Do You Know Who This Is About?
Good Morning Friends,
My ministry…my life…my suffering has had a central theme of striving to bring dignity to nameless people lost in the statistics. These are the poor, the least, the lost, the last, the anonymous, often despised groups of people marginalized as in-significant before society but not before God. But this devotional it is not about them or numbers and it is not about me. Do You Know Who This Is About?
Scripture: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ. If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation; if we are being consoled, it is for your consolation, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we are also suffering. Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our consolation.
2 Corinthians 1:3-7 (NRSV)
What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground unperceived by your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. ‘Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.
Matthew 10:27-33 (NRSV)
Message: In today’s scripture Jesus tells us what He expects of His disciples…of us. We need to have commitment to face the opposition in this world, for it is our belief that makes us righteous…our faith that protects us. The message is clear. We need to stand our ground in what we believe and boldly proclaim the good news. Jesus gives speech to the speechless and expects us to continue the work. The reality is that Christ expects us to acknowledge Him before men….to love Him more than anything else and one of the ways we can do this is to extend dignity to others. We need to be unashamed in following Jesus’ lead. We need to keep our head and not panic in the battle before us. We need to lead as He led…by example, believing that the student is to be like the teacher…knowing that we are expected to publically place our bet on Jesus and show forth His love as an example. We really have nothing to lose and everything to gain. If we give up all that we think we have, we will gain all that God knows we need. If we cling to the world we cannot embrace God. In our suffering, in outreach to the poor, we discover what God can do, how we can help others in need, and we learn not to rely on our self. Friends, we are part of something greater in Christ. Now I do not know what God has planned for your life but I have been given a spiritual poverty, a spiritual hunger that can only be satisfied though interactions with the poor. Here in and though my life God’s love is combined with the needs of others to help chart new courses that can benefit us all. So today I encourage you to explore how to look outside ourselves for light…how to reach out and be a light for others…how to look up and
come
out of the darkness. Today I encourage you to count the cost of discipleship and to endure so that God might count you as worthy. Know that God should never be counted out as long as what we do is counted for Christ. It is God’s love that brings dignity in the Word made flesh. Here with a tone of voice that speaks truth with love, the revolution begins. Here in this place beyond boundaries God makes us complete.
Pray that we reach the end of ourselves so that God can work through us. Pray that in our suffering, in our outreach to the poor, we encourage others with dignity. Pray that this experience of darkness in our lives turns into thanksgiving and light. Pray that we teach others how to handle suffering and poverty (both financial and spiritual) by not relying on ourselves but by working together. Pray that we come out of the darkness and into the light. Pray we learn to speak the truth with love.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 