Corona Devo 1097

I have to be honest, it's hard...This sharing-Jesus thing. 

To step out to share/speak/teach Jesus publicly... It's hard.   Hard to know what to say, when to say it, and it's hard to say it to people.

But in accepting Jesus, He prepares us:

The Holy Spirit will give you the words to say at the moment when you need them.  ~Luke 12:12

~~~

And, I have to be honest, it can be hard to feel any sense of worthiness in serving God.  It is (spiritually) ironic that the closer we get to Christ, the farther away (in purity) we can feel from Him or in serving Him...so unworthy.  It's hard.

“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” -Exodus 3:11

“Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’ ” -Exodus 4:1   

“Then Moses said to the LORD, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” -Exodus 4:10 

~~~

But God calls us, and Christ equips us.  They have revealed themselves to us and even though it can be hard to live-out daily, we are theirs.   

“I have revealed you to the ones you gave me from this world. They were always yours. You gave them to me, and they have kept your word. (7) Now they know that everything I have is a gift from you, (8) for I have passed on to them the message you gave me. They accepted it and know that I came from you, and they believe you sent me.  ~John 17:6-8

~~~

But still, following the footsteps of Jesus?  It's hard.  I can relate to Paul absolutely:

For I am the least of all the apostles.  In fact, I’m not even worthy to be called an apostle... ~I Corinthians 15:9

~~~

Gaining the spiritual gumption to serve...that's one thing.  But serving God's people can be another.  It's hard.   

I have to be honest, God's people can be hard.  We can be hard.  Believers and Non-believers alike...We are broken, imperfect people trying to reach-out and reach broken, imperfect people.  It can be beautiful.  It can also be very hard.

Earlier this year I was in conversation with our daughter about how to handle a difficult student in her class.  I said, "What if we could have an influence on her for Jesus?"

She said, "What if I could just flush her down the toilet?"

We might laugh, but who among us has not felt the same about a hard-to-like/love person in our life? This living-for-Jesus thing is full-time and it's hard.  

We can't do it alone.  But Jesus never said that we should:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (29) Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (30) For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  ~Matthew 11:28-30

~~~

God's Word serves as an encouragement to our battered battle-cry for Christ today. The Lord reminds us (through Scripture) that we have every spiritual gift we need to serve Him.  

(7) Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. (8) He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. (9) God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  -1 Corinthians 1:7-9

It will be hard, but He will keep us strong to the end.

Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com