To Advance the Gospel

I read with interest the introductory words of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 1:12 when he talks of his own personal hardship and possible disappointments, sadness, and struggles. He said in verse 12, "Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel."

I honestly don't know if I could say those words with full assurance while sitting in prison especially when I know I haven't committed any crime or broke any law. I wonder how many of us, when faced with a set-back, illness, job loss, or other life-challenging situation, would step back and happily exclaim "well, at least this will advance the gospel of Christ!"

Don't get me wrong, because as we know from the book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3, there IS a season to mourn and to grieve loss, to weep because of disappointment and set-backs. There is also a season to be angry and to ask questions during these momentous times of great challenge.

But there also needs to be a time to allow God to not only use these challenging times in our life, but to use our response to these events to bring Glory to Himself and to show others how they can come to Him, through His Son Jesus, to experience a loving, close, personal and intimate relationship with Him.

Our issues are never isolated events “just for us”! What we go through…how we respond to what we go through….how we handle what we go through….are ways others learn more about God’s mercy, love, and grace. The various stages we go through in our lives are not ours alone! They can be used by God to be the stepping stones of awakening the soul of a non-Christian and it can end up being the answer to the prayers of other people simply because they “watched us” go through our event.

2 Corinthians 1:3, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”

Allow God to work through YOUR issues so that, in turn, you can use your experience to touch the lives of OTHERS going through the same thing (or something similar) as you went through. THAT is how you can allow your issues to “advance the Gospel”. Through your specific experiences in life, many other will be blessed and capable of finding comfort and peace in order to see that their "issue" too, can indeed, "advance the Gospel" as well.

Learn from Lydia

There are a lot of interesting mentions of women in the Bible. Whether it is the Old Testament or New Testament, there are many strong, yet oddly missed, lessons from women that we can familiarize ourselves with to strengthen our faith. One such woman is named Lydia. She provides a very powerful lesson for us. We find one particular mention of her in the book of Acts. Acts 16:14 , says that Lydia “reverenced God, and the Lord opened her heart to accept what Paul was saying.” Lydia is actually a significant person in the New Testament. She is described as “a dealer in purple goods” (Acts 16:14). Pointing that out is quite a clue. Dealing in “purple goods” was considered a luxury in the ancient world. It is probably safe to say that she was both a woman of great financial means and able to deal successfully with the influential people of her time. She was also noted as having a great gift of persuasion. I think she might have been the only perso...

Tetelestai!

Just before Jesus gives up His spirit on the cross, He utters a very powerful word. The word that He cries out is “ tetelestai” (tih-tellis-tie). When literally translated, this word means, “It is finished.” It can also refer to something completed or accomplished. The word occurs in John 19:28 and 19:30 and these are the only two places in all of the New Testament where it is found. In the John19:28 passage, it is translated, “After this, when Jesus knew that all things were now completed , in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, he said, ‘I thirst.’” Two verses later, he utters the word himself: “Then when he received the sour wine Jesus said, ‘ It is finished ,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” Did you know that the word tetelestai was also written on business documents or receipts in New Testament times to show indicating that a bill had been paid in full? The Greek-English lexicon (by Moulton and Milligan) sa...

Accepting Martyrdom

We are still in the season of Easter as we await its culmination in what is known as Pentecost . There is another event in the Church which we commemorate at the forty-day mark of the Easter season where many denominations recall the “ Ascension ” of Jesus Christ. Mark 16:19-20 , “After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.” This event marked by the Church is also stated in the Apostles’ Creed: “…He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.” When Jesus ascended to Heaven after rising from the dead, He promised us that we would never be left all alone here on earth to “fend for ourselves.” We have the Holy Spirit of God always with us. John 14:16 , “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever….” We w...

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