love. I turn from sin and come by faith ..wanting You today..wanting You to do Your thing with me. Make me an effective team-fisher with You leading me. And now I need Your power and plan activated so to speak, in and through my life. Want to see you work over and over again. Your will be done. Don't want another day to pass me bye. To be honest, I am facing some tough circumstances and I feel desperate for a miracle from You. My country does too. I’m not talkin’ about some false televangelist’s type of miracle that’s religiously fake. Who needs that jive? But please help me fit the broken pieces of my life together in a way that You get the glory. Help me not miss-accessing Your good Word and raging rivers of living water. People here are so thirsty. Would you refill me, equip me, overflow me, and show me Your practical power for others too? Don't want all the blessings just to terminate on me, but I want to pass it on..all that’s good. God, for those who have a small view of You, please help them to find Your solace—a lasting peace, joy, and comfort in the personal knowledge of Christ… the knowledge of how mighty and caring and enormous You really are. Thanks for sending Your Son—I'm grateful for His pure life, death and just coming out of that tomb like He said He do. Do be glorified in and through me. Use my friends too. Time here is so limited. Want Your sense of compassion and urgency. Sure, I pray in the all-powerful Name of Jesus, amen.”
Some of the saddest things in the world to see are sad people—young and old just forgotten.. like on their birthdays, or older people eating alone.. even ones alone in a marrage and feeln' really lonely cuz their spouse who they love isn't yet saved (Beloved, I pray that God gives you extra grace today). Or it's uber-sad to see kings (self appointed or otherwise) intentionally out to hurt people through lies and deception. Perhaps they've cultivated their weird beliefs and ego. Or it's sad for me to see mistreated animals suffering pain and can't even stop to take an Advil. I hate to see that. Or churches that forget why they exist - that's tragically sad! You know God saves people and He uses people in this miracle (they have the greatest value to Him) therefore on-fire local churches are so very important. They all need to be alive with a spiritual leader following the Lord.. one who sticks with Bible Essentials and obeys his Commander. I come across some of these listed above. It makes me want to pray. Sure, who wants to disobey God and see His judgement come instead of His blessings? Not me.
One type of God's judgment is when He allows a nation to have an evil leader who goes sideways ..one that they want. Example: King Saul. Can you think of any rulers like this in our day?
Another type is false prophets in the Land. They mix the truth with error and literally strengthen the hands of evildoers. True prophets if you will, always preach and teach God's Word ..they love to tell people about Jesus Christ.. without the mixture of error. Listen, people need you to be strong in the Lord today. They need to hear from a good witness, not from a bad witness of Jesus. So put off the hubris and demands of a calloused heart. Put off the stony callousness and all wrong attitudes of self-focused entitlement, so that you can, "Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.." 3/12col
