What God is Able to Do - Through Us

Good morning, Five Minute Families. Today is the final part of our three-part series looking at what God is able to do FOR us, what God is able to do IN us, and what God is able to do THROUGH us.I remember when the boys were little, and life was all about diapers and food and toys and diapers and food and naps and, well, you get the idea. There was no room to “do” anything for the Lord because all my time was eaten up doing things for my children and my household. I wanted God to use me for more than just goldfish and diaper blow-outs. However, through my time of serving my family, God was working THROUGH me to reach them. And, He continues to work THROUGH each and every one who calls him their Lord and Savior. As 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 illustrates, God reconciles us to himself: “Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, ‘Be reconciled to God.’” Since God reconciled us, we can now be ambassadors. Have you ever thought of what it means to be an ambassador? We are God’s OFFICIAL representative to the world. Secondly, as His ambassadors, He will reveal Himself to others through us. As Paul states in Galatians 1:16 that God called him by grace “to reveal his Son in me, so that I could preach him among the Gentiles.” And again in Romans 11:13, Paul says, “Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry.”Next, we see that God will bear fruit THROUGH us. Colossians 1:10 reminds us that we are filled with His wisdom and spiritual understanding so that we “may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God.” 2 Peter 1:2-3 puts it this way, “May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.”The amazing thing about God is that He chooses to include us in what He does. He will minister THROUGH us with the Holy Spirit guiding us as 2 Corinthians 3:6 shows: “He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” And, Romans 8:2 “For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”And, finally, we must remember that God will do his own pleasure through us; we cannot let our selfishness or personal desires guide us. Philippians 2:3 reminds us to “[d]o nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.” Likewise, in James 4:10, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”Let’s run through the fifteen points we have covered in the past three weeks.What is God able to do FOR us?He saves us, delivers us, protects us, makes us stand, and raises us.What is God able to do IN us?He fills us, dwells IN us, places IN us incredible strength, works IN us, and builds IN us.What is God able to do THROUGH us?God will reconcile others THROUGH us, He will reveal Himself THROUGH us, He will bear fruit THROUGH us, He will minister to others THROUGH us, and He will do His own pleasure THROUGH us. Those fifteen things are but a fraction of what God is capable of. Does your family ever take a few moments to remember and celebrate the strength and power of our Lord? Take time to rest in Him, learn through Him, and live your lives for Him. We do thank you for joining us this morning, and please check us out at clearviewretreat.org for more information about our ministry. Be blessed!