Becoming Christ’s Ambassadors

When a person starts to believe in Jesus and surrender his life to Him, that person automatically has a responsibility to the outside world as a witness.  2 Corinthians 5:20 says, “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ.”

An ambassador, according to a dictionary, is “a diplomatic official of the highest rank, sent by one sovereign or state to another as its resident representative.” A second definition makes an ambassador “a diplomatic official of the highest rank representing his government on a temporary mission, as for negotiating a treaty.” Both definitions are applicable to Christians. All of us are ambassadors for the Lord with all honors that come with it from God.

In order to be Christ’s ambassadors, we need to realize that we have specific purposes to fulfill during our time on this earth which includes spreading the Gospel, serving others, spiritual growth, and growth in fellowship.  All that we are, say, and do is to be connected toward our overall purpose to love and glorify Jesus.

An ambassador does not appoint himself. A Christian is appointed by the Lord. An ambassador does not support himself. Jesus is the one who  will provide all of our needs according in Phil. 4:19.

To become good ambassadors we must spend time with our Lord, and get to know Him well. Our mission is only temporary. As ambassadors, we can be recalled to the Lord’s presence at any moment. And when His longsuffering with those who still reject Him is over, He Himself will come back. Then the message, “Be reconciled to God,” will no longer be proclaimed. It will be too late. So we should avail ourselves today of the high privilege we have to serve Him as His ambassadors to this lost world.

Loving Our Enemies

Jesus said in Luke 6:27, “But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you.” We all love people who are nice to us. But it isn’t easy to be nice to those who are mean to us. Jesus said that we must love our enemies. We must love the people who hate us. It doesn’t mean that we must always talk to them and be with them. It means that we must treat them the same way we treat people that we like. We must not treat them badly. We must love everyone – even those who don’t like us.

This sinful world teaches us to be nice only to our friends but the Bible tells us the opposite.

Jesus doesn’t want us to be mean and selfish. Hebrews 12:14 says, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” Many people today are driven by anger. They do not know how to forgive. They didn’t understand that Jesus wants us to have peace with all men, He wants us to practice holiness, to love others the same way that we love ourselves.

The best thing we can do for our enemies aside from not hating them, is to pray for them. Begin to pray and intercede for your enemies. Ask Jesus to help them. Ask Jesus to heal the hurts in their lives that are some of the motivators of their evil actions. Ask Jesus to bless them and show mercy to them. And if we start doing these things, we’ll discover that Jesus will begin to put love in our hearts toward our enemies.

Conforming to Christ’s Image

When a person accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior, they are born again and become New Creatures. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that “If anyone be in Christ, He is new creation.”. As a born again child of God, we are being conformed to His image.

The Bible warns us in Romans 12:2 that “we must not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds.” Conforming or adapting the patters of this world will lead us to destruction because this is a very sinful world. We must be conformed to the image of Jesus which is pure and holy.

Isaiah 64:8 says, “But now, O Lord, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.” This work of conforming us to the image of Jesus is an ongoing work from glory to glory.  We cannot accomplish this by ourselves. We need strength and guidance from God.

2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “But we Christians have no veil over our faces; we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him.” As a Christian strives to be a doer of the Word, a transformation will begin to take place in his life. This transformation is impossible without the help of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Backsliding

Backsliding is turning away from God. We can read in 1 King 11:9, “And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God.” Some people define backsliding as one sin that separates a believer from the Lord. Backsliding is growing cold and losing interest in the Lord, the Bible, the church and then turning toward the world.

Loss of peace and joy are some results of Backsliding. Some of the CAUSES of Backsliding are failure to pray, to read the Bible and to attend church. Be sure to attend church once a week because fellowship with other believers is important. We also need to always pray to communicate with the Lord, reading His Word on the other hand, is how we listen to Him.

Revelation 2:10 says, “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” We must keep our faith and never fail to focus on Jesus.

We can learn in Psalm 101:3 that we must set no wicked thing before our eyes. We must be very careful to what is set before our eyes. We must always look unto Jesus.

However, God will still accept us if we turn back on Him. If a person calls on Him and truly repents, he is faithful to forgive him. It is written in Jeremiah 3:22, “Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.”

The Choice of a Victorious Life

As a Christian, we still have our own free will. We have the power to choose between right and wrong. We can choose if we want to have a victorious life or if we want to continue being defeated by Satan. Our Christian life is a battle. Our enemy, Satan, will do everything to stop us from following the Lord. He will deceive us and tempt us in every way that he can. But Jesus is faithful, in every temptation He will always provide a way out.

Romans 6:16 says that “when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness. Remember that we used to be slaves to sin, but we have been set free by the blood of Jesus Christ and we have become slaves to righteousness.”  So we must fight and resist the devil every day. We must not let Him use our lives.

So the choice now is to whom will you surrender yourself? Surrender yourself to the Lord Jesus. Begin living a victorious life. You can do all things for it is Him who gives you strength. We must confess our inability to gain victory by ourselves. John 15:5 says that apart from Jesus we can do nothing. So we must yield to the power of Jesus for He is our VICTORY.

Continue to resist the devil and deny yourself. Like Paul, we should say, “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”

Trusting Jesus to Keep His Promises

Psalm 62:8 tells us to “Trust in Him at all times…”  We must trust in the Lord at all times, especially during sufferings or problems. During times of spiritual difficulties, we must all patiently rely on the promises of Jesus. We must focus on Him, because if we focus on our problems, Satan might tempt us to not trust the Lord.

Jesus said, in Hebrews 13:5 “…I will never leave you nor forsake you.” And we can trust the Lord that He is faithful and He will keep His promise. Don’t forget what is written in Hebrews 13:8, the Bible tells us that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” He doesn’t change. Remember that no matter what the circumstances are, it cannot change the character of Jesus. He is still powerful and faithful to keep His promises.

Job 23:12 says, “I have not departed from the commands of His lips; I have treasured the Words of His mouth more
than my daily bread.” Job is a faithful servant of our Lord Jesus. He held on to God’s Word. This trust in the Word of God caused Job to remain faithful even though terrible things are happening in his life. His faith was strong in the midst of pain. He said in Job 13:15, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.”

Psalm 119:165 says, “Great peace have they who love Your law, and nothing can make them stumble.” If we trust Jesus and hold on to His Words, we’ll be kept in perfect peace and nothing can make us stumble.

So keep on trusting the Lord no matter what happens. Do not forget that He is faithful and He is able to keep all His promises. And His promises will never be broken.

Finding the Lord’s Will

Someone said that a Christian is a person who has surrendered his own will and submits to the will of God for his life in all that he does. The problem that every Christian faces is how to discover the will of the Lord.

Jesus said in Psalm 32:8, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.” The plans of Jesus in your life are very personal. It’s different from the plan that He has for others. His will for our lives is always good and perfect. Romans 12:2 says that we should be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we may know the perfect will of God.

Sometimes Jesus reveals His will through advice of our family or friends, or personal inclination. Sometimes He guides us through verses of Scripture. We must fill our minds with God’s Words because the will of God is never contrary to the Bible.

Jesus reveals His will through inner convictions that is given by the Holy Spirit. But we must be careful that it is not the voice of our own desires. The Holy Spirit has been given for the purpose of guidance. John 16:31 says, “But when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth.”

Jesus also uses circumstances to reveal His will. As true Christians, nothing happens to us by accident. Everything has a purpose. God also guides by a vision sometimes. Like what happened to Paul in Acts 16:9-10. We can also put out a fleece, just like what Gideon did. But be careful and always be willing to surrender your own will. Always pray for guidance and wait on Jesus patiently. Because He will surely reveal His will for you. If you let Him direct your paths, He will guide you safely.

Rejoicing in the Lord Always

Philippians 4:4 tells us to rejoice in the Lord always. No matter what’s happening in our lives, we can always rejoice in God’s love and care for us.

Everyone experience problems. There are sadness, sufferings and trials that we face some times. But we always have a reason to be joyful, we always have hope because of Jesus. Remember that in this world we will really have troubles but God is able to deliver us out of them all. He is faithful and He has promised that He will never let us go. He will never leave us so we can always call on Him.

In Luke 6:23, Jesus said, “Be full of joy at that time, because you have a great reward waiting for you in heaven.” Every time we are sad or in trouble, we must think about Jesus and His goodness to us. Remember that our lives here on earth is only temporary, if we live to love the Lord Jesus here on earth, we’ll have perfect happiness when we get to be with Him in heaven. So don’t be sad, don’t lose hope. No matter what’s happening in your life, no matter how big your problem is, Jesus is still greater than everything you are facing.

Making Jesus Your One and Only Inspiration in Life

Many people are inspired or encouraged by something, or someone. Some say that their families are their inspiration. For others, their inspirations are sports, music, or their career. But these people or these things are only temporary. Making them our inspiration in life is not a very good thing to do, for they will let us down from time to time. We need to be inspired by someone who will never let us down, someone who will never change and will never pass away.

Only Jesus is worthy of our complete admiration, for He would never leave or forsake us. We can be sure that He’ll never change, for it is written in Hebrews 13:8, that He is the same yesterday, today and forever. We must be motivated only by the Lord Jesus Christ because He is the reason that we live. Acts 17:28 says that “In Him we live and move and have our being.”

Colossians 2:10 says that we are complete in Him. He is more than enough. Even if we have a perfect family, perfect relationship, or if we have good friends or even a successful career, these things and these people won’t complete us.

So let’s ask ourselves, WHAT INSPIRES US? Who motivates us to live? Is it your family, your friends? Or maybe your career or your greatest ambition. Whatever it is, always remember that Jesus is the only one who is worthy of all your devotion. He must be the only inspiration of our lives.

It is not wrong to admire or appreciate something or someone, but if these people are the one who motivate us to live or if these things inspire our lives, our whole lives, then we are making a big mistake. People search for inspiration everywhere and very often it is short term, sometimes it can come from sources that can lead you to addiction and sometimes, to destruction. So never forget to put Jesus in the center of your life, and make Him your one and only inspiration for the rest of your lives.

False Faith vs. Real Faith

Many people may say that they have faith in Jesus. But there are at least 3 types of faith that some people may have that are really not faith at all.

Head faith is one of those. HEAD FAITH is agreeing to a set of religious creeds and historical facts about Jesus and the Bible. But believing alone is not enough. In James 2:19 we can read that even demons believe in God, but they are not saved. Some people only have a head belief, and not a heart belief that acts upon what they believe.

Another false faith is FEELING FAITH. Thomas is famous for having this kind of faith. His faith was based on his 5 physical senses. If his physical senses were convinced, then he would believe. He said in John 20:25, “…unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hands into His side, I will not believe it.” Then the time came that Jesus arrived and He showed Thomas His nail pierced hands and let Thomas touch His side. Jesus then told Him in verse 29. “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 2 Corinthians 5:7 says that “We live by faith and not by sight.”  Just because we don’t see something doesn’t mean that it’s not real. We can’t see the wind, but it is real and we can feel it.

Another false faith is what James has written in James 2:17, he said that “…faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” DEAD FAITH is faith that does not translate into action. Faith with no deeds cannot save a person. We must show our faith by what we do. According to James, as the body without the spirit is dead, so is faith without works is dead.

Having faith in Jesus is more than just believing in Him. Real faith includes knowing, loving and following Him until the end.