Am i accurately representing christ

[shortlady]

I am currently reading this book that catalogues evil men and women from the first century to the present day, and halfway through the book I noticed that the majority of individuals did their deeds in the name of God. I was perplexed about this because from reading the Bible I know that God is a God of love and He would not condone these evil acts. I then began to question if these people were accurately representing God…but then I started to wonder…am I accurately representing Christ. Is my light shining that men can see my good works and glorify God (Matthew 5:16)? Can people see a difference in me and know that I am a child of God? If not, then what am I waiting on..



The Bible speaks about the parable of Jesus in which the master supplied talents to three different people. Two of the individuals doubled the talents given to them, but one did nothing with it. That individual was then banished from the sight of the master. (Matthew 25:14-30) I mentioned this parable because this is a clear example of what Christ expects from us as believers. We are the body of Christ and each one of us is supplied with a purpose, and it is up to us to use to glorify God so that men would be drawn to Him (John 3:14). However, if we don’t use it to glorify God and we do nothing with it, then we are just as worthless as the guy who used nothing with his talent.



I want to be used by God in a way that He alone will receive the glory. I want to be able to accurately represent Him and by doing that do everything that He commands me to do. I want to be a living testimony and sacrifice. I want to walk into my anointing and my purpose so that God’s will in my life is done (Luke 11:2). I want when people see me that they know that I have been with Jesus (Acts 4:13), and I want that to start today.



The end of the month is quickly approaching, and companies are now looking at the middle (and some the beginning) of their fiscal year to take stock of what have been done. They look to see what needs to be fixed in order to increase profits, or what deductions need to be made to reduce expenses. As Christians, we should also take stock of our lives. We need to evaluate the things that hinder us from fulfilling our purpose and eliminate them, and improve in the areas in which we are called into, so that our purpose will be fulfilled (Philippians 3:12-14). I plan on carefully evaluating my life accordingly because I believe that this is what is required of me.



I hope this was an encouragement to you as it was to me and I hope that this second half of the year that the body of Christ continue to grow in love and grace. Why? So that God will get all the glory and honor and in the end more and more people will come to know Him.


Rebecca G. Gardiner

 

[ephesians4_23]

Amen and Amen!!!!
I never thought about the business side/ determining what works and what hinders. What a great way for me to speak to others and for God to speak to me.
I have a desire now to prayerfully evaluate myself...
I am currently reading a book "The Gifted" by Terri Blackstock. I don't know how it ends, but it begins with 3 people who started a bible study at their job. No one shows up for it but those 3, and they all gripe at each other because one of them did not make flyers, and basically none of them followed through on what they were supposed to do. There is a huge earthquake, and they are in a 3 story building that collapses. One has his legs crushed by a steel beam, one is blinded by flying glass and one has his lungs/throat/ voice box affected by smoke inhalation so that he cannot speak. They all pray for a second chance to work for God's kingdom... and God gives it to them.
At the hospital, the one with the hurt legs wakes up with no damage, the one who was blinded was scheduled for surgery but wakes up seeing, and with no cuts at all; and the third wakes up speaking. The one with the legs finds that his legs continually walk everywhere, and they lead him to people who need help. The girl who was blind can look into people's eyes, and if they are hurting, she can see visions about why they hurt, and the third one, speaking, remembers Scriptures and speaks with authority about salvation, is evangelistic.
they find that without each other, they cannot help. The legs lead the man to people who need help, but he doesn't know how to help. The lady sees visions, but doesn't know what to do about it, and the evangelist is speaking to everyone about Christ, and people start to think he's crazy because he's never acted that way before.
But they finally get together, and the legs lead them to a person who's hurting, the lady sees in the person's eyes why they hurt, and tells the speaker, and he's able to speak to the person exactly what's going on and how God wants to help them and save them.
It's been a great book so far, and it's putting things into perspective for me as well. What do I do in the Kingdom? How can I do more? How can the body of Christ function better to serve better?