Kingdoms in Conflict

 

Undercover

Undercover
Don’t get involved with the fruitless works of darkness; instead, expose them to the light of God. – Ephesians 5:11

Light

Planting a garden in the spring is one of my favorite activities.

The Journey

O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent?
    Who shall dwell on your holy hill? Psalm 15:1

We never start the journey at the summit or even the base of the of our destination..Arriving there is a lifelong process. How are we to get there?*

Jeremiah 6:16- Follow the ancient paths
“Go stand at the crossroads and look around.
    Ask for directions to the old road,
The tried-and-true road. Then take it.
    Discover the right route for your souls.

Matthew 10:9-10 Travel light
“Don’t think you have to put on a fund-raising campaign
before you start.
You don’t need a lot of equipment.
You are the equipment,
and all you need to keep that going
is three meals a day.

Philippians 2:15-16  Be careful in everything you do on the way
Live clean, innocent lives as children of God,
shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.
Hold firmly to the word of life;

Follow the path that is tried and true, don’t let life weigh you down, be a light in a dark world…

From Signposts A Devotional© Eric Kampmann

All Scripture from the Message © Eugene Peterson

Thankful

“But You placed the son of man just beneath God and honored him like royalty, crowning him with glory and honor.
Psalm 8:5 *

All Things New

2 Corinthians 5:17

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun”!

A new person, the old life gone, a new life begun….

For those of us who have gone through this transformation I think it easy to forget what it was like b.c. (before Christ). And because of that we forget what it is like for those who have not yet experienced that change.

In our zeal to save the world we point out sins.

We yell at them from the street corner or from social media.

We make signs and stand our ground all in the name of Christ

We offer judgement with no mention of redemption….

We fail to tell the prodigals of this world the way back, we only point out where they are….

John Stott in his classic book “Basic Christianity” says this

“We are not bringing people to a collection of religious ideas or a catalog of rules. We are bringing the Good News. Not an invitation that tells them what they need to do, but an invitation to see what God has done” And what has God done?

I n 2Corinthians 5:17-19 we read

“Therefore, if anyone is united with the Anointed One, that person is a new creation. The old life is gone—and see—a new life has begun! All of this is a gift from our Creator God, who has pursued us and brought us into a restored and healthy relationship with Him through the Anointed. And He has given us the same mission, the ministry of reconciliation, to bring others back to Him. It is central to our good news that God was in the Anointed making things right between Himself and the world. This means He does not hold their sins against them. But it also means He charges us to proclaim the message that heals and restores our broken relationships with God and each other”.

I believe God’s expectations for us and His intentions for those who are lost is clear.

Some things to remember….

First- The bad news. “You see, all have sinned, and all their futile attempts to reach God in His glory fail”. Romans 3:23

Second- The Good News. God has pursued us that all might be brought into restored and healthy relationship with Him through Jesus Christ

Third-He has given us the same mission, the ministry of reconciliation to bring others back to Him

When our comments are uninvited, harsh, and impersonal, when there is no compassion, mercy or grace we push people away from the light, we fail in our mission.

 

In Matthew 4:16 we read

“In these places, the people who had been living in darkness
saw a great light.
The light of life will overtake those who dwelt in the shadowy darkness of death”.

We understand that the Light is Jesus Christ and those living in darkness must be introduced to Him.

Our mission?

To bring the Good News to those in darkness. To let them know that God has done everything that is necessary to make all things new.

If anyone is in Christ

The old is gone

The new has come

Let us pray that our family, our friends, those in our workplace, in our world would be drawn to that light through our actions, and our words.

That He would make all things new!

 

All Scripture with the exception of Matthew 4:16 taken from “The Voice” Bible copyright Thomas Nelson publishers

Matthew 4:16 New Living Translation copyright Tyndale House Publishers