Be Kind To Seekers

 

So I say to you, ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. 

 

Luke 11:9-10

 

Seekers are everywhere. 

Jesus knows that people take all sorts of routes to find Him.  Some come to God after exploring other religions and some have a lifetime of struggling with different ideas and beliefs before they reach out to Jesus.  Some come because they want more out of life, but they are not sure what that more is. 

Our call is not to trample these people because of their ideas, but to lead them with kindness to knock on the door where Jesus waits.

 

Be kind to seekers.

Now Is The Time

 

And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain—for He says, “At the acceptable time I listened to you, and on the day of salvation I helped you.”  

 

Behold now is “the acceptable time,” behold now is “the day of salvation." 

 

2 Corinthians 6:1-2

We are spiritual beings.  God made us this way.  To be all that we can be we need a relationship with God.  God made it easy for us.  He sent His Son, Jesus, to cleanse us of our sin and make us into new people in Him.  All we need to do is acknowledge Jesus as our Lord, Master and Savior, and we are redeemed and we rest in God’s favor.

Now is the time.

The Apostles Did It, We Can, Too

 

For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.

We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ, we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor.

To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.

1 Corinthians 4:9-13

So, you think you are having a bad day? The Apostle Paul gives us a glimpse of what every day was like for the apostles. Yes, they had their church friends, but they also had a world full of enemies who killed all of them except John the Beloved.

What does this teach us? It teaches us that it is not always easy to be a Christian and to act in a Christ like manner. It teaches us that even when we do what is right, there will be people who will criticize and torment us for doing the right thing.

And, should we do something wrong, there will be people who know nothing of the forgiveness of God, who will yell at us and gossip about our shortcomings.

All this stuff happens, but we know our faith rests in God and that we are called by God to do His work. Therefore, we keep on working for God and sharing the Gospel.

If Paul and the apostles did it, we can, too.

Sing For Joy

 

But let all who take refuge in You be glad,

Let them ever sing for joy;

And may you shelter them,

That those who love your name may exult in You.

For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O Lord,

You surround him with favor as with a shield.

Psalm 5:11-12

Every now and then, we get something going that is not good.  Maybe our spouse or our kids are mad at us.  Maybe we are falsely accused.  Or, it might be, through no fault of our own, we end up alone.  All these things can cause us to feel hopeless. 

But we are not hopeless because God promises us that we can take refuge in Him and He will restore our joy and He will bless us.  And, He will surround us with favor like a shield.  

We sing for joy because God is on our side.

Filled Up

 

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven or on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, and that you, being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to His be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generation forever and ever. Amen.

Ephesians 3:14-21 

If you aren’t charged up for God, after reading this prayer, you should be. 

God welcomes our prayers, in whatever words we chose to use. However, the Bible also provides us prayers we can pray. This prayer is powerful in that it opens us up to receive from God the knowledge of His great love for us and be filled up to all the fullness of God.

God’s love is high voltage and it is in us.

More Than Words

"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. 

 "You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, express any good things? For the mouth speaks from that which fills the heart.  

The good person brings out of his good treasure good things; and the evil person brings out of his evil treasure evil things.  

But I tell you that for every careless word that people speak, they will give an account of it on the day of judgment. 

For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Matthew 12:33-37

My Uncle Al was not a religious man and he rarely went to church, but he did read his Bible and when he talked about the Bible he said, "It's heavy," meaning it had deep meaning which made him think.

That describes this passage in which Jesus was addressing the Pharisees, and which we too can take to heart.

Jesus warns us to not be careless with our words and to think before we speak because when we stand before God we will either be justified or condemned by our words.

Remember, when we are talking, it's more than words, it is a revelation of our hearts, and we want our words to reveal the good in our hearts. 

Keep Going For God

 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 

James 1:2-4

Nobody likes trials and tribulations.  They can be heart wrenching and heart breaking and at the very least frustrating, but they also make us stronger because we gain confidence by overcoming the problems we face.  Overcoming may mean victory, or it may mean that we go on serving God, even if things do not workout according to our plans and wishes. 

I won’t say shake it off, but I will say keep going for God.  Things will get better and you will get stronger.