Life is full of hard mysteries, but we can trust that God knows what he is doing. And when you see circumstances which look bleak, instinctively get on your knees and pray with faith and fervour. This is where true change comes from.
Category: Studies in Acts
Church planting 101
Friends, whether you’ve been a Christian 5 minutes or 50 years, keep going, keep pressing on toward Christ, stay true to the Lord. When the temptation to give in is there, keep going. Keep persevering. Jesus alone has the words of eternal life. Follow him, live for him, pursue him, stay true to him and his calling on your life to love and serve him with all your heart.
Breaking down barriers
Sin is a barrier between God and us. Only Jesus can remove the barrier between us and God and bring us eternal peace with God. Why not admit to Jesus today that, morally speaking, you are drowning. Ask Jesus, in prayer, to pull you to the shore and he will. He invites everyone to call out to him promising to save.
Doing good to all
So, as we do good to the glory of God, always be ready to give a reason for the hope you have that many might not simply have their lives improved, but their eternity secure.
The effect of true change
True conversion is evidenced by true and demonstrable change. Let’s pray that the Lord would give us courage in our families, and amongst friends, as well as work colleagues. Witnessing will be costly so we need God-given boldness.
An unlikely candidate
As Christians, may we reflect on our own lives and share something of the people we used to be before we knew Jesus. May we remember the time when we met with the risen Jesus and became Christians. And may we consider, imperfect though we are, the new people God has made us.
Personal evangelism
There’s an evangelistic imperative to go and tell, to proclaim the beauty and glory of Jesus in the gospel. The fact is, that for your family member, neighbour, colleague, friend, you might be the only Christian in their life. How might God use you as a witness in their life to point them to Jesus by how you live your life?
Suffering and evangelism
We’re called to spread the Gospel in good times and in bad. As we do so, we’ll see true conversions – authentic change – but we’ll also be disappointed by those who appeared to believe and said all the right things, but they had no root – no saving faith in Jesus. We must examine also our own hearts to ensure that, yes, we have admitted our sinfulness to God and cast ourselves on Jesus alone to save us.
Wisdom versus desperation
Don’t shrink back from the opportunity to speak up for Jesus. You might fear, you might worry about yourself and your wisdom or lack of it, you may worry about what will people say, think or do. We have been called to speak the truth in all wisdom and love, let that be our task and let’s leave the rest up to God.
Handling problems in the church
All Christians have been given a spiritual gift to use in the church. May the Lord help us to have open eyes, so we will see the needs which exist and meet them as we can.