Hi Everyone!
We are in week 2 of this series of Bible studies on being relevant people of God to a culture that is so hungry for Jesus. Last week we talked about a very important issue and that was the issue of faith. This week we are continuing on as we talk about an issue that coincides with faith and that is the issue of fear. You might ask: “Brad, why does fear go along with faith?” That is a good question.
Fear coincides with faith because more often than not those of us who have faith in Jesus do not share our faith with others because we are “afraid” to do it. God offers us this amazing free gift of Jesus and when we accept this gift most of the time we just keep it tucked away in the back pocket of our heart. God never intended for his church to hide the gift of freedom from sin, in fact, in Matthew 28 verse 19 Jesus commanded us to do the exact opposite. Jesus commanded us to “go and tell the whole world about Him. He told us to go and make disciples-disciples being people who are passionately committed to Jesus.
You might then ask: “Well, Brad, I understand that it is important to be committed to Jesus, but what does that mean?” Let’s first take a look at what the word committed means. To be committed by definition means to bind or obligate, as by pledge or assurance. Being committed to Jesus is being one that is passionately obligated to read God’s word, bound to pray fervently seeking direction from the Holy Spirit, and live according to how the Bible teaches us to live. You might think, “Great, a bunch of rules and regulations to follow, I have enough of those at home and school.” But I am writing as a witness that God’s Word is not by any means a book of dos or don’ts but a book of relationships, that is relationships between man and his creator God. The Bible is the greatest love story ever written. When we talked about faith we talked about God sending His Son to live a perfect life, die a horrible death and then raise from the dead to overcome sin and death and offer salvation and eternal life to all of us if we will believe in Jesus. (John 3:16-17) That is the very foundation of faith. The gift of Jesus is the greatest free gift that anyone could ever offer and too often we are afraid to share this gift with friends or maybe even family. You see being relevant through your faith to a culture that is in dire need of freedom from sin has been God’s plan since the beginning of time.
So if this has been God’s plan since the beginning of time then let’s take a look at what God’s word says to do when we become fearful of what other’s might think about us when they find out that we believe in Jesus. You might think: “OK, am I the only one who is fearful of sharing my faith with someone else?” No way! All through the Bible there are stories of people who want to do what God’ wants them to do but become too fearful of what people might think of them or maybe even what people might do to them if they find out that they are people who believe in God. One example of a person in the Bible who wanted to do what God wanted Him to do but was a little fearful of death because of that which God wanted Him to do was Moses. (Exodus 3) Moses was an amazing man of God. But even He was scared when God told Him to go and stand before a great king and tell Him that he must let all of his slaves go for they are God’s people and are not being treated as such. He told God in verse 11 of Exodus chapter 3 “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” You see Moses knew that he was only a man no better than you or I but here was God telling him to go and stand before a powerful king and tell him to release all of this free labor. Moses must have though “God you have to be kidding” But then we see going on to verse 12 that God promises Moses He will help: “And God said, ‘I will be with you.’” (Exodus 3:12 NIV)
God promises us the very same thing. If we look at Psalm 46:1-2 it says “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea.” NLT God promises to be our refuge and our strength. He will never lead us into a situation where He will not help us. Therefore, He will always be with us when we attempt to share our faith with someone else. In fact in Mark 13:11 Jesus says that we should not worry (fear) when we face a tough situation because the Holy Spirit will give us the words to say. Man, what an awesome promise. To know that if we share our faith with others that we don’t have to worry because the Holy Spirit will give us the words to say is an amazing relief. God knows the person you are talking to. God designed them, just like He designed you. So don’t you think He would know what to say to the person you might be sharing with…yes He does. So don’t worry. Do not fear for God is with you. Trust Him. When you trust someone you can relinquish all control to that person. If you will just trust God then He will always be there to help you and make you victorious in whatever situation you may be facing. But remember, it’s not about you. It’s all about Jesus. Don’t be afraid. You have the most amazing gift in the world if you believe in Jesus. Share it with others as Jesus told us to do. It is God’s plan and He promises to be with you. NO FEAR!
If you need anything, please, don’t hesitate to email.
Brad French
+ mailto:brad@newlifexn.org
Relevant Student Ministries Webpage
+http://www.newlifexn.com/studentministries/index.html
Technorati Profile
No comments:
Post a Comment