A RELIABLE MESSENGER

Today's promise: The whole earth will hear

A reliable messenger

An unreliable messenger stumbles into trouble, but a reliable messenger brings healing.

Proverbs 13:17 NLT

A credible message needs a credible messenger because charisma without character is catastrophe.

Peter Kuzmic

Letters from God

A U.S. ambassador resides in a foreign country and yet lives on U.S.-owned property. Though the laws of that land may differ from ours, the ambassador is still responsible to uphold the laws and rules of his own government. His words and actions can never be wholly his for he does not act in his own capacity. When he speaks, he is a messenger for his government. When he acts, his deeds reflect on the country he represents. We are Christ's ambassadors and therefore his messengers. Too often we think that the message we preach reflects our faith.

However, on a much deeper level it is the message of our everyday words and actions that are influential. We are the letter from God that people read. We become unreliable messengers when we speak crudely, gossip about a neighbor, or act dishonest ly.

Our words and actions reflect God, who lives inside us, to people who never open a Bible or enter a church. Never forget that you are an ambassador for Christ and a messenger of hope. Ask his Spirit to empower you to deliver the Good News with your life and words.

LORD, thank you for allowing me to be your ambassador. Let my message be honest and true. Help me to encourage others and to go out of my way to speak a kind word. Forgive me for times when I have spoken without thinking. Let me live in such a way that my words and actions represent you so that my message may be one of love and hope.

Adapted from The One Year® Book of Praying through the Bible by Cheri Fuller, Tyndale House Publishers (2003), entry for April 21.

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House