The Kingdom of God Devotional Guide - Wednesday, January 19

Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 1:2-5

Testimony: The emphasis of our study this week has been on the importance of sharing the truth of the Gospel verbally as we practice compassion and other forms of Kingdom justice. Today I want to share a personal testimony of how maintaining this balance affects lives both here and now and for eternity.

One day in 1929, or perhaps in 1930, my maternal grandmother decided go into the city of Evansville to do some shopping. While there, she passed by the Evansville Rescue Mission, which happened to be conducting an afternoon evangelistic service. Though my grandmother was not homeless or in need of their social services, she felt as though she must go in to see what all the commotion was about. Grandma was raised in Catholicism, so she would say years later that she feared that she would be condemned to Hell just for entering into the mission and joining the service. However, on that very day, Grandma heard for the first time the Good News of forgiveness of sin through faith in Jesus Christ. She went forward at the end of the service and made an intentional decision in her heart to become a believer!

My grandmother began witnessing to my grandfather as she grew in the Lord. Her witness was joined by the efforts of their best friends and others, but for the longest time to no avail. Grandpa did eventually become a Christian, but not until he died from cancer in 1952.

Meanwhile, in 1941, years after my grandmother's conversion, someone invited my grandfather to attend an evangelistic service, which once again was being held at the Evansville Rescue Mission. My grandfather asked the rest of the family if anyone wanted to go with him. My mother, who was only eight at the time, told him she wanted to go. Mom still remembers very well a lady who sang special music so beautifully that day. When the preacher finished, my grandfather did not make a decision but my mom did. So both my grandmother and my mom became believers through a ministry that carefully and faithfully included verbal proclamations of the Gospel in their practices of compassion and kingdom justice.

I too grew up in Evansville. Though I did not become a Christian through the Evansville Rescue Mission, I am a product of their compassion and teaching ministry. Each summer for several years, my sister and brother and I attended Camp Reveal, a ministry of the mission dedicated to reaching boys and girls in the city. I can still remember sitting in the chapel singing and listening to the challenges from God's Word. I was already a Christian by then, but Camp Reveal is where I was first exposed to the challenges of living for and serving Christ as a young boy. I also remember how so many other boys and girls did make their initial decisions to believe on Jesus under that ministry.
 
The legacy of Camp Reveal in my life does not stop with me. All of my sons, who are believers themselves, have joined in verbally sharing Christ with others while also practicing compassion and Kingdom justice. Just the other day, one of them told me how a young person who came to his ministry of compassion as an unbeliever had decided to put her trust in Christ for salvation and forgiveness of sin. So what began in 1929 with my grandmother has now reached into a fifth generation!

Praise the Lord! Praise Him for the faithfulness of ministries like the Evansville Rescue Mission, ministries that marshal resources to meet profound human needs, while at the same time carefully and faithfully proclaiming the solution of the Gospel for the even more profound needs of the soul! At a time when some in the Body of Christ are questioning the legitimacy and value of verbal proclamations of the Gospel coupled with the practice of compassion and Kingdom justice, my prayer is for ministries that continue to hold both in balance will flourish abundantly until Jesus returns!

Reflection Questions: What evidence do you have of the compassion-based ministries around you carefully and faithfully proclaiming the Gospel to see people saved eternally? What evidence is there in your life that practicing Kingdom justice and verbally sharing the Gospel with others are things that you hold in biblical balance? Which do you need to do more of to bring your life into biblical balance in these areas?