follow

5 verses to help you share about Jesus

Squadron of Sisters (Debbie Chavez) Leave a comment

If you are a follower of Jesus, I’m sure you are so very grateful for his presence in your life and for the sacrifice He made so that you can be guaranteed a forever life in paradise with God.  But don’t you want other people in your life to find the same rich relationship and promise for the future that you have discovered?  You probably do, but aren’t quite sure how to share the Gospel message with relatives, friends, co-workers and neighbors.  Maybe you shrink back due to fear of what others will think.  Perhaps you need help in becoming more confident and bold.

Allow me to share 5 Bible verses that can be somewhat of a guide as you consider sharing the Gospel message with others.

  1.  Ask God to show you who you are supposed to talk to about Jesus and invite to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  God may be assigning you that job, or perhaps God has appointed someone else to be the person.  So ask God!  Psalm 32:8  I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
  2.  Ask God to show you the right time to present the Gospel.  Ecclesiastes 3:1  There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—
  3. Ask God to give you confidence and boldness instead of fearing the person’s reaction!  Romans 1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…
  4.  Study Bible verses that reveal the path to salvation, and that also equip yourself with Bible verses that may address any objections or questions that person raises.  2 Timothy 4:2  Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.
  5. In the end, rely on the Holy Spirit to give you the exact words to say to that specific person.  Luke 21:14-15 Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.

Learning to follow God’s nudges

Squadron of Sisters (Debbie Chavez) Leave a comment

I asked God today what was on His mind for today’s message to all of you, and I heard him whisper to my spirit, “Urge them to trust me completely and follow my prompting, even when it doesn’t seem to make sense.”  Yep.  That sounds exactly like what God would say!  After all, throughout the Bible, we hear God revealing a plan to His servants that seemed preposterous at the time, or foolish or, at the very least, unwise.  However, when the servant obeyed God, then God accomplished his perfect plan in a way that was truly astounding.  The people ended up being amazed by God and his mighty power!

Consider Noah.  God told him to build a humongous boat and load it with every kind of animal.  What a crazy instruction!  But Noah obeyed, and boy, did that ever work out well for him and his family.  Consider Gideon.  God told him to get rid of almost all his soldiers before taking on a huge enemy army!  What a preposterous instruction!  But Gideon obeyed even when it didn’t seem to make sense.  In the end, God destroyed the enemy and got all the glory for that incredible victory.  Consider Moses.  God told him, an ordinary shepherd, to go before the Egyptian pharaoh and demand the release of the Jewish slaves.  What a ridiculous idea!  But Moses obeyed, and the Jewish people stood in awe of God as they were released from oppressive slavery.

Right now, God is whispering words of instruction to you.  He may be counseling you to stay in a marriage that seems hopeless.  He may be instructing you to leave a marriage because He may know that is best for you and your children.  He may be telling you to give away more money than would seem wise in order to help those who are poor.  He may be telling you to share the Gospel with someone who has been your enemy.  God has plans to work through you and He is whispering instructions to you right now.  Psalm 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.  What He is telling you to do may seem difficult or even unwise, but if God is instructing you, I urge you to step out and obey.  Trust Him.  He knows what is best because He sees the future and His ways are perfect.  Deuteronomy 32:4 He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.

If husband isn’t following Christ

Squadron of Sisters (Debbie Chavez) Leave a comment

Being married to an unbeliever can be frustrating and discouraging.  You’re pulling one way.  He’s pulling another.  You make decisions based on your faith and trust in God.  He thinks only of himself. Ugh.

There is hope, but your situation may not change overnight.  The key is persistent prayer. One wife, whom I know quite well, prayed earnestly for about 15 years before her husband finally came to Christ.  It was discouraging at times, but she kept believing that God would answer her prayer, and He did.  It just took time (15 years!) for God to soften her husband’s heart.

May I suggest that you pray Ezekiel 36:26-27 every day for your husband, inserting his name in the verse?  The verse talks about God turning a heart of stone into a heart of flesh.  In other words, God can soften hard hearts!  Here is how you might want to pray this verse:  “Jesus, give (insert your husband’s name) a new heart and put a new spirit in him. Jesus, remove (insert name)’s heart of stone and give him a heart of flesh.  Jesus, put your Spirit in (insert name) and move him to follow your decrees and be careful to keep your laws.”

Also, to encourage yourself to keep diligently praying and trusting God, you may want to read the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18.

Don’t look at the squirrel!!

Squadron of Sisters (Debbie Chavez) Leave a comment

I sensed God reminding me of something this week, and I have a feeling He might want to remind you too.  Let me start out by saying, as followers of Jesus, we have great purpose in life.  Our purpose is to bring Him glory.  We do that by loving the Lord, serving the Lord, obeying the Lord, telling others about Jesus, and loving the people He has placed in our life.  Here’s the problem.  I often start out my day with a desire and passion to bring God glory, but then….squirrel!  My attention gets drawn away to something else!  How about you? 

It’s so easy to get distracted by the “shiny objects”, the newest gadgets, the luxury items we think we need to have, etc.  And if we allow our attention to be diverted long enough, we start focusing on making more money to buy more things instead of focusing on loving God.  For you, the “squirrel” might be getting distracted by our culture’s relentless message that we need to create the perfect home interior or alter our face or body so that it resembles the women on the cover of magazines.

Ladies, we need to continually check in with the Holy Spirit throughout the day and ask Him, “Am I getting distracted away from you?”  We need to take our thoughts captive!  2 Corinthians 10:5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Let me add that this same problem of the “squirrel” or distraction can also impact our marriages.  The devil loves to get us to focus our attention on the neighbor man who seems so nice, or that male co-worker who seems so compassionate and empathetic.  Don’t look at the squirrel!  Stay focused on the good qualities of your husband and refuse to look at or fantasize about another man.  Take captive every thought instead of letting your thoughts run wild, destroying your good intentions in the process.