Ambassadors

On Sunday morning, Jurie revealed what it means to be Citizens of [God’s] Kingdom. I hope you were able to make it, but if not, click that link. It was a powerful message.

Take a moment to think about this with me… here on earth, we reside in the middle of a kingdom of darkness. Satan is even called “god of this world”:

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

2 Corinthians 4:3-4

For some of us, the darkness is obvious, but I think a lot of us go about our lives in a cloud of comfort and stability, blinded to the darkness around us.

Find Life, Share Life, Bring Life

One of the 5twelve sayings is, “Find Life, Share Life, Bring Life.”

• Find Life: find a church where you can experience the presence of the Holy Spirit alongside other believers.
• Share Life: Join communities of fellowship and ministry, where you can live life shoulder to shoulder with other believers, support one another, and sharpen one another’s faith.
• Bring Life: Reach out to your neighbors, your city, your nation, and the world with the good news of Jesus Christ, serving others and sharing the Gospel.

I think most of us are pretty good at finding and sharing life. We enjoy our “holy huddle” because it’s safe there. We can be Christians without fear of persecution or offense. But according to Sunday’s sermon, the point of us living as exiles in this kingdom of darkness is the be ambassadors for God’s Kingdom. Finding life and sharing life are the ways we strengthen our faith, so that our fear of rejection doesn’t keep us from the ultimate goal – bringing life.

Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

1 John 5:12

An Example

The 5twelve vision is to “see people telling stories of Jesus changing lives through them.” A week or two ago, our good friend Melissa shared two stories with us, with the refrain, “God is so fun.” Check out this one:

I went in to take the kids’ registration in to [their] middle school, and as I was waiting, I felt the Lord pointing out the receptionist, and He showed me a picture of the woman’s son…. He showed me that the son is really smart…

After I turned my stuff in, I asked the receptionist, “Do you have a son?”

She said, “Yes…”

I said, “I have this picture of this beautiful boy in my mind, and God is showing me that he’s really smart.”

She said, “Yes, I have two sons, and they’re both beautiful, but one is very smart. He’s in the Gifted and Talented program.”

I said, “I’m getting this picture that he’s down on himself; he’s sad about something. I feel like he needs prayer for some reason.”

She said, “Yes, he probably does need prayer. He came to me crying this morning; he was very sad and said that he’s getting bullied on the bus.”

I said, “Yeah, I sense that he’s down on his own talent and intelligence; he doesn’t feel like he fits in. He’s not very confident in that.”

She said, “That’s exactly how he feels.”

So I said, “I’d like to pray for him.” And I did. I prayed for his confidence, for friends to come around him, and for him to have boldness knowing that God has given him a gift to use.

After I prayed, she hugged me really tight. I said, “Mama, you’re doing a great job. God sees your kids; just keep on loving them. God sent me here today just to tell you that He sees you and he sees your kids.”

She said, “Thank you so much; you just made my day. I don’t know how you knew all that.” I said, “It’s God. Sometimes He just sends people to encourage you, and today He wanted me to encourage you.”

Melissa B., transcribed from voice message, 30 March 2021; click here for her other story

Ambassadors

Melissa makes it look easy, but she didn’t always receive these prophetic visions from God, and stepping out in faith this way wasn’t always a breeze. But as her faith has deepened and as she’s begun listening for God’s voice, He has revealed Himself to her in miraculous ways – ways that mold her into His ambassador. Talking about her experiences, she said, “Hearing from God takes practice, and it is a ‘stepping out of your comfort zone’ kind of activity. He grows us as He stretches us.”

Nobody is asking you to adopt the customs of God’s Kingdom overnight; nobody expects your ambassadorship to be an instant result of becoming a citizen of His Kingdom. But as you press into the Lord, may He reveal Himself to you and guide you from finding life, to sharing life, and finally to bringing life, and light, into this kingdom of darkness.

Amen.