God's Ambassadors

Today a friend and I were going through 2 Corinthians 5 when we came to verse 20, "We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God."

I have been thinking about this verse all day. Yes I knew I was the ambassador of Christ but the two other things that really popped out to me were: "as though God were making his appeal through us" and "Be reconciled to God"

It doesn't matter how many evangelical tools I have, how many classes I have taken, how well I speak or what version of the Bible I am using because it is God who is making his appeal through me. How does that happen? I look at the other things I have mentioned and they all seem to be very man centered but this says it is a God centered process to be an ambassador. Sure classes and materials are good to have but it is the Holy Spirit who does the work. So what is our part? How about prayer? We need to spend a great deal of time in prayer and then allow God to make his appeal to whoever we are speaking to. It helps us to remember that it is God who saves not a specific formula of words.

It also doesn't matter how well we know the scriptures if we allow sin to separate us from our relationship to God. As His ambassadors we are to be reconciled with Him which means we need to confess our sins (agree with Him) and then repent of our sins (turn from them). When we do that we are held accountable by God. Our confession puts us at a higher level of accountability. So we should be more aware when we begin to go down that path of sin again. The warning is that without the reconciliation we cannot be the ambassadors we are called to be.

So I am Christ's ambassador. I need to get myself out of the way, check my heart in order to confess and repent of sin and pray allowing God to make his appeal through me. It's a tall order but He's a big God.

A Man of His Word

Last week as I was leaving my daughter's home, my granddaughter, Addy, said to her mom, "What does it mean to be a man of your word?"

My daughter answered, "It means you do what you said you were going to do."

Addy said, "Can you help me make Tristan be a man of his word? He said he was going to play with me."

Wow! It was very funny to hear a 5 year old speak in such a way and it was also very convicting. How many times do I nonchalantly say, "I'll pray for you" and then forget I said it. I need to be a woman of my word. I need to take the words that come out of my mouth seriously. In fact here is how serious my words are..."Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment." Proverbs 12:19 A woman of the her word is truthful. Truth will last forever. Truth can set you free. Truth can give you hope to endure. Truth makes you trustworthy. Truth is not hard because it is real and open.

Addy, the truth is that no one can make someone else be a man of his word. It comes from his heart to love truth and follow through on it. The best we can do is model it for others to see in obedience to God.

Addy, I can say this to you...I am praying for you, Tristan, Everett and Seth to be a woman and men of your word. I promise to not forget about it. :)

Politics and a 6 year old

On Saturday I was at my daughter's house, sewing bags for Excess Baggage shows coming up. As the day was winding down, we began to clean up the sewing area and the kids began to clean up the kitchen and family room. My six year old grandson was sweeping the foyer when he said, "We don't want to vote for the man, Bama, because he helped someone blow up three buildings, I think. Dad says to vote for McCain but he is going to raise taxes and we are going to have to pay." He then leaned on his broom looking so forlorn with no answers in his little mind.

After he left the room, I laughed and laughed. Since when does a six year old talk politics? His concern over the raising of taxes was said as if he were going to be paying the money from his pocket. Perhaps he was thinking of the lack of money his parents would have to put in his envelope for his chores. Whatever it was, he was genuinely concerned. It gave me a good chuckle.

This same six year old is concerned about another thing too. Each time he prays, he remembers to pray for his uncle to come to know the Lord. He prays with a heartfelt desire for this to happen. He never mentions his uncle other than to the only one who can save, Jesus Christ. When I think of this, I do not laugh but actually shed a few tears to realize that my grandson is so concerned about my son.

A big thank you to my grandson for showing me the importance of concern. This is not a time to be indifferent. It is a time to weigh every issue, do a little homework and make a decision to vote your conscience. It is also a time to not be indifferent about the lost of this world but to bring them before the throne of grace. We should never tire of being on our knees for the unsaved especially those in our families.

We can apply the following verse to both this country and our families. "Then Jesus toldhis disciples a parable to how them that they should always pray and not give up." Luke 18:1