An American guru teaches salespeople: “You can’t sell what you ain’t got!”
God’s wonderful plan for my life is to be an ambassador for his heavenly Kingdom. He has given me his Spirit of power and love and selfcontrol, of a sound mind. He is the One who determines my life and this needs to be the basis of my whole life, not my wimpy self-image that is rattled by the moods of those around me. Therefore I can confidently step out as his ambassador and be a blessing to family, friends, colleagues and the world at large. My uniform for this: the golden underclothes of Isaiah 26:3-peace, and the protection of my Ephesians 6-armour.
Now that I am one with Christ, I am a new creation – the old is past, the new is here. This implies that I don’t look for “the old self” in others with the magnifying glass of criticism, but will see, appreciate and encourage the “new person” who is being recreated in the image of Christ. Now I may not commit “emotional murder” by walking right over another’s needs with my witticisms and sarcasm, but rather reach out in love to the other’s pain, reaching out with loving empathy and encouragement where someone is struggling with emotional baggage, building up rather than breaking down. I should help strengthen the limp wings to be able to fly again, or even fly for the first time.
I might be seeing myself as the victim after years of rejection or abuse, or suffering because of the loss of a loved one or the loss of my health. This is where I need to go to my heavenly Father in prayer to seek comfort, where I need to accept the healing and victory that Jesus wrought and allow the Holy Spirit to drench my soul and spirit so that I wouldn’t be left lying by the side of the road of life, or having tantrums like a prima donna because others are not treating me with the “right” amount of respect and tenderness. God himself empowers me to get up and reach out to others with the comfort that He has comforted me with. There are so many in this world who are suffering so much more than I am.
Angela (not her real name) recently sat with an elderly displaced woman who had lost everything and did not even have the most basic care – with nothing but a fragranced hand sanitizer with which she started massaging the dishevelled old woman’s hands. Due to the language barrier they could simply hold hands and cry together over the terror of war.
Let us say today:
“… such as I have give I thee: in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth…” (Acts 3:6 – KJV)