As Stan and I were enjoying breakfast together at the Twelve Baskets Cafe, he said, “God did it again this morning.”
“Did what?”
“Convicted me.”
“About what?”
“My message.”
“Your message? What about your message?”
“Is it what He wants it to be?”
“How’d He do that?”
“In my journaling time,” Stan replied, “I was focusing on something that happened with some of the apostles in the early church. They had been put in jail because the Sadducees didn’t like what they were doing and saying.”
“What happened to them?”
“It says that an angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison and took them out. It’s what the angel said to them that really convicted me.”
“What’d he say to them?”
“Go and speak the whole message of this Life.”
“Oh,” I replied, “go and speak the whole message of this life, I can see how that might convict a person.”
“You’ve got that right, my friend,” Stan said, “but it’s more than a ‘might’. For me, it was an absolute conviction. Am I going anywhere and speaking the whole message of the life Jesus was given to provide through the finished work of His cross? Do I even know what that ‘whole message’ is? What’s my message?”
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Bible verses to consider:
But an angel of the Lord during the night opened the gates of the prison, and taking them out he said, “Go your way, stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this Life.” Acts of the Apostles 5:19-20.
I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly. John 10:10.
I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me. John 14:6.
Prayer: Thank you, Father, for giving Jesus and His finished work on the cross as the way to life with you, the life that begins here and will continue forever. Even though I know I will spend eternity in your presence, I confess that too often while I remain on this side of eternity I don’t go anywhere to tell anyone anything about the life you’ve provided through Jesus. Please forgive that foolishness and help me follow every step of your lead in knowing and telling the whole message of the life you gave Jesus to provide. Thank you I can and do bring these prayers before you in His precious name. Amen.
Think on this: Do you have the life Jesus came to give, the life that begins here and will continue forever? If no, why is that your choice? If you are a Christian with the assurance of salvation and redemption, how are you doing with knowing and telling the whole message of the life provided by God through Jesus? If you sense the desire for change with any of this, how is that change going to happen? Is that what you truly want? Why or why not?
The need: Since God knows what we need before we ask Him (Matthew 6:8), what does He know you need, not only to know the whole message of the life He provided through Jesus, but what you need in order to go and tell that whole message? Spend time studying God’s word, praying, reflecting, and journaling to see what God knows you need. He will show you!
Forward: Do you know others who would or could benefit from this devotional? If so, why not forward it and open them to be part of the conversation between Stan and S. Tory Teller?