Sunday, August 28, 2011
Be Thankful for the Faithful
This morning's worship attendance was way down ( but it was much better than the churches that canceled their services). Yesterday a hurricane came through. Today many people are still without power. Many incorrectly assumed that the church would lack power and stayed at home. Many others evacuated and were not back in town. We had both of our services like normal.
I was so glad to see those who came to worship. They were an encouragement. I told them what 2 Chronicles 16: 9 says, "The eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose hearts are completely His." I told them that God has been looking for them and prayed that God would give them an extra special blessing because their hearts belong to Him.
Something happens to believers when those around them are faithful to the Lord. They are encouraged to continue. It is natural to get discouraged when you believe you are the only one fighting, working, struggling for the Lord. This was one of Elijah's problems. He believed he was the last of those who served God and wanted to die.
I ran on a couple of relay teams for track when I was in high school. I always made my best times in those races because I didn't want to let the other people down. We were all much faster than we were separately. Knowing that others are working hard too encourages you to continue to run the race.
Faithfulness begets faithfulness. You don't want to let others down when you know they are doing their best. It makes you do a better job than ever before.
Having people fighting for the same cause as you makes you glad. It means that the cause will continue if something happens to you. There is no greater cause than that of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Therefore, I am incredibly thankful for those who came to church today. God's going to bless them for it. I want to bless them too.
1 Corinthians 1:4 (ESV)
4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus,
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Hi Prentis,
Even through that hurricane, may God work for good to those who love Him, who are called according to His purposes, in accordance to Romans 8:28. May God Almighty be with you and your congregation ever more as you plough through the aftermath of the natural calamity. May loving thy neighbor be amply demonstrated in your midst.
Indeed we are to spur each other on in the good works and bearing of fruits for the Lord. You have visited my blog site, and know that I am heading up a regular, once a month Healing Meeting. Some brothers who themselves are more than qualified in their own rights to head a similar if NOT larger or more impactful ministry, have agreed to be meeting partners in support of me; one of them made available his place for the meeting. It is so encouraging to know for a good cause of the Lord, we encourage and support one another. I am humbled, and knowing that brothers and sisters give of their precious time, I am spurred further. The first meeting is on 8th October. May you keep me in prayer, till then. Anthony Chia, high.expressions
Post a Comment