Sometimes Holidays become too familiar to us. And we lose sight of what they were meant to remind us about.
Did you know the Word of God tells each of us to count the cost of our decision to believe in Jesus?
For me, coming to know Jesus at 38 years old as a Jew cost me dearly…it cost me my entire family. After 10 years when the wounds began to heal, and I was allowed back; those relationships of love had grown cold with time and were gone.
Today when I look back I find it selfish to think about what it cost me…when I think about what it cost God!
We never think about the tears of God that continue to fill the oceans of the world…we think more about our tears.
We never think about the tears that Christ wept and still weeps for the multitudes that He died for that choose a different destiny… of eternal life away from Him. …instead we think more about our tears.
The Gospel is the greatest gift that you can give those you love.
Then Maybe… just maybe… the LORD will allow you to plant the last seed that brings Salvation to the person that you love.
Then in Heaven, as the two of you cry and weep together, for the Joy of the fact that you both know Jesus, and the Joy that you will both have an eternity together.
Then Jesus…. who already took His Nail Scarred Hands and wiped away the tears of sorrow from your eyes…will rejoice before each of you… as the two of you wipe the tears of JOY from each other’s eyes.
Now…how AWESOME would that be?
There are few forces in the world today that can match the power of the personal testimony…and surprisingly few Christians, who have learned to use its awesome power. People are not saved by seeing your walk before GOD. People are saved by hearing your Talk About God.
In Luke, Jesus tells of the demon possessed man from Gadara. When Jesus delivered the man he wanted to sit at Jesus feet and learn. But his request was denied.
Has God made a difference in your life? Then don’t preach a sermon to your friends and family. Just tell them your God Story. Your personal testimony of God at work in your life.
Too many of us are afraid to witness to people.
Too many of us have weak faith and live in anxiety.
We forget who we are in Christ.
We forget that the Battle is His.
WE are on the Winning Side.
This world is not our real home, but only a temporary place. It’s like a dream that will fade away in the light of Gods eternal day. Then we will awake in His presence to experience the world as God originally intended it.
In that great day when the real world which will last for eternity arrives, all the multitudes in all the nations of the world will awaken; including your husband, your wife, your children, your grandchildren, your parents, your family, your friends, your neighbors; everyone you have ever known will awaken. Either to a life with you in Heaven or a life separated from you in Hell.
You can do nothing about the past or the future. You only have now.
If we are not sharing the gospel with others then maybe, just maybe … we have not heard it ourselves.
When you were born again two things happened to you. Jesus now carries your Cross-for you during this life because He has nailed your sins onto His Cross. The other thing that happened is that the Holy Spirit gave you a bag to carry.This bag is filled with seeds of Truth. This bag is huge and very heavy. The Holy Spirit carries this bag for you as well. It’s there with you always at the ready, filled with seeds that you can plant into the hearts of seekers as they are brought to you during your life.
This bag of seeds represents the greatest burden you will ever carry in this life and on into the next. Every seed in your bag was given to you to plant when the opportunities came while you were alive. Every seed had the name of someone you know on it. Someone you are personally responsible to witness too…people you love that you would die for and also those God HIMSELF has placed in your path.
When you stand before the Lord with your seed bag, will it still be huge and heavy? If it is you will be shown the myriad of times during your life when you should have sown the seed and you did not. You will see the parade of all the lives that you could have made a difference in and you did not.
You see every choice has its consequences. Every time you decided not to stand alone and speak will be a time before God that you will shed a tear with HIM. The difference will be that He knew you wouldn’t take His Great Commission to those you know and love, let alone those He placed into your life path that needed to hear.
But because of His great love for you, He will take you into His arms and the two of you will cry for the Lost that you could have made a difference in; both those precious to you and precious to HIM.
The best opportunities we have for making a difference in the life of someone for Christ comes in two ways.
The first is to walk your talk and let your life reflect HIM. The other is to catch the fire of the Holy Spirit when He moves between you and someone you know and you begin to talk your walk.
Your life and mine is not about the many or even the few. It is all about your choice to speak to the ONE. Sharing your faith works best …when it’s done ONE to ONE.
Jesus came down from Heaven to Earth to save each of us ONE by ONE. Every day you live is CHRISTmas.
CHRISTmas is not about a bag full of toys, but about a bag full of SEEDS.
How can you and I as believers in Christ remain true to our individual calling by God to be His Salt and Light in the darkness of the culture we live in?
To begin we need to define both Salt and Light. Salt is a preservative. As long as salt remains pure and does not get mixed with another substance it will keep its properties and continue to be effective.
Like salt, Believers who remain in the Word and stand alone for Christ in society will have an effective witness. Once we try to be like the surrounding culture our witness becomes ineffective and our credibility is gone. Then to make matters worse through our stumbling we let the Lord be mocked.
Salt also provides flavor. The Gospel represents a meal that when flavored with truth, and given to a true “Seeker of God” will satisfy their appetite forever.
Salt also makes us thirsty and so we drink water to refresh ourselves. But water is only a temporary solution for our thirst as we begin to thirst over and over again but never get satisfied.
The Gospel however is the Living Water that satisfies our body, mind and soul eternally and will satisfy our everlasting thirst.
Light is meant to illuminate. Just as darkness flees from the light, so to the Gospel, the light of Truth; causes the lies that live in the shadows that plague mankind’s soul to disappear.
Light illuminates the path before you, so you can see the destination of your journey clearly. The Gospel represents a journey that everyone needs to take in order to gain the Salvation offered by God.
The Word of God is a “Lamp unto thy feet”. It keeps you from stumbling on the pathway home.
Therefore, you and I are to be salt and light in a Godless society. We are to open our mouths whenever the Holy Spirit gives us an opportunity to witness to a forever dying soul. We are never to compromise our life, our walk or our talk. All three must be unified for us to effectively witness to non-believers.
The Apostle Paul in the Book of Acts spoke about “becoming like one of them” in order to witness to the pagan world around him. He did not mean to blend into the society, to be like one of them, to do what they do; so he could have an opportunity to witness to them.
But FIRST take them to the CROSS of JESUS the CHRIST. Remember that Eternal Life and Eternal Death begin at the CROSS.
[ The Unpardonable Sin ] He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.