What Are You Known For?

The Bible – The Good News Translation

Romans16:12-13

^{12 My greetings to Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who work in the Lord’s service, and to my dear friend Persis, who has done so much work for the Lord. 13 I send greetings to Rufus, that outstanding worker in the Lord’s service, and to his mother, who has always treated me like a son.}

Thoughts:

I want us for a moment to think about a friend of the church that may have left town, and now writing a letter back to the pastor. As they try to tell the pastor what they remember about each one left behind they will reflect on some where they remember their name, and on others where that may not be the case. For those that they remember the name, it may be for good reason, because they may have gone out of their way to care about them. They may have called them by name, or they may have developed an even more intimate name for them. Some they recall from a courteous greeting or just a humble prayer for them. For some they may recall exactly where they sat every service, or the color of their hair or some other physical peculiarity. For some it may be the sweet Godly character that exuded from them every time they saw them, while other were causing trouble and always giving the leadership a ‘run for their money’. In verses 3-15 Paul relayed the individuals that stood out in the crowd, to him. Often at funerals we learn things about the deceased that you never knew, but to the individual giving the remarks, the character of the deceased was special in very memorable ways. I’ve said all that in preparation for a bold question to each one meditating on this devotional today: What are you known for? Ever heard someone describing you and they didn’t realize that you were near enough to hear them? Were you surprised, disappointed, angry, blessed, overwhelmed or encouraged? I believe another challenging question would be: If all of your friends arranged party to honor you, would your work friends by surprised by what your church friends have to say? How about vice versa, would your church friends and prayer partners and Bible study friends be surprised to hear about you from your work friends or fishing partners? What would God say about you? Friends, we are to live our lives in light of the gospel and in the righteousness of our Lord Jesus before everyone. God knows our every action and yes, even our thoughts. We can’t fool Him, so why should you fool others?

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, I am thankful that You know our most intimate thoughts and our every action. We cannot fool You, so please convince us and convict us anytime that we try to fool anyone else. The way we live our lives, speaks volumes about who we are and whose we are. Being a part of Your royal family demands that we live our lives in the same character, with the same love, and in all sincerity like You. If we belong to You we should walk and talk like You. Help us Lord to be an example of You, especially before a lost and dying world who is longing to see the hands and feet of Jesus here on this earth. I ask this in faith believing that You can do all things, as directed by Your perfect will. I ask this in the name of Jesus, my Savior and Lord, AMEN!

NOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com so that we can pray with you and give you help and or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Any words underlined above will indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray.