Isaiah 55:11 NLT
“It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”
Ecclesiates 7 NLT
“13Accept the way God does things, for who can straighten what he has made crooked. 14Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God. Remember that nothing is certain in this life.”
To the genuine believer, what God had taught us in life either by experience or revelation will not be taught in vain.
The Holy Spirit’s discipline is about giving us the courage, faith, hope and love to “connect the dots” and formulate a means to minister to others by word or deed.
We only have a small window during a crisis in a person’s life to minister to them the gospel of Christ as gentle and as loving as we can.
And we have to treat every opportunity to preach the gospel as if it was our last.
Remember, SIN will always be mankind’s default place of comfort. Unless we bring the love of Christ, people will not be curious to draw out of their darkness. Why should they?
Satan has made it extremely comfortable for us to simply remain in sin.
So we pray for a Father’s love, that He will either give us the faith to trust someone to lead us out of our “sin” or to make our “sin” so uncomfortable that we are forced to leave on our own.
Finally, the scriptures say that those who have heard the Father and learned from him will come to Jesus Christ. And this is what we preach. We preach Jesus Christ as HE was preached in His entirety by the Apostles.
A gospel that remains sharper than any two edged sword with the power to separate one’s soul and spirit.
Now a sword that sharp does us no good if we are not in range to fight!
This is why we live by the shield, God’s protection like a fortress will allow us to draw close enough to the enemy where we can eventually draw our swords and utilize them effectively. Similar to the Apostle Paul who was a Benjamite, a tribe literally of experienced swordsman.
Similar to a paper cut that we recognize way too late, a sword so razor sharp that it will penetrate any armor and flesh so quietly and unnoticed that before they realize what has happened, it had already pierced their heart and soul.
So let us “Be wise as serpents, yet harmless as doves”, brothers and sisters as we become experienced fishermen and swordsman for our Lord Jesus Christ.
Lastly, remember me, brother Rory and brother Darren in prayer as we cast our nets on the northwest part of town on Wednesday nights.
God’s grace be with us always, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Ray Evangelista