8th Jun 26 | 14:45
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Luke 21 10-19 WATCH AND PRAY II 13 Luke 21 19 Being a blessing to people around us
📖 Luke 21:10-19
*FRIEND OF GOD*
23May2021 - *Being a blessing to people around us* - _Luke 21:10-19_ - WATCH AND PRAY II (13) – Bible reading: _ Romans 2:6-7_
The Lord is fully in control over all that is happening in our world and He is working things out according to His schedule. We have seen that God’s timing is completely different from our understanding of time.
We therefore wait and we are rested in Him for He is always true to His character and His word does not change. He is longing for man to repent, return and be restored with Him for He does not want anyone to perish in the lake of fire.
God is, therefore, longsuffering towards man and has been giving man centuries to acknowledge Him, yet what do we see? We see the utter contempt and negligence of man of not wanting to repent, return and be restored with God.
These current difficult experiences are God speaking loudly from heaven for man to listen. We, as the church, ought to understand the pain of God’s heart over the suffering of His creation, knowing that the Lord is calling out deafeningly to man and we ought to be spokespersons on God’s behalf, interpreting God’s word to humanity, during these days.
_Luke 21:19 By your patience possess your souls._
We have seen that the basis of our waiting and resting in the Lord is the Lord Himself and His Scriptures, which do not pass away.
We now see that the process of waiting and resting in the Lord produces character in us.
_Romans 5:3-5 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; (4) *and perseverance, character; and character, hope*. (5) Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us._
This matter of waiting and resting in the Lord is not a period of inactivity but it is a period of wonderful growth and maturity in Christ.
Character development is taking place in us during this period of waiting and resting in the Lord. Our character is being conformed and shaped to the nature of Christ.
This time of waiting and resting teaches us the meaning of hope. The hope of the certainty of what God is accomplishing which is according to His plan. Hope in the certainty of God’s word produces faith in us. Therefore, waiting and resting in the Lord, during these tumultuous times, is building two crucial matters of the character and nature of God into us, which is hope and faith.
Hope and faith is the expression of our love for God. All three, Hope, Faith and Love are being developed in us. God’s love is poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. We experience the incredible work of the Holy Spirit in us.
Friends, do you see how the Lord is using these times of trials and testing to purify and separate the church for Himself. The Lord is preparing His Bride for the great wedding feast, where the Lamb and His church will be together in an everlasting marriage.
*We do not look at these trials as impediments that we go to God and ask that it be taken away but we embrace these moments as precious, from the perspective of eternity.
This growth that is taking place in us of the character and nature of Christ, causes us to *be a blessing to people around us*.
_James 5:7-11 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. (8) You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
(9) Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! (10) My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. (11) Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful._
James is encouraging us not to be troubled by trials and tribulations but understand what the Lord is accomplishing in us and His overall plan.
_Romans 2:6-7 who "WILL *RENDER TO EACH ONE ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS*": (7) eternal life to those who *by patient continuance in doing good* seek for glory, honor, and immortality;_
We await the judgment day with eagerness. We know that the Lord is the righteous judge. He will see our life as a whole. We cannot just claim that we have received Jesus into our hearts and therefore all things are now met to face God’s judgment.
Let us understand that receiving Jesus into our lives is just the beginning. Jesus in us must result in an overall transformation of our lives, which till the very end of our lives, results in our continued love for God and love for people around us. *Being a blessing to people around us*.
_II Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, (17) that *the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work*._
God is wanting us to be equipped and doing every good work till the very last breath of our short life here on earth. The Lord has not called us to be inward-looking but to look at the needs of people around us and be a blessing.
_I Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, *always abounding in the work of the Lord*, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord._
We have eternal hope and since we have this hope we are labouring and abounding in the work of the Lord, which is being a blessing to people around us.
*Thought to ponder*
```I John 3:17-18 But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? (18) My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.```
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