“Our Daily Bread” http://odb.org/
“Homily Grits Devotional” http://www.homilygrits.com/
2 Corinthians 1:3-4… Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. (NKJV)
Yesterday, I wrote about what it took to become motivated, to comfort those around us that are in need of various sorts of comfort… I used Jesus’ second most important commandment, that we as Christians are to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39)…as a command to comfort others…because this is one way of showing love to those around us, who might be edified with some kind words, or actions of love… A hug for a spouse that has had a hard day at work… A word of encouragement to a friend who has lost their job… Words to comfort those who have lost a loved one…
It really shouldn’t take much for a person to comfort their spouse… Ideally…love will abound in the marriage and the family; and sometimes it’s the little things that can mean a lot to console a loved one, or a friend…
The real challenge for the Christian occurs when they are faced with calming someone who is lashing out at them with unkind words, screams of anger, or worse…stuff being thrown at them in a fit of rage… Jesus has called Christians to show love to someone in rage…and to those that curse you, hate you, use you, or persecute you, in…Matthew 5:43-44…
This kind of sacrificial love cannot be accomplished in our own mortal strength… It takes the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit, to keep our emotions (especially our tongue) in check (James chapter 3)… Only a Spirit filled Christian will have this God given love of Christ which “passes knowledge”, which the Apostle Paul pens in…Ephesians 3:16-19… Here is the link for this once again, if you didn’t read this important scripture yesterday… http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=eph3:16-19&version=NKJV
I repeat this need to be “filled with the fullness of God”, as the Apostle Paul writes in the last verse of this scripture in the link above…because this is what is also required to fulfill the absolutely most important commandment Jesus gave to ALL Christians, before He ascended into heaven… Christians are commanded to share the gospel (meaning “Good News”) of Christ, with everyone around us in need of hearing the truth from God’s Word…Matthew 28:19-20…
I am inspired by my churches Sunday school, where Pastor Dan just started a study entitled… “Everyday Evangelism”… Here is the link for their web site, for anyone interested in learning more about this church… It is part of a Bible believing, 65 church fellowship; which was started over 150 years ago… There is even past sermons preached, under…“Sermon Audio”, at the bottom… http://www.newbeginningsbfc.org/
Pastor Dan made a very good opening point, this week in his teaching… Most of us would anxiously tell others about a good movie we had seen…or a good restaurant we had been to… But most of us Christians fail miserably at telling others around us, about the absolutely most important event of our life… The gift of salvation God has freely given to us, when we were saved by God’s grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ…
I shared with my fellow church members, as I have written about in the past…that I only shared the gospel of Christ 2 times, in over 7 years… For me, as I believe it is for most Christians…it was because I wasn’t Spirit filled…Ephesians 5:18-20… It is the same supernatural strength of the Holy Spirit, which will help you show love to someone screaming in your face…that will empower you with the right words at the right time, to share your faith with someone who hasn’t heard about the good news of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ…
In our own strength, we will be (at least for me) extremely ineffective at sharing the gospel of Christ… Sharing our own testimony should be no problem… And many times a life changing testimony will plant a seed to urge someone to learn more about God’s grace through a one on One relationship the unredeemed sinner must establish with Christ Himself… But it is spiritual wisdom that is obtained by daily feeding on God’s Word (that Jesus tells us is necessary to grow spiritually, in…Matthew 4:4)…along with the full power of the Holy Spirit as our Helper (John 14:26), which the Christian needs to be able to evangelize others without fear…
Here is a link for this most important days writing about how God’s grace is received to become a Christian in God’s eyes; through obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ…
Armed with spiritual wisdom from God’s Word, and empowered by the Holy Spirit…the Christian will be urged with a new-found boldness…the confidence and the right words that are needed…and the right God given opportunity to share their testimony (and even the gospel of Christ), when the Holy Spirit tells them that…“now is the time”…
Heavenly Father, I pray that the truth from Your Word, would cut like a two edged sword…right to the soul of those in need of hearing the truth from Your Word (Hebrews 4:12-13)… And that seeds would be planted by us, that only You can grow and nurture into one of Your redeemed children… I pray for the fullness of Christ to empower all of Your children…and that those in need of Your grace would be drawn closer to You (John 6:44)…in Jesus’ most precious name and for His sake…Amen…
written by bruce r mills
God's group 