While God knows all who belong to Him, often I’m not sure.
People in my family claim to be Christians, as do friends and others I’ve met,
but are they just ‘nice’ folks? Or has Jesus come into their lives?
While this is an issue that must be left with God, how to
pray for them is my concern. Christians need prayer support as they grow in
grace. Others need Jesus to come into their lives as believers pray for the
power of grace to bring them into God’s family. While the Bible has much to say
about identifying true faith, here is an interesting passage that helps me
better understand how to ID believers and pray for them:
“For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” (1 Thessalonians 1:4–10)
The writer says he knows that his readers in Thessalonica
are God’s people because the Holy Spirit fully convicted them. This could be
two kinds of conviction. One is that they realized the depth of their sinfulness.
It was not a ‘Sure, I mess up now and then’ conviction, but a deeper
understanding that produced sincere crying out to God to save them.
The second conviction is deeply knowing that God heard
their prayer and that the answer to that cry is the Lord Jesus Christ. They
were convicted that they not only needed Him, but that He is who He claims to
be — God’s answer to sin, the Messiah, Savior and Lord of all.
Secondly, they demonstrated they were God’s people by
placing themselves under the leadership and example of God’s people. This is
not a blind following. They understood the Word of God and lived it out,
demonstrating their faith without being exhorted to do so. The fruit of the
Holy Spirit was there and evident.
Along that line, another evidence was that they turned
from idols to not only worship God, but to serve Him. Reflecting on that, I
realize many can claim to be Christians but refuse to become involved in
serving God. Is this because they have not given up on other gods that they
trust for many things? Idolatry is far more common in our world than we realize
as many of today’s idols are not as easily seen as carvings in wood and stone.
Another evidence of true faith in Christ is that attitude
of waiting, even eagerly waiting, for Jesus to return. I know people who claim
to believe in Him, even serve in a church, but who do not believe Jesus is
going to return. For some of them, He is not even a real person, more an idea,
a mythical example for us to live by and not the very source of life.
Those who claim to belong to God’s family are usually
pleasant, friendly, and live a good life. However, their ‘faith’ is misplaced
and will eventually be exposed by their attitude toward sin and the second
coming. The Bible gives other ways to ‘test the spirits’ but these help me
better understand how to pray.
^^^^^^^
Jesus, thank You for hearing the need of my heart today.
I’ve stuttered when trying to pray for a few people because I don’t know where
they stand with You. This Word from You immensely helps me!
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