John 16:33 – In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome the world.
THEME OF THE DAY: ARE WE FULFILLING OUR MISSION? The world is a hurting place. One must either be isolated to the point of total reclusion from the world or ostrich-like buried in the sand to not see all the suffering people around us. Oh, there is another way we won’t recognize the suffering and pain all around us. It is by living so selfish and self-absorbed in the worlds of me, my, and mine, we simply don’t look around. I pray we are never so self-centered that the hurting people in our spheres of influence won’t hear and see the reality of Jesus Christ from us. As Christians, we exist to reflect Him before all people. To be absent from this mission is to be “missing in action (MIA)” and guilty of “dereliction of duty.”
When it comes to hurting people in the world, they also are in our churches. We sit beside hurting people each Lord’s Day. Just because we are Christians does not mean pain-free existence in a suffering world. No. We hurt too. I hurt. You hurt. Everyone hurts. It is the reality of life in a world of sin under the curse of God. Yet, there is hope. Real hope. Strengthening hope. Encouraging hope. It is in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And this Gospel is why Christians are still in this world; to live and proclaim it before unbelievers and believers. We are left on earth to offer the only way to safely navigate this world, not free from suffering and pain, but with joy, peace, and the ability to endure all the suffering and pain. So, with this backdrop, let me ask a series of probing questions. In fact, the rest of this nugget is going to be nothing but questions. Please get alone with the Lord, even today, and through these series of “Gospel questions”, ask Him to help us determine if we are fulfilling our mission as His people in this world.
1. Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ strengthening us to live above each trying circumstance in life?
2. Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ weaning us from sinful self-love and replacing it with Christ’s self-
denying love?
3. Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ the compass steering our marriages, family relationships, and
parenting?
4. Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ shaping our attitudes and actions at work where co-workers see a
person different from the non-Christian?
5. Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ renewing our minds so we live a Biblical worldview with eternal
perspective, not a worldly one with a temporal perspective?
6. Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ burdening us for unsaved family members, neighbors, and co-
workers that drives us to our knees in fervent prayer for them?
7. Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ intensifying our love for God that creates a yearning and intense commitment to prayer to know Him and become like Him in holiness of thought, action and attitude?
Friend, as Christians, the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is our lives. It is to consume us, not some of the time, but all of the time. It is to guide our decisions, affections, priorities, and everything else in our lives. And it is this Gospel alone the world needs to see and hear from us. It is the only hope for all suffering people, Christians and non-Christians alike. So, are we fulfilling our mission? Think about it. How we answer that question tells us much about our understanding of what it means to be a Christian.
PRAYER: “Lord, help me to be You to Your people always looking at ways to encourage and uplift them.”
QUOTE: “The greatest thing we can do for each other is strive to be like Jesus to each other.”