“The Word Of God Is At Work In Those Who Believe!”

“The Word Of God Is At Work In Those Who Believe!”(I Thes.2:13-20).
“And we also thank God continually because when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe. For you…became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus. You suffered from your own country men the same things those churches suffered from the Jews, who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out…”
Without being biased to any group of people what is implied by the names of some churches? The True Church of God simply implies other churches are false churches of God. If a church’s name is Full Gospel, it is suggesting that the others are half-full gospel Churches. Church of Christ presuppose others are not Christ’s Churches. The list is long and inexhaustible. What this suggests is that the internal squabbles within the body of Christ is much more than the attacks received from non-believers.
Those who oppose or challenge us are never far away from us. They are the ones who know us well, or are so close to us. That is why outsiders believe their lies.
We are actually not only caught up, we are entangled as in a world wide spider’s web; without the possibility of being extricated!
Yesterday my daughter told me that on her way back from school on Sunday something dropped on her. And because rain was threatening to fall, she taught it was a raindrop. But when she looked she saw that it was a bird’s dropping. She wondered what that means, but I only laughed. By her wondering, she was thinking like a typical African child. For her it was not an ordinary bird poo.
What came to my mind was the saying that it doesn’t matter for a bird to poo on your head; what matters is your reaction.
The Churches that are in Christ are bound to suffer persecution from within and from without. Even you as a member of the body of Christ are bound to suffer from your own countrymen in the same way that Jesus’ own countrymen killed him.
When the wild partridge mixes with the domestic fowls you can no longer throw corn only to the domestic fowls. That is why Jesus told his disciples to allow the wheat and the weeds to grow together until harvest time when the wheat will be harvested, tied in sheafs and put in barns, while the weeds will be gathered in bundles and burned. Jesus also makes it plain that it is not all who call him Lord, Lord that shall enter the kingdom of God.
Those who receive the undiluted word of God, just as it is, believe in it. And the word of God is at work only in those who believe in the word of God as it is.
Take note that the gospel is not calling you to a life of comfort; only. On the contrary, the gospel comes with a package of suffering too. The God of good times is also the God of bad times. Those who embrace the gospel and believe it, it is at work in them. They also have their own share of suffering, but they remain our hope, our joy and the crown in which we will all glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes. Christian suffering is like the bird dropping on my daughter. It’s not a problem, but how you react to it can become problematic!
Prayer: Holy Spirit, give us the spirit of resilience in the face of suffering. Amen!
Have a blessed day! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.