Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us too, that God may open a door for our message so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
I find it so difficult to do what Paul is talking about here!! I am constantly shying away from sharing Christ with everyone I meet, even though that is what God has called me to do. I let my human emotions get in the way. I think its a pride issue. I am afraid of what people might think of me asking if I can pray for them, or even if I just mention that I believe in Christ and why. I become 'unsure' of my reasoning. I get nervous and think 'these reasons aren't good enough. Nothing I can say will make this person believe in Christ.' But God didn't call me to save people. He called me to share his love. All I need to do is proclaim Christ. Of course I need to be praying continuously (1 Thes. 5:17) and stay in the Word to always be 'full of grace, seasoned with salt,' but i need to realize that I don't have to find a 'magic word' or 'secret formula' in order to get people to Christ. I just need to know what He has done in my life and what He will do in others'!! I like to think of myself as a fairly kind person, but really, I snap pretty easily..'Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity'..I certainly have a LOT of work to do in this area.
As I'm getting into ministry and missions, I'm realizing more and more just how important it is to stay in the Word and to always pray. Being quiet and waiting on the Lord has never been a strength of mine. I get bored/irritated waiting, thinking that God 'isn't listening' to me (more like, I'm not listening to him..). I get all these grand ideas of how 'my' missions will play out or what I can say to a certain person to make things 'click' into place for them. Instead, I need to call on the Lord and wait in prayer for Him to open doors, opportunities to minister to people.
Lord, help me to seek you. Help me to not desire anything else, but that I would be fully devoted to your word and sharing your love with others..
I so appreciate what you shared because it's a basic, simple truth that I constantly forget. I've been so impressed with your growth in your relationship with the Lord. You've been an example to me and reminded me of what it means to return to your first love. Thanks friend!
ReplyDeleteLeah-- I'm so excited you have a blog now! Its so amazing to hear what God is doing in your life. I miss hanging out with you guys so much! Thanks for stopping by my blog, the book is called Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey.
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