brianrushing.com

To share the gospel we must share our life, our very selves. If we don’t grasp that Christ has freed us to be authentic, we will see evangelism as a project instead of a lifestyle. And we will tend to see non-Christians more as objects of our evangelistic efforts than as authentic persons.
–Rebecca Pippert

A friend recently commented on one of my posts: We are not in the ministry; the ministry is in us.
Exactly!

We have been freed to be authentic – and being an authentic follower of Christ means we will naturally want to share the greatest news we ever discovered with others. It is not a project, it is a lifestyle of changing our conversations to tell people of the goodness of God. And people aren’t objects or projects, either. Every new person we meet should be looked at as a potential next best friend who we want to share our life with.

Who is in your “sphere of influence” that you need to reach out to more intentionally to share your life with?

Of what use is anxiety about the future? Does it bring you anything but trouble upon trouble? …It is foolish and useless to be either grieved or happy about future things which perhaps may never happen. But it is human to be deluded by such imaginations, and the sign of a weak soul to be led on by suggestions of the enemy. For he does not care whether he overcomes you by love of the present or fear of the future.
–Thomas à Kempis

What are you worrying about right now?
And how is that helping your state of mind?
Stop speculating on things that may or may not happen in the future, as all this does is cause you anxiety.
As the quote above indicates – Satan tempts us to have anxieties and worries over speculation, and he is pleased to keep you from growing in God due to anxiety.

Cast your cares upon the Lord. He knows your needs. He knows His plans for you. Allow your trust in Him and His love for you be of greater strength than your anxiety and speculation over the future.

Christ is a substitute for everything, but nothing is a substitute for Christ.
–Harry Ironside

Amen.
Accept no substitutes.

Dualism has infected our minds. We unconsciously believe that there is a sacred / secular divide. Being a minister for Christ is NOT an activity, a profession, a position, a title, a “higher” or a “special” calling, and does not require lengthy and expensive training. It is NOT a segment of our life, but an integration of all that we are. It is not as much what we do, as it is who we are.
–Kent Humphreys

Kent was a business-man who decided that God had called him to be the minister to his workplace. He also wants all other Christians to realize their calling to be work-place pastors. I agree with him that when God calls you into a relationship with Himself, He is calling you into ministry to others. It is to be WHO you are, not just what you do. I pray that God will help you embrace this idea and begin serving those around you as a minister – looking for ways to meet their spiritual needs in the name of Jesus.

Mother Teresa (who cared for those with leprosy) once said, “We have drugs for people with diseases like leprosy. But these drugs do not treat the main problem, the disease of being unwanted. That’s what my sisters hope to provide.” The sick and the poor, she said, suffer even more from rejection than material want. “An alcoholic in Australia told me that when he is walking along the street he hears the footsteps of everyone coming toward him or passing him becoming faster. Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.” One need not be a doctor or a miracle worker to meet that need.
–Philip Yancey

Christians are called to provide help to the hurting.
And since the greatest hurt in life that people are experiencing is loneliness, since the worst disease is the feeling of being unwanted, then we are all equipped to provide the cure.
Reach out to someone today in love and kindness.