"So how am I to respond? I've decided that I really don't care about their motives, whether mixed, bad, or indifferent. Every time one of them opens his mouth, Christ is proclaimed, so I just cheer them on!
And I'm going to keep that celebration going because I know how it's going to turn out. Through your faithful prayers and the generous response of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, everything he wants to do in and through me will be done. I can hardly wait to continue on my course. I don't expect to be embarrassed in the least. On the contrary, everything happening to me in this jail only serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardless of whether I live or die. They didn't shut me up; they gave me a pulpit! Alive, I'm Christ's messenger; dea.d, I'm his bounty. Life versus even more life! I can't lose. "
Philippians 1:18-21 (The Message)
I can't change others' actions. I can't change their motives.
I can only change my own.
And as long as I'm holding my course, as long as I make sure my own motives are right, I CAN'T LOSE.
Nothing we do for Christ is ever wasted. Oh, it may seem to be in the moment. But it's not. And our surroundings have not one thing to do with our effectiveness for Him. It matters not whether we are free or imprisoned, whether we are in a functional or dysfunctional family - or even church. What matters is how WE live... and how WE die.
I want my life to count. Regardless of whether my life is successful in the eyes of men or not. Regardless of walls around me. Regardless of the opinions of others. Regardless of where I live, where I work, where I reach out.
I want my dea.th to count. Regardless of how I die. Regardless of when. Regardless of the opinions of others. Regardless of the walls that have held me against my will.
Sometimes those walls that I have fought against have proved to be the salvation of me in this life, and I suspect they may prove to be that in dea.th as well. Even the walls that other people have put around me have been allowed there by my God. And sometimes those very walls give me a chance to grow. A chance to be heard for Christ. A chance to make a difference for Him.
I want my life and my dea.th to count. For Him. And when that is my focus, I can't lose!
"Alive, I'm Christ's messenger; dea.d, I'm his bounty. Life versus even more life! I can't lose. "
And I'm going to keep that celebration going because I know how it's going to turn out. Through your faithful prayers and the generous response of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, everything he wants to do in and through me will be done. I can hardly wait to continue on my course. I don't expect to be embarrassed in the least. On the contrary, everything happening to me in this jail only serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardless of whether I live or die. They didn't shut me up; they gave me a pulpit! Alive, I'm Christ's messenger; dea.d, I'm his bounty. Life versus even more life! I can't lose. "
Philippians 1:18-21 (The Message)
I can't change others' actions. I can't change their motives.
I can only change my own.
And as long as I'm holding my course, as long as I make sure my own motives are right, I CAN'T LOSE.
Nothing we do for Christ is ever wasted. Oh, it may seem to be in the moment. But it's not. And our surroundings have not one thing to do with our effectiveness for Him. It matters not whether we are free or imprisoned, whether we are in a functional or dysfunctional family - or even church. What matters is how WE live... and how WE die.
I want my life to count. Regardless of whether my life is successful in the eyes of men or not. Regardless of walls around me. Regardless of the opinions of others. Regardless of where I live, where I work, where I reach out.
I want my dea.th to count. Regardless of how I die. Regardless of when. Regardless of the opinions of others. Regardless of the walls that have held me against my will.
Sometimes those walls that I have fought against have proved to be the salvation of me in this life, and I suspect they may prove to be that in dea.th as well. Even the walls that other people have put around me have been allowed there by my God. And sometimes those very walls give me a chance to grow. A chance to be heard for Christ. A chance to make a difference for Him.
I want my life and my dea.th to count. For Him. And when that is my focus, I can't lose!
"Alive, I'm Christ's messenger; dea.d, I'm his bounty. Life versus even more life! I can't lose. "
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