I remember traveling through Europe on a Women’s Ministries Missions Trip. It seemed at every checkpoint, I was the one stopped, questioned, and searched. I thought for sure I was going to be detached from the group and miss our connecting flight, due to the endless interruptions by security. To this day, I’m not even aware of the “why” of all of this. One thing I know for sure, the Lord was surely with me and gave me a comforting amount of peace. All the while, my heart was pounding! Then I remembered, if I needed added help, surely the US Ambassador living in Paris could help me out.

The word “Ambassador” sparked my curiosity. It is defined as “Someone who lives in one country while representing their home country.” In the United States, they are the president’s highest-ranking representative to a specific nation. An effective ambassador must be a strong leader, a good manager, a resilient negotiator, and a respected representative of the United States. Which led me to the conclusion that as Christians, we are all Ambassadors for Christ! We have been sent by God into this world to represent Christ, our King. As ambassadors, we….

• Speak with the authority of God (Matthew 28:18-20)
• Are in constant communication with God (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
• Can bring heaven to earth as we pray and obey (Matthew 6:10)
• Can bring the love of heaven into a world filled with hate
• Can bring the steadfast joy of the Spirit into a world of uncertainty
• Can bring the patience of God in a world dominated by instant gratification
• Can bring the hope of God to a world that is hurting
• Can bring the Fruits of the Spirit to a world that is starving
• Can bring the comfort of God to hearts that are suffering

The longer I live, and the closer to death I get, the more I realize people are very uncomfortable talking about dying and going home to heaven. Some people are afraid of dying, but in 1 Corinthians 15:55, Paul encourages us with, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” Because of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, death has lost its sting. We have lost parents, spouses, grandparents, aunts, uncles, children, and friends. All this loss in recent years has made me think more and more about going home. Maybe you, too?

As ambassadors filled with the Spirit of God, we are being used by God in today’s culture to spread His Word and His love to a hurting world. Therefore, we must live our lives on earth in such a way that we represent the values of our heavenly home and point others toward Christ and the ultimate end, heaven.

“So, here is what I want you to do, God helping you, take your everyday, ordinary life, your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, walking around life and place it before God as an offering. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out in you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” Message Bible, Romans 12:1-2