Episode 558

TODAY’S READING

9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. 

10 But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I but the grace of God that is with me. 

11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach, and so you believed.

1 Corinthians 15:9-11

Now about four weeks ago, I transitioned into a new position. And yesterday, I had my first big phone call with one of our vendors so that you understand my industry. I am a marketing manager, and I oversee a portfolio and the success of my clients; and we work with different vendors to have that success come to fruition. And my history or my work experience is in digital marketing specifically. So I have a keen eye in understanding digital ads, Google ads, and all of that. And so I was talking to the digital providers for my new clients. And I noticed a lot of different things that could be improved for my clients. And so we jumped on a call, and I brought my expertise to the table, and I was nervous to do so; I did not think that they were going to take it well. And I did not want anyone to feel like I was stepping on their toes. But when I came out of that call, I realized that I had many years of experience more than the people on that call, and they were thankful for my knowledge and the knowledge I brought to the table. And so that paints this picture of how in time, God continues to mold us and shape us and grow us, and we’re able to leave in areas that we didn’t think that we can lead in before. And so in this verse, we’re looking at Paul, and he is speaking to the Corinthian church, saying that he is an apostle, but his history would not dictate him as an apostle. He was a persecutor of the church; he used to kill Christians. And one day, he had an encounter with Jesus that changed the trajectory of his life. And he is now a servant of our Lord. He is probably one of the greatest apostles to ever walk the planet. And so Paul is talking to the church, saying that he works harder, and it was not because of his work, though. 

It is because of the grace of God that he can preach the word to others, and it is because of his preaching that others would believe. So I went into yesterday’s meeting, and I ruffled the feathers. I said everything that you’ve been doing has been great, but there are a lot of changes that we need to make in order for our clients to see the benefit of our services. Now in the real world and our family world and our family and friend world and those circles of influence that we have been called for. I want us to go into those circles and ruffle the feathers. You have been called to ruffle the feathers; you can declare that your family will walk with Christ at the center; you can come in and say you guys have been living life greatly. And you have some things going for you. But life is not the same. Until you make these changes, and you put Christ at the center. I don’t know if your family needs to hear this.

I don’t know if your friends need to hear this. But you can walk with authority to declare His presence. You can walk with authority to ruffle the feathers and encourage your family to live as Christ does. Like I was hired to keep my client’s best interests at heart. You have families that you must keep in the best interests of your heart. And so you were raised to pray for five for and leave your family into his grace.

Prayer:

Father God, we adore You. We thank you for every single day that we get to spend in your presence and your grace. Lord, we all have people that come to mind when we think about ruffling the feathers in the way they live. We have groups of people that you have surrounded us with, whether that is our friends or our family, Lord, and we just want them to know your goodness. And so Lord, let us call that spirit out from within them. Maybe that person knew you, and maybe they’ve stepped away from you or given us the words to direct them back to your goodness. Continue to open the doors for us to have conversations about how good you are. Lord, we want all of our friends and family to experience your grace, Your goodness, and Your mercy, and we are here ready and excited to ruffle the feathers because we know that we have the knowledge and experience in living life, your way that it is a benefit to others to do the same. So we thank you in advance for opening those conversations with those we trust and love the most. These are personal, intimate conversations that we’re asking for your strength when talking to our friends and our family, our small communities of influence because as we continue to impact our smaller communities, we will continue to impact the world at a larger scale. So we thank you, and we honor You; we ask that you bless this Wednesday. It is in your holy name that we pray. Amen