Good morning, Lord Jesus. As I speak out Your name, I open up my spirit to listen for Your voice and hear what's on Your heart. ...
"'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' But how can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scripture say, 'How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!'" (Romans 10:13-15).
I was thinking the other day about the old Amy Grant song that You bring to my heart at times to give me comfort in hard times. It's goes something like this -- "We believe in God. And we all need Jesus. Because life is hard and it may not get easier. But don't be afraid to show it... If you believe in God, if you say you need Jesus, He's be where you are and He never will leave you...."
We believe in You, God. We all come to know sooner or later that there's Something much greater than ourselves and that we can't really control much of anything in our lives, at least not for very long. Sooner or later, we come to the end of ourselves and cry out to You to hear us and help us.
And there You are. You've been with us all along, You're never far from any of us--no matter our culture, our language, our economic status, our belief system, our world view, or even our parents' religion (Acts 17:27). In Your mercy and love for us You've come to reveal Yourself to us in the Person of Jesus--fully God as One with You, Father and One with Your Holy Spirit, yet choosing to humble Himself as fully man to be One with us, that we would know the true nature of the invisible God (Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:15-18).
We believe in God and we all need Jesus. We all need the mercy and grace of God that forgives us from our sins and removes from us our walls so that we can all know we're loved and forgiven and free, welcomed into the embrace of Your Presence, where nothing "will be able to separate us from the love of God, revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:39).
Lord Jesus, because You came and You died on the cross for our sins and You rose again, we can call on Your name and be saved. "If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The Scripture says, 'No one who believes in Him will be put to shame' ... For 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved'" (Romans 10:9-13).
Lord, open the eyes of my heart to see You as You are and put my whole trust in You alone for my salvation, every moment of every day. And open they eyes of my sight to see the heart of my neighbors and their struggles, their questions, and their desperate need to believe God and come to the end of themselves and acknowledge they need Jesus.
And there You will be, so ready to come into their heart, as their Lord and their Savior. You'll be so ready to embrace them in Your love, forgive them of their sins, to take away their fears, to begin to answer their questions, and to fill them with Your Spirit and all Your love and peace and joy like they never really known.
But how will they believe, unless they hear? And how will they hear unless I tell them? And I will I tell them unless You send me? ... Oh, that's right... You did send me--all in the power of Your grace and the mercy of Your love to share the hope You've poured into my heart and made so real in my life (Matthew 28:18-20; 1 Peter 3:15). We're Your messengers of hope to share the mercy and love of Your good news. Here I am, Lord. Send me today! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, may you be filled afresh with the hope and love of God, as you share the hope that is within you of His mercy and love with your neighbors and everywhere the Lord sends you, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share with us your thoughts and reflections with us this morning in the comment box below.
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