Step Up and Speak Out

2 Timothy 1:7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

Why can we get so fired up about sports (Go Spurs) and become so quiet about the Savior? Why do we so readily share our political views, but hit the mute button when it comes to sharing Jesus? Why do we call all our friends to tell them about a great restaurant we found and don’t make the call to tell them about the Redeemer we know?

Why do we show more passion about the new diet, new golf club, new car, new shoes, new hobby, new vacation spot, new movie, new iPhone app, new whatever…than a relationship with Christ? Why is it easier to talk about anything else…than Jesus?

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power…!” If this is true, why do we often feel so wimpy and powerless when it comes to sharing the most important message in time and eternity?

FEAR – that’s why! We are fearful of what others may say or think about us. We are fearful we will look like a fool. We are fearful we don’t measure up as a Christian and they will know. The list goes on….

How do I know this? I lived it, that’s how! I walked in fear and intimidation about sharing my Jesus for years! I knew it, I hurt because of and was ashamed by it. Then one fateful day God showed me how He was going to use pitiful, messed up, beat up, scarred up ME for His purposes. I felt so unworthy of His love much less thinking He could use me. After all…I knew all the bad things I had done, all the harsh words I had spoken, all the times I thought about myself instead of others…yep, I was painfully aware of all that mess. YET…He loved me anyway…that was the beginning of the new me, the acceptance of the fact that He loved me anyway! He had plans for me of which I had no idea. He showed me, that fateful day, how all my scars from wounds, all my pain, all my trials were going to be used for His glory…and I was dumbfounded!

Here’s the key…He was able to show me that day because I took a leap of faith and stepped out in fear asking Him to work through me. I wanted to be bolder about speaking out for Jesus and knew it was a weakness of mine so I had asked a friend if I could tag along one day to ‘see’ what she did in prison ministry. She threw me off the deep end and gave me a small group to lead that day!! I was so scared, my knees knocked, my gut hurt and I never felt more inadequate in my life! I kept telling God I wasn’t as knowledgeable as the other women I was with, I wasn't as ‘studied’ as they were, I wasn’t as holy as they were, and I didn’t have a clue!

Looking into the faces of the women in white uniforms sitting around me that morning, I prayed silently to God as I had never prayed before. As part of the lesson I was to present, I had to share about myself and how God had worked in my life. It was in that sharing I had my ‘light bulb’ moment and understood that God was using all the cr_ p from my life to reach these women! They could identify with me BECAUSE I had gone through all that junk! They actually were open to receiving what I had to say about Jesus because I knew and had experienced their pain.

That day, God showed me that I was to use my life and my spiritual growth to reach others. All these years later, I still do. I am not the most educated Christian you know, nor the most eloquent, nor a deep theologian. I am simply one woman that is willing to share all my warts publicly, in writing, to share my Jesus. I share my truth about my Jesus in the morning…

Be open to something new in your life, ask God to show you how and then hold on!

168 Hours in This Week - What Shall We Do?

John 13:34 “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”

Titus 3:1-7 Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.  For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.  But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Paul tells us to remember where we have come from. Notice he said to show humility to all men and speak evil of no one. Why?  For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. It is amazing how people in the church forget what they were like before the grace of God came into their life.  When that happens they tend to get very haughty and judgmental towards those still lost in their sin.

…But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us…

…the kindness and the love of God our Savior… according to His mercy…these are ways of our Lord God, these are the attitudes and acts bestowed upon us by Him …not by works of righteousness which we have done…If God had waited till we ‘earned’ or ‘deserved’ His kindness, love and mercy, we would never know them, for we are not – cannot - be worthy.

What are WE doing to show that same kindness, love and mercy to others? As His emissaries to the world, how do we reflect Him to those around us? Can passersby tell you follow Jesus just by the demeanor you present in the grocery store line? Do we fight for a parking space or defer to the other driver while our Christian bumper sticker rides on the back of the car? Does our impatience with other drivers come out swinging in traffic and we default to impatient driving ourselves ‘to show them’. Does the cross hanging around our necks send one message while the words of our mouths say another? Are we ‘sharing’ juicy information with other Christians in the name of ‘caring’? Do we determine we are judge and jury condemning others for their sins as we sweep our own under the rug so no one can see? Are we “too busy” to go to church and worship the Lord, serve others, or share the Gospel? What have we done lately for someone out of complete selflessness and love?

People are dying all around us in this world, in our families, in our workplace, and in our neighborhoods without benefit of knowing Jesus Christ. Can we really be so self-important and/or judgmental that we stand back and let this happen when we ourselves are beneficiaries of  …the kindness and the love of God our Savior… according to His mercy…? No Christian should ever be so busy as to ignore the senseless spiritual deaths going on all around us. Ask God to give you opportunities to redeem the 168 hours He has given you this week in selfless acts of love for others.

Dead Sea or Living Waters?

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.” —Matthew 16:24-27

A few miles south of Jerusalem, the Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth—1,476 feet below sea level. Six and a half million tons of water flow into it every day from the Jordan River. But the Dead Sea has no outlet. Everything flows in—nothing flows out. Because of that, the water has become incredibly salty and absolutely nothing can live there. Plant life cannot exist. If a fish flows into the Dead Sea, it dies almost immediately. The whole thing is completely dead.

A lot of Christians are just like the Dead Sea; stuff flows into them like crazy, but nothing flows out. The way to grow spiritually is not to pack every study, every sermon, and every lesson into your skull and store it. You might think you are some great Bible scholar but more Bible information in your cranium than anyone around does not make you spiritually strong. You’ve got to transfer truth to others in order for it to make a difference in your own life by living your faith out loud. Maybe that’s the reason why many don’t have a clue what it means to live in the Lord’s strength. They hoard their knowledge of Christ and salvation rather than sharing it with a neighbor, co-worker, and family…every nation, tongue and creature. Sound familiar?

How about this: find someone next week and entrust to them an insight God has shown you. Talk about what you’re learning in your Christian life over lunch or in a phone call. How about it? Don’t become ‘The Dead Sea’ of the Word. Jesus taught His disciples and told them to go tell everyone else what He shared with them. Jesus is alive! The Word is alive! Keep it flowing in and out of you. Be a living witness in the dead world around you.

Your Way, Not Mine

Ezekiel 3:10-27 He said to me: Human one, listen closely, and take to heart every word I say to you. Then go to the exiles, to your people’s children. Whether they listen or not, speak to them and say: The LORD God proclaims!

I was struck with a plank of reality this morning when I realized for all intent and purposes, the month of February is all but gone. Daylight Savings Time starts in a mere two weeks, Easter is around the corner, and before we know it another school year will come to an end. For me, that means my two oldest grandchildren will be off to start the next stage of their lives. Time flies by so fast we can get dizzy if we try to watch it.

All that was startling enough, but once that washed over me I felt the pang of disappointment knowing I was not where I hoped to be at this stage of my life. It was almost as if time was passing me by, leaving me behind pedaling as fast as I can to catch up but not really going anywhere. In the other room I have two bicycles. One is a stationary bike for exercise; the other is a real bike for riding on the road. It seems, in my perception, my progress would be measured on the exercise bike more than the bicycle these days.

Then, in His ever present way, God placed exactly what I needed to read in front of my eyes. I was measuring my success in serving Him by human standards. I know He placed the calling to serve Him in the mission field on my life long ago. My heart’s desire and expectations were to be serving full time somewhere toward that end. I won’t bore you with details but life and circumstance has made that a far away dream.

Most Christians know that they should be sharing their faith with others, that this is part of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. I was encouraged and challenged by Ezekiel 3:10-11. In this passage, the Lord told Ezekiel to take His word to heart and then to share it with the Jewish exiles in Babylon, where Ezekiel was himself an exile. God told him to speak, “whether they listen or not” (3:11). In other words, Ezekiel’s calling was to be faithful, not successful.

There’s nothing necessarily wrong with success, whether in life or in serving the Lord. But our chief calling as God’s people is to be faithful to Him, to serve Him with excellence, to obey Him wholeheartedly. If God chooses to bless our efforts with success, that’s great. But many times we cannot guarantee success. We can choose to be faithful, however, to do as well as we can that which God has set before us.

What is being a missionary if not sharing my faith and the Gospel? Isn’t that similar to that of Ezekiel? We are to take to heart God’s Word and then share it with others as truthfully and honestly as we can. To be sure, we should do so in ways that are appropriate and respectful. Yet, we do not have to worry about whether or not we will succeed. That’s God’s business. Ours is to be faithful.

For years, when raising grandchildren, I would say my mission field was in my living room. Now, it is online through Truth in the Morning. My body is not as strong as it once was, but my heart still burns with the same passion for serving Him.

Gracious God, thank you for saving me by your grace through Jesus Christ. Thank you for entrusting to me to good news of salvation, so that I might share it with others. Help me, Lord, to be faithful as your witness. Give me wisdom and sensitivity, so that I might speak in a way that honors you, both in the message and in the delivery. In all things, Lord, may I be found faithful. To You be all the glory. Amen.

Just DO It

Psalm 108:13 With God’s help we will do mighty things, for he will trample down our foes.

What might you do if you really believed that God was here to help you? What would you attempt for His kingdom if you truly believed that God’s own Spirit lived within you to empower you? … Silly questions? No. The majority of daily readers of Truth in the Morning are confessing Christians, many of long standing. I can hear them now, “Of course I believe God is here to help me and I know His spirit lives in me!” Step back and take a breath, people, no one is saying you don’t.

Psalm 108:13 affirms, “With God’s help we will do mighty things.” The Hebrew reads more literally, “With God we will do mightiness” or “In God we will do strength.” When we are in relationship with the living God, when God’s own Spirit dwells within us, then we will be able to do far more than we might ever have imagined.

Did you notice the two keys in those phrases? The first key is, of course, “With God” and “In God”. It is not about our skills, talents or plans. It begins and ends with God. Key number two is a powerful combination of three little words… “we will do”. You know how I love those action verbs! So I ask again, what might you do if you really believed that God was here to help you? What would you attempt for His kingdom if you truly believed that God’s own Spirit lived within you to empower you?

You are, no doubt, familiar with the term ‘armchair quarterbacks’. In the Christian culture there are a lot of armchair Christian warriors and servants. They know all the plays that should have been made, critique the efforts of the movers and the shakers and yet, they never leave the comfort of their armchairs. “With God we will do mightiness” and “In God we will do strength.” There is a visible disconnect between what they claim to believe and what they actually DO for God’s kingdom.

My challenge to you is to give this some serious thought and prayer. Ask God for direction and guidance. Then get out of the proverbial armchair and DO. Psalm 108:13 With God’s help we will do mighty things, for he will trample down our foes.