Suffering

Acts 9:15-16 (ESV)

¹⁵ But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.   ¹⁶ For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”

Sometimes our service to the Lord involves suffering for the Lord.  This is something the A

postle Paul learned in time.  You see, a “few years” earlier, Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” Matthew 16:24 (ESV).  It doesn’t sound easy, that’s for sure!   There are crosses to carry, desires to deny, and burdens to bear.  It’s the rule, not the exception!  Such is the way of all who want to follow in the footsteps of Jesus ministry.  But don’t worry, you’re in good company.  Paul described the details of his service…

²³ Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one-I am talking like a madman-with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. ²⁴ Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.  ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; ²⁶ on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; ²⁷ in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.  ²⁸ And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. 2 Corinthians 11:23-28 (ESV)

It doesn’t sound easy does it?  But is it worth it?  Oh yes!  Friends, God’s calling on your life, his master plan for your ministry, its well worth the aches and pains!  Don’t give up!

Paul wrote to his friends in Rome…

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” Romans 8:18 (ESV).

How true it is!  Don’t lose heart!  Consider your difficulties a part of God’s master plan for your ministry, the fruit of your calling.  And then give thanks to Jesus that you’re just following in his footsteps!

God bless you

Shane

Hurricane

Matthew 8:25-26 (ESV)

“25 And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” 26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.”

The disciples had already seen Jesus perform many miracles and yet, in a panic, they display deficient faith. “Little faith”, the Greek word oligopistos does not mean “no faith”, but rather “ineffective,” “defective,” or “deficient” faith. So we may think of Jesus saying, “O you of deficient faith”.

It is interesting to me that it took only one episode of rough seas for the disciples to allow their faith to slip into a defective state. It reminds me of myself sometimes. Does it remind you of you? Even though we have extreme faith in Christ and our belief is solid as a rock, we can have a tendency to show little of that faith during a storm. Money, work, marriage, children; these are just some of the things that can challenge us to the point of feeling as though we are perishing. But this is when we will need our faith the most; during the hurricane.

“…Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.” Friends, Jesus is able to stop the hurricane, to command even the forces of nature. Just as God in the Old Testament “rebukes” the sea, He has complete control over the natural world. And surely the One who is in command over the natural world also has the power to calm our storm, the hurricane in our life, to settle the wind and the sea for us.

What will your faith look like during the next storm? Will your faith be faulty, flawed, and futile? Or will you have ample, adequate, able and awesome faith during the hurricane? Read Matthew 8 in its entirety this week for encouragement!

Blessings,

Shawn

Maintaining Unity

Ephesians 4:2-3 (ESV)

“with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Humility, gentleness, patience, and love were all qualities that were evident in Christ’s own character and these things should also be displayed in the daily walk of every Christian. Exhibiting these qualities helps “maintain the unity of the Spirit”.

How are we doing when it comes to maintaining unity in our ministries? We are charged with maintaining unity, and Paul says we should be eager to do so. Paul urges us to walk in a manner worthy of our calling. When we don’t walk this way, we can very easily affect harmony within our ministries and the church body as a whole. When we operate in unity, amazing things can happen.

I am reminded of the light bulb/laser beam example. Inside a 40 watt bathroom bulb, there are millions of photons flying around, bouncing off one another. That’s how they light the room. But those same photons can be focused in solidarity, in unity. It is then that they become a laser beam, capable of burning through steel.

If the people in our ministries are the photons, is our ministry a laser beam, or a 40 watt bathroom bulb? Are there ways that we can promote unity? Are there ways we can avoid hindering it? I encourage you to think about these things this week as we move forward together; in unity.

God bless you in your ministry!

Shawn

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…….The following are the message notes from yesterday’s ACTS meeting:

When is ministry a bad thing?

1. You need the ministry more than people need your ministry.

2. When it’s centered on self.

• “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” Acts 20:24 (ESV)

• “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1 (ESV)

3.  When it’s operated by ego.

• “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”  Proverbs 16:18 (NIV)

When we allow our ministries to be operated by our egos…

• our judgment becomes clouded,
• we focus on the wrong things,
• And fools slip through on us.

4. When it’s wasted on the wrong people.

Proverbs 16:22 “Good sense is a fountain of life to him who has it, but the instruction of fools is folly.”

Proverbs 27:22 “Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, yet his folly will not depart from him.”

Matthew 7:6 “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.”

5.  When it’s low on love.

John 13:34-35: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”