OUR PRAYERS
Journey in Christ has been helping train employees at three businesses to experience Christ through personal Bible study.
This past week, a staff member helped employees at one business observe from Ephesians 1:15-17 that, although God can reveal Himself and His truths to others, He invites us to participate with Him through our prayers:
After I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus
and your love for all the saints,
I do not cease to give thanks for you,
making mention of you in my prayers;
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory,
may give you the spirit of wisdom
and revelation
in the knowledge of Him.
EPHESIANS 1:15-17
What a glorious relationship we have with our Father, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ! He takes great pleasure in using His children. We are a special part of His redemptive plans!
We are ambassadors for Christ,
as though God were pleading through us;
we implore on Christ's behalf,
be reconciled to God.
2 CORINTHIANS 5:20
GOD'S PLEASURE
Yes, God takes great pleasure in using His children.
Paul starts off his letters to the Corinthians, the Ephesians, the Colossians, and to Timothy by noting he is an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. The Greek word will in these verses is thelema, which does not mean "by God's demand" but means "by God's pleasure."
Wow. God took great pleasure to give Paul the authority of being an apostle of the early church. And He takes great pleasure in using you for His redemptive purposes!
This profound truth is so beautifully expressed through Eric Liddell, a runner the 1924 Paris Olympics. Eric testified that "God made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure."
Eric was not referring to God being pleased with his efforts as a runner and for winning the gold medal. Eric wasn't thinking, "If I win the gold medal, just think of the platform I will have to share Christ." No. Not at all.
Eric was referring to God being pleased with him as His child. God was greatly pleased to indwell Eric through the Lord Jesus Christ. And Eric, with all joy, related with the indwelling Christ whether he won a gold medal or came in last place. Eric and His Lord simply enjoyed each other's presence.
After the 1924 Olympics from 1925 to 1945, Eric served as a missionary to China. When the Japanese invaded China in 1940, Eric sent his wife and daughters to Canada, while he stayed in China to continue his work with the Lord.
In 1943, Eric was imprisoned in a Japanese war camp in China. At one point his freedom was arranged in a prisoner exchange bargain by Winston Churchill, however, he gave it up and let a pregnant woman leave instead.
In 1945, Eric died as a result of poor camp conditions. He was only 43 years old.
With great pleasure, the Lord welcomed Eric home.
CLOSING
May we be encouraged to step out in faith to humbly minister to others through prayer in order to experience the presence, the power, and the pleasure of God our Father through His dear Son and our Savior Jesus Chris who dwells in us!
Work out your own salvation
with fear and trembling,
for it is God who works in you
both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
PHILIPPIANS 2:12b-13
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