Sharing What We Believe

A while back, I intended to post several devotionals my best friend and I wrote for our student choir trip. Since they were not posted as planned I have decided to post them throughout the month of February. 

I hope you are blessed through what the Lord has spoken through us about *What We Believe.*

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“Has the LORD redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others He has redeemed you from your enemies.” Psalm 107:2

Sharing the gospel is a touchy subject for some Christians—we hear it taught, but we don’t always put it to action. I know for me, the thought of sharing the gospel with a nonbeliever is sometimes scary. What if they reject me? What if I say the wrong things?

Yet, as we dig deeper into God’s Word, we see that those are petty excuses.

“And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” Luke 12:11-12

Jesus is speaking to His disciples in this passage, telling them that when they come in contact with lost people, they should not fear, for the Holy Spirit will guide them in that moment in what to say. He didn’t say, “The Holy Spirit might help you,” He promised the Holy Spirit would come. When Jesus promises something, claim it!!

“To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.” Acts 26:22-23

Even Paul, a man who is often praised for his boldness, claims He could not share the gospel apart from Christ’s help. Paul goes on to say that all he does is share what he believes—that Jesus died, was buried, and rose—and the Holy Spirit does the rest.

“So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11

Say you build up the courage to share the gospel because you know the Holy Spirit will help you, but after you share what you believe, they turn you down. Might as well not even try, right? Wrong.

This is another promise of God! God promises that His Word will work in that person’s life to accomplish what He has planned… even if you don’t see the results.

As you can see, we have no excuse to say we can’t share the gospel.

In conclusion for today, let me remind you that actions speak louder than words.

A while back, my friend began a conversation with a group of unsaved girls. They talked for a while, and as they finished talking, my friend handed the girls a gospel track. They said, “We usually don’t read this kind of stuff, but because you’ve been so kind to us, we’ll read it.

People in this world are starving for the gospel. Life your life as if your actions share the gospel.

Of the passages that you read, which stood out the most?

Why?

Does this give you more of a boldness to share the gospel?

How can you apply what you’ve learned?

Children of God

Blessed are those who are called children of God! 

In Mark 9:36 and 10:16, Jesus is surrounded by children. He blesses them and uses them as an example of how to enter the kingdom of heaven, but what I find most amazing is that both times, it is recorded that he took them in his arms.

I love it when I can wrap my arms around a little kid and hug them tight. I especially love it when my dad puts his arms around me and squeezes. 

This is what God does to us, and He never lets go. 

Isaiah 40:11 says, "He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young."

"He will carry them in his bosom" also translates "He will carry them close to His heart."

Praise God! Since we are called children of God, we are the ones He wraps in his arms... close to his heart. 

We never have to fear if he is with us. He is always near holding us close.

Only He Can Satisfy

I wrote about a year ago as I was cleaning out some things. Even though it was a while ago, the truth still stands!

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I've never been the kind of person to find value in how many likes I get on Instagram or Twitter... never—until now.

I see others "achieve more success" in the social media world than I do, and I feel incompetent—not good enough.

I think that if I'll tweet something clever or post an artsy photo, I'll receive more satisfaction and love and attention. 

As the humans that God made us to be, we naturally desire those things, but we can never find them in the number of double taps or retweets we receive. How then can we get the love, satisfaction, and attention that we need?

One word. Jesus.

Jesus is the One who satisfies us in the desert. Who walks alongside of us to guide us. He's the One who died for us. 

We know these truths, but many times our desire to be desired gets in the way.

But think about it: if the all-knowing God made us with the desire to be loved and cared for, He wouldn't leave us stranded. He would provide a way to fulfill our needs.

Only He can satisfy.

So next time you don't feel good enough because of the number of retweets or likes compared to others, remember to run to Christ because He satisfies.

Mercies New

"Every morning, every morning, every morning—mercies new. Every morning, every morning—I will fix my eyes on You." -Matthew West

Some time ago, my friend and I were talking and something she said really hit me—it finally became clear to me.

In our normal, Christian routine life, we go to church on Sundays hoping to be ecouraged enough and forgiven enough to make it through the rest of the week... or at least until Wednesday when we'll be at church again. 

But we forget that His mercies are new EACH AND EVERY morning!!!

"The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

May we live in light of this truth!!

Quiet Time - 2 Corinthians 2:14

"But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession and though us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere." 2 Corinthians 2:14

Here's this verse in context: Paul's plans were totally wrecked. He had to go an entirely different direction then he had planned for his missionary journey. He easily could have shook his fist at God, yet he uses this as encouragement for the Corinthians.

Though our plans be corrupted, God's plan is best, and he will lead us triumphantly! We win in the end. 

When we trustingly follow God, people will notice, and therefore, we will leave a fragrance of Christ--a heavenly aroma--behind wherever we go. 

Lord, help me to trust you wherever you lead, knowing that it's always to victory. Help me to spread the aroma of You wherever I go. I love you, Lord!

In His Image

The past few days, I've been doing a theology Bible study, and I've been reading about being made in the image of God. 

I finished the study for the week and decided to read in 1 Corinthians. I read chapter 15 and verse 49 stood out: "Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the Man of heaven."

In the beginning, God created man in His own image (Genesis 1:27). So many times we think "in image of God" refers to looking like Him, yet recently, I've learned differently.

I have a sticky note stuck on the Genesis 1 page in my Bible. It's a quote from Brent Crowe: "To be made in the image of God seems to refer to the fact that God created us to be like Him and to represent Him in creation." This is what "made in God's image" means: we are like Him the attributes we display—love, creativity, kindness, etc.

But sin distorts. It distorts us from being in God's image—God doesn't sin so that's not like Him.

So back to 1 Corinthians 15:49, "Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the Man of heaven."

Because of sin we are now born in the image of the sinful man of dust.

But there's hope! When we receive salvation, we are made into the image of the Man of heaven—God! Back how it's supposed to be! We then can be like him in displaying love, mercy, wisdom, creativity, etc.

As Christians, are we displaying the image of Christ righty? If not, let's get our head back in the game because this is what we were made for!

ONE THING

In Luke 10:38-42, it talks about Mary and Martha where Martha is comparing her life and job to Mary's. Jesus sweetly calls to her and tells her that she is "anxious and troubled about many things, but ONE THING is necessary" (vs 41-42). 

In Mark 10:17-22, the rich young ruler goes to Jesus in search of eternal life. He tells of all he has done (kept the commandments since his youth) yet Jesus says, "You lack ONE THING" (vs 21).

So many times, we Christians get so caught up with " the next event" or other ministries we can get involved in. While that can be good, too many times I believe we focus on the mission--what we do--instead of the message--who He is.

Martha and the rich young ruler were good people, serving and obeying commandments, but Jesus called them out for missing ONE THING.

I've been challenged to ask myself: what is my ONE THING?

 For Martha, it was stepping aside from busy tasks and soaking in Jesus' teachings by sitting at His feet. For the rich young ruler, it was selling all of his possessions and giving the money to the poor.

What ONE THING is keeping me from a complete and focused relationship with Christ?