Zondervan Blog

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Is Christ Delightful? (On Contagious Christianity - Excerpt) Posted: 22 May 2012 04:40 PM PDT   "Is Christ delightful?" asks John Flavel, and darn - he's got me! Yes, Christ is delightful, but too often I use my words and actions to broadcast a different message — something like, "I feel harried and anxious." Flavel's right about the delightfulness of Christ. He is a better God than anything we'd choose to prioritize over him, and we can delight instead of worry. I hope this passage from the NIV Voices of Faith Devotional Bible: Voices from the Past and Present will help you delight more fully in Christ — or as Hybels says below, "catch [Christ's] love and then urgently and infectiously offer it" to others.  -Adam Forrest, Zondervan   Is Christ delightful? [by John Flavel, AD 1630–1691] John Flavel Show the world Christ — as he really is — through your actions and your words. Is he completely delightful? Let all the world see and know that he is so — by the way you delight in him, in the intimacy of your relationship with him, through your passion for him, and through your readiness to part with anything else you might enjoy besides him. Proclaim his superiority to the world... Persuade them how much your beloved is better than any other beloved. Reveal his glorious perfection as you speak of him. Proclaim him to others as he is in himself: perfectly beautiful. See that you "live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way" (Colossians 1:10). "Declare the praises" of Christ (1 Peter 2:9)... He is glorious in himself, and he is sure to place his glory upon you. So be careful not to bring shame and dishonor to him. He has committed his honor to you; do not betray that trust. Never be ashamed to be counted as a Christian.   Becoming a Contagious Christian [by Bill Hybels] Bill Hybels Deep in every true Christian, there is an awareness that we are on this planet for purposes greater than having a career, paying the bills, loving our families and fulfilling our role as upstanding citizens. Even going to church and worshiping God — important as these are — sometimes leave us feeling that something is missing. After all, we'll worship God for eternity in heaven; we don't have to be here to do that.   What is it that's absent in the lives of so many believers who are crying out for fulfillment? What on earth is God asking us to do?   God wants us to become contagious Christians — his agents, who will first catch his love and then urgently and infectiously offer it to all who are willing to consider it. This is his primary plan, the one Jesus modeled so powerfully, to spread God's grace and truth person to person until there's an epidemic of changed lives around the world.   Learn More Learn more about the NIV Voices of Faith Devotional Bible   Q: The only way that the people you live and work and play with may see Christ is through you. So what's one thing people see when they look at you? Further Reading A Heavenly Party via the NIV Voices of Faith Devotional Bible Flourishing in Action via John Ortberg   (Images & some styling above are web-exclusive features not included in the text of NIV Voices of Faith Devotional Bible. This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

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