Have you ever had a task before you to complete? You had been asking for this task, and here it was but you had no idea how to do it!
I have been asking God since October (when Carys was diagnosed) to put people in my pathway that I could witness to and make a difference in their spritual lives. He has answered my prayer in a mighty way. A lot of the people that I meet have a mutual love and relationship with Christ as I do. It is these people that I can encourage and help along their journey and often, they do the same for me.
But sometimes, He puts situations in front of me that I do not know how to approach. In our Beth Moore study we are learning (a lesson we all aready know we just need to put into practice) how to BELIEVE God for what He says. I believe that God has called me to speak to people along the way and form relationships that can be meaningful and help to grow the Kingdom.
Recently, two situations have come before me that baffled me. (I will not give specifics on either becuase that would defeat the purpose). Both of them challanged me as a witness for Christ. First, both sitautions displayed behavior I know to be spiritually wrong. No gray area; just wrong. I knew two things. First, God wanted me to be an infulence to these people. Secondly, I was not supposed to throw the Bible in their face and say "See Here!" But, I did not know how to correctly approach them either.
Then, as always, the answer came in Bible Study. I read this verse "In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation;" Ephesians 1:13a. I had read this verse many times before but placing the emphesis on the end of the verse (in light of eternal security).
Read this verse again for yourself and emphasise the word AFTER. Did you get an Ohhhhhh or AH-HY feeling. Well, I did! God was telling me these people have to come to know Christ before they can believe His word, understand His guidelines, or accept His blessings. The New Living translation puts it like this, "And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago."
I think because I was so young when I recieved Christ I took for granted that I could have made more decisions that were not guided by the Holy Spirit than I have in my years. That is what is happening to these people. They are making choices not guided my the Holy Spirit beacuse the DO NOT HAVE HIM! I should not judge them now. They do not realize they are playing by the same rule book as me! In reality they are; God holds them to the same standard, but they do not realize it. And they will not if I do not show them the Truth of God's word in my life. Instead of hitting them over the head with the Bible, I need to live in out in front of them and let the Holy Spirit slap them in the face. After all, it is His job!
Oh God, that Your Word be so alive and active in my life that people will be convicted of their sin and want what I have! Love that surpasses ALL understanding, Peace like a river, and an eternity safely secured by the precious blood of Jesus!
I hope this can help you look at witnessing to people in a new light. God commands us not to condemn people. This can be difficult for our human flesh to do. However, just remember that this verse is just one of many that assures us we have the Holy Spirit to help us we just MUST rely on Him!
