A Deliberate Call

The book of Acts is one of my favorites. It is rich in historical data, sets forth the foundation of the New Testament Church, chronicles the exploits of the Apostles, and provides an overview of the life of Paul. For today's post, I want to use a portion of chapter 26; copied here from the KJV. Follow this link for the entire chapter.

16But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;
17Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,
18To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

Here Paul recounts the words previously recorded in Acts 9:3-6 then elaborates a bit more on the message from Christ in verses 16 - 18. For our study today; I want to glean from the text some reasons Christ makes Himself known to us. Why He takes us out of the world just to send us back unto it.

1. to make us His ministers/servants
2. to make us testimonials/witnesses of His power/acts
3. to use us as His heralds of the revelations He will show us
4. to enable us to enlighten others; to be guides
5. to aid us in turning others from darkness into light; to be reflections of the Light
6. to use us to loose those who are bound by satan; to be agents of deliverance
7. to use us to teach sinners what is required to be forgiven; to be teachers
8. and to show them how to lay claim to what belongs to the sanctified; to be models

No different than Paul; we all are called and empowered to be His witnesses. We must declare the same message as Paul, as we minister to the world .

Also worth mentioning: We must be knocked off of our "high horse"of sinfulness before we can be of use to the Lord. Secondly, we have to stand up/become attentive in order to receive instructions for salvation and ministry. We can't work in the Kingdom lying down!

Work Him In

I want to thank you all for your prayers and words of comfort during the time of our loss. I use that expression simply because it is the common way to say it. Truly we have not lost Paw, we know just where to find him and how to get there.

When Pastor Hughes(my grandparents' pastor) asked if we had any scripture preferences for the funeral service, we just told him to say whatever God gave him to say. My grandmother told him to keep it short and sweet. I said, "preach a salvation message. There will be some unsaved folks there that never hear the Word." He said, " I always work that in some where."

There are many other truths that can and must be preached, but there is one that is absolutely necessary for salvation. Preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified. My friend Milton has an excellent post on this subject. Preaching Jesus cuts through legalism as well as fanaticism. We need to teach and preach the Word in every situation.

There is always a way to work Him into your conversations. Practice it at home in every day talk with your family and friends. It will become second nature. Be prepared to be mocked. The carnal man does not understand the spiritual. Rest assured the Word will bring conviction. Hearing the Word will bring people to a place of salvation by faith.