We live in a day when people want to be famous, a celebrity. So, people walk around with their cell phones taking selfies and videos, hoping that when they post them on social media, they will go viral. Success is measured by people knowing our name even if it is just for fifteen minutes.  This is a far cry from the 18^thCentury reformer, Count Zinzendorf who said, “Preach the gospel, die, and be forgotten.”

Most of us will go through life with very few people remembering our name. That should be enough for us. Our life is not to be lived for our glory but God’s. There is a man in Scripture that most people do not make much over. He appears as a secondary character in the life of Saul of Tarsus.  His name was Ananias and he lived in Damascus. His contribution to the Kingdom of God are summed up in eight verses of scripture in one chapter in Acts and he is mentioned in one verse in another.

As Paul recounts his testimony, he mentions Ananias in Acts 22:12 where he says, Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well-spoken of by all the Jews who lived there. Ananias was a man of faith who loved the Word of God, had a great reputation with people in the community, he prayed and was obedient.  God used him to touch Paul.  Then, he went back to anonymity. We do not know what else Ananias did, but that does not matter.  All that matters is that God was glorified in his life.

Even though Ananias’ story is incidental to Paul’s, we can learn much from him. If we are faithful to the Word of God and prayer.  If we live a life that is of good report and if we are obedient to God, He will use us in His kingdom, even if no one knows our name.

For Further Study Read Acts 9:10-18 and Hebrews 11:35-40

The Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 1:3 that God is the “Father of mercies and God of all comfort.”  Here mercies means that he has compassion for us and so he comforts us.  The word comfort here is the word we get paraclete from.  A paraclete is one who comes alongside us. When God comforts us, he comes alongside of us, and He provides for us what we need in that moment of distress. He does not always give us what we want, but He always gives us what we need.

In the context of the passage quoted above, Paul tells us that we are pay forward the comfort we receive from God.  He says God “comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction” (2 Corinthians 1:4). Afflictions are anything that causes us pressure, anything that burdens are spirit. So, when God comforts us, we are to comfort others.

Remember, to comfort is to come along side someone else. We rightly criticize Job’s friends for the advice they gave Job, but they did one thing right.  ^“And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great” (Job 2:13). Sometimes the best thing we can do for people to comfort them, is just to be there with them.

Too often, we want to comfort people by trying to lessen their pain. I remember going through a difficult time and everyone tried to minimize my pain. In summary people would say, “it’s not that bad.”  One person came alongside me and simply said, I know it hurts and I am praying for you.  That was the most comforting words because they simply acknowledged my pain and they prayed for me.

I had the opportunity to go to Disney World this week, and I watched the Firework show.  I saw something that I see at every firework display these days.  The majority of people watching it through their phone.  Everyone is so busy trying to save the moment that they cannot enjoy the moment.  In reality, you cannot capture the moment, no matter how hard you try.  You may be able to see what happened, but nothing will replace being there.

We are all so used to not being in the moment.  For some, our thoughts are on what comes next. We walk for exercise, but our mind is not on what is going on around us, the enjoyment of God’s creation. Instead, we think about appointments, or our to do list. Anxiety comes from thinking about the future. For others, their thoughts are in the past. We cannot enjoy the moment, because our thoughts are one what we should have done, or not done. Guilt keeps us from enjoying the moment.

Ecclesiastes 8:15 says, “And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.”  There is a God who is above the sun, and He has given us every moment, whether it’s good or bad. Time is fleeting and it’s a gift to be appreciated.

This week, we celebrate Memorial Day. America set this day apart to remember the men and women who died to ensure, protect, and preserve our freedom. When we choose to remember those who went to war and did not come home, we honor them.  When we choose to remember we convey to ourselves and others the value, the worth, of their lives given to the cause of freedom.  When we remember, we say they did not die in vain.  When we remember, we value the freedoms that they died to ensure and to protect.  To remember is to not take for granted their sacrifice.  To remember is to use our freedoms in a way that is worthy of the sacrifices made to ensure them.  Thus, I have to ask, do you really remember?

I am writing this just after I took a group of Koreans back to the airport. They came to our community this past week to pray that God would bring revival to our churches and a Spiritual Awakening to our nation.  They poured their hearts out to God again and again, morning, afternoon, and evening, with one theme God would you pour out the oil of your Holy Spirit on your church and bring a great movement of God to our land. Each time they prayed, they spent not 5 minutes, 30 minutes or even an hour in prayer.  They typically spent two hours in prayer crying out to God and their passion never wavered.

They taught me this week to have a passion for prayer. That passion comes from a desperation for God to do only what He can do. Isaiah 61:1 says, “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch.” Isaiah had a deep yearning for the salvation of Jerusalem. He cannot stop praying for her “until her righteousness goes forth as brightness.” In verse 7, he urges his fellow Israelites to give God, “no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth.”

The question is do we desire for God to revive our churches and bring thousands to the kingdom. If we truly desire it, and believe that God is able, then we cannot help but to cry out to the Lord and give him no rest until He answers our prayers. Psalm 137:5-6 says, If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,

Walking with God and living the Christian life can be easy if you do the hardest thing first. Corrie Ten Boom said, “Trying to do the Lord’s work in your own strength is the most confusing, exhausting, and tedious of all work. But when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, then the ministry of Jesus just flows out of you.”  To be filled with the Spirit requires the hardest thing I  have to do and that is emptying myself of me.

Jesus said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”  Luke 9:23. To be filled with the Holy Spirit is not getting more of the Holy Spirit but the Holy Spirit getting more of you. Every day, I must say to God, I am laying myself on the altar today as a living sacrifice so that in everything it is not my will, but your will be done. Then I have to fill my life with the things of the Spirit. I do this through reading God’s word, through prayer, through worship, through stewardship, through service, through sharing my faith, and through fasting.

The great reformer, Martin Luther, once said that he only had two days on his calendar, today and the day when Jesus returns.  The reason he would say this is because we cannot change the past and we are not promised tomorrow. As the song lyrics say, “one day at a time, sweet Jesus, that’s all I’m asking from you.”  But the other reason he would say this is because the day that Jesus comes again greatly impacts today.

We do not know the day or the hour of Christ’s return, but we know that He is coming again. The angel said, “’Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”’ Acts 1:11. Knowing this promise is sure, the day of Jesus’ return fills our life with joy today.  The Apostle Paul said, “rejoice in the lord always, again I say rejoice….the Lord is near.”  The Lord is near is a reference to that fact that Jesus’ return is immanent (it can happen at any moment).  Knowing this, we can rejoice today.

Not only does His return give us joy for today, but it also gives us hope for today. Paul calls Jesus’ return our blessed hope (Titus 2:13). No matter what circumstance we are in, we always have hope. When we are sad, separated from our loved ones, grief stricken or broken, we know this is not forever.  Our best life is not now, it is later in glory where there will be no more pain, sorrow, tears, or death.

Too often Christians seek to grow as a Christian by seeking to develop Christ like traits. We think about a trait and work hard to develop it.  For example, I want to be more patient with people. I decide that I need to develop patience. I pray for patience; I learn techniques to be patient and try to be patient. But that is not the way we grow as a Christian. Paul says in Galatians 3:1, “Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?”  We do not grow by our effort to do better but by the Spirit.

How does the Spirit help us to grow?  We discipline ourselves to focus on Christ. We seek to worship Christ, fill our lives with Christ’s word, we see to commune with Him in prayer, serve Him, tell others about Him, so that our lives are filled with Christ. As our hearts are filled with Christ, we get to know Him.  Paul said that his one great desire was to know Christ. (Philippians 3:10).  Christian growth is disciplining ourselves to know Jesus more every day.

If you have been in church for any period of time, you probably heard someone quote Philippians 4:6-7 which says, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  People say don’t worry just pray. And we begin to think if I pray right then I will have peace and do not have to worry.