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Scripture for the day: 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.  For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.  So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 
Thought for the day: Jesus said to his disciples after his resurrection, in answer to the very selfish question concerning their hope that he would finally set up an earthly kingdom in which they would all have great power and prestige, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria and to the ends of the earth.”  They still, after all the teaching and after all the events surrounding his death, burial and resurrection, didn’t get it.  They still thought his ultimate purpose was to set up an earthly kingdom patterned after the reign of David and that, as part of all that, he would destroy the Romans and restore “proper” worship.  As we all know, that was the furthest thing from his mind.
 Jesus’ intent was and is that you and I become ambassadors of reconciliation for him.  We are to represent him wherever we go and whatever we do.  We are to become “Jesus” to our world.  Our attitudes, our resulting actions; every aspect of our lives is to radiate the love of Jesus.  What we say, how we say it and the reasons for our speech are all meant to point toward the hope of reconciliation with the Father through the sacrifice of the Son.  Now, let’s take inventory, shall we?
 I hear horror stories from time to time of churches and church folks who mistreat one another over what can only be considered the dumbest things.  We get upset over who is in what position, who says what, who ought to be allowed to sing and who ought not and countless other issues that mean absolutely nothing when put in an eternal perspective.  Someone once said that the army of God is the only army in history that shoots its own wounded – and they have a point.  Can’t we just focus on what Jesus has called us to do and leave the theological arguments to the academics?  Jesus said, “Go – tell – demonstrate.”  That’s it; it’s really that simple.  And when He’s glorified, when he’s given the prominence he deserves, when his message has become his disciples’ message, then “the whole world will be drawn to him” (that’s a promise).  As one poet put it:
YOUR LIFE is Jesus to someone,
Though tattered and torn it may be.
Though often times weak and unstable,
You're all of God someone will see

YOUR TONGUE is Jesus to someone.
That idle, insensitive word
Reflects to at least one searching heart
An idle, insensitive Lord.

YOUR GOALS are Jesus to someone.
What you put first, they believe,
Are the goals of God for the Christian.
Your life is all they receive.

YOUR FAITHFULNESS is Jesus to someone.
Their judgment of how God is true,
Rests unquestionably in the faithfulness
They see day by day in you.

YOUR LOVE is Jesus to someone
That someone who is seeking to know
That Jesus will follow and guide and
Befriend wherever in life they might go.

SO BEWARE lest others blaspheme
God by what you say or do,
For the only Jesus that someone knows
Is the Jesus they see in you.
Now go be Jesus to your world.  -  Bill