Jonathan Edwards, the great early American preacher, had a marvelous way with words. He wrote thousands of pages reflecting on the Scriptures with some amazing insight. One day he was musing about how to live the Christian life and wrote, “Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.”
In other words, Edwards was committed to living each and every day as if it were his last. If we’re to do that, it means two things. First, it means we take risks for the sake of our ultimate mission of making Jesus famous. Second, it means we live every day how we’d want to be remembered if it were our last.
I think most Christians would probably agree with Edwards’ sentiments of living every day as if it were their last. But the problem is that we often lose focus in light of the everyday. As believers, we need to take risks and live for the Lord. When we make that our lifelong goal and focus, we’ll end our lives knowing we made a real and lasting impact on the world for Christ. There’s nothing else that really matters.
Pastor William Del Casale
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.
2 Corinthians 5:20
In verse 18 of 2 Corinthians, Paul indicates that he has been given a ministry of reconciliation, and now in the capacity of that ministry, he is serving as an ambassador of Christ. An ambassador is a diplomatic official of the highest rank, sent by one sovereign or state to another as its resident representative. Paul used the picture of an ambassador to illustrate the magnitude of the responsibility entrusted to him, but this responsibility did not stop with Paul. This calling and responsibility has been passed throughout history to succeeding generations of Christians down to us in the present day.
We who were once dead in our sins, living in disobedience, and deserving recipients of God’s wrath (Ephesians 2:1-3) are now the vessels through which God pleads with the world. We are to persuade the world of the finished redemptive work of Christ as the only means of deliverance from every person’s impending judgment. We are acting on the authority of heaven, proclaiming the gospel in a land of which we are no longer citizens. We who were lost and not worthy of the kingdom of God are now qualified to act as diplomatic officials of heaven because of the blood of Christ. Praise God for His grace and mercy towards each of us!
Jeff Mericle
The Lord wants to give wisdom to His kids, and you know what wisdom does? it protects us. The Lord is our shield, guarding us and protecting us. We are in a safe place when walking in His wisdom, free to live this life without fear. The Lord is there shielding us as we walk with Him. But when we walk in our own wisdom, we fail.
If Jesus is not sitting on the throne of our lives, we will do and say dumb things. Sin leads us into dark places where we can’t see straight. But when we walk in His wisdom, He is a shield around us and we are secure and safe! That is the way to walk, my brothers and sisters.
Shielded by the Lord,
Rich Kikuchi
What happens when you are faced with the difficult task of trusting the Lord in a situation that seems impossible? In the above verses, Gideon was commanded to take on an army that was much bigger than his army. The Lord said take these 300 men into battle. If you do not believe that I will give you victory, take Purah your servant down to the camp.
Like Gideon, I find the Lord giving me small steps to take one at a time. He never seems to give me the big picture. But even when I doubt Him, He often reassures me that I am going to be okay. Sometimes His assurance is given through reading the scriptures, a brother’s words, or even through my wife. I am certain that there is nothing that is too big or too impossible for the Lord.
Joshua Navarro
Whose responsibility is it to go after those who have gone astray in their sin or “wandered from the truth?” James says here that it is our responsibility, God’s people, the “brethren.” Jesus said that He has come “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Matthew 18:11). As His disciples, we have been given the charge to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).
There are those who believe in these verses, James is referring to believers who have backslidden from the faith. Others believe that they speak of those who never walked with the Lord, wandering through life without knowing the truth. The answer for both is the same, repent, confess your sin, believe in Jesus, and you will find forgiveness of sin and fellowship with God.
So, what are we waiting for? People are weary, scattered like sheep having no shepherd, and we have the Gospel, the answer for their need. “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few” (Matthew 9:37).
Pastor Doug Hardin
Philippians 3:20
You can tell where a person is from by the way they talk and the way they act. For example, if someone is talking in a southern drawl, you can conclude they have spent some time in the south. The same goes for followers of Christ.
Paul reminds us that we are not citizens of this earth, but we are citizens of heaven. Heaven is our home and our country. As citizens of heaven, we are to conduct our lives in a way that is befitting of the kingdom!
If people were to watch the way you talk and behave, would they be able to tell that you are a citizen of heaven?
For the King,
Pastor Daniel Batistelli
Ephesians 3:20-21
I wish I could say I never doubted the power the Lord has in my life. But I realize I am capable of being just like the disciples. When they were in the boat and the storm was raging, they thought they were going to sink and Jesus said to them, “Oh you of little faith.” Then the Lord “got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it was perfectly calm” (Matthew 8:26).
That shows me God can handle any situation thrown my way.
The problem we face is lessening God’s power and not resting in His eternal power, but instead trusting in our own human ways.
The same Spirit that did the miraculous things we read in Scripture is now living in you. Take heart and meditate on this verse, remembering how powerful the God we serve really is.
Resting in Him,
Pastor Sean Boehm
Love does no good if it is only spoken, it must somehow be demonstrated. God the Father demonstrated His love for us in sending His Son to die for us while we were yet sinners. The Father’s love for the world means He wants to be reconciled to man; Jesus lined Himself up with that love by obeying the Father and becoming the Propitiation, the sacrifice that satisfies. Jesus sets the example for us to follow — as He obeyed the Father’s commandments, so we should obey His.
So when Jesus tells us to be merciful, meek, pure in heart, or be a peacemaker. Or when He gives us the Great Commission and we respond to that call in obedience, we are demonstrating our desire to abide in His love.
Sowing and telling,
Pastor Gerard Deleeuw
The Bible starts off with Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Because of that, the world and the enemy go against that verse constantly. Yet throughout the Word that scripture is reaffirmed, including in the verse above.
The devil knows if he can get people to question the first verse of the Bible, they’ll have doubts about the rest of the book. So in the schools, the children are taught evolution and that man took millions of years to evolve. It’s no longer given as a theory, but as fact and anyone that questions it is just a religious freak who doesn’t trust science.
While science has brought many good things to man, it doesn’t overrule God or His word. God created the universe and all that is in it and if we believe that, the rest of the Bible is easy!
Loving the Creator,
Pastor Ron Kitchell
You might recognize this portion of scripture as part of the passage Jesus read at the synagogue in Nazareth in Luke 4:16-21. He actually only read Isaiah 61:1 and a part of Isaiah 61:2 before closing the book and applying what He read to His first coming.
Jesus came anointed by the Holy Spirit to bring us Good News, deliver us, set us free from sin and death, and be our Savior and Redeemer.
Today we are commanded to go forth, filled with the Holy Spirit, declaring the Good News of Jesus’ coming. There is no greater work that can be done than leading a sinner to repentance and to faith in Christ. The prophet Daniel in Daniel 12:3 declares, “Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.” May your life this week accomplish His will of telling the world He has come!
A message of deliverance for all!
Pastor Jack Abeelen
