Apples of Gold

Since becoming missionaries Nicole and I have been working at being worthy of our calling. In essence we know we never will be, but that shouldn’t stop us from striving to do so. Even if we were called to be a greeter at the door of a church or even Wal-Mart, we should pray that every person who comes through the door sees Jesus.

Ephesians 4:1-3 says,

“I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Ephesians is a book directed to a group who is seeking to be spiritually mature and at The Community Crossing that is our desire. We recently went through Ephesians 4 during our Missional Community and shared with one another what the Holy Spirit was saying to us about the different verses. Some was convicting to me, such as: Verse 2 saying we should not let little arguments get between us and our unity, but we should be humble at all times. Verses 26 and 27 speak about not letting the sun go down while you are mad with someone, because that can give room for Satan to get in and make it fester. Or 29 which says,

“Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.”

Sticks and stones may break our bones… is a lie. Words can hurt us and will affect how others see us. Words allow us to build or burn bridges and we need to be careful of how we speak, and we need to remember the depth of God’s grace when we are faced with temptation to get irritated with each other.

Our calling includes being of good cheer, being encouragers. Being new we are spending time to get to know everybody and growing close to each other. God made us so different, but each of our hearts are made so beautiful. Between the power of the gospel and unity of the body we are expecting great things in McDowell County. As we move towards doing intentional discipleship with the young people in our community, we are excited to see how God will move in the hearts and minds of the youth, our staff, and in our community.

Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken in right circumstances. Proverbs 25:11