What good news we have for a
hurting world. Jesus said to spread His
love and to let others know of all that He has done in His death, burial and
resurrection. He is not willing that
any should perish. Our loved ones, our
friends, our neighbors all need what Jesus offers and we are just the one's
that God has chosen to represent Him.
2 Corinthians 5:17
(amplified Bible) Therefore if
any person is [ingrafted] in Christ ( the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new
creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has
passed away. Behold, the fresh and new
has come!
If you have asked Jesus to
come into your life then you are a new person.
You have been born again by God's Spirit, and you have started a new
life, with Christ in your heart. This is
what has happened to you, when Jesus came in.
You are no longer the same person.
Deep within your heart you have changed.
2 Corinthians 5:18 But
all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself
[received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself] and gave to us
the ministry of reconciliation [that by word and deed we might aim to bring
others into harmony with Him].
The Bible teaches us that
when we accepted Jesus Christ to be the Lord and Savior of our lives, we were
received into favor with God and brought into harmony (peace and joy) with
Himself. Peace in our hearts is
priceless. Harmony within is what Jesus
died to give us.
And not only do we have this
personal experience of His peace and harmony within as we trust in Him, but
then God begins to use us to touch others for Him, so they also may experience
this peace and harmony with God.
Every Christian is Christ's ambassador. We are called by God to touch others with
His divine love. That, by both Word and deed we make it our aim to bring others into
harmony with Him. The more the Lord
Jesus works in your heart, the more you want others to experience the wonders
of His love. We start praying for others
that they also will find what we have found in Jesus. We look for ways and opportunities to share
this love both by our actions and our words.
We start to feel responsible to get this good news of Jesus Christ out to
others. Many times we feel insignificant
and inadequate, yet deep in our hearts we are burdened about that loved one, or
that person that we saw on the news or the neighbor across the street. Jesus called it, "His burden." It is a
weight of concern and responsibility growing within the maturing Christian.
Mathew 11:30 My yoke is
easy and My burden is light. A
burden is something carried. We who love
and follow Jesus Christ carry His care and concern in our hearts for
others. Jesus loves people so deeply and
places that love and concern deep into our hearts. Sometimes it brings us to tears. This burden from Jesus is to cause us to pray
and do what we can to help people who need His love. People often notice that we are different,
they are seeing, though they may not even realize it, that we are God's representatives.
2 Corinthians 5:19 It
was God [personally present] in Christ, reconciling and restoring the world to
favor with Himself, not counting up and holding against [men] their trespasses
[but cancelling them], and committing to us the message of reconciliation (of
the restoration to favor).
God is not holding peoples
sins against them, but cancelled sin on the cross of Christ. But people don't know this wonderful
truth. They think that God is against
them. In their minds they are enemies of
God and so they fight His truth and run from His love. But we are there as Christ's ambassador's reassuring people of God's great love for
them. We urge and plead with people to
put their faith in Jesus and in all He has done for them on the cross where He
died. We urge people to give up their
hostility and see that God loves them and that Jesus has died for all our
sins. Now they can be God's friend. God will listen to their prayers, and a whole
new way of life opens up for us.
2 Corinthians 5:20 So
we are Christ's ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were through us. We [as Christ's personal representatives] beg
you for His sake to lay hold of the divine favor [now offered you] and be
reconciled to God.
An ambassador is someone who
represents another country. That's what
we as believers do, we represent the kingdom of heaven. We represent our King of Kings.
Prov 11:30 b (amplified Bible) He/she who is wise captures human lives [for
God, as a fisher of men - he/she gathers and receives them for eternity].
Let's focus and do our best
to bring others with us to heaven. You
will leave everything behind when you pass on, except for your character and
those you influenced for Christ.
Jesus loves them and has
placed them across our paths so that we may win them to Himself.
Some things to do when you
are concerned for someone.
·
Pray for them. There is something powerful about bringing
people before God's throne of grace.
·
Reach out to them with kindness and
love, even if they are unlovely and irritating.
Ask God for ideas of how you can show them the love of Jesus. Bake a cake, mow their lawn, wash their
car. Do something nice for them.
·
Ask the Lord for an opportunity to
tell them something of what Jesus has done for you personally. Your personal story will always touch a person. They may not let you know what they are
thinking, but God works through our hearts and our story to win others with His
love.
·
Invite them to church, or give them
a Christian tract, or a Christian book to read.
Buy them a modern New Testament and help them with their questions. Just tell them what you are learning. Don't expect to know everything, tell them
your answers or if it's something difficult, look into it later and get back to
them on it.
·
Talk one of the leaders in the
church and both go visit this new person.
God loves people, we are His
ambassadors, let's represent Jesus to them and win them for eternity. You will be amazed at what God will do when
you take His burden into your heart
and do something with it.
In His harvest with you.
Barry Butters
(Pastor of Melton Christian Fellowship).