Wish Myself Accursed
As many of you already know, I will be leaving VERY soon to go to White Plains, NY for a mission trip with my pastor and others from Lakeview. As I have been preparing myself to go and evangelize in the Metro NY area, my heart returns each day to one verse in Romans. I have loved this verse for about a year and it has become my "life verse," if you will, but it still rings so true and convicting each morning. In Romans 9, we hear from the apostle Paul as he writes to the members of the Roman church. In verse 3, Paul says,
"For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh."
Essentially, what Paul is saying is that he would rather give up his own salvation and be separtated from Christ for eternity, than to see his unsaved friends continue to live apart from Chirst. WOW!! Paul is such a stud! Think about that. Would you be willing to give up your own salvation and be damned to hell just to see a lost friend, co-worker, family member, stranger, etc., come to know the Lord on a personal level? Am I willing to say that?! Oh how I long to sincerely say that I would rather spend eternity in HELL than see my father die without Christ, but what about strangers?
So, as I have spent time preparing my own heart for the work that I will be doing in NY, it has been my prayer that I would be able to say the same for the strangers that I will speak with there. Maybe all it takes to make someone truly passionate about sharing God's word and the gospel with someone, is meaning that it would effect them in a personal manner. Now, I know and you know that we can NEVER lose our salvation, but it's more of an attitude check than anything else. Do I want this person to live or die? If I were lost and they were sharing the gospel with me, would I want them to be so sincere that they are willing to give me their own salvation? It's a matter of being compassionate and making it personal. May I never be found guilty of taking God's grace for granted. God is so good.... :)
1 Comments:
So Sis,
I have an idea for you... have you thought about journalism, that was a very well written blog. I do pray that as you go to NY your desire would be to love with the love of Christ, to serve in the power of Christ, and to live for the glory of Christ's name. I am so excited to hear and see you desire to be disciplined in your study of God's Word, even that is an answer to my prayer. God is so good. Remember, unlike other sources that satisfy your thirst(though temporarily), the more you read and understand God's word, the more you want to read and understand God's Word. Why? It satisfies the soul ETERNALLY!!. Anyway Love ya girl.
P.S. here is a quote I heard from one of our favorites, John Piper, recently, you should ponder it this weeek...."Love is an overflowinging JOY IN GOD that meets the needs of others." That is deep! For "He is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him" Amen.
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