PASSAGE: Thanksgiving and Prayer, Paul's Chains Advance the Gospel
MEMORY VERSE: "In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry" Ephesians 4:26
NOTES: (v.9) "And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the say of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God"
(v.14) "Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly."
(v.15) "It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love...the former preach Christ....supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice"
DUDE this passage just blows me away. Paul is truly living out the command to "deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me (Jesus)" [Luke 9:23-25]. It reminds of a verse I learned at YSC: "He must become greater; I must become less" [John 3:30]. It's amazing that even as people are working against Paul to give him trouble, he still rejoices because Christ is being preached. The message of the gospel is so much more important to him than his own self that it he truly has decreased himself so that God may increase. WOW.
(v.20) "I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." This, and Ephesians 6:19-20 is an ongoing prayer request that I have. For a while now I have been hungry to spread love specifically by sharing the gospel, and lately i've been convicted to scatter seeds of His salvation on my high school campus. However, boldness and courage is something that I struggle with when dealing with non-Christians, because I more often than not fear men more than I fear God. Pray that when I am faced with an opportunity to share His message, I will "Fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel" for Jesus!!
(v.29) "For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have."
ACT OF LOVE: Today, I...
-Gave my friend a ride to the Sunday morning meeting we had. Bright & early at 8am!
-Talked to/encouraged both speakers from the Sunday service session and the HS/Jr High Sunday school session briefly. I introduced myself and thanked them for coming! (This weekend was a conference where a whole bunch of sister churches from around the world came and spent the weekend with us. There were delegates from India, Indonesia, Canada, Hong Kong, and a whole bunch of other places! Pretty cool stuff!)
-Gave up my seat on the couch (after some "encouragement") so that jr highers/other high schoolers could sit there. Sat next to a girl named Grace that I just met & got to know her a bit. She's super nice!
-A random stranger needed change for a $20, and since no one else had change I gave it to him (although I was initially reluctant)
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