From me to you Part 13: peace, grace and love be yours

CONTEXT: Paul’s plans never went according to plan. The Book of Acts describes Paul’s travels from country to country as he’s detained by the authorities, faces shipwreck, stays months in one place, moves on to another…

But while Paul’s plans were constantly changing, his heart was not. He was fully committed to sharing the good news of Jesus with everyone he met. He was on a mission. He had a heart for everyone everywhere to come to know Jesus and then for those believers to deepen their faith and work out how to live as Christ’s followers in their own context.

Paul was desperate to visit Rome, but it never quite worked out. He’d heard about the church in Rome from Jewish Christians like Priscilla and Aquila who been exiled from Rome for a period and had met Paul in Corinth. He was looking ahead to a time when he would meet all the Christians in Rome face to face (it was to happen sooner than he could imagine when he is arrested and taken to defend himself before Caesar). He couldn’t wait until he saw the believers face to face to teach them about faith and unity and how to live in relationship with God and relationship with one another.

EXCERPT: Romans 15:14-16:27

FROM ME TO YOU:

I hope you don’t feel I’ve been preaching at you in this letter. You’re good people, I know that. You’re all working out for yourselves what it means to live out your faith in your context. I think you’re all great!

It doesn’t hurt to be reminded of the basics of our faith from time to time though, does it? God’s given me this task of reading His word and writing about it and I intend to see it through. I have a passion for communicating about this new life in Jesus to those who haven’t heard about it in a language that makes sense. I look around and think that it is often not Jesus himself that people are rejecting but the way he is communicated to them.

It would be great if we all managed to get together one day to discuss our faith face to face, wouldn’t it? But I can’t see that happening. But then, who knows what’s around the corner for any of us? Just know that I would love to meet you sometime. 

Pray for me if you get a chance. Life’s a struggle a lot of the time. I’ll pray for peace for all of you too.

Let’s all remember and give thanks to God for those we know who are serving Him in so many different ways. Each one has so much to teach us about faith in practice, love in action. We are all family.

Whatever you’re going through right now, just remember: Love wins. Love always wins.

The peace of the Lord be with you.

The grace of the Lord be with you.

The love of the Lord be with you.

To God be the glory, great things He has done!

Yours,

Hx