Sunday, June 29, 1997 In Your Absence:
In this week's lesson, which came from Psalms 22:22-31, we learned about the importance of being able to witness with confidence. When we talk to others about the Lord and about our relationship with Him, we honor God and are able to express His concern for all the peoples of this world. The results of our witnessing can be very positive. They can lead those who do not already know Christ as Savior into a personal relationship with Him. They can also change lives and impact future generations. Two important conclusions from this week's lesson were that God wants to use each of us to reach others for Him, also that He will do so as we learn to give Him the opportunity.
There are a few ways that we can make ourselves into better witnesses for Christ. The first is that we can remind ourselves that the work is His and that He works through us. We cannot do anything apart from Him. The second is that we can try to understand how God has already worked in our own life so that, when given the opportunity, we will be better able to share with others those things which He has done. The third is that we can let Him work through us "in His time." Often, we either let ourselves become too zealous and try to make things happen, or we become not zealous enough and then delay things from happening. The fourth and fifth steps toward better witnessing are probably the most important! As Christians, we should and certainly need to love the Lord with "all" our heart, mind, and soul. After that, we should also love others as ourselves. When we possess the right kind of Christian love in our heart, then we will almost certainly have the right kind of Christ-centered priorities in our life. Until then, though, we probably will not.
It is important for us to realize that we do not tell others about Christ simply because our Pastor has told us that this is a good thing to do. Rather, we witness about our Lord because we do love Him with all our heart, mind, and soul and also because His Spirit, Who lives within us, must come out. The final step towards being a better witness is to let this coming out process be natural. We can ask the Lord to give us more chances to share our faith with others. Then, when He answers that prayer, we can determine within ourselves to be ready. Our lesson this week has focused on witnessing. So, as you go through the coming week, try to look for and pray about more opportunities to tell others about your love for Jesus. Truly, He is worthy!
Tom of Spotswood"He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (I John 5:12)
"And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13)
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