I get to do what?

"What makes us so terrified to witness? The thought that our influence or methods impact the decision that people make!"

At what point do you admit you have created your own stumbling block with your own rebellion? Or the load of sin you are carrying with you begins to weigh you down and out of service? How great an insult is it to Jesus Christ that we ignore His commands to make disciples of every nation and baptize them in the name of...because we don't feel up to par today? I would contend that we create our own brick wall to bang our own head against when we feel that our sin is so great that He who died for us cannot forgive it. Oh, woe is me that I may walk in the path of the "eeyore" and ignore, hinder, and restrict myself from sharing the Gospel in all that I do.

If we believe that our sin is so great that we cannot confess, repent, and receive forgiveness so that we may be about the Father's business, then we have a major pride problem. The remedy may not seem simple, but it's solution is. We must consult the Word of God, pray for forgiveness, and muster the resolve to stand firm in the faith according to the measure we have been given, and go!

I have, on many occasion, allowed my self-defeating sin to hinder my participation in the will of God. By this I do not mean that we pick and choose when we are in His will, but that we are participating obediently when we are doing His will. My sin problem, this bondage of the flesh, seeks to inhibit, and prohibit the victory until the day we are glorified in resurrection. But until then, this war can only be won through the Spirit and in Truth.

Finally, the mere thought that I get to participate in the Father's will, carry out the great commission, and be utilized as a mouthpiece to preach His glorious Gospel is overwhelming. The second that I restrain or attempt to talk myself out of evangelizing, ministering to the brethren, or caring for the "least of these," then I need to step back and take a reality check. This reality check is easily realized through the understanding that He has chosen us to do His will here on earth. We should count it a blessing that we are even allowed to speak His truth, let alone know it.

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again. Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
(Php 1:21-27 NASB)

Photo Credit: Jesse Fullagar