Share the Gospel, Share Life

Today I sat and talked with a fellow ministry concerning maybe partnering with them. As we both shared from our mentoring experiences, I was impressed with an understanding I may have had but never put it into words. Satan uses our memories, experiences, and even our thoughts to trap us into silence when it comes to speaking God's truth into someone else's life. I cannot speak for any other teacher, but God requires me to live out what I teach. My students will tell you if I am struggling in an area, I am honest concerning that issue. I also tell them what God requires, and obedience is not optional. The Church, though, has allowed immoral behavior to be accepted, possibly because the sin at one point was in their life. It is almost like Satan has convinced us that you are disqualified from speaking God's word if you have sinned.

Let me put it another way. Imagine that while you were at work that a broken filing cabinet took off the tip of your finger. While you were standing there in pain and a pool of blood, a co-worker said, "Yeah, that happened to me yesterday, but I did not want to tell you." How would you feel?
When we are redeemed from our sins by salvation through Jesus Christ, our sins were paid for in full. The very moment we die to ourselves and are raised in Christ, we are eligible and entitled to our Father's inheritance. From the first day of our liberty, we should tell everyone how to be released from the domination of evil. If someone rejects the message, then okay, but don't ever allow yourself to be silenced because you committed immoral acts in your past. We all have so get in line. What we can never do is let someone go to hell just because we disqualified ourselves or should I say, coward out. There are no do-overs in hell.
"Now I, Paul, myself urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am meek when face to face with you, but bold toward you when absent! I ask that when I am present I need not be bold with the confidence with which I propose to be courageous against some, who regard us as if we walked according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ" 2 Corinthians 10:1-6

Comments

Authority Given By God

The other day, God reminded me of a story. When I was teaching in the old mission building, my classroom was the library. I loved the big tables that we could join together as we discussed God’s word. Then I had to move over to the men’s side of the building and teach in one of the classrooms. It was your standard room with conference tables. At the time, I felt the setup cold as I was way upfront from the ladies “teaching.” My director permitted me to join the tables together to make it more intimate. Since I was having trouble with my legs, she told me I could leave the tables joined together for the guys to put the room back together. She forgot to tell the guys. One day, a man came storming into my classroom and yelled at me. “You will put those tables back,” he demanded. I looked up and slowly said, “No.” He screamed again, “Yes, you will.” I again replied, “No, and if you have a problem with that answer, you can talk with my supervisor.” The look on his fa...

Questions about Fasting Part One

Was fasting a foretelling of repentance and dying to self? Everything in the Old Testament Jewish faith was the "first to establish the second," meaning the religious acts were a foretelling to set up the death and resurrection of Christ. The practice of circumcision is not a sacred act anymore, nor is sacrifice. Why? Because in the New Covenant through Jesus, circumcision is now of the heart and not the flesh. The book of Romans reminds us that every religious act of the flesh has been replaced by living under grace through faith. So why are we continuing the practice of fasting for repentance or sorrow? Is that not an act of flesh? Do we not believe that if we confess our sins, Jesus is faithful and just to forgive us? Why do you have to starve yourself to get God to move or hear Him? Don't we believe that He has heard us if we ask according to His will? Do you think God is motivated more by our acts of humility or our acts of faith? Does He not kn...

Fast Part Two

I have been mulling over the part fasting should be playing in the age of grace. For two weeks, I have questioned my friends about why they fast. Most of my friends said the same thing: to get close to God or hear God. My friends are kind and allow me to challenge their thought processes or debate them concerning their answers. Yesterday at church, God finally brought a complete response to me about fasting. Imagine yourself on a date or having an intimate dinner with someone, and they took out their phone and started scrolling. What if you were talking to a friend and they walked away from you to do something else? How would you feel if someone you loved screened their calls and refused to pick up the phone to talk with you? All three of those scenarios are how we treat God. God looks at the relationship with His people as a marriage. There is not one marriage that can survive without intimacy or that special closeness withheld for only one. When we read ve...

L. Kathleen Cline

Search This Blog