FEBRUARY 2012 EXHORTATION
In Acts 20:32, Paul proclaims “I commit you to God and to the word of his grace which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” The Bible is our primary source of spiritual growth and we must feed in it daily if we are to develop as Disciples of Christ (Matt. 4:4). Just as we feed ourselves physical food several times daily, we need to consume spiritual food in this manner as well. Even as we crave natural food let us all the more crave pure spiritual milk and in so doing grow up in our salvation (1Pet 2:2). To the extent we do this, we will experience growing intimacy with Jesus and increasingly hear Him speak to us by His Spirit. “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:13).
Having been chosen by Jesus, the disciples were able to physically see Him with their eyes and hear Him with their ears, and be personally taught all things by Him. Consider modern day believers. Jesus chose us as well, but how do we see and hear Him? We have to commit ourselves to the Word like the disciples did to Jesus. The Bible is indeed a lifeline to God and it can be fully and completely trusted as inspired by God and as our primary source of knowledge and truth (2 Tim. 3:15-17). The scriptures were the primary tool the Apostles used to prove the authenticity of Christ. The betrayal by Judas fulfilled Old Testament prophecy (Ps. 41:9, Zech. 11:12, 13). In fact, details of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection fulfill prophecy occurring throughout the Old Testament beginning in Genesis, well before 1400 B.C. These prophecies were faithfully used after Christ’s resurrection to prove that “Jesus was the Christ” (Acts 18:28) and, if we will believe, they still offer faith-building proof today.
The twelve disciples were ordinary men. There was nothing to recommend them other than what they would become after spending three years with Jesus. We are no different regardless our environment or vocation. Wherever we live or earn our income, we should view it as our mission field, our special assignment to serve God.
Jesus says in Mark 8:35, “for whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and the gospel will save it.” Let us go now and increasingly lose our lives for Jesus and for the Gospel. Let us labor to spend time with Jesus by giving ourselves more and more to reading, studying and of course obeying Jesus the Living Word of God. As we do this in greater quantity and greater quality we too will have an ever increasing life changing testimony of what we have become through growing relationship and obedience to Christ. Remember, when our lives are over and all our time is spent not one of us will regret having given our time, energy and resources to Jesus. Indeed we will never regret losing ourselves and our lives in the love and service of the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Go now and do likewise, living daily for Christ that you may one day leave this world and go home to Jesus leaving no regrets!
The Four Streams Team
Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities, in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from past sins. (II Peter 1:5-9)