IN THE NAME OF JESUS
Not long ago I had an interesting conversation with a customer who was genuinely unhappy with how he’d been treated by so-called Christian businessmen. I’ve heard this complaint before from other customers, and it is often used as a means of defending against taking advantage of them. The problem with the area of the country where I live, is that most trades people are Christians, and I can point to far more trades people being taken advantage of than customers. If you express your faith in Jesus Christ to your customer, it becomes a test of your faith, and a battle of wits. Neither of these scenarios are the way Jesus wants us to live. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard people say, “If that’s the way Christians are, I don’t want to be one.” What makes that statement ironic is that it is often said by people who moments before were trying to tell me how good of a Christian ‘they’ are. Thankfully, I've been blessed with awesome customers, and the ability to fulfill my obligations to them. I said all of that, because the Kingdom of heaven isn't about perfection but about the perfect one. The carnal nature rises up in every one of us from time to time. If it weren't so, then Paul would have never told us to 'renew our minds daily'. At the same time, the carnal nature isn't our default nature any more. In the name of Jesus we overcome the carnal nature by living in the Spirit of Christ.
I think most of you have caught on to the notion that I believe the Kingdom of Heaven is something we’re supposed to bring to this earth. I hold on to a belief that we can walk this vale in the power, and leadership of Holy Spirit. The Spirit of life will guide the listening, the loving, and the obedient to a life of purpose.
What is that purpose? SIMPLE!!!! Proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ!!
How you do that is what makes you a unique, and valued citizen of the Kingdom. The message is the same message Peter said in Caesarea Philippi. “You (Jesus) are the Christ, the son of the living God.”
As we move forward into our study, I find it exciting that we are in the book of Acts as part of our daily reading. I would hope that as we go forward into our daily reading that you would have a notebook handy so you can write down places, dates, people, and events. This will find its way into our future studies into the epistles of Paul, Peter, James, and John.
The same advice goes for the letters themselves. Look at each letter and look for specific, and unique things that the Apostles addressed to each church. This is important because the gospel didn’t explode on the world of that day. It began slowly, and eventually picked up steam. As the Apostles left Israel, and began to preach throughout the middle east, they could only hope that the churches they planted would grow. Some churches never made it out of the initial phases, and others sputtered along until they finally became bastions of the faith. It would take nearly 1900 years for the gospel to be preached in every nation, and it will take a while longer for those nations to be discipled. Still, the Kingdom of Heaven moves on. The advance of the Kingdom can be slowed or sped up simply by whose name we chose to advance it. If we do everything we do in the name of Jesus, then I have faith that we will move at lightning speed. If we stumble and build a kingdom on any other name, with any other gospel, the next generation will have to start all over. Let's choose to lift up the name of Jesus!
As we study the people of Galatia, I hope you will find out where and when the gospel was preached to them, and by whom. See if you can determine the keystone issues that Paul had to devote time to. Open up the book of Galatians and see what Paul said.
I look forward to what Pastor Colby has to bring our way.
