There is this ache that seems to come to the surface now and then… sometimes more than others. To be fair, I think it is always there, but at times it can seem to take over my thoughts. That ache is this realization of all who are lost and not just the lost but all of the darkness in the world. Yes, I always pray for the lost, but this is different. It is a profound sadness.
The trigger can be anything from a post on social media to seeing someone just being ugly. It can even be a memory, but when that sadness hits, I am always drawn to God’s Word for reassurance and motivation.
It is both reassurance and motivation: reassurance because I am thankful for the saving grace of Jesus Christ and motivation because I am reminded of how important it is to share God’s Word.
Here in the United States the Gospel is everywhere. But today fewer and fewer are aware of it. It has been removed from the public square and from our schools. Fewer and fewer adults have even been exposed to the Gospel. But God has shared it with me. My parents and grandparents played a big part in that, and even with that foundation I was lost for so many years. For this reason, I know that Romans 10:17 is so important. Without it I might still be lost.
Romans 10:17 (ESV)
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
This hearing was such a gift. It is hard to explain all that happened the day my heart changed but I am thankful that it did and now it is my turn to share the Gospel with others.
Honestly, my verbal skills sometimes get tied in knots. Because of the strokes, under stress, I lose words, stutter, or lose track. Still, God gives me the gift to be able to write out my thoughts, and I am so thankful because when the confusion sets in or I have trouble finding a word I can pause and take a breath and just thank God. The word or thought I sought will come to me or something new will. The pace of writing verses speaking allows me to allow myself to trust in God. Regrettably, when I speak, sometimes I take the reins from God, and that is never good.
Trust in the Lord
Before I can do anything or share anything with others, I need to trust in the Lord and His message of salvation. I know that sounds like one of those “No Kidding” kind of comments, but just think about it for a minute. If I believe Him, and if I trust Him, why would I be reluctant to share the Gospel? There is this passage in Proverbs that I like, and it gives me courage. In a world that tells me I must be self-reliant God tells me something different through His Word.
Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
The verse that follows is excellent too.
Proverbs 3:7
7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
These verses are great counsel. They remind me that my Heavenly Father is in control but if I do not follow this counsel, I am squandering this precious gift. I can say that I trust in God, but all too often, I let my mouth stay shut when it should be open, singing His praise and sharing the Gospel. I allow my own anxieties to take control.
Do Not be Anxious
There is this one thing that the adversary uses to try and distract me. He will inject thoughts of worldly concerns like shelter, security, expenses, fear of losing a friend and just anything that could distract me.
It is just to try and make me anxious about things that have not happened, or things that he wants to convince me could happen, if I do not keep my mouth shut. But these are things that God already has in hand. I must remember a passage in Matthew. Jesus reminds us that he has all those things under control.
Matthew 6:25-33 (ESV)
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
That is quite a promise, isn’t it? It does not leave any real room for doubt.
There is another promise that Jesus shares with His disciples when counseling them about persecution.
At a Loss for Words
Here in the United States, we have been blessed with little if any persecution. We still have our religious freedom, but many are trying to take it from us. But I know that there have been times when I have doubted my own ability to speak. I feared that I did not have all the answers and wasn’t knowledgeable to witness for the Lord. Besides when I get nervous, I have trouble speaking. In those times I am reminded of Matthew 10.
In Matthew 10 Jesus sent his 12 Apostles out and he warned them that there would be persecution. We do not have the threat of persecution here yet, but this is still good counsel. First be wise.
Matthew 10:16 (ESV)
16 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
Then remember that the Holy Spirit is with you. Set aside your doubts
Matthew 10:19-20 (ESV)
19 When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. 20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
And when this passage comes to mind, there are two from Paul that are in the same vain. The first is from 1 Thessalonians, and the second is from Philippians.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (ESV)
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Philippians 4:5-7 (ESV)
5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
These passages give me strength. Without them, my words simply ring hollow. I can say anything, but if God’s Word is not in it or if each statement is not intertwined with God’s Word, they have no actual substance.
The Meat
The substance is Jesus Christ, our Lord, and Savior. He came that we might live. He paid our debt. He explained that there was only one way to salvation.
John 14:6
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 3:16-18 (ESV)
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
John 3:3
3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
And Jesus came to pay our debt while we were filled with sin. He gave it all that we could live. I like the way Paul puts it in Ephesians.
Despite Ourselves
Jesus came and he gave his everything that we might live. Live eternally in the presence of God. In Ephesians 2, Paul just takes me through a full series of emotions from shame to joy.
First, the shame…
Ephesians 2:1-4 (ESV)
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4
Then the Joy…
Ephesians 2:4-7 (ESV)
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Finally, the humbling…
Ephesians 2:8-10 (ESV)
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
How wonderful is my God? He came to me when I was dead in my sin, and by grace, saved me and did so by grace through faith so that I could not boast but be filled with thanksgiving at all that He had done for me. What a blessed gift He gives us.
The Humility of Jesus
And if it is not enough that God saved us by grace through faith, remembering how Jesus showed us is so humbling. My heart both breaks and bursts with joy as I read Philippians 2
Philippians 2:2-11 (ESV)
2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Just thinking of what Jesus did for us is beyond my ability to grasp fully. I give thanks to God that I do not have to understand fully. The step He took, “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross,” is more than I can fathom. Jesus, who spoke the universe into existence (John 1:1-5, Genesis 1:1) and our mighty and glorious God, The Great I AM, gave it all that we might live.
Closing Thoughts
I sit here and think of all these things that God reminds me of and the truth of it is that the gate is narrow.
Matthew 7:13-14 (ESV)
13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
He warns us of this point, and it is like that sharp blow to the gut. It takes your breath away (and not in a good way).
I cannot help but think of all the darkness in this world and be saddened by it. No, I do not dwell there, but I am reminded by it daily the symptoms are everywhere; abortion celebrated, confusion regarding gender, disrespect for one another, anger on the rise toward violence. It just seems to get worse daily. But the worse it gets, the clearer it becomes how much we need to share the Gospel, and to do that, we need to know it.
One Last Thing
I am writing all these things down as much for me as anyone else. I stumble and struggle with sharing. I get anxious and that anxiousness, for lack of a better way to describe it, turns into stutters and pauses as I search for words that I know clearly, but my mind can’t find. That is why I need to be in God’s Word daily.
Uncertainty leads to anxiety. I do not know the Bible word for word, but I know it well enough to find what I need now. Sometimes I must google a rough paraphrase of the verse, but I can find it and the verse gives my thoughts strength. Ephesians is one of my favorites to quote, especially in chapter two… but that bleeds over to chapters one and three as well. I also like the book of John and Philippians. But I have found Matthew 10:19-20 is so true. The Holy Spirit will give the words I need to speak.
The thing is that we do not have to share the Gospel off the top of our heads. We have God’s Word to share. A lion can defend himself if we will let Him out to do so.
Closing Prayer
Father, thank you for your wisdom and guiding Spirit. Thank you for your Holy Word. Father, Give me the strength to be bold today and share Your Word in all forms… thought, word, and deed. Let Your light shine through me. In Jesus’ name Amen.
Quote for the Day
“You are the only Bible some unbelievers will ever read.” – John MacArthur
Great reminder of the urgency and importance of these things…all by His power in Christ and His Holy Spirit! Thanks, Dan!
Thank you so much Greg.