CHURCH! WAKE UP! You have in you everything this world needs! You are conduits of Christ – conduits of His love, compassion, hope, joy, peace, healing, and redemption! You were not simply put on this earth to receive from Him for your own life and needs. You were put here for a divine mission to restore all that was lost when sin and darkness entered this world. You were put here to be a beacon of light! God has not placed in you His unlimited power to keep it hidden, but rather to be released!
Will this require you to be inconvenienced at times? Yes! Will this require you to sacrifice? Yes! Will this require you to stretch beyond your current borders and comfort zones and preconceived notions? Yes! Will this require you to exercise characteristics in your life that you’re not always good at and really don’t want to exercise – like patience, peace, gentleness, kindness, and joy? Yes! Thank, God, YES! When we demonstrate God’s character and heart to others when it isn’t easy, or we don’t have time, or we don’t want to get involved, or we might be embarrassed, or misunderstood, or slandered, or even worse, persecuted, we are sharing in the suffering of Christ. Not only that, however; we are also sharing in the joy of bringing His heart to someone else’s pain or need! In what higher purpose could you participate? What higher calling is there? Oh, count it JOY to be the heart and help of Christ to those He brings across your path, regardless of the price you may have to pay in terms of your own time or convenience or need! Paul, who suffered more than any, said He counted it all joy to share in the sufferings of Christ in order to know Him, impart Him to others, and become more like Him (Philippians 3:8-14):
8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith inChrist—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Count it all joy, dear ones! You are a treasure trove of God’s power! The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in you to resurrect life and bring light to the darkness! Christ is the Son of God Who came to earth as a man, and wrought miracles through God’s Spirit. Christ told us we would do greater works than He did when the Holy Spirit works through us! Believe it Church! Wake up! Share the love! Share the treasure with which God has entrusted you! Be the conduits of His mercy and grace and faith! Be hope! Share God’s Words of faith and light and encouragement with those who feel they have helpless, hopeless situations, because no situation is hopeless with Christ! Be someone’s turnaround today! Go forth with the power and light God has placed in you, and bring deliverance!
You are the conduit of Christ!
Pastor Lisa Marie
If you have never made Jesus the Lord of your life and desire to, pray this: Dear God, I believe that Jesus is your Son, that He died on the cross for me and was resurrected for my redemption. I choose to make Jesus the Lord of my life. I thank you for forgiving me and for filling me with Your Holy Spirit. I thank You that I am Your child, that You are my Father, and that You have great things planned for me. Amen.
Join us at River City Church, Sundays at 10:00 with Pastor Lisa Marie, to hear the Spirit-filled, uncompromised Word of God. River City Church, 6906 West Hwy 100, Washington, MO 63090