Royal Ambassadors

Have you ever crammed for a test, and to your satisfaction, aced it? However, when it came back up for review before the final exam, you found that you had to study all over again. The sleepless night of filling your brain was just that - filling your brain. It wasn't chewed upon and digested. You didn't acquaint yourself with it. You didn't get to know it. It was merely information placed in your brain until you moved on to the next cramming session.

Our relationship with Christ can be played out the same way. At times we may find ourselves cramming scripture into our heads until the next big challenge arises. My problem is that I move too quickly to the next challenge at hand and fill my arsenal with more scripture and ..... uh oh ....."scripture overload".
Suddenly, I can't remember any of them.

The plan of action is correct. The speed at which I'm running could be slowed down a few notches. If we want it to be a part of us, we have to slow down and stay awhile with it. We need to get to know it. The scripture has to be allowed to travel from my head to my heart. And there, once it's been ingrained in my heart, the Holy Spirit can bring it to mind when it's needed. It's OK to graze on a certain passage. There's plenty of time to move on; but take as much time as you need to really get to know it. Make it a part of you - not only your thinking, but who you are.

We are God's children soiled by a dark world. We've got to get to know and embrace the characteristics of our Father. As we get to know them, they begin to change us to look more like Him. We will be living a life that would be identified as royalty and resemble His ambassadors on this earth.
"We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us." (2 Cor.5:20a)

As His representatives, we will dress ourselves with tender-hearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. We will make allowance for each other's faults and forgive when offended. We will wear love. It is what binds us together in perfect harmony. As members of His family we must allow Christ's peace to rule in our hearts. And as ambassadors, we are to always be thankful. (Col. 3:12-15)

So, if we will slow down and stay a while and allow the richness of His words to dwell in our hearts, it will make us wise. And the words that we speak will teach and counsel each other. We will be able to sing with thankful hearts. And then, whatever we do or say, we will look more like the representatives of Jesus Christ that we have been created to be. (Col. 3:16-17)

Love is the Greatest

     As the worship leader at Clay Community Church, time alone with God has to be a priority in my life. If my relationship isn't right with Him, I won't be sensitive to choosing the correct songs or hearing the encouragement He wants to share with us. I could sing and encourage until I'm blue in the face. If I don't do it out of the love I have for God, then He won't be in it. It would be useless and ineffective for His kingdom.
      God deserves our very best. To love Him through our singing, pleases Him. There is no question about that. If we are genuine in our love for Him, then the Holy Spirit will compel us to take it a step higher to worship Him through loving others as well.
     Love is a fruit of the Spirit. Without it, we are nothing. We live our lives for ourselves. When we practice love, our whole world changes. It doesn't always guarantee a "feel good" emotion, but it is a conscious act. It is something we "do". It would be easy if we could pick and choose who to love .... but then what about the unlovely? We are commanded to love one another. That means those we like and those we don't like so much. God didn't say that we have to like others. He says we are to love others. One is a feeling. The other is a decision to take action. We are to love people even if we don't think they deserve it. Since Jesus doesn't physically live on this earth anymore, He desires to use our varied personalities and giftings to love others through us. We are His representatives. We can also receive love in the same manner.
     I am not an expert on love by any means. I am a work in progress. I fall short of the call many times a day. But we must always work towards godliness. In 2 Peter 1:5-7, we are told that godliness leads to love for other Christians. Godliness just doesn't suddenly appear. It is through a process of maturity that the Holy Spirit guides us.
It seems easier for me when I write out the unfolding this way:

1. We must allow faith to produce a life of moral excellence, which leads to
2. Knowing God better, which gives us the ability to
3. Exercise self-control, which leads us to
4. Patient endurance, resulting in
5. Godliness. Once we have godliness we are able to develop
6. Love for other Christians, (which will keep us from getting spiritually dull and indifferent - Heb.6:10-12 NLT)  and finally .....
7. We will grow to have genuine love for everyone.

That's loving God by loving people. That's worship in action. It sounds like a tall order, but I'm in it for the long haul. How about you? It's definitely worth it.