{"id":2339,"date":"2018-05-01T23:28:11","date_gmt":"2018-05-01T23:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=2339"},"modified":"2018-05-01T23:28:11","modified_gmt":"2018-05-01T23:28:11","slug":"letting-christ-live-through-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=2339","title":{"rendered":"Letting Christ Live Through You"},"content":{"rendered":"

I watched a moving dvd the other night about some monks at a monastery in Bosnia. They were on a mission to this little village of poor people. They represented peace and defended the weak against the invading Islamic terrorists. Tension rose after the guerillas slaughtered some of the residents of the village. The monks were in grave danger if they continued to stay at their post. Jesus wouldn\u2019t have abandoned the sheep to the wolves. The villagers needed their support, supplies, and medicine.
\nIn the next few days, the monks prayed in anguish what to do. A younger monk posed the question of why should they lose their lives for no reason? The elder leader responded, \u201cYou\u2019ve already died to your own life when you chose to follow Jesus. How should we expect more than the way he left this world?\u201d
\nOn another note, lately I have pondered my own message of the gospel and speaking. I have noticed some incredibly gifted speakers. I then explored the passage in Exodus 3 where three times Moses spoke negatively about his unskilled speech. God commanded him to go and let Him be his mouth and teach him what to say. Paul confessed he did not come with eloquent speech but a demonstration of God\u2019s power. He did not claim intellectual prowess. Paul had already quit impressing the world with all its ambitions and flattery. He laid it down and knew a crown awaited him. He never lost his motive or focus. Paul surrendered his life. He knew the sufferings of this present time wouldn\u2019t be compared with the joy awaiting him. Paul had a message to convey; it wasn\u2019t polished. His goal was to win Christ\u2019s approval and others to Him.
\nWe must be true actors in our play, coming to terms with our flaws and inabilities. Transcending our insecurities and taking courage to continue giving out, is a pleasing sacrifice to God. Can we improve and grow in the area of speaking, yes! In the meantime, we may feel the frailties of Paul, who surrendered and asked God to fill him, and work through him. Paul concentrated on the message God wanted expressed, not his skill or delivery. Content and sincerity of heart is more important than form. It\u2019s risky to be us.
\nRemember like the monks, you\u2019ve already died and you now live your life by faith in Christ. Bring God glory. Follow the dream you\u2019ve long feared.
\nLord, help us to keep our eyes focused on you and the message you want spoken. We surrender for you to fill us, use us, put your words in our mouths, work through us. We give self-consciousness to you. Help us to be cognizant of delivering your message only and bringing you glory. In Jesus name, AMEN\"5317e83dc25275408c5b4fc8832337fe\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I watched a moving dvd the other night about some monks at a monastery in Bosnia. They were on a mission to this little village of poor people. They represented peace and defended the weak against the invading Islamic terrorists. Tension rose after the guerillas slaughtered some of the residents of the village. The monks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":386,"url":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=386","url_meta":{"origin":2339,"position":0},"title":"Letting Christ Live Through Us","author":"hollysmith","date":"August 22, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I watched a moving dvd the other night about some monks at a monastery in Bosnia. They were on a mission to this little village of poor people. They represented peace and defended the weak against the invading Islamic terrorists. Tension rose after the guerillas slaughtered some of the residents\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hollywsmith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/images-2-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1840,"url":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=1840","url_meta":{"origin":2339,"position":1},"title":"JESUS PLUS","author":"hollysmith","date":"November 3, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"First century Colosse was a melting pot of three main cultural streams. The Hellenists held a dualistic view that everything was either spiritual or material. Judaism had a rigid and puritanical outlook which sometimes led to a withdrawal from and condemnation of the world. The third stream was the local\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hollywsmith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/JesusPlus.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2193,"url":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=2193","url_meta":{"origin":2339,"position":2},"title":"Embrace Your Thorns","author":"hollysmith","date":"August 24, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Embracing Your Thorns Humbling ourselves and making the first move to resolve offenses can turn our biggest rival into our greatest cheerleader. What do you have to lose? Often our own pride and caring what others think are obstacles preventing us from doing so. The Bible tells us to break\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"images-3","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hollywsmith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/images-3.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1655,"url":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=1655","url_meta":{"origin":2339,"position":3},"title":"Upside Down Kingdom-Eternal Perspective","author":"hollysmith","date":"September 27, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"God is entitled to our praise and honor; man requires humility. Colossians 2:8 says in essence, make sure that you aren\u2019t taken away by tradition, something that has been passed down as a truth or deceived by the culture of the world rather than what Christ says in His word.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"2014_09_27_11_22_05","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hollywsmith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/2014_09_27_11_22_05-201x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1716,"url":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=1716","url_meta":{"origin":2339,"position":4},"title":"Healing Part II","author":"hollysmith","date":"January 23, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"So often we overlook the healing promise of Christ\u2019s atonement. The atonement of Christ includes the provision of supernatural healing, according to Isaiah 53.This promise is often diminished by those who believe that the redemption of Christ is limited to eternal life. 1 Peter 2:24 restates this for emphasis to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"Christ_Healing_the_Sick,_1813,_by_Washington_Allston_(1779-1843)_-_Worcester_Art_Museum_-_IMG_7700-1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hollywsmith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Christ_Healing_the_Sick_1813_by_Washington_Allston_1779-1843_-_Worcester_Art_Museum_-_IMG_7700-1-300x214.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1661,"url":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=1661","url_meta":{"origin":2339,"position":5},"title":"Upside Down Kingdom Part II","author":"hollysmith","date":"September 28, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"About that time we received an invitation from our church in Arlington to come back to Texas for the weekend to have a reunion. Our pastor\u2019s wife, Bonnie, had ovarian cancer and they did not know how long she would have. She wanted to see everyone. The invitation went on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"images-2","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hollywsmith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/images-2.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2339"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2343,"href":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2339\/revisions\/2343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}