We Do Not Lose Heart

SINCE THROUGH GOD’S MERCY WE HAVE THIS MINISTRY, WE DO NOT LOSE HEART. 2 Corinthians 4.1.

One Sunday morning, after a time of beautiful worship in songs and choruses in our church, the speaker, a long-time missionary from the States who is serving the Lord in Hong Kong, spoke to us. He had identified with the Chinese taxi drivers he was working with so much so that he spoke fine Cantonese and relished Peking duck and even snake soup!

That is beside the point. He spoke clearly and directly from the words of the Lord in Acts 1.8. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses". Like us, worried about the situation of our times and asking questions about the future to every preacher and prophet, the disciples once asked the Lord, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority” (Acts 1.6,7).

Our missionary-preacher who had given his life to serve the Lord and the people at the age of 17 and left his homeland to spend most of life in Hong Kong, challenged us with strong words. He repeated clearly the words of the Lord, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and to the uttermost part of the earth”.

We worship the Lord in our comfortable churches every Sunday very heartily. We speak and pray in tongues, having received the baptism and the ‘gift of the Holy Spirit”. We know it and we boast of it! But where is ‘The Holy Spirit’s power that you are to receive – the power to become witnesses to the Lord Jesus Christ? You cannot be a truly Spirit-baptised and Spirit-filled believer unless you have received the power that makes you a witness for Jesus Christ everyday and everywhere – it is that clear and simple said Jesus! Think about it dear believer!

What I read about Bobby Moffat, a pioneer missionary to S. Africa in 1817, challenged me greatly. It is told that as a boy, he placed himself on an offering plate during a church service, for he wanted to give himself to the Lord to serve Him!! What is it that you give to the Lord as your offering? Our coins, notes or yourself? O! that you would give yourself!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, compel me to place myself afresh on the altar each Sunday and renew my commitment to be Your witness to all I meet, in the power of Your indwelling Spirit! Amen.