The Word of the Cross <3
Day Four of the Scripture focus this week is one I use at the bottom of my emails.
The tagline I added to my Gmail account when I set it up many years ago comes from
1 Corinthians 1:18….
For the Word of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing…
but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
This is a short but impactful and loaded Truth for those times when I feel threatened in my faith.
It gives me a litmus test when what I believe to be truth is ridiculed, disregarded or intellectualized in a mocking way.
When I sense that Christianity is under attack, I have to ask myself…
“Is it the core doctrine of salvation as offered through the sacrifice of Christ’s death and eternal life gained through His Resurrection for all who have received Him that is being identified as “foolishness” by this person/movement/agenda?”
If so, then according to the Scripture; the individuals who hold to that are perishing.
And that is a game changer.
A person who is perishing is a person of interest to God, and thus to me; if I have taken up His Cross and say I follow Him.
Because He also has said…
The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, but instead He is very patient. He does not want any to perish but all to come to repentance (a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ).
For those of us who look to the Cross as the power of God, we must renew our minds daily in His Word in order to continue to speak the Gospel to every one.
Please realize that when you share your faith…through words, through actions, through FAITH-FULLNESS…you are encouraging those who believe and you are witnessing to those who do not.
As things become more and more polarized in our world, we cannot afford to hide our faith out of fear.
To those who are perishing it is an invitation to receive Christ, to those who are saved it strengthens and encourages.
God bless you as you develop God’s heart and express His love for all people through Jesus Christ His Son <3
Thank you for your wisdom and words of the cross. Tonight I really needed to hear them again. I am so very concerned about “those who perish” and feel inept at my witnessing to them. I turn to Jesus to lead me and to use the words, and actions, that will please Him. In His name I give the glory.
We all do Barb. I take comfort in the reminders in Scripture of how Paul would ask for prayer to proclaim the Gospel or how the early Church prayed for boldness in the wake of persecution. It has been this way through all the ages. We must keep encouraging one another and praying for His love and power…for He has not given us a spirit of timidity but of POWER and OF LOVE and DISCIPLINE 2 Timothy 1:7 Keep encouraging and being encouraged <3