On Sunday my pastor spoke out of Acts 9:1-16
This is when God spoke to Saul and turned his world upside down by calling him to stop doing what he was doing (persecuting the church) and to come follow him. To make a long story short, "Saul" became Paul, and completely transformed his life and began to follow God. As I kept reading in Acts, this is what got me...
vs. 20: "At once, he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the son of God."
Paul started following God and suffering for Him right away. This is amazing to me... someone who completely persecuted the church and hated Christ and was completely against Christianity... someone "brand new" at being a Christian immediately picked up his cross and followed Jesus. He changed history by doing what the Lord asked him to do, by speaking to many different people - sharing with Christ with them in ways that changed their lives. And here I am - I don't know how long I've been a Christian exactly, but I've known about Christ for my entire life. And, this was just really encouraging to hear. I've always played it safe, and I've always been skeptical about sharing my faith. I get scared, have cold feet - what-have-you... but something my pastor said struck me.
He said, "Are you going to forsake the blessing and reward of God because the pain might be too much?" This really challenged me. Something's been on my heart lately. And, I think God's been shaping my heart for Africa or Asia. I know they're completely two different cultures. But I've always been interested in them. When Virginia Beach didn't work out for this summer, I still knew that God had a plan. As frustrated as I was, and still am sometimes about not going, I know that God has other things in store. I know God still wants me to go on Project but He wants me to wait, and now I know why. Lately I've been seeing small signs from God - but they've made me excited. At church on Sunday, we had two missionaries speak that are doing work over in central Asia. I was so intrigued to hear the wife's story, and how she came to know Christ. The last song we sang in church is called "He Reigns" by the Newsboys.
The very first verse of the song is:
It’s the song of the redeemed, Rising from the African plain
It’s the song of the forgiven, Drowning out the Amazon rain
The song of Asian believers, Filled with God’s holy fire
It’s every tribe, every tongue, every nation
A love song born of a grateful choir
I just found this funny... God's definitely got a sense of humor. After church, I randomly came across a youtube video, and to me it was fascinating. One day I do truly want to go on a summer project. The video talks about how people of different countries who have never heard of Christ absolutely catch on fire for Christ once they hear of Him. Once they find Him, they see Him as a treasure, and they want to tell everyone about Him. I am encouraged by this.
God is awesome.
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