Who Have You Given Up On?

“Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” 2 CORINTHIANS 5:18-19

 

PONDER THIS

I had a brother in Christ that I loved very much and still do love very much. He wronged me, and there was anger that rose up in me that said, “I’m finished with him. I can’t trust him. He’s been dishonest.” As I paused and reflected, I thought, now why should I do that? I love this man. He is a brother. I refuse to let his mistake ruin what has been a good relationship. I prayed about it, gave it to God, and went and restored the relationship.

You may ask, “What if the person who has wronged me is not a follower of Christ?” Well, he or she is still a potential brother or sister in Christ. If that person is not a follower of Jesus and if you have an unforgiving spirit toward him or her, what chance do you have to bring that person to Christ? Would you let a sense of revenge cut off an opportunity to bring a person to the Lord Jesus Christ? That person is more than a person who has hurt you; he or she is a person who needs you.

Who have you been tempted to cut out of your life? Why?

How is God calling you to take part in His ministry of reconciliation?

PRACTICE THIS

Think about a person you have been tempted to give up on. Pray about it, and make the first step toward reconciliation as you are led.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Bible Study

Colossians 1:20

[20] and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Romans 5:10

[10] For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

1 John 2:2

[2] He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Ephesians 2:13

[13] But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

 

Radical Recompense

“Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.” (Mark 10:29–30)

What Jesus means here is that he himself makes up for every sacrifice.

If you give up a mother’s nearby affection and concern, you get back one hundred times the affection and concern from the ever-present Christ.

If you give up the warm comradeship of a brother, you get back one hundred times the warmth and comradeship of Christ.

If you give up the sense of at-homeness you had in your house, you get back one hundred times the comfort and security of knowing that your Lord owns every house.

To prospective missionaries, Jesus says, “I promise to work for you, and be for you, so much that you will not be able to speak of having sacrificed anything.”

What was Jesus’s attitude to Peter’s “sacrificial” spirit? Peter said, “We have left everything and followed you” (Mark 10:28). Is this the spirit of “self-denial” commended by Jesus? No, it is rebuked.

Jesus said to Peter, “No one ever sacrifices anything for me that I do not pay back a hundredfold — yes, in one sense even in this life, not to mention eternal life at the end of the age.”

John Piper

You're Not Meant to Fall Alone

“Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.” GALATIANS 6:1

 

PONDER THIS

Growing up, one of the things I loved to do with my brother was collect coconuts to sell. We learned how to climb coconut trees like monkeys to reach the leaves. One day, I was up in a tall coconut tree. I had my left arm around a palm frond, and my right hand was disconnecting a coconut when that palm frond broke. I did not look closely enough to see that it was a dying frond. When it broke, I fell about thirty feet. I fell on the grass, but my left arm fell on the sidewalk. As you can imagine, it was a bad situation.

As I was lying there, having fallen because of my own carelessness, what did I need from my brother? I didn’t need a lecture. I didn’t need my brother to ignore me and walk away. I didn’t need my brother to go around and say, “Did you hear about Adrian? He fell out of a coconut tree.” I had that arm in a sling for a while, and it healed just a little crooked. But I can use it because I got what I needed—somebody to realize that I’d fallen. I needed somebody to come and help me. What do we do with broken brothers and sisters in Christ? We help restore them in the name of Jesus.

How are you tempted to react when you hear about another person’s struggle?

How has someone cared for you when you felt like you had fallen far from God?

PRACTICE THIS

Extend love and restoration to someone in your community who has been rejected.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Bible Study

John 12:25

[25] Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Luke 14:27

[27] Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

Luke 14:26

[26] “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

Mark 8:35

[35] For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.

Possible with God

“I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.” (John 10:16)

God has a people in every people group in the world. He will call them through the gospel with Creator power. And they will believe! What a power is in these words for overcoming discouragement in the hard places of the frontiers!

The story of Peter Cameron Scott is a good illustration. Born in Glasgow in 1867, Scott became the founder of the Africa Inland Mission. But his beginnings in Africa were anything but auspicious.

His first trip to Africa ended in a severe attack of malaria that sent him home. He resolved to return after he recuperated. This return was especially gratifying to him because this time his brother John joined him. But before long, John was struck down by fever.

All alone, Peter buried his brother in African soil, and in the agony of those days recommitted himself to preach the gospel in Africa. Yet his health gave way again, and he had to return to England.

How would he ever pull out of the desolation and depression of those days? He had pledged himself to God. But where could he find the strength to go back to Africa? With man it was impossible!

He found strength in Westminster Abbey. David Livingstone’s tomb is still there. Scott entered quietly, found the tomb, and knelt in front of it to pray. The inscription reads:

OTHER SHEEP I HAVE WHICH ARE NOT OF THIS FOLD; THEM ALSO I MUST BRING.

He rose from his knees with a new hope. He returned to Africa. And today, over a hundred years later, the mission he founded is a vibrant, growing force for the gospel in Africa.

If your greatest joy is to experience the infilling grace of God overflowing from you for the good of others, then the best news in all the world is that God will do the impossible through you for the salvation of the unreached peoples.

John Piper 

 

Forgive Because You've Been Forgiven

“And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” EPHESIANS 4:32

 

PONDER THIS

Think of someone who has wronged you. If you are harboring a hurt in your heart, I want to give you a compelling reason why you ought to forgive that individual. We ought to forgive one another because God has so willingly forgiven us. We owed a debt we could never repay, and God, in the riches of His mercy, forgave us. If God has forgiven us, then we ought to forgive others.

I received a letter some time ago from a woman who was in the hospital in Memphis. She was from Rome, Georgia and she said, “I was away from home, and I needed surgery. Some young men from your church, who did not even know me, came to the hospital and donated blood on my behalf and left a note.” The note said, “We gave our blood for you because Jesus gave His blood for us.” Wasn’t that beautiful? In forgiveness, God has not called us to do anything He has not already done for us. I want to extend forgiveness to you because Jesus forgave me.

How have you been changed by someone’s forgiveness?

How has Christ’s forgiveness changed the way you forgive other people?

PRACTICE THIS

If possible and appropriate, speak to a person who has wronged you and make steps toward reconciliation.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers