Witnessing Through the Eyes of The Holy Spirit
Acts 1:7-8
7)He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8)But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Jesus tells his disciples not to worry what to say when they witness to the world, for the Holy Spirit will speak for them.
This hit me like a ton of bricks this week when I was witnessing to one of my employees at work. Not only was the Holy Spirit speaking through me, but the Holy Spirit was speaking to me as well as the individual I was witnessing to. This young man has hit a bumpy road in life that we all have gone through at one time or another and still most of us will continue to go through. With outstanding bills, and very few funds, he finds himself stressed and confused and not knowing where to turn next to handle his affairs. Of course I give him the ever so famous advice of , "Give your worries and your problems to the Lord, and He will take care of them for you". Advice that all of us have heard over and over again, but very seldom do we ever completely give all of our worries to the Lord. Is it a "faith" issue. Why do we struggle so much with this command? Those of you that have done this and are completely and worry free, I commend you. You have experienced the truth of what God has promised.
As I continued to witness to him, he shared with me a little about his family. He has two children, a boy and a girl. He explained his struggles of raising his children correctly, wondering if he was a good father. From his description, I could tell, he was not raising his children to know and follow God. Even though he believes, he doesn't live his life that way. He doesn't read the bible, or go to church. Instead, he claims he has no time for that at all.
As we conversed, there wasn't a sentence that passed by that a vulgar word would present itself through his dialect. Even though this was offending me, the Holy Spirit ignored this entirely and pressed on with His plans. Still, I confronted him about taming his tongue. He boasted about how he could tame his tongue around women and preachers. I told him, that if he could tame his tongue around women and preachers, he could tame it around anyone. I asked him if he would use vulgar language if Jesus was standing right in front of him, and of course he answered, no. I said, "well, Jesus is right here, watching your every move."
The Holy Spirit recognized that this man (Mark was his name) loved his children, unconditionally, as I do with my own children. That's how God wired us. You could tell that Mark would do anything for his children. If harm threatened them, he would go to whatever means it would take to protect them.
Through the Holy Spirit, I continued to tell Mark that not only does he need to give his worries to God, but his entire household. Everything that he possesses. Including his children. I explained to him, that everything belongs to God.
Then the Holy Spirit revealed an illustration, that was disturbing, not only to Mark, but to myself as well.
I said, "Can you imagine, your son, chained to a stake. And a man behind him with a whip watching everything that you do. When you make a mistake, the man strikes your son with the whip as hard as he can. Over and over this goes on. With each mistake or sin that you commit, another blow to your son." I asked him, "what would you do?" His answer was the same as mine, he would save his son a whatever cost. The man with the whip would have to die. I asked him, "How do you think God feels, about us?" "We sin, over and over again, and each time that we make a mistake, God's son suffers our transgressions." "God made us in His own image, and with that in mind, if we ourselves, couldn't stand to see our children beaten to the point of death, to the point of saving them at whatever cost, God has to feel the same way with His son."
Again, this hit me like a ton of bricks. From the time that I told Mark that Jesus was right in front of us watching our every move to the point of using our own children as the ones that taking our punishment for our mistakes. Thinking, if I would save my own son from the pain, how does God feel about us putting His son through all of the pain, over and over again? A verse pops into my mind relating to this subject.
Hebrews 10:26-31
26)If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27)but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28)Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29)How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30)For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people." 31)It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
God wasn't just speaking to Mark that day, He was also speaking to me. Using the Holy Spirit, He put things in perspective that hits hard home.
Lord, Forgive me for all of my sins. I will try to keep in mind that Jesus is always right there with me, and each time temptation confronts me, that you provide a way out. I pray that I will chose that route of escape so that Your son doesn't suffer because of me. Thank you Lord for not forsaking me, instead, reminding me how much You love me. Even when I fail. I know that You are preparing me for Great things, and I thank You so much for selecting me to work for You. I Love You Lord. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.
JERICHO MORSE CODE UPDATE
LAST MESSAGE, "6 DOWN 4 TO GO"
Which makes perfect sense if you watched the last show.
7)He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8)But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Jesus tells his disciples not to worry what to say when they witness to the world, for the Holy Spirit will speak for them.
This hit me like a ton of bricks this week when I was witnessing to one of my employees at work. Not only was the Holy Spirit speaking through me, but the Holy Spirit was speaking to me as well as the individual I was witnessing to. This young man has hit a bumpy road in life that we all have gone through at one time or another and still most of us will continue to go through. With outstanding bills, and very few funds, he finds himself stressed and confused and not knowing where to turn next to handle his affairs. Of course I give him the ever so famous advice of , "Give your worries and your problems to the Lord, and He will take care of them for you". Advice that all of us have heard over and over again, but very seldom do we ever completely give all of our worries to the Lord. Is it a "faith" issue. Why do we struggle so much with this command? Those of you that have done this and are completely and worry free, I commend you. You have experienced the truth of what God has promised.
As I continued to witness to him, he shared with me a little about his family. He has two children, a boy and a girl. He explained his struggles of raising his children correctly, wondering if he was a good father. From his description, I could tell, he was not raising his children to know and follow God. Even though he believes, he doesn't live his life that way. He doesn't read the bible, or go to church. Instead, he claims he has no time for that at all.
As we conversed, there wasn't a sentence that passed by that a vulgar word would present itself through his dialect. Even though this was offending me, the Holy Spirit ignored this entirely and pressed on with His plans. Still, I confronted him about taming his tongue. He boasted about how he could tame his tongue around women and preachers. I told him, that if he could tame his tongue around women and preachers, he could tame it around anyone. I asked him if he would use vulgar language if Jesus was standing right in front of him, and of course he answered, no. I said, "well, Jesus is right here, watching your every move."
The Holy Spirit recognized that this man (Mark was his name) loved his children, unconditionally, as I do with my own children. That's how God wired us. You could tell that Mark would do anything for his children. If harm threatened them, he would go to whatever means it would take to protect them.
Through the Holy Spirit, I continued to tell Mark that not only does he need to give his worries to God, but his entire household. Everything that he possesses. Including his children. I explained to him, that everything belongs to God.
Then the Holy Spirit revealed an illustration, that was disturbing, not only to Mark, but to myself as well.
I said, "Can you imagine, your son, chained to a stake. And a man behind him with a whip watching everything that you do. When you make a mistake, the man strikes your son with the whip as hard as he can. Over and over this goes on. With each mistake or sin that you commit, another blow to your son." I asked him, "what would you do?" His answer was the same as mine, he would save his son a whatever cost. The man with the whip would have to die. I asked him, "How do you think God feels, about us?" "We sin, over and over again, and each time that we make a mistake, God's son suffers our transgressions." "God made us in His own image, and with that in mind, if we ourselves, couldn't stand to see our children beaten to the point of death, to the point of saving them at whatever cost, God has to feel the same way with His son."
Again, this hit me like a ton of bricks. From the time that I told Mark that Jesus was right in front of us watching our every move to the point of using our own children as the ones that taking our punishment for our mistakes. Thinking, if I would save my own son from the pain, how does God feel about us putting His son through all of the pain, over and over again? A verse pops into my mind relating to this subject.
Hebrews 10:26-31
26)If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27)but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28)Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29)How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30)For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people." 31)It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
God wasn't just speaking to Mark that day, He was also speaking to me. Using the Holy Spirit, He put things in perspective that hits hard home.
Lord, Forgive me for all of my sins. I will try to keep in mind that Jesus is always right there with me, and each time temptation confronts me, that you provide a way out. I pray that I will chose that route of escape so that Your son doesn't suffer because of me. Thank you Lord for not forsaking me, instead, reminding me how much You love me. Even when I fail. I know that You are preparing me for Great things, and I thank You so much for selecting me to work for You. I Love You Lord. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.
JERICHO MORSE CODE UPDATE
LAST MESSAGE, "6 DOWN 4 TO GO"
Which makes perfect sense if you watched the last show.
posted by Kevin Stoxe @ 3/10/2007 07:01:00 AM
2 comments
