Last week...I shared with you THE KEY TO CARE...Two truths:
#1: GOD IS ALREADY AT WORK.
#2: JOIN HIM IN HIS WORK.
Sounds so easy….doesn’t it? So simple…
These TWO TRUTHS can set you free, yet…can I be truthful, here???
Doing ONLY what the Father is doing…can also be quite intimidating!
As you do it…you’ll quickly find lots of times when you’ll be scratching your head @ saying...GOD, I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU’RE DOING! GET ME OUTTA HERE!
Oh God....keep me from doing or saying the WRONG thing. I should just keep my mouth shut or my actions to myself so I don’t SCREW up what you want to do in the lives of those on my BOOKMARK!
Anybody ever feel that way???
When you start to feel that way...
Keep in mind TWO TRUTHS about our TWO TRUTHS.
1. Failure is OK with God.
Faith is spelled RISK. Failure is OK. Quitting is not.
2. The enemy says ’Failure is NOT OK with God’.
Your accuser wants YOU to believe this!
You can’t do that Jesus stuff!
That’s for the holy people to do..not you!
You’ll screw it up, you sinful idiot!
Your life is such a mess, you can’t do this!
You hypocrite…trying to bring others toward God when you are barely there yourself!
Any of you recognize those thoughts?
How many of you think that Paul was a pretty good over-achiever…spreading MAJOR GOD ACTIVITY to a lot of people in his life? YES??
Let’s read what Paul say about his ministry…
2Co 4:1-6 Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
GOOD STUFF PAUL….GO GET EM! The names on your BOOKMARKS don’t stand a chance against your evangelical POWER & WISDOM!!
Let’s read more what Paul say about his ministry…
2Co 4:7-11
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.
OUCH….WHAT HAPPENED HERE PAUL…you mean you feel like a jar of clay...hard pressed on every side??
Perplexed?? Persecuted? Struck down?
Say it isn’t so, PAUL!
CS Lewis…A man of GREAT INFLUENCE
"I’m tall, fat, rather bald, red-faced, double-chinned, black haired, have a deep voice, and wear glasses for reading.”
Lewis payed scant attention to clothes, dressing nothing similar to the groomed entrepreneurs & professors Lewis hob-nobbed with. Lewis’ year-round attire consisted of trousers rounded at the knees-hinting that they might have been slept in, a tweed jacket pitted by tobacco burns –the tell-tale evidence of his chain-smoking habit with cigarettes and pipe, and shoes at once down at the heel and hungering for polish.
Lewis & his writings have reached literally millions & 3 generations of readers. Yet when asked what would become of his book royalties after he died…Lewis commented…After I’ve been dead 5 years, no one will read anything I’ve written!
Dorothy Sayers called Lewis…God’s terrier…a man with missionary zeal.
He took seriously his call to spread God’s Kingdom in all manners God gave him. His influence brought literally hundreds of fan letters daily. Spiritual seekers. Broken people. Fame seekers. Honest skeptics…
Through it all, Lewis ALWAYS took the time to answer each piece of mail personally.
His prayer…
“Pray for me that God grant me to say things helpful to salvation, or at least not harmful.”
How about you?
How do you feel about your ability to CARE??
Feeling under-underprepared, ill-equipped to CARE for your circle of influence???
Maybe I can encourage you with these quotes...
Henri Nouwen called himself...a wounded healer
John Wimber… I’m just a fat man trying to get to heaven.
Brennon Manning: I’m a Ragamuffin for Jesus.
Mother Theresa...an ordinary person with a super-ordinary God doing extraordinary things.
So...why am I telling you these stories?
YOU are called to be giver of CARE to the people on your bookmark…GOD WILL USE YOU! Just as you are today!
It’s OK with God when we fail.
It’s NOT OK with God when we QUIT!
2 Cor. 4:16-18 (The Message)
So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.
AMEN
