“Fellow Travelers”

     We should be wary of those who communicate the Gospel of Christ with the attitude of being confident experts rather than humble supplicants.

    “I count not myself to have apprehended” (Philippians 3:13).

    No less than the Apostle Paul considered himself a fellow traveler with those to whom he preached and taught God’s truth.  This is not to say that Paul did not know the Lord well.  Certainly he did, and our brother of old remains perhaps the chief example of the power of the Lord Jesus in the life of a trusting believer.  The Apostle would tell us, however, that during his earthly sojourn, he felt the same sense of need for growth in God’s grace and truth we feel.  Moreover, he recognized that regardless of how far along the path of righteousness he journeyed, the goal of conformity to the image of the Lord Jesus seemed like a land whose borders remained far off in the distance.

    I want to listen to those communicators who are confident in their relationship with the Lord, but who are not confident in their own spiritual abilities and attainments.  There is a difference.  The latter speaks of self delusion and self importance.  The former references grace and the faithfulness of God.  The experts (so-called) garner attention for themselves and their opinion and insight.  The Lord’s faithful preachers and teachers bear in demeanor, attitude, and word  the yearning of the Psalmist: “Not unto us, o Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy and for Thy truth’s sake!” (Psalm 115:1).  May our Heavenly Father lead us to those who bear this “Not unto us… but unto Thy name” determination of leading others not to themselves, but to Him.

“I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.  And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”
(I Corinthians 2:2-5)

Weekly Memory Verse
     Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath, for it is written, Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.
(Romans 12:19