2 Corinthians 5:16-20 Easy-to-Read Version
16 From this time on we don’t think of anyone as the world thinks of people. It is true that in the past we thought of Christ as the world thinks. But we don’t think that way now. 17 When anyone is in Christ, it is a whole new world.[a] The old things are gone; suddenly, everything is new! 18 All this is from God. Through Christ, God made peace between himself and us. And God gave us the work of bringing people into peace with him. 19 I mean that God was in Christ, making peace between the world and himself. In Christ, God did not hold people guilty for their sins. And he gave us this message of peace to tell people. 20 So we have been sent to speak for Christ. It is like God is calling to people through us. We speak for Christ when we beg you to be at peace with God.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Dr. Martin Luther King and the Kingdom Of God
In the United States today we commemorate the life and work of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK).
As well we should.
Dr. King stood before the thousands who had gathered – said he had a dream …
A significant God-sized dream …
Dr. King dreamed about the kingdom of God—where the children of former slaves and the children of former slaveowners would see each other as family, and the message; where everyone would share equally in freedom and justice.
Dr. King also did what he could to influence people to refocus their mindsets into God, so to make that kingdom dream real, even at the cost of his own life.
Even today, we are challenged mightily to be true unto that same dream to see all people not by the color of their skin as Christ saw people, but God’s children.
In a word, reconcile the world to God.
As if God Himself is communicating to His Creation … through His Son and through his messengers like Dr. Martin Luther King … His desired message …
Apostle Paul writes to the Corinthian followers that the word of reconciliation has been committed to us by God and that God makes His appeal through us.
He is in us.
Emmanuel, God with Us …
Emmanuel, God within us …
John 14:15-17 Easy-to-Read Version
The Promise of the Holy Spirit
15 “If you love me, you will do what I command. 16 I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper[a] to be with you forever. 17 The Helper is the Spirit of truth.[b] The people of the world cannot accept him, because they don’t see him or know him. But you know him. He lives with you, and he will be in you.
And He’s doing it, and that is what saves us from fear and from uncertainty and stumbling from mistakes in the work of witnessing.
Our reasoned logic, our wisest arguments, and so on are of no effect whatsoever in this topic, except as they be the living expression of the Holy Spirit within us.
He will do his work; all we need to be is to be bold enough, courageous enough, ready enough to respond to the situation, depending on Jesus to do His work.
This relieves one of the greatest fears that keep people from witnessing.
It should help us tremendously to realize that we do not have to pump up our courage, “to gird our own loins” and tackle a situation in which we hardly know what we are coming into at all – because we know that God is already on the job.
We may be talking to somebody that is a stranger to us.
We do not know what their background is, what their ability is, what their mental acumen is, or anything of the sort.
We do not need to know.
All we need to know about or do is just carry on a normal conversation about ordinary things.
If we can but look to the Lord to find an opening to insert just a word that will switch the conversation over toward the things of Christ, that may lead the time towards deeper conversation about the deeper things, more meaningful things.
If this is a prepared heart, that person will respond.
If it is not one that the Holy Spirit has prepared, then they just won’t respond.
Therefore, the work of testifying and witnessing to God’s message is impossible until the Holy Spirit has made the person ready to receive God’s message alone.
We do not practice this work of witnessing without realizing that sometimes the initial response is sometimes different than what we would hope, expect.
One may discover that the person is often belligerent at first, but has a hungry heart underneath.
One learns to be quick at perceiving that and paying no attention to what he says, but instead speaking to what he is displaying in their own inner hunger.
But any kind of response is a good response, an open door opportunity as long as it is an open door by which you could pursue the subject deeper and further.
We do not need to pray for the Holy Spirit to prepare hearts.
He is already preparing them.
He has them prepared all around us.
Jesus said, Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’?
I tell you, open your eyes and l
ook at the fields! They are ripe for harvest
(John 4:35).
These prepared, hungry hearts, hearts yearning for answers, are all around us.
Our ministry and mission is simply to be so available to the Lord, that as we have the kingdom opportunity to make contact from day to day, we can be used of Him to find who they are, learn about them, and carry this witness forward.
As children of God, we represent the family of God, whether we are aware of it or not.
The world will judge our Father based on our words, behaviors, and attitudes.
Jesus challenges his followers to let their light shine into the world’s spiritual darkness.
Our deeds, good or bad, beautiful or ugly, will reflect an image of the Father that others will see.
If we are a Christian, we each, without exception, bear the name of Christ.
We represent Jesus quite literally wherever we go.
The Bible goes as far as to call us “Christ’s ambassadors” to the world.
Christ made His appeal to the world through Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King.
In 2024 and beyond, Christ is now making His appeal to the world through us.
He sends us forward to share his transforming love with our neighbors, friends, relatives, coworkers—through every single one we encounter on any given day.
We carry the family name of Jesus Christ wherever we go, in whatever we do.
On this Martin Luther King Day 2024, How well do we carry the name of Jesus?
Walk through today expecting the Holy Spirit to give you opportunities to share the truths of Jesus and be an ambassador of reconciliation.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Here is a prayer of Dr. King’s prayers from a collection titled, “Thou, Dear God”: Prayers That Open Hearts and Spirits (edited by Lewis V. Baldwin):
1) Prayer to forgive us for what we could have been but failed to be
O Thou Eternal God, out of whose absolute power and infinite intelligence the whole universe has come into being, we humbly confess that we have not loved thee with our hearts, souls and minds, and we have not loved our neighbors as Christ loved us. We have all too often lived by our own selfish impulses rather than by the life of sacrificial love as revealed by Christ. We often give in order to receive. We love our friends and hate our enemies. We go the first mile but dare not travel the second. We forgive but dare not forget. And so as we look within ourselves, we are confronted with the appalling fact that the history of our lives is the history of an eternal revolt against you. But thou, O God, have mercy upon us. Forgive us for what we could have been but failed to be. Give us the intelligence to know your will. Give us the courage to do your will. Give us the devotion to love thy will. In the name and spirit of Jesus we pray. Amen. (p. 7)
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 