Weekly Devotional - "FOR THE SAKE OF HIS NAME" February 14, 2011

from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

FOR THE SAKE OF HIS NAME

It was for the sake of the Name that they went out.

3 John 7a

In their 2010 year-end report, one of the six major patterns that Barna Group identified among Christians in America is that they “are becoming more ingrown and less outreach-oriented.” They discovered that less than one-third of God’s people planned to invite anyone to join them at a church event during the Easter season and teenagers were less apt to discuss Christianity with their friends. Barna Group reported, “Despite technological advances that make communications instant and far-reaching, Christians are becoming more spiritually isolated from non-Christians than was true a decade ago.”

The Apostle Paul summed up his call to missions in Romans 1:5: Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. The Apostle John said this about missionaries: It was for the sake of the Name that they went out (3 John 7a) [emphasis mine].

It is for the sake of His name that we have the privilege and responsibility to open up and talk about God through our prayers and support of worldwide missions and to the world that has come to settle and dwell in the place that we call home. It is for His sake and for His glory that we should be eager to invite girls to club and their families to church. It is for His sake and for His glory that we must not be timid or ashamed to speak to our neighbors, co-workers, and the person in the waiting room or in the grocery line about Jesus. When people scoff or mock you remember that if you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you (1 Peter 4:14).

Pastor Al once shared a story about his daughter who was teaching in a foreign country that banned Christianity. In the university’s classroom she taught students English; in the girls’ bathroom she led a Bible study and people got saved. For the sake of His Name she opened her Bible and simply set before them the truth of the Gospel.

There are people in our communities that need us to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. There are people on every spot of this planet who need a message from the Word of God. For the sake of His Name will they hear about Jesus’ saving love through you and me? Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

PASSION Step: You are a chosen instrument to carry the name of Jesus. For the sake of His name whom will you open up and talk about God to today?

A divine life is hidden in every seed we sow for Jesus. It matters not how small the seed may be, nor in what secluded part of the vineyard it may be sown – a prayer, a word, a look, a pressure of the hand – God's almighty energy is enfolded in every seed which we sow in the Master's name and for His glory.

A. E. Kittredge