Sunday, June 28, 2015

Boldness for Jesus


I struggled with what my first blog post would be. Before I actually created this blog I had tons of ideas, but as soon as I sat down to write my first post, I had nothing. I prayed and prayed for the Holy Spirit to breathe an idea into my heart, but it just wasn't happening. For a few days I waited. I got discouraged when the perfect idea didn't come. But then something prompted a girl I work with to share a few ways in which God has been good to her throughout her life. It was obvious that she felt odd doing so and worried what we would think of her. When the short conversation ended a four letter word came to me: BOLD.

Boldness for Jesus
2 Timothy 1:7-8 tells us that "God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power, love and self control." It goes on to say "Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord." You see God doesn't call us to be afraid to share the gospel and our testimonies with others. He calls us to do so with boldness.

I am much like my coworker (probably more so) in that I feel awkward and nervous when sharing personal stories of what God has done in my life. My fear is one of the biggest reasons I have put off starting this blog. Even as I'm typing this I am wondering what people will think of me when they read this. However, I am reminded it's not about what people think of me, but what they think of Him.

Nonbelievers need to hear real life stories of real life people being changed through the love of Jesus. They need to know that we are just like them. That we experience pain and suffering and sin just like they do. The difference is we find healing and forgiveness in our faith. It's not enough to hand someone a bible or quote scripture in an effort to minister to them. All of that means nothing if they don't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Do you know what interests people in beginning that personal relationship? Observing that relationship in others' lives. I know this because I have experienced it first hand. Long story short, a few years ago I met a lady who was very open about her relationship with Christ. She spoke of Him as if He were her friend. I had never met anyone like that and I longed for that same relationship in my own life. 

I now possess that relationship, but what I don't possess is the transparency, the boldness, that my friend does in sharing that relationship with others. 

Boldness for Jesus
In Acts 14, Paul and Barnabas are speaking in a Jewish synagogue and the Bible says that they "spoke in such a way that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed." Can you imagine that? Turning others to Jesus simply by the way you speak of Him? The great news is that God didn't just reserve this kind of power for his disciples; we too can change the hearts of the people around us by the way we speak about Jesus. By showing others the role Jesus plays in our lives we are making it real to them and isn't that what we're all after? Evidence. Proof that our God is a living breathing God who is faithful and who loves us and fulfills and sustains us like no one else can. 

If we know all this to be true, why are we afraid?

Later in Acts 14, Paul is stoned by the Jews and they drag him out of their city. But do you know what Paul did next? He ROSE UP and continued preaching the word of God. Not even the threat of death could stop him. Paul was bold for Jesus. 

This post is just as much for me as it is for you. I fail at this daily. So I plan to let this post hold me accountable. I want to be bold for Jesus because He was bold for me. He lived and died for me so that I might live to proclaim him to the world and that is what I plan to do through this blog.

So if you have a personal relationship with Jesus I challenge you to be bold for Him today. Don't be ashamed or afraid to share his work in your life with others. 
If you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus find a friend who does and ask them to share their testimony with you or send me a message; I would love to share mine. I firmly believe that it is through the testimonies of others that believers are made. 


"Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" Matthew 28:19

Missional Women