2021-08-06
Good Morning Dear Ones,
We are bonded to God by the covenants He has entered into with us. Our enemies are the same; our goals are the same; our friends are the same. But what about times when we are witnessing? We meet people who aren’t committed to a relationship with God without knowing ahead if God means to befriend them through us. So, we are forced to hope they will hear the truth of the Gospel and accept it. Remember, Abraham was justified, i.e. deemed acceptable by God, because of the faith he had [GN 15: 6]. RO 4: 16, “Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the Father of us all.” Those of the law are the Jews; those of the faith are believing Gentiles. Furthermore, this wise advice is given to us by God, in 2 COR 6: 14. Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” Witnessing involves having insight into a person’s motives—something only God can give us. In times past, people drew blood from each other when making a covenant before God. That is because it made them blood-kindred spirits. While we don’t do that nowadays, the meaning of our promises before God is just as important; we are expected to be authentic in our feelings toward each other and God.
Because of God’s kinship with us, I feel the need to say: Don’t make a promise you don’t intend to keep, and when you make a commitment, keep it. Another way to look at covenants is think first, before making such a promise. Actually, a covenant is a two-way promise. For example, the Covenant of the Spirit or the New Covenant is like this: We promise to search for and confess our sin before God, to learn His teachings, and to live by them. God promises to open His wisdom to us, to protect and heal us, and to adopt us as His children [HE 8: 10]. We no longer have to shed blood, because Christ, our Kinsman-Redeemer has shed His blood once for all [RO 6: 8-11]. We are His children, and He is our Father in heaven. We are truly united with Him by Christ’s blood shed on the cross.
Now back to witnessing to our faith. We should listen to the advice given to us in 1 PET 3: 15-21, “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect; keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through Whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water. And this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also -not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a good conscience toward by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
If we are willing to pray first, then take the time to get to know the seeker to whom we will witness, we will know where he/she is at in their faith walk. When that is not possible, then we must take the time to do the best we can. Certainly, the advice given in 1 PET 3: 15-21 should be considered. The “hard sell” and being judgmental should have no part in what we say. Sometimes it’s just our example, more than what we say, that might help convince a person to come to Christ. There are organizations like In Search for Shalom that help provide a way to witness. I worked for them for several years responding in computer chats in real time with seekers wanting to get their questions answered. A number of them were good people who had been living the homosexual lifestyle. They had valid questions about Christianity, which I answered using my knowledge of the Bible. When they asked, “why does God hate me?” I would say, “God loves you and always has. It’s just that He is unhappy with your lifestyle.” Others asked deep, philosophical questions. To deal with them, I respectfully shared my views, knowing that I was sharing our Lord’s views, because I had studied them so carefully all these years. One of these seekers was a Muslim pharmacist in Cairo, Egypt. Often, the seekers were dealing with failed relationships. As gently as I could, I would acknowledge their feelings of disappointment and share any Biblical wisdom that I felt was appropriate to the situation. If a seeker asked me a question, I wasn’t prepared to answer, I would invite him/her to give me a chance to research it and then call back. After quite a long time, I was given the blessing of having one of my seekers tell me he had accepted Christ as his personal Savior, as a result of our conversations, and that he had joined a church. God did the real work of this conversion; I was giving him the use of my typing skills. The Holy Spirit gave me what to say. Praise and thanks to Him!
PRAYER: O Lord, we are encouraged to look to You for the many opportunities that come up for us to set an example by what we do, how we live, or the words we say. We are willing to spend some time each day studying Your “Love Letter” to us [Bible]. There has never been more wise advice, such stories that encase Your lessons, or such consistent theology given. There is an art to interpreting the Scriptures, one that is learned over time. Nowhere has there ever been such beautiful and holy content anywhere else as is found in the Bible. When we are asked to witness to our faith, we gladly keep it to our own experience and listen for what the Holy Spirit has to say in prayer beforehand. When we witness this way, our words spoken reach the hearts of those listening. Our Lord loves each of us and wants us to experience that love by being obediently faithful to Him. We offer You our loyalty, honor, thanks, and praise. You are a righteous God and teach Your people to be the same. Our hearts are with You, Lord. We offer up utmost love and reverence, in the mighty/holy name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: We will look at how the love of money is a root of evil, the exact opposite of a man of God should desire. There are always complications and temptations in our lives—things that bring us evil influences. The faithful person handles these things quite differently than a person without faith. The former person loves and knows God; the latter person doesn’t know God and isn’t influenced by His wisdom. All too often, this person is headed for disaster. Two people who entered into a mutual agreement recently were on different playing fields in the way they do business. One was eager to sell his car and spoke about it to the other person. He didn’t disclose that his car had been in two bad accidents and had a compromised chassis. The other was a man of faith who needed reliable transportation. Had he not been as intelligent as he was, he would not have had a good mechanic check out the car in question. Once the mechanic reported what he had seen, the deal (a sale almost completed) would have caused the potential buyer to be saddled with a “money pit.” A person of faith can’t be foolishly trusting, except with another person of faith. It’s only when one person of true faith deals with another that God is watching over them, and His ways will be observed. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2021. All Rights Reserved.
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