“Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.” (2 Cor. 5:9 NKJV)
In this chapter of 2 Corinthians Paul is speaking of how we long to be present with the Lord and that as Christians we are to live looking with eager expectation to the hope we have in Christ. This hope in Christ of being with Him should affect and change the way that we live on this earth. In everything we do our desire should be to please our king and our God. As Paul goes on to say in verse 14 “for the love of Christ compels us…” meaning that when we consider the love of Christ for us it should result in a life lived to please, honor and glorify the King of kings. This past weekend I was able to go on a young adults retreat with Calvary Chapel the Rock and the theme was “Compelled”. We spent the weekend looking at chapter 5 of 2 Corinthians, a chapter that has been extremely impactful in my own life. It was verse 14, as well as verses 18-20 and many others like them throughout the Bible that God used to transform me. It was the Word of God that gave me a passion to serve Him. God especially used verse 20 in a very powerful way to change my heart and cause me to pray for God to use me to magnify His name. In verse 20 Paul says, “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.” (2 Cor. 5:20) For all Christians this is our purpose to be Christ’s ambassadors to implore people, to be reconciled to God. We are to be witnesses of Christ and to proclaim His love and desire for all to be saved. To proclaim to the lost the gospel, the message of salvation. Yet God used this in a special way to stir my heart for the lost and lead me into the calling I have now of being sent out to reach the unreached with the Gospel. This is one of many passages that God used to prepare my heart and confirm to me that I was called to go to the Middle East. I was so thankful to be a part of the retreat and to have the Lord reaffirm and encourage me in the calling He has given me.
The past few weeks God has been doing so much in my heart and in my life. On March 7th I was given the opportunity to speak at a Missions night at my church to share the calling God has given me. The whole week before I was preparing and praying that God would use it for His glory, to encourage those there and to give all of us there a greater passion to reach the lost. I was grateful for the opportunity and blessed to see God answer my prayers. It was amazing to see how God brought people, encouraged them and stirred them up for missions through what He has done in preparing me to go and through the calling He has given. As many of you know I have been serving, teaching, studying and preparing myself for ministry in the Middle East as well as raising support in order to be sent out. Recently God put it on my heart to begin learning Arabic online and to commit time to that each week so I can be further equipped for when I leave. I am hoping to start that soon so please keep me in prayer as I begin to labor to learn the language. Also please keep praying that I would continue to grow in teaching God’s Word and in my understanding of Arabic, Islam and the culture of the country I will be going to so I may be better equipped for ministry there.
If the Lord has put it on your heart to partner financially with me to reach the Middle East with the gospel and to reach those who don’t know the truth of who God is with the truth of His Word. To see people turned from darkness to light, from the power of satan to God you can do so through a one-time donation, you can do so by clicking the “Become A Financial Partner” button below, OR you can mail a check written out to Saving Grace World Missions with “Jorden Skiles support” in the memo section to Saving Grace World Missions, 17451 Bastanchury Rd., Suite 203, Yorba Linda, CA 92886-1873.
Praise Reports
- For a blessed dessert gathering
- For a great Young Adults Retreat
Prayer Requests
- Perseverance and wisdom in language learning
- For more opportunities to teach the word of God
- Wisdom and guidance in preparing for the Middle East
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