Friday, March 24, 2017

The Most Important Thing You Can Offer Someone In Need



He must increase, but I must decrease. —John 3:30

{CHAMBERS} “If you become a necessity to someone else’s life, you are out of God’s will. As a servant, your primary responsibility is to be a “friend of the bridegroom” (John 3:29). When you see a person who is close to grasping the claims of Jesus Christ, you know that your influence has been used in the right direction. And when you begin to see that person in the middle of a difficult and painful struggle, don’t try to prevent it, but pray that his difficulty will grow even ten times stronger, until no power on earth or in hell could hold him away from Jesus Christ. Over and over again, we try to be amateur providences in someone’s life. We are indeed amateurs, coming in and actually preventing God’s will and saying, “This person should not have to experience this difficulty.” Instead of being friends of the Bridegroom, our sympathy gets in the way. One day that person will say to us, “You are a thief; you stole my desire to follow Jesus, and because of you I lost sight of Him.””

{ELGIN} What is the most important thing, knowing Jesus and trusting Him or being free from worry and care? We know what the “spiritually correct” answer is, don’t we.  When we see someone in distress, what is our typical response?  We show compassion towards them, as we should.  But should we intervene?  Certainly we should pray, but what should we pray?  To what end? Our first priority should always be that they trust Jesus and seek God.  Their being healed from a disease may bring temporary relief in this life, but will matter little if they spend eternity in hell. But what if they are already a believer?  God could well be allowing this trial to draw them closer or to shape them for His purpose.  Too know that requires spiritual discernment.  Before you step in to “help”, look to the Lord for guidance.  In Acts 3 when Peter and John met the lame man, Peter said “silver and gold have I none, but what I do have I give you, rise up and walk in the name of Jesus Christ” The best thing we have to offer is Jesus.

You know you can’t save anyone, salvation is God initiated, Spirit powered and totally dependent upon the person being saved to put their faith in Jesus.  But, that is not to say that the Spirit does not use you in communicating the Message.  You are a messenger not the Savior, but don’t neglect the message.  How and when you do that is between you and the Spirit.  But deliver the message you must, then leave the rest to God.  (2 Timothy 4:2) “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.”

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