I want to break for a day from covering Romans to hopefully encourage you as believers in Christ.  In my own life I have past sins, current struggles, and the knowledge that this life that I live as a Christian will not be easy.  I consider the exhortation given us in Hebrews 12:1-2 – “let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”  When I look to Jesus, who endured the cross for a joy that was set before Him, I remember His warning to believers.  John 15:18-20 – “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.  If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.  Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” 

So it would seem that life as a Christian is hard, at least that was the expectation given to us by Jesus.  This life we live is not a sprint but a marathon requiring endurance.  We have indwelling sin (Rom 7:20) that we battle against; we have a world that hates us if we follow Christ; we have the expectation of persecution; we have disease, suffering, and death as consequences of sin entering the world; and we have spiritual forces of evil against us (Eph 6:12) and an enemy in Satan that seeks to devour us (1 Pet 5:8).  It should not at all be surprising then, that there will be times when you struggle to find or even remember your joy in Christ.  I could go on, but I will stop, lest you become discouraged before you are encouraged!

With the above being a fairly accurate picture of what we should expect as Christians from scripture, how do we remain encouraged?  How do we maintain joy in the Treasure set before us, eternity with Christ?  When I find myself wanting for the joy of my salvation, I remember a very simple command of Jesus.  Matthew 6:33 – “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness”  and I ask myself, “How have I been pursuing the kingdom of God and his righteousness”?  More often than not, my lack of joy is due to my failure in one or both parts of Christ’s command in Matthew 6:33.

My question for you today is this:  Is your faith active?  How are you seeking to expand the kingdom of God?  How are you pursuing His righteousness in your life?  Many people think of “faith” as static – a set of facts to believe, and they think of Christianity as a set of personal tasks like going to church, avoiding certain “egregious” sins, and doing a good deed now and then.  What I want you to know and challenge you with, is that if you saved, then you have been saved by God for a purpose.  People who take issue with God’s sovereignty over salvation often ask me (convinced they’ve “caught” me), “well if God is sovereign and He’s going to save whoever He’s going to save, then why should I pray for people’s salvation and evangelize?”  I say, God is sovereign over salvation, Yes and Amen, and as believers we are the means by which God intends to save, your prayers are the means by which God will move dead hearts to life.  You were not saved to sit around in a monastery thankful you have been “saved”, waiting out your days in isolation.  God has plans for you.  Ephesians 2:8-10 – “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”  (bolded by me for emphasis).  Further, we are told in 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.  All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.  Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ,God making his appeal through us.”  (bolded by me for emphasis). 

What I want you to hear is that God has gifted each of you uniquely, that He might reconcile others to Himself through you.  God never gave a command to a subset of Christians to minister and spread the gospel, but to all Christians.  My exhortation is to consider what others say you are good at and what you enjoy doing, and employ those gifts in ministry.  Don’t wait.  Some of you may feel when you serve and minister that you are woefully inadequate… you are, so am I, so are we all, yet God will still use you.  God is not limited by our imperfections, but the unwillingness of our hearts.  The grace of God through Jesus Christ manifested and preached by you, will be healing to yourself and others. For the joy set before you, put your faith in action.

Grace and Peace,
Adam