A thought by Craig Groeschel from his book, Altar Ego: Becoming Who God Says You Are (p. 78). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)
This is so important for us to see as Christ followers.
Craig says, “First-century believers understood that their power was in Jesus and not in themselves, that they had that authority to use his name. They would say, ‘Sick person, I’ve got no power to heal you, but in the name of Jesus Christ, be healed,’ and sick people were healed. They would say, ‘Demon-possessed person, I’ve got no power over demons, but in the name of Jesus Christ, come out!’ Or, and this is freaky, they would say, ‘Dead person, you’re dead; in the name of Jesus come back to life.’”
He goes on, “Even crazier is that the New Testament says that we, as believers, can do even greater things. (See John 14:12.) Why? Because there’s no such thing as a regular Christian. You are an ambassador of Christ. You were not elected by people, but you were chosen and appointed by God to represent heaven on earth.
“You carry with you the message of reconciliation, as if God were making his appeal through you. And you never represent yourself; you always represent God. Why? Because just like Paul, you can say, ‘I have been crucified with Christ; my old life is gone. Nevertheless, I live. But it’s no longer I who live, you see; it’s Christ living through me.’”
You see that, don’t you?
He then says, “’But I’m just a stay-at-home mom.’ You are not just a stay-at-home mom! You are an ambassador raising the next generation of world changers. You are called by God in your home with a divine mission.
“’Yeah, but I’m just a student.’ You’re not just a student! You are an ambassador to your chemistry class; you’re an ambassador to your sorority; you’re an ambassador to the teachers at your school.
“’Well, I’m just an entry-level bank teller.’ You’re not just an entry-level bank teller; you’re a secret agent of the most high God, planted in that bank to represent Christ to people that you see all of the time!”
This is so important. Craig says, “When you know who you are, you will know what to do; and you are, if you’re a Christian, an ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ, not elected by people, but called and appointed by God. You never represent yourself, but you always represent him. This is not your home; you’re from another country. You represent the king from the kingdom that sent you, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, and that makes your role on earth very important. There’s nothing regular about you, you see. You are the highest-ranking diplomat sent by God, from the kingdom of heaven, to this earth. You know who you are. So you know what to do.”
We know who we are and we will know what to do. So will we do it?
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