Hope Shared

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

How we thank God for you!  Because of you we have great joy as we enter God’s presence.  Night and day we pray earnestly for you, asking God to let us see you again to fill the gaps in your faith.  May God our Father and our Lord Jesus bring us to you very soon.  And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows.  

1 Thessalonians 3:9-12

Sharing our great hope in Jesus Christ with others is the main thrust of what we commonly call The Great Commission.  This was the job description Jesus gave to his followers on the day he ascended back to his Father in Heaven:

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.  Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.  And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  Matthew 28:18-20

The “work” is really a privilege and joy.  In his letter to the Thessalonian believers Paul outlined that work in four “pillars” that hold our witness together:

Rejoicing

Apostle Paul said he thanked God for his relationship with the church at Thessalonica, and his joy was great because of their faith growing stronger. 

When the genuine joy of knowing Christ courses through your veins, sharing that blessed hope of Christ does not have to be manufactured with a memorized speech, or pamphlets; it speaks volumes of winsomeness.

Praying

Paul’s prayer life was night and day for the presence of God to grow strong in those with whom he had shared God’s love.  When you’ve taken the bold and vulnerable step of sharing the love of Christ with others, they will not slip from your mind.  You are vested in what God will do with them in His kingdom.

Hanging-out

Because of the interest in filling-in the gaps of faith many new believers might experience, you want to be with them to nurture faith at whatever point they are challenged.  Hanging-out with believers increases faith; growing joy is the wonderful result of that fellowship.

Blessing

Paul wasn’t reproducing “Paul” in these people; he was seeing the mystery of Christ in you, the hope of glory[1] manifested in those who had accepted Christ by faith, and were living under His Lordship.  His fatherly blessing was an act of love and prophetic hope…he was passing-along the faith once delivered to the saints[2].

For You Today 

Throughout my life many saints have poured-in strength and help as I’ve lived and grown.  Jesus said:  to whom much is given, much will be required.[3]  This speaks of our responsibility to pass along the joy with our prayers, presence, and always being a blessing – never an adversary – to those who need to know Christ.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library.

Today’s title Image from Pixabay.com  

Images without citation are in public domain or cited via weblinks.  

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©  

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[1] Colossians 1:27

[2] Jude 1:3

[3] Luke 12:48

The Grumpy Christian

[i]

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity.  Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.  Colossians 4:5-6^(NLT)

Everybody who has gone to church for two minutes understands there is an expectation that Christian people are to be kind and gracious, and not say certain words, or do certain things.  How do you get that idea?  It is the attitude of gracious church folk, so attractive in their unselfish ways, and kindness towards everybody.

And anyone who has ever been to church for four minutes understands we can be less than that too; we can be downright grumpy at times.

But Paul commands each of us who are part of the Body of Christ to be wise – which translates being gracious and attractive in all our speaking and doing – so that those who aren’t believers will feel comfortable in our presence, and be drawn to Christ.  In short, Paul tells us to leave our grumpiness behind and be like Jesus.  After all, you attract more friends with smiles than when you look like you’ve just bitten into a lemon!

Some people never get that.  Over a lifetime you see it all, the good, bad, and exceedingly ugly!  I have heard quite a few people excuse themselves for their surly natured gruffness by claiming, oh, that’s just the way I am. 

I have been at church and had Christian people, members of the church, brush by me as if I was a coat rack, without so much as a nod of acknowledgement that I exist.  Really gracious; really attractive!

To be perfectly honest, I can be grumpy too…no, really!  But, God expects me to get over that, and myself, and be gracious.  After all, that’s how He is; it is the very definition of good and loving to be grace-filled, extending kindness in an attractive way.

How do I know that?  Jesus demonstrated it on the cross. 

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.  Romans 5:8^(NLT)

If you read that through Paul’s lens, against the backdrop of living wisely among those who don’t believe, you see that God knew we were obnoxious, self-centered, sinful, separating ourselves from Him…and he came to us…to love us in spite of our ways.

For You Today

So…in your efforts to be graciously attractive in the name of Christ, if you see someone, anyone (especially me), being grumpy – give your smile away; we need to be reminded!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today…have a blessed day!

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NOTES

[i] Title Image: By Alias 0591 from the Netherlands (Stay away !), via Wikimedia Commonsk