A Table Spread - Meat

 A Table Spread 

John 4:34

Jesus said unto them, My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish His work.

     Just as Christ's 'meat' was to do the will of God, to be obedient to His Father, and to finish the work which God had set for Him to do, so, also, is our meat: to do the will of God and to finish the work which He has set for each of us to do. 

SALVATION

    What is God's will for our lives? Well, the first and primary will is for our salvation. John 3:16 tells us, 'For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' 

    But with this statement comes a warning to the people who choose not to take hold of this salvation, this saving grace through Jesus Christ: John 3:17, 18 'For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believes on Him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in The Name of The Only Begotten Son of God. 

    It is The Name of Jesus Christ by which all of us must be saved. Acts 4:12 "...there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Romans 10:9,13 "That if you shall confess with your mouth The LORD Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved....For The Scripture says, 'Whosoever believes on Him shall not be ashamed." 

RECONCILIATION

    That is God's first and foremost will for us. The second is to share the message of salvation through Jesus Christ. We are, after all, His ambassadors to this world. 2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." We are now, through the saving grace of God, in Christ and Christ is in us. We have been reconciled (changed by God), through the power of God demonstrated at the cross and in the garden. Jesus died for you and I and He walked out of the grave after conquering death and hell. 

    2 Corinthians 5:18-20 "And all things are of God, Who has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing (taking into account) their trespasses unto them; and has committed unto us The Word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech (beg, urge) you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be reconciled to God." 

    We are changed by the power of God and The Spirit of God through our belief on The Name of The Only Begotten Son of God into a new nature. Who we were before we believed is not who we are after we have believed. The change was instant, for The Spirit of God applied The Word of Faith to our hearts and Christ sits on the throne of our hearts now, not ourselves. That sinful nature we were all born with has been replaced with a holy nature, a heart that desires to love God and serve Him wholly. This change is not wrought by our own hands nor lips. It is the power of God. 

HOLINESS

    The third thing, will, God wants us to do, now that He has reconciled us to Himself, is to become more like Christ and less like our old selves. This is a change we must actively participate in with God's Holy Spirit. Anyone can read a Bible, but only by having an active faith and trust in God, believing that His Word is True, will The Spirit be able to apply The Word to our hearts and our lives. 

    2 Corinthians 3:18 "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of The LORD, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, as by The Spirit of The LORD." 

    We seek first the kingdom of God. We read the manual, the Bible, and ask God to reveal Himself to us in it as we read it. We deliberately, and with urgency, devour this heavenly Mana which God gives to us daily. We do not merely read our Bibles and go on about our day: we study, we pray, we praise, we thank, we sing, we search, we welcome The Spirit of God into our lives. This third Person in the trinity is our Helper, our Comforter, our Guide. He aids, He consoles, He leads. 

    Galatians 5:18 tells us that we are led by The Spirit. The next few verses describe the old natures that were once upon us and that must be expunged from us. Galatians 5:22-25 tells us that The Spirit causes, produces, the new nature in us: "But the fruit of The Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in The Spirit, let us also walk in The Spirit." 

ENDURANCE

    We can't quit. We may rest in Christ to regain our strength, but we cannot stop until we have completed the work which God has set for each of us. Paul describes it as an endurance race. This life which we now live in Christ is not a sprint, nor a marathon, but an endurance race. We run with determination, perseverance and integrity. We endeavor to complete our mission unfailingly. 

    Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 40:31 "They that wait upon The LORD (serve The LORD) shall renew their strength; they shall mount up (rise and soar) with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." We walk out our faith every single day. We trust in God's timing. We will maintain this holy faith which has been given us that we might bring glory and honor to our God when we have completed, finished, the work which He has given us to do. And I'm doing my best to do this very thing. 

    This is our meat. To accept the saving grace (Ephesians 2:8, 9) which saves our souls from eternal damnation. To share the gospel message of salvation through Christ with others. To live a holy and honorable life in Christ. To endure with grace, integrity, honor and trust and hope. 

    Are you ready to partake of the meat on the table which is spread for you? 

COME AND DINE 

    

More Than Enough Grace

 2 Corinthians 5:18, 19

All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 

 

    In Christ we are more than enough because there is more than enough of Christ to save all of mankind, not just a few here and some there. Outside of Christ we are not enough. Nothing we do under our own power or strength will guarantee us a seat in heaven. We need a More Than Enough God to save us with His More Than Enough Grace. 

    In Exodus 20:6, God told Moses that His mercy could extend to thousands, if they loved Him and adhered to His commandments. Psalm 103:17 tells us that God's mercy, His loving devotion, His righteousness extends to our children's children (v18) to those who keep His covenants and obey His precepts. More Than Enough. 

Reconciled & Saved Through Christ

    Romans 5:10, 11

For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life! Not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. 

    This is God's grace at work in our souls. God begins to change our hearts - how we love and react to being loved; change our minds - how we think, how we discern. He does not leave us where He found us: in the mire, in the dark, in loneliness, nor in confusion and doubt. He brings us up out of all that with His mighty right arm of righteousness: JESUS CHRIST, in Whom we believe and by Whose Name we are saved. 

     Reconciled (brought near to God) through the blood which Christ Jesus shed on the cross and saved (from eternal damnation and punishment for sins) by His Life Eternal (having conquered death, hell and the grave). 

    MORE THAN ENOUGH GRACE. More than enough LOVE, MERCY, LOVINGKINDNESS for each and every one of us who believe. From the time of Adam and Eve to the present day, there is more than enough life-changing, life-giving grace and mercy to all who come to God through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. 

    All we have to do is acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord of All, including ourselves. That it is by His Name we are saved, for There Is Power in The Name of Jesus. We must confess our sins to God that we might receive His forgiveness. We need to follow The Holy Spirit's direction in living the abundant spirit-filled life we are called to live. Before any other part of our lives need to prosper, our souls above all else, must prosper.

    In order to do that, we must read and study out for ourselves God's Word, in addition to taking in The Word being preached in church. If the whole Word of God is not being preached by mouth, by hand and by actions, then that church is not of God. The Spirit of God, if we let Him, will lead us to the church He wants us to be in. 

    The more we draw close to God in our Bible readings, our prayer time and our daily living, the clearer His voice becomes, and the easier it is to obey The Spirit of God when He calls us to enter into God's presence. 

    I serve a 'more than enough' God. He has More Than Enough for you, too. Do you want it? 

LAY IT ALL DOWN - Will Reagan, United Pursuit

A Crucified Life - - Carries The Message of Reconciliation

 

2 Corinthians 5:19

That is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 3056

Message: a word (as embodying an idea), a statement, a speech

From the Greek word 'logos' (pronounced log'-os): preeminently used of Christ (Jn 1:1), expressing the thoughts of the Father through the Spirit.

    When we hear Jesus speaking to us in the Scriptures, we see that He said He was only speaking what the Father told Him to speak. It is God expressing Himself through His only begotten Son. 

>John 8:28

>John 5:19, 30

>John 12:49, 50

    What is the Message of Reconciliation? It's the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ. It's the Message of Hope.

It's the Message of Perfect Peace. It's the Message of Life Eternal In Christ. It's the Message of Agape: Divine Love of God from God for a world full of sinners, sinners like me. 

    It's God drawing us to Himself as a father wraps his arms around his long, lost son who has finally come home. It's God bringing us close in His embrace as a mother would comfort her fearful children. It's God bringing us into His family via our faith in the Message of The Cross.

    It's the Message of amazing grace through the blood which Christ shed for us. It's the power of God in action, writing His Word on our hearts, with the quill of grace. It's the Message of Someone paying our sin debts with His own Son. The Son who surrendered His own will to the will of His Father and obediently went the Way of the Cross for us.

    It's the Message of forgiveness for the iniquity into which we are born: that sinful nature that is in all of us. It's the Message of forgiveness for the sins we confess to the Father that we might be cleansed from all unrighteousness in us. It's the Message of forgiveness for the trespasses, whether we knew we were trespassing or not, we have done against God. 

    It's the Message which has withstood time and all its ravages. Though armies have tried to destroy it, the Message always wins out. Myriads of peoples in many lands and cultures across this globe are still trying to eradicate the Message of the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ. But GOD. But God can't be stopped by anyone. Ever. 

    It's the Message of authority and wisdom. The Message is Truth. It is the Light of God shining into searching hearts, hearts that are searching for the real, for the true. I went searching for the real, the true. And I found it in Christ Jesus. So can you.

    

THE MESSAGE

 The Gospel - Ryan Stevenson

O Come To The Altar - Elevation Worship

No Matter What - Ryan Stevenson

Come To The Table - Sidewalk Prophets

Mended - Matthew West

Same Power - Jeremy Camp

Start A Fire - Unspoken

Goodness of God - Bethel Music

God Is On The Move - 7eventhTime Down

Love Broke Through - Toby Mac

Point To You - We Are Messengers

Changed - Jordan Feliz

A Crucified Life - - Is Through Christ

 

2 Corinthians 5:18

All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 1223

Through: by the instrumentality of, by way of, for the sake of

From the Greek word 'dia' (pronounced dee-ah'): properly, across (to the other side), to go all the way through, "successfully across". 

THE BLOOD OF CHRIST SAVES, CLEANSES US    Romans 5:10

For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!

    Romans 5:15

But the gift is not like the trespass. For if by the one man’s trespass (Adam's sin) the many died, how much more have the grace of God and the gift which comes through the grace of the one Man Jesus Christ overflowed to the many.

    Ephesians 1:7

In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.

    Ephesians 2:13

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

    Acts 15:11

But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they. 

    1 Peter 1:1, 2

This letter is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and His Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed Him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. May God give you more and more grace and peace. (NLT Bible)

    Though we cannot literally apply this blood to ourselves, for we have not in and of ourselves the power to do so, nevertheless it is applied by God Himself when we believe on the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation. Do you believe? 

    It is our Faith in Christ Jesus that gets the spiritual gears and cogs shifting and aligning. First, we believe that God is God and that His Word is Truth. Secondly, in our recognition of this fact, we realize we are sinners and have trespassed against God's Word. And thirdly, realizing now that we have nowhere else to go but God, we humble ourselves, kneeling at the altar and repenting of our sinful words and our sinful actions. We ask for His forgiveness and we receive it. 

GRACE THROUGH CHRIST

Washed By The Blood - CityAlight

Grace That Is Greater Than All Our Sin - Sovereign Grace Music

Softly And Tenderly - Kristyn Getty, Vince Gill, Ellie Holcomb, Sierra Hull

When I Survey The Wondrous Cross - Fernando Ortega

Sinner Saved By Grace - Gaither Vocal Band

Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) - Chris Tomlin

    

Arming The Spiritual Warrior -- Ambassador of Reconciliation

 Ephesians 6:15

And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 2091

Preparation: prompt willingness, cheerful readiness; firm footing, foundation

*No. 4243

Ambassador: means to act as an established statesman (diplomat) – a trusted, respected ambassador who is authorized to speak as God's emissary (represent His kingdom)

 

Ambassadors For God

Isaiah 6:8

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: “Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?” And I said: “Here am I. Send me!”

1 Samuel 3:10

Then the LORD came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.”

Ambassadors For Christ

2 Corinthians 5:17-21

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!

All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God.

God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

An ambassadorship is not granted to just anyone. It is impossible to testify of God's amazing grace unless it is first applied to our own iniquities. We must first recognize that in the holy presence of God we are an unclean, unholy, people. Isaiah met God and knew immediately that he himself was not worthy to be in God's presence, for the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is a holy God and His very presence, His name, demands a holy people. 

Isaiah needed to be prepared to preach the Word which God would give him; fire from God's heavenly altar touched Isaiah's mouth, making it possible for him to speak God's Word. 

We, the Spiritual Warriors, are today's Ambassadors of Reconciliation, just as the first century Christians were, just as every generation of righteous believers have been since that time. We are called to follow Christ every step of the way, even to death, if such a calling is on our lives. 

Ambassadors Are Prepared To Testify & To Suffer

Preparation

Isaiah 6:5-7

Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.

And with it he touched my mouth and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for.”

Suffering

Philippians 1:20

I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have complete boldness so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.

1 Peter 4:19

Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

1 Peter 3:15-17

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.

For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 

As Ambassadors of Reconciliation we must first be reconciled to God ourselves. 

Isaiah 1:18

"Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool."

Isaiah 43:25

I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.

Romans 10:8-10

(8) But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming:

(9) that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

(10) For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved.

*No. 2643

Reconciliation:  reconciliation (restoration) as the resulting of Christ exactly (precisely) exchanging His righteousness (blood) for our guilt

It is only through the blood shed by Jesus Christ on the cross that we can be reconciled to God: there's no other way, no other name.

The Way

John 14:6

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

The Name

Matthew 1:21

And she shall bring forth a son, and you shall call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins.

Acts 4:12

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Dear Lord,

Thank You for saving me, for dying on the cross to save me from the punishment of my sins. Thank You for reconciling me to You. I pray, Lord, that You would strengthen me with Your Strength and make me worthy in Your sight. Thank You for this new life I have in You. Mold me into the Christian You want me to be. I surrender my life, my breath, my all to You. You are everything to me. May my life shine Your light into the darkness around me, that Your name would be glorified. Speak to my heart, Lord, and cleanse me from all unrighteousness that I might be found a 'good and faithful servant' in Your sight. 

In Jesus' name, I pray,

Amen. 

Take My Life