Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a video of Big Daddy Weave singing his song … Redeemed, expressing the truth that all Christians are not who we used to be. … WE’RE redeemed and reconciled by Christ to be new creations in Christ … FOREVER!!! … Worth sharing with others, isn’t it? !!!
Highlight Passage: 2nd Corinthians 5:18 [NKJV] …
18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, …
… No excuses! … Our charge is to be ministers of reconciliation.
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Highlight Context – 2nd Corinthians 5:16-21 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Having been redeemed by Christ and reconciled to God, the Father, all Christians are charged with His ministry of reconciliation.
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Reference Passage #1 … Matthew 5:44-45 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus’ charge that we love our enemies … doing all we can to reconcile them to God in this life.
Reference Passage #2 … Acts 1: 8 [NKJV] …
8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
… Jesus’ charge that we become witnesses of His redemption and reconciliation to all who need His salvation.
Reference Passage #3 … Romans 5: 6-11 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK…
… Christ paid our price, … reconciling those who come to Him in repentance and faith to be reconciled into peace with God.
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread author, Tim Gustafson, refers to one of the toughest challenges we, as Christians face in our lives; and that is to love our enemies enough to become “ministers” of reconciliation. And Gustafson used Martin Luther King as his teaching example, writing … As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached on a Sunday morning in 1957, he fought the temptation to retaliate against a society steeped in racism. … “How do you go about loving your enemies?” he asked the Dexter Avenue Baptist congregation in Montgomery, Alabama. “Begin with yourself. . . . When the opportunity presents itself for you to defeat your enemy, that is the time which you must not do it.”
It is true that racial divisions have caused as much or more strife in the “big-C” Christian church than any other issue. But as today’s focus photo, song, and Scriptures are clear, we are, as Christians, are charged by Christ to be His “ministers” of redemption and reconciliation (i.e., “R&R”) in this world.
As born-again Christians, as the photo depicts, we’ve been forgiven, redeemed, and reconciled by Christ, for Christ, and with Christ into the family of God. And in this redemption, we have been set free and transformed from our former self to be a new creation in Christ (see 2nd Cor. 5:17). Therefore, Christ gives us His Holy Spirit power (see Acts 1: 8) to be His witnesses of reconciliation in this world [see Romans 5:6-11 and 2nd Cor. 5:16-21].
So, fellow Christian, if someone ever asks you if you’ve been called into Christian ministry, you have to answer “YES!” to that one. Because, as Christians, we are “ministers” of reconciliation, whether we like it or not, … called to be Christ’s witnesses of redemption in the world.
So, as my Pastor preached this Sunday [go to www.centralchurch.com ], let’s all “GO BIG” in sharing what God has done for us with His BIG “R&R” in our lives (i.e., “redemption and reconciliation”); and let’s share our Redeemer and Reconciler with the world … even today!!!
My Prayer Today: Heavenly Father, … Lord, … Help me to be an agent of your BIG R&R in this world. Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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