Reconciliation

God’s Construction Project

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

Nearly everybody (Including me) is interested in discovering their ministry. We buy books, attend training sessions and try our hand at lots of various opportunities. There is nothing wrong and a lot right with the desire to serve. God is excited to get going with a construction project called reconciliation. He wants us reconciled and He is more than eager to use us to participate in reconciliation in the lives of others. But if we begin by focusing on what we want, what interests us and where we like to serve we are doomed to destruction not construction!

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Notice this verse begins with God. Until everything belongs to Him in our attitudes, in our words and in our actions not much is really going on even if our life is filled with activities. If we go galloping off before surrendering in these areas God has a way of pulling back on our reins and bringing us to a screeching halt. Here is what Jesus says,

…  apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5

He doesn’t say “without me you can’t do much.” or “Without me you won’t reach your full potential” It’s like pregnancy. You either are or you are not. Just as the Japanese signed a document of unconditional surrender at the end of WW2, so we must totally yield ourselves to Christ. The good news about reconciliation begins the moment the ink is dry on our commitment of faith. All that we once possessed now belongs to God but all that He possesses belongs to us. God moves in and immediately begins a post war reconstruction project called reconciliation. By having the unlimited resources of God at work in us we discover that place of service to which He has called us in the lives of others.

 

 

Lost in Translation

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Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.                       2 Corinthians 5:20

In Paul’s day ambassadors would have been required to speak both the language of their king as well as that of the people to whom they were sent. As Christ’s ambassadors we, must not only proclaim, but also translate. I have worked as a translator, so here are a few tips. First, let His message flow! Simply speaking another language doesn’t help us to translate if we get caught up on every detail. We must flow with the message. That is how God wants us to share the gospel. We don’t need to understand everything. Our job is to do the best we can and let it flow!

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Second, don’t change the message. There are times when I am not comfortable with what the person for whom I am translating is saying but I can’t change or leave out the parts I don’t like.  God has called us to carry His entire message to all kinds of people and trust Him. Last, never stop learning! Just because I can adequately translate doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try to improve. As God’s ambassadors we must always be striving to know the language of heaven better. We are called to reach our world. The stakes are eternal. The rewards are immense. How can we do less than our best to speak in ways that reach people desperately in need of Him?

Effective Prayer Part One

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Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much  James 5:16

Prejudice is a common issue all across denominational lines. Many of our greatest struggles in relationships seem to be within the the church rather than out in the world. Amazingly even in the early church they had the very same issues! Right after the miracles and with the church growing at a phenomenal pace they ran into difficulties between the Greek Jews and the Hebrew Jews. It was a conflict that in various forms was played out through the entire book of Acts. What is encouraging is that though even the early church had problems, God worked with them in just as He continues to work with us today.

The breakthrough came, not because of some program or by the power of reason but by God’s action with a non-Christian Roman centurion named Cornelius and the Apostle Peter. First God spoke by an angel to Cornelius as he was praying and told him to send for Peter to learn the way of salvation. Cornelius then sent a delegation to Peter to find out what God wanted him to know. Since the apostles weren’t even speaking with Greek speaking Jews much less Romans, God had to send a vision to Peter telling him to receive the men coming to see him. After Peter went to Cornelius’ house and heard about Cornelius’ prayers and the angel visitation Peter came to a startling conclusion. God didn’t think the way that he did! God in fact cared about people whom Peter would not have even spoken with the previous day!

Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and workimg1348ks righteousness is accepted by Him  Acts 10:34-35

Is God’s work being slowed down by how we think about others? Who might we be praying for and reaching if we began to see them through the eyes of God? How much more effective might our prayers be if we saw men through the eyes of God rather than God through the eyes of men!