Tag Archives: sharing the Gospel

December 1 – Compulsion

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I Corinthians 9-11

Paul was a single-minded man. He had one aim, one purpose in life, and that was to tell everyone about Jesus. He even said, I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.  (9:16)

Later he compared himself to a runner with the aim of winning the race, and a boxer whose blows don’t beat the air.

I asked Siri to give me a definition of the word, compulsion. Here’s what she said:

  1. The action of forcing or being forced to do something; constraint.
  2. An irrestible urge to behave in a certain way, especially against one’s conscious wishes.

It sounds like maybe if you asked Paul, being a preacher might not have been his first choice of careers. He just couldn’t help himself. He HAD to share the gospel.

In 11:1, Paul tells us to imitate him, like he imitated Christ. He said those words after talking about being a servant, about considering the faith of others above all things.

As I read these chapters in I Corinthians I am convicted. I’m not sure I have the same compulsion to share Jesus as Paul had. As Christians, shouldn’t we all have the same passion for seeing people come to the Lord? Shouldn’t we all be so focused on Jesus we just can’t help but share Him with everyone we meet?

October 17 – Shaking The Dust Off

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Matthew 14; Mark 6; Luke 9:1-17

Jesus’ twelve disciples were given power to heal diseases as He sent them out to tell people about Him. “Spread the Gospel,” He told them. “Heal their sick. But if they refuse to listen, don’t waste your time. Leave that place and go where hearts are ready to hear.”

I have a friend who changes the subject every time I want to talk about the Lord, or any time I give thanks to God. She has attended a few church services with me over the years. But generally speaking, she is closed to listening to anything about my love of Jesus.

Does this Scripture say I should just walk away from this friendship? Shake the dust from my feet and move on because she is not listening? I don’t think so.

There might be a fine line between sharing the Gospel with a lost world, and being obnoxious and pushing people further away. I don’t think this Scripture gives us an excuse to remain silent. I think it tells us to follow God’s lead, and be ready to speak to people whose hearts are ready to hear.

I don’t push my friend to talk to me when I feel the barriers go up. In a sense I guess I do shake the dust off those conversations. But I also look for the next opportunity to share the Lord with her. And I pray that God will continue to soften her heart and prepare her to listen sometime soon.

Because I don’t think that God, who is not willing that anyone die without Him, gave up on those cities that weren’t listening to His disciples at that time. And I don’t think He wants me to give up on my friend.

Father, I pray for your children today. May you give us a sensitivity to know when to speak and when to remain silent. Prepare the hearts of our friends and loved ones to receive You as their Savior. And may we be obedient to share the Gospel when You nudge us to do so. Help us not to waste words before it’s time. But make us eager to jump right in when You give us the opportunity. May souls find their Savior today when hearts are ready and we are faithful.

October 16 – Taking Up Your Cross

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Matthew 9-10

What does it mean to take up your cross and follow Jesus? It certainly does not mean fashioning a big old cross out of lumber and carting it on your shoulders up a hill. It doesn’t mean putting up with a meddling mother-in-law or demanding boss. It doesn’t even mean accepting an illness like Paul’s thorn-in-the-flesh.

Jesus said those words after saying He did not come into the world to bring peace, but a sword. He said them after warning us that if we love anyone more than we love Him, we aren’t worthy of Him.

Yes, the cross Jesus carried to His execution was heavy, a cumbersome burden. It was hard to drag that thing, especially in Jesus’ condition. But that’s not the cross Jesus was talking about here.

The cross was Jesus’ mission. It had been His focus every day of His life. It represents obedience as well as love, submission as well as action, life as well as death.

Jesus is asking us to take up His mission which is the salvation of every living soul. Talk about Jesus. Share the Gospel. Even if it’s not comfortable or easy to do. Even if it costs us our lives.

October 7 – And They Were Following Him

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Mark 2

We might think that because Jesus called twelve men to follow Him that is all there was. Yes, there were twelve whose names we know, and who Jesus entrusted with the intimate details of His ministry. But there are many who followed Jesus. Mark gives us a glimpse of that in 2:15.

We know Matthew, that tax collector and disciple of Jesus. But Mark tells us Matthew wasn’t the only tax collector who was changed because of Jesus.

Sometimes, too, I think we get the idea that people like Billy Graham, or Beth Moore, or Bill Gaither have more important ministries than ours because everyone knows their name. That’s just not true.

A follower of Jesus doesn’t have to stand behind a pulpit. He can sit in the bleachers at a ball game. Or across the table at a coffee shop. Or over the backyard fence. Following Jesus isn’t about getting recognition, or limited to those who do. It’s about my obedience, and your’s. It’s about sharing the Gospel, a willingness to let Jesus be seen in us, even if no one else knows our name.

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So I’ve shared that I recently bought a house on an island in Georgia. Hurricane Matthew is headed straight to St. Simons and that entire area. God is faithful, and even though we have all been evacuated and are waiting for the storm to blow through, watching the weather channel and praying, I know that it all belongs to God anyway. My prayer is that the people will be safe, including those brave first responders who will do what they can to protect and care for those who are effected. I thank Him that the storm seems to be staying off shore and seems to be weakening. Would you pray with us? As always, may God be glorified even in this.

October 6 – My Food

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John 2-4

Jesus’ disciples went to get him something to eat. The fact that they “urge” Him to eat makes me believe Jesus was so intent on doing what He came to do, He might not have taken time for meals. His disciples knew he needed to eat.

I know, myself, that if I am focused on a task at hand, eating is the last thing on my mind. Jesus said something that made me stop and think.

He said, “My food, is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.” (4:34)

Food. That which nourishes and strengthens, that which is necessary for life itself, that which is pleasant and anticipated. Something you just can’t do without.

Is that how I view my service to God, sharing the Gospel, sowing seed that leads to repentance? Is representing Jesus to a lost world as necessary to me as filling my belly?

It was that to Jesus. It ought to be in me.

October 1 – Here He Is!

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Luke 1, John 1:1-4

John the Baptist began his ministry before he was even born. When his cousin Mary came to visit his pregnant mom, Elizabeth, shortly after Mary had had a conversation with the angel Gabriel and agreed to give birth to the Son of God, the baby John leaped for joy right there in his mother’s womb. Mary might not have even realized she was pregnant yet. But the unborn John recognized the Messiah growing inside her as soon as Mary entered the room.

John’s calling was to point people to the Savior, and he must not have thought it was necessary to wait to begin. Elizabeth felt her baby leap inside her. Then she recognized the Messiah, too. John’s first convert. And he still hadn’t been born.

We are also called to point people to the Savior. But it seems sometimes we think we need to take a soul-winning class first, or go to seminary, or rehearse a speech before God can use us. John demonstrates something different.

And it has me feeling guilty this morning. What am I waiting for? I know Jesus. Jesus is living inside my heart. I’ve confessed my sin and I am forgiven! God is my Father.

I want the world to know.

“HEY, Y’ALL… HERE HE IS!!! Let me introduce you!”

September 26 – Git ‘er Done

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Nehemiah 1-5

Every time I read Nehemiah I am impressed with the unrelenting passion the Jews had for rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem. They worked together, supported and protected each other, even in the face of threats and opposition. They had a job to do and they just wanted to get it done!

Wouldn’t it be exciting to be a part of such a fellowship? I pray that your local church has the same kind of focus, the same determination to get God’s Church built one soul at a time. I trust it’s a fellowship that supports and protects each other, that works together and prays together as you share the Gospel.

But if your church isn’t working like that, why not? Is there bickering or jealousy? Blatant sin, or acceptance of sin? Are one or two people carrying the bulk of the load while the rest warm a pew on Sunday morning?

Are you part of the problem? Are there sins you need to confess, people whose forgiveness you need to ask for, responsibilities you need to take on? Your church has the job of spreading the Gospel to your community. Are you doing your part to make that happen, or are you a Sanballat or Tobiah in the midst?

Satan would love to stop your church fellowship from being effective in the work of the Lord. The Jews in Nehemiah didn’t let that happen. Don’t you.

You and your church fellowship have a job to do. May you have that unrelenting passion and together, git ‘er done!

September 1 – Satan’s Captives

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Ezekiel 18-19

I am one who sees the correlation between the Old Testament nation of Israel, and the New Testament Church. So when I read Ezekiel’s lamentation for the princes of Israel, I consider what God would have us know in 2016.

Israel, and the Church, started strong. We were strong and vital, fruitful and full of branches. But the nations, the world caged us “so that (our) voice would be heard no more…” (19:9)

“It withered, and the fire consumed it.” (vs 12)

“And fire has gone out from its branch; it has consumed its shoots and fruit, so that there is not in it a strong branch, a scepter to rule.” (vs 14)

I think God would have us take stock of the strength of our army, the fruit of our lives, and ask ourselves if we are living in captivity. Are we allowing the voice of nonbelievers to shackle us?

Or is there still power in the Church to defeat our enemy? Are we voicing the Truth according to Scripture, or are we living like caged men and women, afraid to speak up?

Are people coming to the Savior because we are out there sharing the Gospel? I pray that is so.

Let’s not live like Satan’s captives. Remember, greater is God in us than that evil one who is in this world.

 

August 27 – Comfort Zones

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Ezekiel 1-4

I almost never sleep through the night. I toss and turn, covers on, covers off, until it’s time to get up… and I fall into a deep sleep. Ugh!

If I lie too long in one position my body begins to ache. So reading what God told Ezekiel to do makes me very glad He wasn’t talking to me! The prophet was to build a ramp, pitch a camp, put battering rams against it, and face the city of Jerusalem. Then Ezekiel was to lie down on his left side, (I assume on the ground in sight of the people) and take the sin of Israel on himself. Then he was to lie there on his left side for thirteen months without turning from side to side.

And if that’s not hard enough, after the 390 days, God told Ezekiel he was to turn over on his right side, take the sin of Judah on himself, and lie like that for forty more days. No turning allowed. In fact, God was going to tie him up so he couldn’t switch sides even if he wanted to.

I am reminded that God is more interested in getting His message out there than He is in my comfort. He is serious about sin, and He wants people to know that. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one goes to God except through Jesus, and God wants people to know that. People who die without Christ go to hell. God wants people to know that, too.

And everyone who humbles themselves and repents of sin can be saved. That’s the message God is passionate about. That’s what He wants everyone to know. And if you have to take a stand for the Truth, or lose your house, your health, your career, or just get up out of your recliner, that’s secondary to getting the message out there.

Dear God, Forgive me if I am more concerned about the size of my paycheck, the air-conditioning in my home, what kind of car I drive, or if I have a sinus headache, than I am about lost souls. I want your passion for sinners to be my passion. Please give me the courage and the strength to get out of my comfort zone and get your message across. I want to say, “no matter what the cost,” and mean it. Show me how I can serve You today. And may I do what you ask without thought of my comfort. 

August 25 – Tarry, Lord

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Jeremiah 49-50

Sometimes I read the news and think, “Christians are losing this war.” People who love the Lord are being persecuted, targeted, discriminated against, churches are compromising, God is being mocked, and I find myself tempted to pray, “Just come back, Jesus.”

But I read things in the Bible like these chapters in Jeremiah and am reminded Who has the power, and Who has already won the war.

My prayer changes.

God, I’m not ready to give up. I believe you still hear and answer the prayers of your people who humble themselves and repent. I believe you are not willing that anyone die without knowing You. I believe you still have the power to save. So, Lord, I’m asking you to raise up a people who are committed to You and the Gospel. May you find warriors instead of spectators, workers instead of watchers, givers instead of takers. God, may Your people determine that we will not give up without a fight. Then lead us into battle against Satan, our real enemy. Tarry, Lord. Don’t come back today. There are souls that need saving.