Devotional Life The New Creation / Ambassador

 

Devotional Life

The New Creation / Ambassador

If we really appreciate being reconciled to God

We should share this great opportunity with others

In fact, 2 Corinthians 5:20 says 

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. 

We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

Our devotional time and life should have a focus on others

Remember not only to find personal treasures

But find some you can share with others

Discover the joy of devotional time

That will fulfill your needs and the needs of others

 

 

The New Creation / Ambassador

Where do we begin?

 

The devotional life begins

with a radical change.

 

Because Christ died for all,

 we should no longer live for our self.

 

So if we do not live for our self,

what do we live for?

 

2 Corinthians 5:15 gives us the first

and most important reason for living…

 

… for him who died for them and was raised again.

 

When we see how much the God of the universe,

 the Creator of all things loves us…

 

When we see how much He desires for us to have

a full and abundant life, we will want to live for Him.

 

Our devotional time is time to spent

discovering what living for Him

means and what it brings to us.

 

Everything we discover about Him

 will reveal how good He is.

 

Jesus said to Nicodemus…

 

 You must be born again.

 

When we were born in these flesh

 bodies, we cried out for attention.

 

If we were hungry, we cried.

 

If we did not like our environment, we cried.

 

We started the flesh life with one concern…

 

 Our self.

 

That is what being born of the flesh is all about.

 

But Jesus said…

 

 You must be born again.

 

Jesus describes that birth

as being born of the Spirit.

 

Being born of the Spirit is a mystery to us.

 

Life isn’t about what pleases us anymore…

 

 But about what pleases the Holy Spirit.

 

The Holy Spirit is like the wind…

 

 Not seen and moves in many directions.

 

  But what we can see is where ever the

Spirit moves, the Kingdom of God is there…

 

This Kingdom of Righteousness, Peace and Joy.

 

When you and I are born of

the Spirit it is a radical change.

 

As it says in 2 Corinthians 5:17…

 

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;

the old has gone, the new has come!   

 

A new creation.

 

Our devotional time will open up

our eyes to this new Kingdom and

will help us to align and enjoy it.

 

But 2 Corinthians doesn’t stop

with enjoying our change.

 

2 Corinthians 5:18 and 19 says…

 

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 sins against them.

And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

 

If we really appreciate being reconciled to God…

 

 We should share this great opportunity with others.

 

In fact verse 20 says…

 

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors,

 as though God were making his appeal through us.

We implore you on Christ’s behalf:

Be reconciled to God.

 

Our devotional time and life

should have a focus on others.

 

Remember not only to find personal treasures…

 

 But find some you can share with others.

 

There are two focuses of my devotional time…

 

The one is what is God speaking to me.

 

I always have questions about my life and

love the instruction I receive from the Lord.

 

The other thing I love is

finding answers for others.

 

We see friends, family, and strangers

struggling in life and needing help.

 

It is such a wonderful feeling when you

can be God’s loving voice to someone else.

 

People are struggling from a world point of view.

 

A place where there seems to be no answer.

 

We, as ambassadors, get to

serve and speak on God’s behalf…

 

...faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.

11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God.

If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides,

so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.

To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

1 Peter 4:10-11

 

Remember your devotional time is to

embrace your needs and the needs of others.

 

 There are enough worldly opinions.

 

People need a word from the Lord. 

 

 

Scripture Reading

 

2 Corinthians 5:15-21 NIV

 

 …he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

 

16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.