Day of Praise

Th, May 2, 33rd Day of Easter, "Day of Praise"

"As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard." - Acts 4:20

There is a scale.

All of us fall on it somewhere.

On the far left is bondage. Bondage is the place on the scale where, for whatever reason, maybe fear of rejection or shyness or unbelief, but for whatever reason, we do not tell others about Jesus.

In the middle is obedience. Obedience is the place on the scale where, for whatever reason, maybe fear of God or your saying "I've got to try this" or the challenge of a fellow believer, but for whatever reason, we try to tell others about Jesus, but it still feels awkward.

On the far right is freedom. Freedom is the place on the scale where there is no fear but instead there is a joyful eagerness to share Jesus with anyone and anything that moves. It's the place where the apostles found themselves in today's verse: "As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard." (Acts 4:20) It's the place where God made us to be at the beginning of creation, eagerly speaking of the God that we know intimately in a moment by moment relationship. It's the place we strayed from because of sin. It's the place where Jesus came to lead us back to through his death and resurrection and his dwelling in us by the power of the Holy Spirit.

If you're not at this place on the scale, the place of freedom, God doesn't want you to feel guilty about not being there.

God simply wants you to trust him and ask him to lead you there.

And through Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, God will.

So let us pray.

Dear Heavenly Father, I want to be free. I want to know the freedom and joy of talking about Jesus with others. I want to be able to tell others that Jesus is "God with us", that Jesus died for our sins, that Jesus wants to live in us as our wisdom and strength. I want to be able to talk about Jesus with others just as comfortably as I talk about the weather and just as eagerly as I tell them about my team or my new clothes or car or pay raise. Father, nothing in my life is more important than Jesus. Help me to tell others so that they can know him too. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Praise God!

Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson