The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.
—1 Thessalonians 5:24 (NIV).
People don't just need to hear about who Christ is in my life. They need to see Him alive in me. They don't need to hear about His forgiveness, but they need to realize it. They don't just need to hear about His power, but they need to experience it through me. They don't just need to hear about His peace, but they need to witness my calm, reassuring faith in Him no matter the circumstances. They don't just need to hear about His joy, but they need to grasp His joy in my life springing up from depths of faith in Him. They don't just need to hear of His love. They need to feel His love.
If I allow His grace to mold my life, His love will fill me. People shall realize what I experience in my life is different than the norm. When I share Jesus, they may accept or reject Him, but His love will have touched them. "Our lives," Paul declares, "are a Christ-like fragrance rising to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume” (2 Corinthians 2:15-16a, NIV). If I am His vessel, He does the work and brings His power to draw each life to Him. Jesus, who called me, is faithful. I choose to be faithful to Him. I long to be a life-giving perfume, but it is not my place “to do” or to save. My place is only “to be” the changed person He has wrought with His grace.
© 2019 Lynn Lacher
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