Week 48 - Day 5

* If you'd like to share some of your personal reflections please email me at ejmushlock@gmail.com

Ephesians 4-6

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Ephesians 4-6 YouVersion(NIV)

Sometimes I have those kinds of days where I just get easily frustrated and angry with the people around me, and I need to remember some of the verses from these chapters in Ephesians.  Such as Ephesians 4:2 … a couple years ago our son was chosen to say this Bible verse at his preschool graduation so he practiced all the time.  We’d hear these words over and over again: “Be gentle, be patient, loving one another.”  Some days I need to be saying these words to myself over and over.

Then there is Ephesians 4:26, which comes from Psalm 4:4  - “In your anger do not sin … search your hearts and be silent.”  Paul goes on to say in verse 29: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”  Instead of flying off the handle, I need to take a moment to be silent and consider if what I’m going to say is helpful to build others up according to their needs. 

And finally, this one: Ephesians 5:20 – “Always give thanks to God the Father for everything.”  There is so much I take for granted.  I want to do a better job of appreciating every moment, every day, whether it is a good day or not.  Always giving thanks for everything. 

As a mom of three young children, they are the ones I’m with for the majority of my day.  And so many times they are the ones whom my frustration and anger gets directed toward, and I forget to be thankful for every precious moment I have with them.  There is a video I saw at church that was a good reminder for me.  Reggie Joiner, who is the founder of the reThink Group which trains church leaders in the area of influencing the next generation, uses jars of marbles to visually show how many weeks you have with your kids until they turn 18 and how fast those weeks go by.  We’re losing our marbles … I don’t want to waste another one; I don’t want another one to go by without giving thanks and treasuring every moment. 

Here is a link to the video; it is only 2 ½ minutes long: Vimeo: Playing for Keeps-Losing Your Marbles

Week 48 - Day 4

Ephesians 1-3

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Ephesians 1-3 YouVersion(NIV)

Paul’s prayers for the church in Ephesus:

“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” (1:18-19)

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.  And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep in the love of Christ, and to know that love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (3:16-21) 

I’m praying the words of Paul today over and over … for myself, for people I know, for my church as well as The Church of all believers.   I’m praying that we would truly get it … that we would understand just how much He loves us.  I’m praying for eyes to be open to the hope we have in Him.  I’m praying that God would reveal to us His power and that He’d get the glory for the things He does.  He’s always working in and around us, but so often we credit it to fate or chance or just ignore it completely.  May we see His hand moving and give Him thanks for it.  I’m praying for increased faith, bold unshakable faith, believing in Him for amazing things, knowing that He can do more than we can even imagine. 

He’s so good.  He’s so powerful.  His love for us is indescribable. 

Lord, open our eyes today that we may know and grasp these things about you and to be strengthened in our faith and filled with your presence. 

Week 48 - Day 3

* Day 6 this week will be a review/reflect day.  If you would like to share some of your personal reflections email me at ejmushlock@gmail.com

Galatians 4-6

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Galatians 4-6 YouVersion(NIV)

 “You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as His own children because God sent the Spirit of His Son into our lives crying out, Papa! Father!” (Galatians 4:6 MSG)

“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25 NIV) 

After I read this passage, and these two verses in particularly today, I was reminded of something I had written a while back to share on our church’s worship blog, and I wanted to share it here today as well:

“Lord, I’m desperate for your presence”….I’ve prayed probably several times before, and again just recently.  Since I’ve been a Christian there have been times that I feel very close to the Lord, I hear from Him while I’m reading the Bible, I pray with faith that God will answer, and feel like I’m in a constant conversation with Him.  But there are also times that I feel like I’m at a brick wall and God is somewhere on the other side of it.  I know He’s there, but I don’t really feel like He’s hearing me and I’m not hearing Him.   And I know how wonderful it is to be in His presence, so I ask Him to come near…again…and He does…again. 

The thing is, and I’ve heard people say this many times, that He’s not the one who goes anywhere.  If you are a believer, He’s always there.  “Lord, I’m desperate for your presence,”  are not words I want to say lightly.  I want to truly desire His presence always, to be connected with the God of the Universe who loves me, who has covered me with His mercy through Jesus, and given me His Spirit to live in me.

I recently read a book and was really challenged in a way I didn’t expect.  The book is called “I Dared to Call Him Father,” and is about a Muslim woman who becomes a Christian.  I expected to learn more about a Muslim’s perception of the Bible and how they came to believe in Jesus.  That is all in there, but I was surprised at how much I was challenged in my own personal relationship with Jesus. 

After this woman came to know Jesus, she knew how precious it was to be in His presence.  She also was able to recognize when she didn’t feel the Lord’s presence as strongly…when she skipped out on her time reading the Bible and praying, when she spoke rudely to someone, when she missed the time she normally met with other believers, when she didn’t do something she felt He was calling her to do.  She knew that if she was in disobedience to God she wouldn’t feel His presence, and that was something she couldn’t stand.  So she was willing to sacrifice everything knowing that to stay in His presence would be worth it. 

When I seek Him first, when I’m reading the Bible (not just to check it off my to-do list, but to really gain something from it and listen for what He wants to show me), when I pray and keep praying throughout the day…this is when I can really feel His presence the most.  It’s also when it is easier to resist temptations and have a better attitude.  It is when I can hear His voice the loudest, and there is nothing better than hearing from my Father.

Week 48 - Day 2

*As we come to the end of the year please consider sharing some of your personal reflections ... Email me at ejmushlock@gmail.com *

Galatians 1-3

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Galatians 1-3 YouVersion(NIV)

Paul’s letter to the Galatians came about when he heard that some Jewish Christians were teaching Gentile Christians that they had to keep the Law of Moses in order to live righteous lives.  As Paul says, this kind of teaching “perverts the gospel of Christ.”  “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

I can understand how the concept of the grace of God can be hard for people to grasp.  Doesn’t it make more sense that the more good things you do the better off you are with God?  There are other religions out there that are all about following their religious law.  They go through life just trying to do everything they are supposed to do and rack up as many good deeds as they can, but they never know for sure whether they will have an eternal reward or not.  There are even some groups within the Christian faith that believe you have to go through certain acts when you’ve sinned in order to receive forgiveness.  But the gospel, the “good news” of Jesus Christ, the gospel taught in the Bible says that it is by grace you have been saved.  His grace is given freely to those who believe in Jesus.

“Doing things for God is the opposite of entering into what God does for you.”  “Rule keeping does not naturally evolve into living by faith, but only perpetuates itself in more and more rule-keeping.”  “Christ redeemed us from that self-defeating, cursed life by absorbing it completely into himself.” (Verses taken from Galatians 3:11-13 MSG) 

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20) We are to live righteous lives because Christ lives in us, but we have to remember that our righteousness and our salvation does not happen because of anything we can do.  It is kind of the “which came first” thing … we receive salvation and a changed heart by the grace of God and therefore we do good works and reflect the one living in us; we do not do good works and live a certain way to earn salvation.  

Week 48 - Day 1

* As we near the end of the year, the next few weeks will have some 5-day weeks instead of 6 so there will be extra time for personal reflection, reviewing, or catching up.  If there is something you'd like to share for the blog - a reflection on scripture or just something God has shown you through reading the Bible this year - I'd love to include some of these!  Email me at ejmushlock@gmail.com *

2 Corinthians 11-13

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2 Corinthians 11-13 YouVersion(NIV)

Have you ever had a prayer that you prayed over and over and God didn’t answer it in the way you wanted?  Or maybe He eventually answered it but after years of waiting?  Sometimes God does answer a prayer with a ‘no,’ and that ‘no’ may or may not be temporary.  Here in 2 Corinthians 12 we find out that Paul had this experience.  It says he had a “thorn in his flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment” him.  We don’t know for sure what this “thorn in the flesh” was for Paul, but we know he pleaded for the Lord to take it away.

God didn’t answer that prayer in the way Paul was asking.  But God said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  Sometimes God allows things that weaken us, thorns in our flesh, so that He can display His power and goodness.  As He shows us continuously throughout the entire Bible, He wants us to rely on Him and to completely trust Him.  He gives us everything we need.

Even though Paul had many hardships (just read the list of stuff he went through in chapter 11!) he says, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

And here are a few more words from Paul to think on today from Philippians 4: “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

Week 47 - Day 6

2 Corinthians 6-10

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2 Corinthians 6-10 YouVersion(NIV)

Paul talks a lot about giving in these chapters.  He not only encourages giving; he encourages generosity.  We can give reluctantly, we can give sparingly, we can give systematically or out of obligation … Or we can live as generous givers. 

I’ve learned that it really helps if you don’t see what you have as ‘yours.’  Yes, we work hard for the money we earn, but it is from God, and it is God’s.  We should not feel a sense of entitlement to the things we have because of the work we do.  Every opportunity we have, every freedom, every skill and ability is all from God.  Do we trust Him enough that instead of holding on to everything He’s given us, we give it back Him and trust Him to keep providing and blessing?

“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”  “God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians9:6,7b)

“You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.  This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.”  (2 Corinthians 9:11-12)

Week 47 - Day 5

2 Corinthians 1-5

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2 Corinthians 1-5 YouVersion(NIV)

I’ve often heard people say the phrase, “God won’t give you more than you can handle.”  This is said as an encouragement most of the time, something to help you take a deep breath and keep on going.  It makes you think, “Okay, since He won’t give me more than I can handle, I guess I’ve got this.”  But when you read the Bible you find that this saying is not exactly true.  There are many people in the Bible actually who are very clear in the fact that they got to a point where they wanted to die; everything they were dealing with became more than they could handle.  The point is not for us to be able to handle whatever we’re going through … the point is to rely on God not ourselves.

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 1, “We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.  Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death.”  But check out what he says next – “But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.  He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us.  On Him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us.”

When we rely on Him, trusting Him, and giving Him all our burdens, that is when we become unshakable.  Psalm 55:22 says, “Cast all your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you.”  Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”  “Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”  And here’s the one to always remember – “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

It is so easy to fix our eyes on what is seen … the stress, the troubles, the hardships … the storms around us.  But God doesn’t want us to drown; He doesn’t even want us to just “weather the storm;” He wants us to lock our eyes on His and rely on Him to take care of us.

So, might we have more in this life than we can handle?  Absolutely.  Does God want us to rely on Him so that He can carry us through it?  Absolutely.    

Week 47 - Day 4

1 Corinthians 13-16

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1 Corinthians 13-16 YouVersion(NIV)

In the last verse of chapter 12 leading into chapter 13 Paul says, “And yet I will show you the most excellent way.”  He had been speaking about spiritual gifts and how not everyone has the same gift.  He addresses the problem they had been having of comparing and competing with one another concerning spiritual gifts as well as boasting about particular gifts.  So what was “the most excellent way?”  The answer is in chapter 13 … it’s love.

“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophesy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith than can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-2)  In all their concern about spiritual gifts Paul wanted to make sure they understood that those gifts meant nothing if they did not love one another.  

This chapter in the Bible is often quoted at weddings, and appropriately so since in our marriages we need to have this type of love that Paul describes.  But I think it is important to remember that he was actually talking about how we as Christians should love one another.  

Love is patient.

Love is kind.

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

It does not dishonor others,

It is not self-seeking,

It is not easily angered,

It keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.

This is a good passage of Scripture to revisit often to be reminded of this definition of Christ-like love.  In fact, you can replace the word ‘love’ with the name of Jesus.  Can I place my name in as well?  Am I loving others in this way and would they be able to say these things about me?

Week 47 - Day 3

1 Corinthians 9-12

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1 Corinthians 9-12 YouVersion(NIV)

It is so cool that God gives every believer a spiritual gift – some sort of gift that helps you minister to others and to serve in the church.  Not everyone gets the same kind of gift though.  There are different kinds of gifts but all from the same Spirit.  “There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.”  Paul uses a great picture for this in how the human body is made up of many different parts that all have different jobs that all function together.

Paul has already touched on the issues the Corinthians were having about comparing and competing … spiritual gifts was one area where this was a problem.  Everyone wanted the so-called more important gifts.  But Paul shows us that every part is important and that the unseen jobs are often more important than the ones that are seen.  For example, you could live without an eye; you can’t live without a stomach. 

“If Foot said, ‘I’m not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don’t belong to this body,’ would that make it so?  If Ear said, ‘I’m not beautiful like Eye, limpid and expressive; I don’t deserve a place on the head,’ would you want to remove it from the body?  If the body was all eye, how could it hear?  If all ear, how could it smell?  As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it.” (1 Corinthians 12:15-23 MSG)

I came across this quote the other day from Rick Warren that I thought was so good – “Anytime you feel jealous or envious, you reject your uniqueness.  It’s a criticism of God’s plan for you.” 

God made each of us unique, each with a purpose.  Trust Him.  Seek out what gift it is He’s given you and how He wants you to use it, and don’t worry about what other people’s gifts are.  If you spend your time and focus trying to do something else other than your personal made-for-this, you’ll just be spinning your wheels.  When you find your made-for-this and really use it for God’s glory and for His Church, that’s when you’ll really start moving. 

Week 47 - Day 2

1 Corinthians 5-8

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1 Corinthians 5-8 YouVersion(NIV)

The city of Corinth has been called the Las Vegas of the old world, and so the church at Corinth was made of converted prostitutes, idolaters, thieves, and drunkards.  The church didn’t have all that clean and perfect of a start.  Their lives had been going in one direction and then when they became believers the direction in their lives completely changed.  Many of them continued to struggle with the sins and even just ways of thinking from before they started following Jesus. 

This letter that Paul writes to them addresses some things that had been reported to him that disappointed him,  and he also addresses some matters the Corinthians had written to Paul to ask about.  It is all kind of daily life stuff … how to handle disputes with another believer, questions on marriage and sex, etc.  And here’s the deal—daily life stuff matters.  Yes, we are saved by grace and our sins are forgiven, but that doesn’t mean God wants us to just live however we want to live.  We need to ask questions and seek out the answers from God’s word about how He wants us to live.  After all, “You are not your own, you were bought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your body.”

I recently heard a testimony of someone who had been very far from God and then came to know and follow Jesus.  Even after he became a believer and got baptized he still struggled with alcohol every day.  That issue in his daily life didn’t just disappear when he became a Christian.  He had to make the choice to deal with it and turn that part of his life over to God as well.  I’m sure he is still tempted at times even now that he’s been sober over a hundred days, but he has surrounded himself with other believers who support him and hold him accountable.

And it just so happens that Christians have an incredible resource to go to for guidance for their daily lives—the very word of God, the Bible.  “All Scripture is God-breathed.”  Don’t you want to get to know the One who created you and the One who rescued you?  He’s provided for us all the wisdom and direction we need for our daily lives.  We just need to seek it out and make the choice to turn over to Him every area of our lives. 

Week 47 - Day 1

1 Corinthians 1-4

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1 Corinthians 1-4 YouVersion(NIV)

“For who do you know that really knows, you, knows your heart?  And even if they did, is there anything they would discover in you that you could take credit for?  Isn’t everything you have and everything you are sheer gifts from God?  So what’s the point of all this comparing and competing?  You already have all you need.” 1 Corinth. 4:7-8 MSG

Paul wrote this letter to the church in Corinth kind of like a concerned parent.  He has to rebuke them a little and teach them.  A big problem people in the Corinthian church had was comparing and competing with one another, as well as boasting.  It was obviously causing division in the church, and as Paul reminds them, what we have is from God – we can’t take credit for any of it anyway.  

Do you compare yourself with others to make yourself feel better or to puff yourself up?  And even if you don’t boast about yourself, do you boast about God?  Believers are to always point to Jesus and boast on Him, not trying to get the spotlight on us, not comparing ourselves to someone else … but always pointing to Him. 

Week 46 - Day 6

Romans 13-16

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Romans 13-16 YouVersion(NIV)

“…put on the armor of light.”  “Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ…” 

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

An armor of light would shield and protect us from any darkness; it would also reflect light to all around us.  We all have “darkness” that tries to creep in our lives all the time whether it is anger, depression, worry, fear, untruthfulness, bitterness, etc.  The light of Jesus is more powerful than any of these things, so if we clothe ourselves with Him every day from the moment we wake up we’ll be able to stay in the light of His presence and when others see us they will see Him.

Something I noticed in these chapters is that you have to choose light; you have to choose peace.  14:19 says, “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.”  It will not always be the easiest thing to do, but when we choose to put on the armor of light and clothe ourselves with Jesus, when we choose to trust Him – we will be filled with joy, peace, and hope and that will overflow to all who are around us.

Week 46 - Day 5

Romans 9-12

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Romans 9-12 YouVersion(NIV)

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you.  Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable.  This is truly the way to worship him.  Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.  Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Romans 12:1-2 NLT

God’s will for us is good and pleasing and perfect; it is better than anything we could plan for ourselves.  How do you know what God’s will is?  You learn to know it just like you learn to know His voice.  You learn to know His will by offering Him your whole life – every part of it, holding nothing back.  You stop worrying about how the world says you should act and think and you let God transform you and your way of thinking. 

And even though you are “sacrificing” your life to follow God’s way, in the end it is so much better than following the world’s way.  Following the way of the world will ultimately leave you empty.  Following God’s way is good, it is pleasing, and it is perfect.  For example, our culture is all about doing what you want, just worrying about yourself first, and making yourself happy.  But God tells us to love others and serve others, and when we do we are blessed beyond measure.  Another big one is that our culture tells us that sex isn’t that big of a deal – before marriage, outside of marriage, with whoever and whenever you want.  But living that way leads to such heartache, such emptiness.  Following God’s way and protecting and valuing sex between a husband and wife only is good, it is pleasing, and it is perfect.

We will face pressure our entire lives to conform to the patterns of society, but as believers we are called to be set apart.  I’m thinking especially today about young people since that is when that pressure seems to be the strongest.  I remember that these two verses from Romans were ones I had to cling to especially in high school.  Praying today for those young students who face that pressure to allow God to transform them trusting in His good will.  I pray they would cling to what is good.  I pray also that they will be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.

Week 46 - Day 4

Romans 5-8

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Romans 5-8 YouVersion(NIV)

There is so much goodness within these chapters!  Here’s just a little something from each chapter:

Romans 5:3-5 - “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

Those who know Jesus are never without hope even in suffering because His love is poured out into our hearts.  There have been so many times when I’ve gone to God in prayer feeling completely overwhelmed by the stress in my life and end up feeling completely overwhelmed by His great love for me so that everything else fades away.

Romans 6:1-2 - “What shall we say, then?  Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?  By no means!  We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?

Sometimes the whole idea of grace can be a little much to grasp, and I know people have asked questions like Paul brings up.  Jesus paid the price for our sins and we are forgiven, but does that mean we go on sinning? … Quite the opposite. 

Romans 7:15, 18b-19 – “I do not understand what I do.  For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.  For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.  For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.”

No matter how hard I try I can’t overcome sin by myself.  It is within me, and I will constantly battle with it.  What’s the answer?  Jesus – who rescues us from sin and death.

Romans 8:15, 28, 31, 37, 39b – “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. (*adoption)”

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

“If God is for us, who can be against us?”  “We are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”  “Nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

If Romans is the most important book in the Bible, then Romans chapter 8 is the most important chapter.  You could spend a year on this chapter alone!  These are just a few of the verses I go to often and am reminded of His great love and that I am His.

Week 46 - Day 3

Romans 1-4

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Romans 1-4 YouVersion(NIV)

Today we begin the journey into Paul’s letters to different churches, starting with a letter to the believers in Rome.  The book of Romans has been called the most important book of the Bible.  Since we are reading through the whole Bible in a year we will only be in Romans for a short time, but if you ever want to pick a book to really spend some time in, this would be the one.  It is filled with the greatest teachings on the salvation we have by faith in the grace of God through Jesus.

Paul first helps us to understand that there is no one who is righteous on their own.  We can never earn righteousness no matter how much good we do; it has to be credited to us by God.  “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.  There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:22-24)

Salvation is a gift from God that we do not earn on our own.  He gives it freely to those who believe in Jesus as His Son who died and rose from the dead.  I love this explanation Paul gives in Romans 4.  Here it is from The Message translation:

“If you’re a hard worker and do a good job, you deserve your pay; we don’t call your wages a gift.  But if you see that the job is too big for you, that it’s something only God can do, and you trust him to do it—you could never do it for yourself no matter how hard and long you worked—well, that trusting-him-to-do-it is what gets you set right with God, by God.  Sheer gift.” (Romans 4:4-5)

Week 46 - Day 2

Acts 27-28

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Acts 27-28 YouVersion(NIV)

“He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ – with all boldness and without hindrance!” Acts 28:31

It is safe to say that I am often lacking in boldness.  It is something I pray about – that God would make me bold and take away fears and insecurities, but it is something I battle at times.

I think this verse, particularly the words “without hindrance” – (without resistance or delay) - really hit home to me today because of a recent missed opportunity.  As believers we have the Holy Spirit to guide us, and sometimes the Holy Spirit will give us a nudge to talk to someone about Jesus.  I had one of those nudges recently, and I hate to say I ignored it.  Actually I didn’t ignore it … I resisted it and delayed until the opportunity passed.  What if they think I’m crazy?  What if I don’t know what to say?  What if I say something stupid?   Just some of the thoughts that suppress any boldness trying to surface. 

There are times I do listen to the nudge and I’m bold enough to do or say what I think God wants me to.  It does require letting go of fears and insecurities; putting pride aside for the sake of the Kingdom … valuing someone’s salvation more than what they think about you and more than your own comfort level.  It requires vulnerability and faith.  It might be awkward, but it is incredible if you find out that what you said or did was exactly what that person needed.

Lord, thank you for the Holy Spirit to guide us.  Forgive me for not trusting in that guidance.  Make me bold like Paul.  May my faith increase and my fears decrease.  May I proclaim your name and kingdom with all boldness and without hindrance!

Week 46 - Day 1

Acts 24-26

*Click here to read this passage:

Acts 24-26 YouVersion(NIV)

Today it was impressed upon me how Paul used every single opportunity he got to spread the gospel.  His every breath was about making the truth about Jesus Christ known.  And I was reminded of a modern day Paul who is near the end of his “race,” a 95-year old Billy Graham.  I watched a video that was recently put out with Billy Graham, and you can see and hear that his ultimate desire is for everyone to know the truth and love of Jesus, that all would come to the cross and come to know Christ as their Savior.

I’m posting the link to the video I watched – “The Cross from My Hope America with Billy Graham.”  I watched the first five minutes and even though that was good, I didn’t know if I wanted to take the time to watch the rest so I was about to turn it off.  I’m so glad I didn’t.  It had me in tears and in the presence of my Savior.  Please go to this site and watch this:

http://myhopewithbillygraham.org/programs/the-cross/

Lord, may my every breath until my dying day be to make your truth and love known.  Thank you for the cross.  Thank you for your love.  Thank you for the forgiveness and freedom I have in You.