Are you a Bible Wimp?*

Are you a Bible Wimp?

After posting a blog titled Are You a Bible Bully?, it came to my attention that you can also go in the other direction and be a Bible Wimp. While we should use care in presenting the gospel, we should still share the gospel!

We must not forget that "faith cometh by hearing," and the job of telling is on our shoulders. If we allow God, he will give us opportunities to share the salvation message with others. We should not wimp out!

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17 

Are You a Bible Bully?*

Did you know that you can present your faith and Bible beliefs in an unbiblical manner even if what you believe is right and true? Many Christians mistakenly believe that being bold in presenting the gospel gives them the right to be a Bible bully. They bash other faiths and other Christian denominations without concern for the people they are trying to reach. Using a no-tolerance and in-your-face approach, they bully their beliefs on their subjects like a school kid robbing his schoolmates of their lunch money -- and their dignity. What is absent is the love of Jesus and the respect others deserve and require. 

When sharing your faith with others, remember that you must earn the right to be heard. Instead of playing demolish-derby with their faith, try being respectful and listen. By doing so, you will earn the right to present the truth; and when you do, do so in a loving and kind manner. 


Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. James 1:19 ESV

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The Influential Christian*

Each new day the influential Christian renews his or her quest to discover Jesus anew. The fruit bearing believer looks to the scriptures and connects with His or Her Lord in prayer.  He or she restarts his or her walk – a walk to follow Jesus. The path leads the child of God to become like his or her Lord. The goal is clear. The Christian that desires to make a difference wishes to be like Jesus. The influential Christians know it is only when they become like Jesus that the producing of much fruit is possible.

Herein is the key to being an effective servant for Christ. It is not found in the doing but rather in the being. The early Christians became effective because those around them could see Jesus in them. 

Be careful not to let the good things you are doing rob you of the time you need to spend with Jesus in the word and in prayer; because it is that time with Jesus in the word and in prayer that makes you like Jesus. 

…And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.  -Acts 11:26  

(The reader will find further enforcement to Today’s Wisdom Tidbit in these scriptures:  Luke 10:38-42;  Acts 6:1-4;)

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Walking Feet for Our Prayers!

Some things have not changed over the centuries.  The false assumption that you have done your duty to evangelize by prayer without ever speaking to the person for whom you are praying is a deceptive tool of the devil. Over a century ago Charles Spurgeon address this very problem:

“You pray, dear Friend, do you? But you never speak to the individual for whom you pray. Is your prayer sincere? I will not question it. But your prayer has hardly reached that pitch of passionate earnestness which will secure an answer, for if you were in downright earnest, you would go to the person for whom you pray and explain the way of salvation!”–Charles Spurgeon

 Put some feet to those prayers and you will be pleasantly surprised at how God can work!

The Right Road

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You may think you are on the right road and still end up dead. Proverbs 14:12 CEV

There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death. Proverbs 14:12 NKJV

Before cell phones and GPS, when we first moved into Bloomington, I found myself often lost.  I found it difficult to navigate in a city where a street could have three different names in a matter of a few straight blocks. 

Navigating  life can be challenging, especially when comes to choosing the only right road to heaven.  There are a lot of confusing signs and misinformation.  How do you know what's right? 

The answer to finding the right way is  found in the right map book and the best guidance system.  The right map book is the Bible and your best guidance system is the Holy Spirit.   

Consider the following verse and ask God to allow the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart.

• We are all sinners (Rom. 3:10,23).
• The wages of our sins is death (Rom. 6:23).
• Jesus paid our sin debt on the cross (Rom. 5:8).
• Salvation comes by faith, that is, by confessing with our mouths and believing in our hearts (Rom. 10:9,10).
• Call on the Lord for salvation and get saved (Rom. 10:13).

The High Calling

And he [John] will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.  He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Luke 1:16-17

John’s calling was the highest of callings. In the spirit and power of Elijah, John was to lay the ground work for an awakening of God's people in four areas. 

1)      John was to turn back a forgetful people, so they would once again look to the Lord.  Many had forgotten and forsaken their God.  They were seeking political solutions or revolution to the current rule or Roman.

2)      John was to turn the hearts of the children to their fathers.  Apparently, there was a breakdown in the family.

3)      There was a lack of wisdom in the land; or as in this case, a lack of common sense.  They refused to hear what was just, what was right.

4)      Lastly, John was to prepare the people for the coming Messiah and King.

When you consider the state of Judaism when John preached, you can see similarities with our present age.  Many have forsaken their Christian heritage.  The family and marriage are in a complete meltdown.  Commonsense certainly is not common, and the world needs to prepare for the King of Kings is returning!

John answered his calling.  Will we answer ours?

… when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? Luke 18:8 (NKJV)

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THE FAIL NOT

Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 1 John 4:4

And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? Exodus 3:13

[Moses] was afraid of the Israelites as well as of Pharaoh: he knew how hard it is to get even your friends to believe in you.

Now, if God has sent you and me with a message it is not for us to say whether others will believe it or not. We cannot make men believe. If I have been sent by God to make men believe, He will give me power to make them believe. Jesus Christ didn’t have that power; it is the work of the Holy Ghost; we cannot persuade men and overcome skepticism and infidelity unless we are baptised with the Holy Ghost and with power.

God told Moses that they would believe him, that he would succeed, and bring the children of Israel out of bondage. But Moses seemed to distrust even the God who had spoken to him.

Then the Lord said, “What is that in thy hand?”

He had a rod or staff, a sort of shepherd’s crook, which he had cut haphazard when he had wanted something that would serve him in the desert.

“It is only a rod.”

“With that you shall deliver the children of Israel; with that rod you shall make Israel believe that I am with you.”

When God Almighty linked Himself to that rod, it was worth more than all the armies the world had ever seen. Look and see how that rod did its work. It brought up the plagues of flies, and the thunder storm, and turned the water into blood. It was not Moses, however, nor Moses’ rod that did the work, but it was the God of the rod, the God of Moses. As long as God was with him, he could not fail.

This word of wisdom is taken from Moody, Dwight Lyman. Men of the Bible

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Are You Willing To Be Made Willing?

The Bible tells the story of a rich young man approaching Christ and asking him what he must do to inherit eternal life. When Jesus told him to go and sell all he had and give the proceeds to poor, he left saddened and without eternal life; because he was unwilling to give up his riches. He is not the only one that has came to Christ with a request only to leave unfulfilled because they were not willing to give up some treasured.

F. B. Meyer said, "If you are not willing to give up everything for Christ, are you willing to be made willing?" Often our prayers go unfulfilled because we are not willing to be made willing. We ask God to save souls but at what cost? Souls are surely not going to be saved if we are not willing to walk across the street and share the gospel with our neighbor because fear of being embarrassed. 

When you bring you request to the Lord, be willing to give up everything for Christ -- AND be willing to be made willing.  

For His Glory: 31 Daily Meditations is a compilation of devotional thoughts from Saints of old plus a sprinkle of the author’s thoughts combined with selected Scripture that will assist the reader in developing a closer relationship with God. Offered at an affordable price of only $1.49. CLICK and take a peek inside.