Ministers Of Christ
Are they ministers of Christ? I am
talking like a madman – I am a better one: with far greater labors, far more
imprisonments, with countless floggings, and often near death. Five times I
have received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was
beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked; for
a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from
rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles,
danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false
brothers and sisters; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night,
hungry and thirsty, often without food, cold and naked. And, besides other
things, I am under daily pressure because of my anxiety for all the churches.
The apostle Paul had a fixed ambition.
He wanted Christ to be magnified in his own body, whether in life or death. No
matter what he was put through, Paul was determined that his life would be a
means of magnifying Jesus. And without flinching, he held tight to that
determination through peril, pain, imprisonment, and even willingly offering
his own body as a sacrifice.
Our hands can magnify the Lord as we
write letters of encouragement. Our feet can help as we go on errands of
helpfulness. Our voices can magnify Him as we give our testimony and sing His
praises. Our heats can magnify Him as we express in prayer our love for the
redeeming Christ. Our ears can magnify Him as we gratefully listen to sermons
exalting His grace.
If we know
Jesus,
we can lift Him
up to others in our daily lives.
designed to glorify
God
as only you can.
Our Daily
Bread –