My time with Jesus every morning is wanted, desired, and needed. I hope you find your time with Him on the daily to renew, regroup and get some vision.
This morning Isaiah’s speaking to me 2,300 years later….because the Word is alive and active. In Chapter 45 “God is with you…I would not have told the people of Israel to seek Me if I could not be found. I carried you BEFORE YOU WERE BORN.”
Then Ephesians 4….as I am doing the one year Bible plan. This Bible couldn’t have been more perfect for 2020.
4 Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. 2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.
5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 one God and Father of all,
who is over all, in all, and living through all.
11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
And I thought about how God made me an evangelist. TT loves the gospel. He made me that way. Every since I was saved 20 years ago, I immediately wanted to tell about Him.
The goal of being a gift to the church in your calling is to make the body of Christ mature…not tossed around…so we can be HEALTHY and GROWING and FULL OF LOVE.
Flying home from Florida on Tuesday, I met “E”, a 28 year old Catholic man who doesn’t practice his faith. We talked the whole flight. He knew and I knew that we sat next to each other for a reason. He even verbalized that.
I told my story, shared the gospel, listened to his story and encouraged him in the way God created him. I hope him and his wife will begin to follow Jesus.
On the uber ride home I got Ibrahima. I was excited by the name alone because I knew he or she was a Muslim….at least guessed it by the name. Sure enough, he was. The gospel went forth in that uber ride. (an hour and a half at least)
He said all religions lead to God. I said “So I am Teresa and you are Ibrahima. What if I say I am Ibrahima and you are Teresa….would that be true? So either the God of Islam is true or the God of Christianity is true.” He responded “I believe Islam is true, that’s why I follow it.”
I don’t think we realize our own contradictions
until we get them out of our mouths or someone challenges them.
I encouraged him to ask God what the truth was. I told him how Muslims have had dreams and God showed Himself to them.
Told Ibrahima about Osama in Bible school who had memorized the Koran and then began to question Islam. How he had a dream of Jesus and came to our Bible school after becoming a believer. In the Bible school we led, we read through the Bible 5 times. I asked Osama at the end of the school, so what is the difference between God of the Bible and God of the Koran? He responded “The God of the Bible is a God of love.”
I said to Ibrahima “I know in Islam, you have 99 names of God and love is not one of them, but our God says “God is love.”
I told Ibrahima how Mohammad didn’t have any witnesses to his revelations but Jesus appeared to 500 after His resurrection. That I would tend to believe someone with some more witnesses.
(Islam came 600 years after Jesus)
We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love,
Who did God make you? Are you using your gift and walking our your calling? You will not walk alone. He carried you BEFORE you were even born. He is with you. He wants the church healthy and mature. Will you be a part of this?
