The Time is Now
To Seize the Opportunities of Summer!
This week marks the official start of summer. In this season you tend to spend more time outside with family and friends. Visiting and vacationing fill the calendar. Life seems a little lighter as fresh air and sun permeate the spirit and clear the winter doldrums. Many relocate during the summer months to begin anew. Whatever your plans for this summer, remember that people are watching you when you would least expect it.
Sometimes Less is More
I was speaking with a sixteen year old young lady this week. She attends a great local church and is such a gracious, Spirit-filled youth. We were talking about her generation and she was lamenting the fact that so many her age believe they are going to hell when they die. I shared that I have heard that from older people as well. Her heart was troubled for them. She prays that God will lead her in a way to witness effectively. She shared that they really do not want to hear about Jesus or heaven. Any attempts at verbal conversation seemed to be fruitless.
It is not always easy to witness to someone who is recalcitrant. It is not always easy to witness period. Have you come to believe that the only way you can lead someone to Christ is through conversation? There surely are times that the Lord will you use that way but that is not always the case. Being Spirit-led is so important. If operating in your own capacity you can do more harm than good.
It is Always a Heart Issue!
There was a time in my life that the last person I wanted to speak with was one who professed to be Christian. I actually was a believer at the time. However, many came on as outspoken, judgmental and legalistic. This demeanor is the worst representation of Jesus. In fact it is not of Jesus at all. I actually once asked a witness-attempting Christian to tell me what it meant to them to have Jesus be the Lord of their life. What did they have to say that would lead one to Christ? They could not answer except with memorized Scripture passages. What was coming to me was from the intellect not the heart. Now I do not profess to know the state of this person’s heart as only God knows that for any of us. However, I do know that it is always a heart issue. What was coming through was clearly not from the heart.
Christ touches your heart and changes it if you let Him. From a changed heart He can use you to mightily impact those around you. Without a changed heart there is no visible changed life.
If your life still reflects the ways of the world your words of Christ will fall on deaf ears because your actions will speak louder than your words. What are you speaking?
A Changed Life is an Empowered Life
The real witness is through your changed life. How you speak and how you treat others is a powerful witness. If you quote Scripture, speak of Jesus and heaven but are mean-spirited and condescending, what speaks to the other person is the glaring disconnect between your words and your actions.
After my conversation with the young lady I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I could not help but think that summer is the best time to speak loudly through a changed life. No matter where you are you will be around people of all ages who will be observing you whether intentionally or unintentionally.
So many today have not come up in Christian homes. They do not have a foundation to fall back on. Many in my generation had a firm Christian foundation. Although we may have wandered we always had our roots to guide us home. Youth today are not that fortunate. If you do not know who you are in Christ you do not know who you are at all.
One of the things that we pray for in Esther’s Warriors is that the youth will be drawn to the Lord and to His ways. We pray that they will be raised up ‘for such a time as this.’ They are our future and right now the future of this country hangs in the balance. We are rapidly heading down a very treacherous path without a major change in direction. Pray for our young people. Pray for our country. Pray that there will be a national turning to Christ in this season.
If you are reading this and you have not made a commitment to make Jesus the Lord of your life, do it now. Turn from anything that is not of the Lord, acknowledge that He died to set you free and walk in that freedom from this day forward. Through your changed life you are equipped to be used by Him to set others free. Let Him change you. If you are a parent in any capacity open the door to Christ for your children. He is the best gift you can give them. With Him there is nothing broken and nothing missing. He is eternal for them. He is their solid foundation. You will not always be there for them. He will. Start today!
Quotes to Ponder This Week
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” ~Jesus, Matthew 5:14-16
“You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; you are manifestly an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that it, of the heart. And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” ~2 Corinthians 3:2-6
A Prayer Request
Thank you for your continued faithfulness to pray. Please keep all who serve our country, our diplomatic corps, our servicemen and women and their families in prayer for salvation and safety. They are our front-line on the battlefield, let us be their front-line in the spirit. Also, let us cover all who have come home wounded that they and their families will receive the kindness, help and support they need to go forward in their lives. May the Lord bless them and keep them safe.
Pray for all throughout the world for hedges of protection against radical Muslim extremists and all forms of terrorism. We have long prayed for spiritual victory over radical Islam in Esther’s Warriors Ministry. We now see the reality of this threat come to the forefront in this time in world history. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
Please pray for all in authority over us, for the full truth to come forth concerning Benghazi as new hearings will be held. We as Americans and the families of those murdered in Benghazi deserve to be told the truth. Hearings to seek the whole truth have nothing to do with politics as some in current leadership like to posit. Our people were left to be brutally killed. As new information comes to light the only political implication many of us see is a possible cover-up before a Presidential election. Scandals are rife in this administration. We the people are not that naive. Pray that God will open doors to let the truth flow for all of us in this United States of America! The truth shall keep us free.
May God richly bless the United States of America, bring to light every single crooked place and keep her safe. May we arise united once again as One Nation Under God in this auspicious season in our country’s history. We continue to pray for truth to prevail as we saturate this country in prayer and stand for all that is right in America and for all of us who call ourselves American. These are treacherous times and now more than ever we must maintain our walk. Fail not in this hour.
Please Join Me in Prayer
Father God, We thank You that You are the firm foundation for each of us. Thank You that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Thank You that we are blessed to be a blessing. Equip us to live in Your grace and be living Epistles to all we encounter. Lead and guide our young people to learn Your commandments and walk in Your ways. Give us all a hunger for Your holiness that we will shine forth in this dark time and lead others to You. We thank You that You keep Your hand on this United States of America and that we will remain One Nation Under God. Raise us up in fullness ‘for such a time as this.’ We pray this in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen and Amen.