What do you reckon?
We all need lots of encouragement?? And, praise God, at the recent National Conference, there was lots of encouragement. You will be able to read some of that in other reports and articles, including some experiencing major obstacles overcome.
For myself, I was reminded again to check what or who we are focused on. God says in Hebrews 12:2, “Let us fix our eyes on JESUS, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy (goal) set before Him, endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him … “
Someone once wrote, “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal.” And we all know how easy it is to be distracted from what is MOST important when so many things are competing for our attention, and they all seem to be URGENT.
Simon Guillebaud tells about a teammate in Burundi named Leonidas in the Evangelism Department at Scripture Union … “Back in 1996, he had to flee from university because he was from the ‘wrong’ tribe.
Students from the other tribe had thrown a grenade into his room as he was praying, and he narrowly escaped with his life, needing several operations to remove shrapnel from his eye. He has no bitterness towards them and often includes the incident as part of his testimony of grace. He was forced to go and live in the bush, and used to walk 18 miles each day to teach at a distant school. The believers met each week on his only day off, so even then he walked all that way, through mud, rain, sunshine, whatever; and all these years on, the fruit is obvious as the whole area seems to be experiencing extraordinary times. God is faithful. Leonidas’s eyes – damaged but still shining – are on the goal: to change the nation through the powerful message of the risen Christ”.
Now that is a God honouring, God sized goal, is it not?! To change the nation through the powerful message of the risen Christ!! I want to claim that same vision for Emmaus in Australia. How about you? Emmaus IS an important part of God’s plan to change this nation of Australia through the powerful message and presence of the risen Christ.
Somehow obstacles seem smaller when our eyes are firmly fixed on JESUS, the author and perfecter of our faith. And the best stories I heard at Conference were the result of leaders helping their communities to honour God in their obedience, vision and faithfulness, so that God could (and did) then honour them by doing something special to the glory of His Holy Name.
Prayer: Father, help us to fix our eyes on JESUS, so that you can do something special in and through our lives and our Emmaus communities, to the glory of Your Holy Name. Amen.
Your brother in Christ Jesus,
Owen Butt (NSD)
