4SpiritualSecrets

“Now let me remind you, brothers, of what the Gospel really is … I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.”  (1Corinthians 15: 1, 3, 4 LB)

Imagine that your pastor gave everyone in church paper and pen and then asked them to write the answer this question: “What is the Gospel?” How many would write the correct answer to that question?  How would you answer that question?  We have all been commissioned by our Lord to preach the Gospel in every nation in the world.  How can we even begin to do that if we don’t even know what that Gospel is?

In the verses above the Apostle Paul gave us the right answer to that question.  The Gospel is two facts about Jesus Christ.  Fact number one is the death of Jesus Christ for our sins according to the Scriptures.  Fact number two is the resurrection of Jesus Christ according to the Scriptures.  The word “Gospel” means “Good News”.  What makes these two facts about Jesus Christ good news for you and me?

When we believe the first fact, the result is the forgiveness of all our sins.  If you are a sinner and you know it, that is very good news.  When we believe that second fact, the result is the good news of a relationship with the risen living Christ.  He can and will equip us with everything we need to follow Him.

Will you believe these two Gospel facts about Jesus and have a personal Easter this year?

“I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.” (ICorinthians 9:22)

The greatest missionary, teacher, pastor and author in the history of the church of Jesus Christ has given us his philosophy of service.  If you look up the verses that precede and follow the one I have quoted, you will understand the verse above more completely.  Paul writes that even though he was born free – when large percentages of populations in cities like Corinth and Rome were born slaves – he has deliberately chosen to make himself the slave of every person he meets.

To the Jew he will become as a Jew to reach a Jew.  To people who were legalistic he will become as a legalist to reach such a person.  To those who were secular and completely without moral standards he would become as one of them (within certain limits), to win immoral people.  To those who were weak (and I think he pointed to his temple when he used that word), he would become as weak that he might gain the person who was weak.

Paul was severely persecuted by the Jews.  He positively hated legalism.  Before and after his conversion he lived an extraordinarily holy life.  He was one of the greatest minds of his day.  But he adjusted himself to what others were that he might win them for Christ.

Have you ever opened a conversation with the question, “How may I serve you?” As you relate to people have you allowed the thought to cross your mind “How far am I willing to go to serve this person?” What is your philosophy of service?  What do you think it ought to be?

‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to Me.’ (Matthew 25:40)

Jesus taught that we are to be God passionate people (Matthew 7:7-8; Luke 11:9-10.) We are to ask, seek and knock.  Seeking is intense asking and knocking is intense seeking.  Jesus attached a tremendous promise to this teaching.  He promised that everyone who asks will receive and everyone who seeks will find and everyone who knocks will find himself or herself standing before an open door.

He was not referring to forgiveness of sins or salvation, but to our individual pursuit of God in prayer.  When people take this seriously and pursue God in the context of a sincere prayer life, they often describe their pursuit of God by gesturing upward.  My own personal pursuit of God was greatly helped by a short poem:

In one of His great discourses Jesus provided a basis for this when He taught that when we describe our pursuit of a deeper relationship with Him, we should not only gesture upward but stretch out our arms horizontally.  We should do this because we will find Him when we give a cup of cold water to the thirsty, some food to the hungry, provide clothing to the naked, take in a lonely stranger and visit the sick and those in prison.

When these words of Jesus take on human flesh they look like Mother Teresa.  What would these words look like if they took on your mortal flesh?