Posts Tagged ‘Gospel’

Tonight I’m loving 1 Peter 1:3-9 (ESV).  emphasis is mine

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith–more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire–may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Jesus is faithful! God is faithful! He saved us, healed us, brought us back into right standing in him through Christ. When we go through “diverse trials and temptations”(James 1) let us come out rejoicing and praising the faithfulness of God and the revelation of what have through the cross.  Jesus was made to be the propitiation for our sin out of love! (1 John 4:10), in that all of God’s wrath towards all of mankind’s sin was satisfied on Jesus  at the cross and Jesus was then reconciled back unto God.  Because of that act of love, we can experience God’s unmerited love towards us as sinners and have the oppurutnity through us accepting what Jesus did to live in right standing and clean before God. 

I’m excited! Peter says it oh so well with the phrase “joy that is inexpressible”.  I hope that in this crazy time we live in with all the financial down time, hurt and pain and confusion of society and families, differences in expressions of our faith, that we do not forget the true love that was displayed for us by Jesus’ death that we may know real love  and find life with him. Let us take time to rejoice together and continue to share this good news that whoever finds God truly finds life!

I just finished reading Clayton King’s post of the the bowing of a seasoned veteran of ministry.  He has done a small series of posts on thoughts for young ministers and seasoned; very good reads. In this last post, the seasoned veteran shared something that sticks with me.  He said, “Once you let anybody other than Jesus tell you what to do, you begin to die.”

A lot of things have been going on in the foreground of my life recently. I have been faced with decisions on how to act when you know everyone is watching, next steps to take in my personal life, having my car hit three times in 6 weeks where I believe if it wasn’t for the favor of God the other parties insurance wouldn’t have come through; just a multitude of situations that test my belief limits.

This past summer I made a vow to continue to pursue God’s calling on my life, no matter the cost.  I’ve known since a very young age that I was called out, separated unto the kingdom of God.  I was talking to my dad the other day about this very matter.  It seems the more we try and press on, the more we are pressed upon. My father, like I, is called as well.  “Dad,” I said, “We can never quit. We can never give up.”

Beyond my father and I, my family has been called, but most have ran.  My uncle started down that path; however, for various reasons walked away from ministry many years ago. My grandpa told us before his passing that he too ran from the calling of ministry as did his father.   Out of curiousity, I researched my family line and found that we had been ministers of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, but some years back that line was broken.

Paul writes in Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes..”(NIV)

This is my public profession. I am determined to follow the plan God has on my life, whatever road he deems to takes me down.

It’s late and I don’t have much energy to go into anything real deep or major tonight.

One thing that I am very grateful for is my family. We are by no means perfect, but I wouldn’t have it any other way sometimes. I couldn’t have asked for better parents, nor have I ever wished for “better” parents.

My full point is that family and relationships are extremely important in our day to day lives. We, by design, need intimate (not physical) relationships with people. I believe this is where family comes in as well as a few good friends. A need to connect and share what our deepest heartbeat is. To express our joys and sorrows, our triumphs and defeats. In the same manner, I believe this need was setup to reflect our need for God and vice-versa. God wants to share his heartbeat, his interests, with us. He wants us so intimately knowledgeable of him that we can be his ambassador on earth.

As amabassadors, we speak for someone, as if they were speaking themselves. Example, an U.S. Ambassador would speak on behalf of the U.S. with their best interest and policies in mind; not for their own personal gain or agenda. The ambassador must spend time learning and hearing what the policies are and what the vision of the administration is. In like manner, we must become intimate with God. He gave us means to do this through His Word and prayer. He gave us the Holy Spirit as a helper in this too!

I’ve heard a lot of talk about the unity of the church. I truly believe that once we come to a point of knowing the interests of the Father and all come rallying around them, is when we will start to see full unity.

I have to say that I am blessed with a need of an intimate relationship with God, just as I am with my family.