December 4

Pain, Mission and Sacrifice

Today may have been the longest of our scripture readings all year. It is an interesting day to ask for you to send me a progress report. If you have stumbled in the journey, just pick up the Word today and get back in the race. God won’t ask you if you ever read through the Bible to get into heaven, he will ask you if you heard his voice speaking on December 4th. Also after you have read, take 2 minutes and just sit quietly before the Lord to listen to his voice.

Three themes today I would like to highlight:
1. Pain. Do you ever wonder why God allows you to go through trials and problems in life? In chapter 1, we have one of the reasons why God allows this. Verses 3-7 tell us that God comforts us so we can comfort others. Suffering is an opportunity to know God and to know his comfort. This does not mean that God causes cancer, death, illness and unemployment, but it does mean that in those adversities God takes opportunity to speak to us in a way we are not open to hearing him speak when everything is going well. And, once we have experienced this comfort from God, then we have the responsibility to share that comfort with others.

Our adversity is his opportunity. The greater the suffering, the greater the comfort. No matter how great the suffering, God matches it with comfort. The comfort never is outweighed by the suffering. Not given ahead of time but available in the trial. I don't envy those who have never known any pain, physical or spiritual, because I strongly suspect that the capacity for pain and comfort are equal. Only those who have suffered great pain are able to know great comfort. The Lord gets his best counselors out of the highlands of adversity.

2. Mission. Our mission is cleared defined for us in chapter 5. We are given the responsibility for the delivery of a message from the King. The title that defines our mission is “Ambassador.” An ambassador lives in a country other than their homeland; they live in that foreign country in order to represent the government at home. They do not make up the message, but simply communicate the message from their king. And they live in such a way that would not embarrass the King who sent them. This analogy is so obvious, it hardly needs application. I guess the question that confronts me today is, “Am I fulfilling my responsibilities to act like a worthy ambassador?”

3. Sacrifice. Paul makes it clear in chapters 8 and 9 that we have a responsibility to help those in need. The situation was that great persecution and a great famine hit the church in Jerusalem. The church at Corinth had committed to spending less on themselves and giving more to help these people merely eat and drink. The motivation for this sacrifice was the Lord himself. 2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

This Christmas here is a short list of the needs of the world:
1.1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water
2.6 billion people lack adequate sanitation
1.8 million people die every year from diarrhea diseases, 90% are children under the age of five.
3,900 children die every day because of dirty water or poor hygiene
Every 30 seconds 15 children die of starvation. That is 15 million every year.
More than 80 million children go blind in Southeast Asia due to vitamin A deficiency. A capsule costing 50 cents a year would prevent this tragedy.
Nearly 20 million people in West Africa suffer from River blindness. Loss of eye sight can be prevented with a tablet costing no more than 4 dollars yearly.
Nearly 4 million people in India and Pakistan are blinded with cataracts. Their eye sight can be restored with a surgery costing no more than 20 dollars.
Join us in our Advent Conspiracy, Christmas [is] changing the world.