An Everyday Missionary – Courage

Boldness in Sharing Our Faith

How many of you would raise your hand if I asked whether you were good at boldly and confidently sharing the Gospel? Probably not many of you… rather, most of you would be shaking your heads emphatically. And I would have been with you a few months ago, squirming until the subject changed. God has worked on my heart and fears, however, and brought to a point that while I still need a lot of work I think I could do it confidently. I think. There are so many logical reasons why sharing the gospel is so important. And we went into that in July 2016 ’s Th!nk magazine. The truth is that the fear of witnessing to others, while a very real fear, is selfish! And we logically know that and all the other reasons why we should be witnessing, but sometimes it is hard to convince ourselves of it so that we truly know what we know. Make sense? One of the problems there is that all those logical reasons aren’t the reasons we should be doing things for- though they are huge and great themselves. Our ultimate reason should be out of obedience to God. And When we obey God in something He won’t leave us alone in it! He will supply us and equip us with what we need to do the job. And that means He will give us courage if we need it. Do we trust in God’s will and His courage enough to  do the thing asked of us? To obey? I was looking through the references to boldness in Scripture, and one of the main situations it was used in was to describe the early Christian’s sharing of the Gospel!

• So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders. Acts 14:3 (NIV)
• So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. Acts 9:28 (NIV)
• He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance! Acts 28:31 (NIV)
• Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. Acts 4:29-31 (NIV)

I am sure that they must have been terrified… they were facing persecution and execution! And yet they trusted in God and He provided them with the courage that they needed.

“But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name.  And so you will bear testimony to me.  But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves.  For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. Luke 21:12-15 (NIV)

The message that we bear is not one that can be taken lightly! (2 Timothy 2:15)  It is not one that can be defeated by the fear of the enemy, our message is one full of unmatchable power! It is okay if we are not sufficient because God is, and His truth is. All we have to do is obey and rely on Him, ‘the author and perfecter of our faith’.

I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. 1 Corinthians 2:3-5 (NIV)

2 Timothy 1:7 assures us of our power over fear (see Dissect it!), and then immediately proceeds to tell us this in verse eight:

So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.

Will you join me in this fight over fear? If you are willing, God will help you! He is faithful to complete the good work he has begun in us even if we are  not. In Him, we are more than conquerors (Romans 8).

 

 

*Note: We do not post the full Th!nk magazine on this blog each month. To read it in complete form monthly, for free, email us at thinkauthors@gmail.com!

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Dissect it! – Witnessing

Dissect it! “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.”John 6:44 (NIV) So. Dissect this verse. Okay, so the first part is this: ‘No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws them’. This calls for two steps of action on our part! We can preach at people as cleverly, convincingly, and passionately as we want, but without God it will all come to nothing. We cannot save them (who was is on the cross?), we cannot change their hearts, and neither is it our job. This is freeing! We are still called to do our part, but God is responsible. Woe be to us, however, if we try to do it without God. Okay, I’m getting distracted. The two steps of action. Right. Well, the first one is to pray. To pray for the people you want to witness to. To pray for the people’s hearts. That they may be ready to receive God’s truth. Without prayer and without God, trying to share the Good News with someone might cause more harm than good. So pray. Pray that God may draw them. May prepare and call their hearts.This also means that we need to have our own close relationship with God. If you need to, maybe reevaluate your relationship with Him. Many times I will pray and ask God, “Give him/her a hunger, and desire for You unlike anything they have experienced before. That they may not be satisfied until they find You.” (Matthew 7:8) Now for the second step: Share! And trust God to ‘raise them up on the last day’. For He will be faithful. He loves them more that you can ever imagine or comprehend and He wants to spend eternity with them in Heaven. (Philippians 1:6)

‘For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.’ 2 Peter 1:16 (NIV) ‘So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.’ 1 Corinthians 3:7 (NIV)                             (To read the entire magazine, subscribe for free by emailing thinkauthors@gmail.com)

Why Witness?

Reasons to Witness Here are 8 reasons I think you should witness. If you are considering witnessing here are some points I hope you will think about. Witness because you can- God has given us the physical ability to speak and witness to others so we should do it. Where I live, we are very blessed to not be persecuted for our beliefs and Christianity so if you have the freedom to witness and talk about God, you should do it! Witness because God is with you- God is always watching over us and has given us the Holy Spirit. He is always with us and there to help us and comfort us. God used Paul and Moses who weren’t good speakers at all. Our own weaknesses shouldn’t be used as an excuse! God  can use them even more than our strengths! Witness because God has given you special abilities- God gives us each unique abilities, experiences, and passions that we can use to reach different people. One person may be able to talk or reach out to someone differently than another and impact them more. You may have THE story someone needs to hear. Witness because it’s what God calls us to do- God calls us to go out into all nations and baptize people. I don’t think it could be more obvious. He tells us to witness to others and we should do it because we follow Him and love Him. Witness because God can do something greater- God can do so much more when we take the stand and witness to others. Who knows, one person may become two or three people. God can do greater things when we trust Him and are bold. Witness because it can change someone’s life- Witnessing can impact someone and change the way they live. Witness because we know the true God and overflow to share it with others- We have joy because we know the true God and have confidence in Him. We want everyone to feel that same joy! Witness because everything will be okay- A lot of times we miss out on blessings because we’re afraid or it makes us uncomfortable. We need to stop listening to the lies of Satan, who has a way of making good things look bad. After reading this I suggest that you talk to God and ask Him what His will is for you and if He’s calling you to witness to someone. Is there a certain person in your life who you feel like you could witness to? A friend? A neighbor? A classmate? A co-worker?   *if you want to read the whole magazine monthly, subscribe for free by emailing thinkauthors@gmail.com