What This World Needs

I have The Altar and the Door CD from Casting Crowns in my car right now, and it has been fueling the cry of my heart to be a bolder witness for Jesus in this world. If you need some passion-fuel today, listen to the words on this link.

As a follow-up to the Bearers of Light devotion, I've been thinking a lot about spreading the news of Jesus Christ. I know that there is a gap between what I desire to do and actually doing it, though. I've done pretty well as addressing relationship-building and consistency of life, but there is a final piece that's been largely missing in my outreach to unbelievers. It's at the point when I actually put the gospel into WORDS! Romans 10:17 says, "...faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ."

Relationships are so important, but there will come a time if we are praying for opportunity that God will tell us to open our mouths and tell our friend about Jesus. In Out of the Saltshaker (I'm currently rereading--everybody really needs to read this book!), Pippert breaks witnessing down into 3 parts: displaying God's love (check!), declaring God's Truth ( ummm...), and demonstrating God's power (wow...). She says that all 3 are required for an unbeliever "to connect our kindness to the source of our love" and for us to direct the unbeliever's attention to God's work in their life.

One painful memory particularly spurs me on toward boldness. When my first child was very small, I began walking with my next door neighbor. "Julie" was also a young mom and college student who was living a life apart from Christ. We developed quite a nice friendship while we walked and talked, though, and I had a huge burden to tell her about Jesus. One day, Julie told me that she had tried to commit suicide a couple of years earlier. As I prayed for her that afternoon, God told me to ask her why she had tried to kill herself. I knew even as He told me to do it, that this was the "crack" (see July 30th post) that He would use to show her His power and her need. I am sad and ashamed to say that I never obeyed. I prayed for it to come up again so that it wouldn't be so difficult, but Julie never talked about it again. And I never asked. To this day, it makes me cry to think about it.

I believe that God is bigger than my roadblock, and I still pray that someone who will be obedient will cross Julie's path. I know that He was seeking her, and He is irresistable. I was called to play a part in her salvation, though, and I will always grieve the missed opportunity. From then on, I have worked to be obedient to God's specific promptings.

I know that I still need major work, but I have hope that Jesus is able to complete the work He has started in me! I hope I've left you with some things to think about as you evaluate your own boldness and passion for the lost world around us. I want to leave you with a final story that can be found at this link. It's about 9 minutes, but I promise that it will be the highlight of your day. It's the story of the power of ONE LIFE who is committed to Jesus and the spread of His truth. I hope that it leaves you as inspired as it left me. Jesus is Lord! Go spread the Good News!