Guest Blogger: Mason, our son, age 15
Recently I have been leading several devotions at my school. I have talked about being different and how to make a difference. Sadly, many American Christians think that in order to make a difference, they need to become a missionary, Christian musician, Christian author, or pastor. While all of these are great occupations, I think the best way to make a difference is to allow God to use you in your everyday life. God will not put you in a place where you cannot minister. He has put you where you are for a reason. If He calls you to a Christian occupation, great, but if not reach out from where you are.
Christianity should not be about a few Christians doing big things, but every Christian doing something.
As I was preparing my devotion for school I realized that so often, especially as youth, we hear "Make a difference, make a difference," but we have no idea how to do that. We often hear to just do small things such as talking to someone who looks like they need someone to talk to, but I feel that is shrinking the call that we have as Christians.
We often hear of spiritual gifts, which are unique to specific people, but there are spiritual powers that are universal to Christians. I came up with three spiritual powers we have at our disposal. The power of the Holy Spirit, the power of your age, and the power of numbers.
"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father." John 14:12 (ESV)
Think for a minute about all the miracles Jesus performed. No really, think about it. He raised people from the dead, healed sick, fed five thousand men, calmed the sea, walked on water, turned water into wine, and the list could go on and on. These are all works of God himself, and Jesus says that we will do greater thing than these. Wow!
I recently heard a story about a missionary in South America. One of the things he does as a missionary is ordain pastors. This missionary has a list of accomplishments that must be done before he will ordain a pastor. One of the things on the list for ordination is to raise someone from the dead, and, even with this requirement, he has ordained several men as pastors. Miracles are happening at the present time. Miracles do happen today. Jesus is strong and more power, and he is more than willing to share His power and strength with his Beloved.
Why is it that American Christians do not perform miracles? Why is that not an everyday occurrence? I think the main reason is because people are afraid of looking stupid. In the Bible, Jesus always speaks to raise someone from the dead and speaks to perform most of his other miracles. Imagine if you went to a morgue where one of your friends had died. If you went to your friend and said "Get up" and he or she did not get up, you would look like you had lost your mind. But this fear of looking stupid reveals another reason why miracles are not everyday occurrences. We never have to rely totally on God. If we were reliant on God, we would not be afraid of looking stupid, because we would know that a miracle would/could be performed, and we would not care what the world thought of us.
When you hear the power of your age, you are probably thinking, "How is that a power?" In Ghana this is very evident. The average life expectancy for an Ghanaian is 57 years. The average life expectancy in America is 78 years. In Ghana, since life is not very long, younger people will listen to older people. My Dad (not that he is really that old) has an advantage, because of his age. Ghanaians will be inclined to listen to him. For my brothers and myself, we will be able to connect better with the orphans and youth of Ghana, because we understand them. That is our advantage. When you think about it, your age really is a power. Older people have wisdom and experience. Younger people have more physical abilities and energy. Any age holds power.
The last spiritual power I came up with was the power of numbers. While it is very hard to estimate accurately, several sources say that there are about 2.1 billion Christians worldwide. If this estimation is true, then about a third of the earth's population is Christian. That is incredible to think that I have about 2 billion brothers and sisters around the world (and you thought your family was big). What if every 2 billion of us started making a difference right where we were? If that happened, imagine how many more children would be added to God's family. There is power in the massive number of people who profess to believe in Christ.
This is a challenge. What are you going to do about it? If you feel like you want to do more for Christ, right now, begin writing down what you want to do to make a difference. And don't get up until you are done. When you finish, find someone who will hold you accountable to this challenge. Give them a copy of what you wrote and make sure they hold you to this decision. If you do write a challenge for yourself DO NOT leave out how you will continue to grow, rely on and love Christ. If we are not going to be firmly anchored on Christ, then we shouldn't even try to make a difference for Him. You have power. What are you going to do with it?
Mason
Recently I have been leading several devotions at my school. I have talked about being different and how to make a difference. Sadly, many American Christians think that in order to make a difference, they need to become a missionary, Christian musician, Christian author, or pastor. While all of these are great occupations, I think the best way to make a difference is to allow God to use you in your everyday life. God will not put you in a place where you cannot minister. He has put you where you are for a reason. If He calls you to a Christian occupation, great, but if not reach out from where you are.
Christianity should not be about a few Christians doing big things, but every Christian doing something.
As I was preparing my devotion for school I realized that so often, especially as youth, we hear "Make a difference, make a difference," but we have no idea how to do that. We often hear to just do small things such as talking to someone who looks like they need someone to talk to, but I feel that is shrinking the call that we have as Christians.
We often hear of spiritual gifts, which are unique to specific people, but there are spiritual powers that are universal to Christians. I came up with three spiritual powers we have at our disposal. The power of the Holy Spirit, the power of your age, and the power of numbers.
"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father." John 14:12 (ESV)
Think for a minute about all the miracles Jesus performed. No really, think about it. He raised people from the dead, healed sick, fed five thousand men, calmed the sea, walked on water, turned water into wine, and the list could go on and on. These are all works of God himself, and Jesus says that we will do greater thing than these. Wow!I recently heard a story about a missionary in South America. One of the things he does as a missionary is ordain pastors. This missionary has a list of accomplishments that must be done before he will ordain a pastor. One of the things on the list for ordination is to raise someone from the dead, and, even with this requirement, he has ordained several men as pastors. Miracles are happening at the present time. Miracles do happen today. Jesus is strong and more power, and he is more than willing to share His power and strength with his Beloved.
Why is it that American Christians do not perform miracles? Why is that not an everyday occurrence? I think the main reason is because people are afraid of looking stupid. In the Bible, Jesus always speaks to raise someone from the dead and speaks to perform most of his other miracles. Imagine if you went to a morgue where one of your friends had died. If you went to your friend and said "Get up" and he or she did not get up, you would look like you had lost your mind. But this fear of looking stupid reveals another reason why miracles are not everyday occurrences. We never have to rely totally on God. If we were reliant on God, we would not be afraid of looking stupid, because we would know that a miracle would/could be performed, and we would not care what the world thought of us.
When you hear the power of your age, you are probably thinking, "How is that a power?" In Ghana this is very evident. The average life expectancy for an Ghanaian is 57 years. The average life expectancy in America is 78 years. In Ghana, since life is not very long, younger people will listen to older people. My Dad (not that he is really that old) has an advantage, because of his age. Ghanaians will be inclined to listen to him. For my brothers and myself, we will be able to connect better with the orphans and youth of Ghana, because we understand them. That is our advantage. When you think about it, your age really is a power. Older people have wisdom and experience. Younger people have more physical abilities and energy. Any age holds power.
The last spiritual power I came up with was the power of numbers. While it is very hard to estimate accurately, several sources say that there are about 2.1 billion Christians worldwide. If this estimation is true, then about a third of the earth's population is Christian. That is incredible to think that I have about 2 billion brothers and sisters around the world (and you thought your family was big). What if every 2 billion of us started making a difference right where we were? If that happened, imagine how many more children would be added to God's family. There is power in the massive number of people who profess to believe in Christ.This is a challenge. What are you going to do about it? If you feel like you want to do more for Christ, right now, begin writing down what you want to do to make a difference. And don't get up until you are done. When you finish, find someone who will hold you accountable to this challenge. Give them a copy of what you wrote and make sure they hold you to this decision. If you do write a challenge for yourself DO NOT leave out how you will continue to grow, rely on and love Christ. If we are not going to be firmly anchored on Christ, then we shouldn't even try to make a difference for Him. You have power. What are you going to do with it?
"He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God.”
Joshua 4:24
Mason
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