PROTECTION OF SCATTERED MEMBERS: LOVE Champions

November 29th, 2023

We wind down this last week of November with devotionals centered around the theme PROTECTION OF SCATTERED MEMBERS. Enjoy what our team has developed for your spiritual edification and challenge!

SCRIPTURE: "But beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one is as a
thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His
promise, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should
perish but that all should come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:8-9
"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, doe not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; doe not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." 1 Corinthians 13:4

Our God is the Champion of LOVE! Hallelujah!! Therefore, if He is, we should be also. He has entrusted us to some degree to build up, pray, exhort our scattered members back to Himself. Hey, now, let’s not act like we have always honored “God’s order” in our own walk with Christ. We are commanded to comfort others with the same comfort that the Lord has comforted us. Those who have strayed into “far countries”, have a desire to be “home” (in fellowship with the Father); they are convicted, downtrodden, and are in various forms of despair. Most times, they have knowledge of God’s Word enough to allow conviction (the work of God) to have its course. Therefore, this is not the time for judgement with any amount of anger; but this is the time for believers to prove we are, indeed, ”lovers of men”.

The wanderer is hungry and thirsty. Our acts of love should be driven by patience and kindness ready to satisfy the scattered with acts of restoration. Here is where godly action will speak much louder than mere words. We already know their redeemed position and strength in Christ; therefore, we can wait for the scattered saint to become all of who God has assigned them to be. It is absolutely essential that our behavior toward the scattered be aligned with Christ’s plan of eternal security. With great expectation, we wait for their growth, deliverance and their return to the faith!

Prayer: Lord, we thank You for the many stages of our life journey with You on this side of eternity. We thank You that we have never seen Your LOVE fail. You have hemmed us up to one another; and You have given us the charge to love our brothers and sisters back to the faith. Help us to walk worthy of our calling in Christ Jesus. Help us to contact with purpose the one who has strayed; that we may help, pray and gently remind our brother or sister, of Your (conditions &) precious promises. Lord, cause their hearts to burn with desire to be back under Your Covering and Your marvelous embrace...In Jesus’ Name-Amen!
By Sis. Lisa Williams