I
have not written for about three weeks because we were on a mission adventure
with Jesus. Jesus, out His grace, was with us and enabled us to get to our
mission, complete it and get home. Our faith family was gracious and provided
financially what we needed, and they and many of you prayed for us and God was
faithful as He always is and He answered our prayers.
On
the mission we experienced God in many ways and He performed miracles for us.
The biggest takeaway from what we did were the people who God gave us the
privilege to work with.
God
impressed upon me two passages as we worked with and got to know and to love
the people we worked with.
2
Corinthians 2:8-10 says, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed;
perplexed, but not forsaken; struck down but not destroyed; always carrying in
the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested
in our bodies.”
The
people we worked with were afflicted by oppression and persecution, but not
crushed. They were at peace and knew that Jesus was with them.
The
people were perplexed to always know and understand how they could continue to serve
Jesus, but they were not forsaken. They knew Jesus had them.
The
people were struck down, but not destroyed. They had been imprisoned and
tortured but they still were not giving up. They continued to proclaim Jesus.
Each
day they knew they could be killed but they wanted others to see Jesus
manifested in their lives.
Raise
the Roof and Remove the Walls is about facing persecution and struggles but
allowing Jesus to been seen in our daily lives.
The
other verse is Acts 20:24. It says, “But I do not account my life of any value
nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that
I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”
The
people did not consider that death was too great a price to pay so that Jesus
would be proclaimed so that more people could become followers of Jesus.
Raise
the Roof and Remove the Walls is about being willing to risk everything so that
Jesus can be proclaimed and so people can hear and surrender their lives to Jesus
as Lord.
We
as American Christians live in a culture that is not approving our faith but it
is not a culture that actively persecutes us because of our faith. We get angry
and upset when our culture does not value our faith in Jesus. I met people who
daily live under the threat of imprisonment and even death and have joy and
peace, not anger and fear.
This
people are focused on Jesus. They want to know Jesus more and more and make Him
known to others. They do not get sidetracked into trivial pursuits but make the
main thing, Jesus, their main thing.
Raise
the Roof and Remove the Walls is about focusing on Jesus and making Jesus the
main thing in our lives.
With
Jesus as the Main Thing, Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,
Joe
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