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We spent the first day at a church plant in the mountains just outside of the city.  The area was extremely poor; no running water, no heat with clapboard houses of squatters.  The church was an awesome place.  It was a carport with plastic chairs with old sheets hung up to block the sun.  Although these people had no material possessions, they certainly had the love of God.

Our mission trip was planned for us to preach the Gospel and to do a vacation bible school, medical assistance and for us to help with painting and electrical wiring that needed to be done at a local seminary.  The more I thought and prayed about what I was going to say during the devotional, the more I was struck by the fact that we were there for a purpose and that we were actually an answer to someone’s prayers.

Imagine that; an answer to someone’s prayers.  How do you prepare for something like that?  What an awesome responsibility.  Would I say the right things when I witnessed?  Would I do the right things?  I decided that God put me here in this place, at this time for a reason and that he would provide what I needed.  So, I went to the Bible and here is what I discovered.

Acts 1:8
[Jesus said,] “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere — in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

1 Corinthians 2: 4
My speech and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and power.

Ephesians 6:18-20
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

As I read this scripture, I came to realize that God’s purpose is for us to grow our relationship with him and to spread His word. He gives us the tools and the confidence to do exactly that.

I now had the confidence to know that I would say the right thing because God was with me on every step. I had what I needed for our devotional time and I also had what I needed to witness on the mission trip.

Colossians 1:3-6
3We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints— 5the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel 6that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth…..New International Version (NIV)

What does he want in return? Faith….faith that He is God, faith that you can’t do it alone and that you need to accept Him into your life…faith that you can turn your life over to Him…faith that He can provide forgiveness.

Pretty simple, right? Easy…well, no. We struggle with this. We think we’re not worthy, we think we’ve done too many bad things, we think how could anyone love me.

God loves us all and through his Grace we can have a great and fulfilling relationship with Him. He chose us and He holds us blameless.

Ephesians 1:4
4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.

Ephesians 2:10
10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

2 Thessalonians 2:13 
13But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you[a] to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth

Being a Christian means you need to take action. Taking action can come in a number of forms. Daily Bible reading and study. Daily prayers. Daily fellowship with other Christians. Evangelism. And more.

If you are building your house on a firm foundation, then you need to pick up the tools that God has given you and that He has shown will further your relationship with Him.

Here are a couple of verses that I think spell out what we need to be doing. Because if you are not taking ‘action’ then your label of ‘Christian’ is aDistinction without a Difference.

Matthew 25:31-46 
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?” The King will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” Then he will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.” They also will answer, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?” He will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.

Luke 10:25-37 
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind”; and, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. “Look after him,” he said, “and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.” Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers? The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”