Wednesday, March 22, 2006

March 22, 2006

Your lives are a letter… and everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you. Clearly, you are a letter from Christ prepared by us. It is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on stone, but on human hearts. 2 Cor 3:2-3 (NLT)

Welcome to the third anniversary of the Gmail! What another wonderful day God gave us on Sunday! While we were fed from the written word, I was struck by the Living Word within the communicators that God brought to us. Their lives spoke to me almost as much as their message! They stand as living breathing demonstrations of the power of God to transform a life.

Think of Julia. Her knowledge of the word and of theology was masterful! Listen again to her message online (via our website or Itunes), and you will hear of how she knows God and His word. Her life stands as an example of a woman who has allowed the Word to shape and mold her character! One would think she has been walking with God her whole life. Yet, her story is that she came to Christ at age 30 and has only been walking with the Master for 13 years.

Think of Sanguma Mossai. Imagine carrying the weight of 190,000 believers on your shoulders. Imagine being called by God to see your country (not just a church) transformed under your leadership of a church movement. Imagine serving Christ in a country where serving Him can be a matter of life and death. Imagine doing it with joy! Our brother (and the Congolese still with us for another month) are testimonies of the power of God to give strength and courage!

My premise today is that Julia and Mossai are ordinary people who have taken the time and the discipline to yield themselves before an extraordinary God and, over time, that yield has borne fruit and has allowed God to mold and shape them into the people we witnessed on Sunday. Here is what is amazing: what we witnessed on Sunday in these two saints, God wants for all of us! He isn’t just looking for perfect people, for men and women with a certain pedigree, or those who came to Christ at a young age or of a certain skin color to use for His glory! He is looking for anybody who is willing to yield, to enter under the apprenticeship of Jesus (we call that discipleship), who is willing to take God at His word and allow the living Christ to saturate all of who they are. Sound inviting? What would stop you from yielding in that fashion?

Right now, where you sit reading this, you do so in an environment where people are reading you! Paul told the Corinthians in the verse above that we are letters written By God. Your life, infused with aroma and power from the Holy Spirit, is a powerful Tool useful for the Master to build His kingdom.