In my last post, I asked the question:
Are you ready to LET IT GO so you can impact the Kingdom for God's glory? (Click to Tweet)
That is why we're here, to serve and proclaim Jesus Christ.
God could have taken us from the earth as soon as we acknowledged Jesus as Lord. Instead, He leaves us here because He has work for us to do. We are His hands, feet, mouth and ambassador to a dark and frozen world (Click to Tweet)
Sharing how God has met us in the midst of our darkness empowers others to believe. Living redemptively frees us from the hold of the enemy and our deliverance becomes a light saber for God to pierce the darkness around us.
There are so many examples for us in Scripture. I know we’ve been focusing on a couple of Disney princesses, but will you allow me to share the example of an Egyptian prince?
If you remember the story of Moses, He was a Hebrew brought up as the son in Pharoah’s household. He saw how his people were being treated. He killed an Egyptian and buried him in the sand. But when the deed was exposed he fled into the desert.
So when Moses encountered the Living God speaking from the burning bush, he’d had experienced forty years of regret and burying his past. When God tells him what he wants him to do, he is filled with excuses:
Exodus
3:11 Moses asks, Who am I?
Exodus
4:1 He says, what if they don’t believe me or listen to me?
Exodus
4:10 Moses says, I have never been eloquent…he lists his weaknesses
Exodus
4:13 Moses pleads for God to send someone else.
I don’t know about you but I use these
same excuses. I can relate to how Moses felt. I believe there is something God wants us to see.
Instead of asking, Who am I?
God wants us
to see that He is the great, I AM WHO…
because He is the one that accomplishes everything through us.
because He is the one that accomplishes everything through us.
So, the question is who are you going to
listen to—the thief or the Good Shepherd?
I mentioned in my last post that Ephesians 6:10 tells us to:
Stand firm
against the schemes of the evil one.
We know God has a plan for our lives; do
we know that Satan has plans too?
Instead, focus on Jesus who has redeemed
your past so it can shine a light into the dark places of this world. Dwell on how He sees you.
You
are chosen and loved – Eph. 1:4
You
are forgiven and redeemed – Eph. 1:7
You
are a new creation – 2 Cor. 5:17
You
are set free – Gal. 5:1
You
are gifted – 1 Cor. 12:4-7
You
are empowered – Eph. 3:20
You
are to serve – Eph. 2:10
You
have a ministry of reconciliation – 2 Cor. 5:18
You
are His ambassador – 2 Cor. 5:20
There is a frozen world out there. Will
you let it go so He can accomplish His kingdom purposes through you?
How has God spoken you you through these Scriptures today?
Jeanne
You can read Moses' story in the Old Testament book of Exodus
Tweetables:
You can read Moses' story in the Old Testament book of Exodus
Tweetables:
Instead of asking, Who am I? God wants us to see that He is the great, I AM WHO (Click to Tweet)
Images courtesy of Morguefile.com
Images courtesy of Morguefile.com
God must be trying to tell me something! I read the story of Moses at the burning bush yesterday morning and prayed through each of his excuses. Thanks for bringing them before my mind again.
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting again, Sherry. I love when you know God is speaking through His word. His persistence and gentle nudges are good and show how He is at work.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jeanne. Being ministers of reconciliation and ambassadors for Christ came up in church this week, so I’ve been thinking how the ambassador to any country represents that particular place with its customs, rules, beliefs, etc. Also, ambassadors have the power and authority to speak in the stead of their country. The same holds true for us as Ambassadors for Christ. As Christian poets and writers, we become the voice of Christ with the opportunity to speak as He would to our readers. Wow!
ReplyDeleteTo encourage other members of our FB group to read this, I’ll highlight the post on the Christian Poets & Writers blog – www.christianpoetsandwriters.com.
God's definitely reaffirmed that I am empowered today... "With God’s power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine." (Eph. 3:20 NCV) So thank-you, Jeanne.
ReplyDeleteI can feel uneducated and under-qualified many times. When the truth is it's Jesus who qualifies! Jesus has justified, qualified and empowered me as His follower to do just that - follow Him. And serve.
For those reasons I love this verse: "The leaders saw that Peter and John were not afraid to speak, and they understood that these men had no special training or education. So they were amazed. Then they realized that Peter and John had been with Jesus." - Acts 4:13 NCV
"They realized that [they] had been with Jesus" (13). I just love that!
And I love you too, friend... Thanks for sharing your heart with all of us in this space.
Thank you, Mary. Your thoughts about what an ambassador does is very helpful and right on target. I appreciate you sharing this also. It helps to spread the word that we have work to do.
ReplyDeleteRebecca, I love the verses you shared. And, my favorite is the one where they saw the confidence of the disciples and then remembered they had been with Jesus. He is the source of our boldness.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your heart