Wednesday, March 8, 2023 Some material taken from NAMB Who’s Your One 40 day devotional.
Join the Mission
All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD. All the families of the nations will bow down before you. PSALM 22:27, CSB
It is not enough that only a small portion of the human population bow down in worship to God. All will turn to Him. All of the families of the nations will stand in humble submission before Him, including ourselves. As we share the gospel message, we should remember that our efforts are bigger than ourselves. When we see new converts baptized, we should be reminded those moments are a part of God’s name and fame being spread throughout all of the earth. The spreading of the gospel may begin with you sharing with your one in your neighborhood or workplace, but it will not stay there.
This news is too good, and God is too glorious, for His name to not be spread to the ends of the earth. We can faithfully join Him in this mission.
How have you joined God in His mission to make Himself known? Pray God would remind you that you have a small but significant role to play in the advancement of His
A Heart of Stone
I will give them integrity of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone from their bodies and give them a heart of flesh, so that they will follow my statutes, keep my ordinances, and practice them. They will be my people, and I will be their God. EZEKIEL 11:19-20, CSB
Saul makes his first appearance in the Bible at Stephen’s stoning. He hated Christians and anything to do with the church. One day Saul was traveling from Jerusalem to Damascus and suddenly there was a bright light all around him, blinding him. He fell to his knees as he heard a voice speaking to him. The voice he heard was God asking Saul why he was persecuting Him.
Saul was completely shocked at this strange light and this strange voice who seemed to know him. He asked the voice who he was, and the voice replied I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. The condensed version is that Saul was blind for three days while staying.at a home in Damascus. His eyes were closed, but his heart was opened, and He believed. He became a Christian – the very group of people he had made his life’s work to destroy.
He was blinded for three days from the bright light, and then he was baptized. Immediately he began to proclaim Jesus with even more fervor than he denied him with. God took a person such as Saul, who had a heart of stone, and God melted it with His love. This turned him into one of the most powerful influencers ever for God’s kingdom.
Paul spread the message of salvation far and wide after that. His story was one of huge transformation which made all the more glory for God. Maybe your transformation has not been as sensational as Paul’s, but that does not mean that the transformation He has done in your heart is any different than his. You don’t have to have a dramatic story of salvation to spread the gospel and be a part of God changing people’s lives. Remember in Him you are more than sufficient to do His work.
Father, _____________ needs a new heart. You are the only One who can change a heart that is living in rebellion to You and submitting to the slavery of sin. Apart from Your grace, _____________ has no hope to know You and follow Your ways. I long for ______________ to know You as his/her God and to experience the grace You so freely give. In Your rich love, give him/her a new heart, and put a new Spirit in place of his/her heart of stone.
