Are You Ready
To Show the World?
Good Morning Friends,
What is your image of the power of God in His Church? Is it winning souls, changing lives and impacting the communities in which we live? When the disciples could no longer follow an earthly Jesus, Jesus sent them and us something to bind us together in Christian love. He sent us the Holy Spirit so we would have the advantage and ability collectively to do great things. It is the unfinished work of the church and it is all about what we can do together that demonstrates our belief in Jesus. Are You Ready
To Show the World?
Scripture: Jesus said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem . . . and to the ends of the earth.”
Acts 1:8 (NIV)
I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost. But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
1 Timothy 1:12-17 (NRSV)
“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. “Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
John 17:20-26 (NRSV)
Immediately the father of the child cried out, ‘I believe; help my unbelief!’
Mark 9:24 (NRSV)
Message: Believing in Christ takes a lot of patience but also motivation. Some days I have enough and others I just have to trust it will be enough and that God’s mercy and grace will make up the difference. Somehow I am always pleasantly surprised. You see there is a miracle that lies within each of us that empowers, equips and enables us to receive the power of life…it is love made possible by God’s mercy. It is not based on our thinking but in risking enough to feel. In love we have the power for living, the power to witness, the power to pray and even the power to perform miracles. What it amounts to, when in unity with other lovers, is the power to be like Jesus in this world. That is believing. When we do things together a source of comfort and of constant amazement helps us to affirm that we have been chosen to be part of God’s plan of salvation. Then the Holy Spirit gives us capacity individually but more importantly collectively. Indeed we are to know and to rely on both. We are to witness by and through the power of the Holy Spirit in which we move, live and have our very being and also as the body of the church. Friends, we need to live in the power of the Spirit here on earth until we get to our heavenly home that Jesus has prepared for us. We need to rejoice because Jesus has interceded for us to protect, sanctify and bring unity to us all through love for each other and collectively as the called out assembly. For Paul it was his calling founded on the overwhelming mercy of God manifested in individual lives that spills over into community. For John as witness in Jesus’ prayer, it was the unity of love of those called to serve. We are to combine our witness to the world. For it is in walking and working together we realize that we are already united in the name of the Lord. Here when we join together in our callings…sharpening each other for God’s purposes, God’s mercy and love unite to renew our relationships with Christ, the Spirit, and the Father and that is a miracle we need to show the world.
Pray we search for Christian unity trusting fully in God’s mercy. Pray in the light of the Word of God that we be guided to walk together. Pray that when we move collectively we move with God. Pray we have the courage to follow the leaning of the Holy Spirit. Pray we thank God for the companions along the way. Pray we move in the experience of a unity of Spirit. Pray this experience helps us truly affirm our belief in Christ. Pray we are united in its joy. Pray we become a visible sign of a God who calls us as disciples. Pray we seek to put into practice a common mission. Pray the called out assembly in this place lives to emulate Him. Pray we learn to love creatively with faith in the power God has to do great things in and through us. Pray we have the power to live for Jesus. Pray we individually and collectively are in the unity of God’s love. Pray we have the power to believe and the power to have faith. Pray we realize the power of the Holy Spirit is for a purpose. Pray we conform to Christ-likeness. Pray we receive the gift of the Father through the Son. Pray we share what we have received in Christian love. Pray that the streams of Holy History converge into one, of Christ transforming every area of human experience washing over and transforming culture in the power, revelation, and revival of His presence with us. Pray we remember those who have loved. Pray we seek the transformative experience of the grace of Christ.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 