Yesterday the air was quite a
bit cleaner and the sky was blue, we now have grey skies and we can see the air
we are breathing.
Now that’s not a good thing.
Carla is having some arguments
with the deer about her beans, they seem to find them tasty. However, they leave enough for her to fix
some last night; those along with the tomatoes and cucumbers, cantaloupes and
watermelons, make for a good fresh eating from the garden. She is dealing with some obnoxious pests on
her squash, hopefully we will be able to harvest a few as she works on it – they
literally suck the juices right out of the squash.
2 Timothy
1:8-10 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our
Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the
gospel according to the power of God;
9 Who hath saved us, and
called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his
own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began,
10 But is now made manifest
by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath
brought life and immortality to light through the
gospel:
I was talking to a friend who
had an unpleasant experience with a Christian.
He had gone into the restaurant with his family and was seated by the
hostess. The man was loud and
boisterous. (Yeah I know, sounds like me
– but it wasn’t.) My friend was the
waitress that waited on them.
She introduced herself and the
man asked her what her religion was, she gave the denomination (one of the main
stream denominations) – He said well, I am a Christian and if you want I will
give you the truth. She considered him
haughty and arrogant. He asked for the
blessing over the food, once delivered, but he was loud and she felt he was
doing it for show.
She had no desire to have a
discourse about anything with him, while he was there she served them, but not
with the usual big smile – the tip wasn’t all that good, either.
It got me to thinking.
We know we are to stand for
Christ, we are not to be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ and we are to be ready
to tell others why we believe in Him.
But how do we do that?
The most important thing, of
course, is to be ready. To know the Word (it doesn’t have to be quoted –
especially for a new convert – but we need to know what it says and what the
meaning is of the verses we want to refer to,) be assured of our salvation and
to have asked the Holy Spirit to guide you early in the morning; and to listen
to others as to how they should be approached.
We don’t need a grand scheme on
presenting God’s love to others; we just need a relationship with Him that is
genuine and willing to obey Him.
We also have to look at our
personalities and use them in spreading the Gospel – but we want to bring people
to Christ, not chase them away.
How do we let people know that
Christ is within us and is our Lord?
Do we announce: I am a CHRISTIAN! As this man did upon sitting down in a
restaurant?
Do we say: I am a Christian; working it into the
conversation somehow?
Do we say: I am a Christian as if we are unsure of
ourselves?
Do we say: Nothing?
Frankly it may be all four. It really depends on the Holy Spirit and how
much we are in tune with Him.
There is nothing wrong with a
bold proclamation of our faith – but it must be done in a reasonable
manner. If we come off as a jerk who is
more interested in our importance than we are in reaching a fellow human being
for Christ, we may end up driving them from Christ.
If we wait for an opportunity to
jump in with our relationship it could come off as if we are just looking for an
opportunity to say something, and not genuinely trying to share our love of
Christ. It can’t be an obvious pounce on
a statement type thing – usually, - but it can be done in an easy manner and one
that shows respect and openness to the person we are talking to. Sometimes we get so wrapped up on the need to
talk to someone about Christ that we forget to listen to them and address our
comments to their needs.
The hardest for me is to be
quiet about being a Christian.
I tend to be a little bolder, but there are times where it may not be
appropriate to make a ‘big’ deal of our faith and be softer in our approach to a
person. We cannot become so focused on
the process of sharing Christ that we forget that the person we are witnessing
to has to listen – and they won’t listen if it doesn’t relate to them. We have to make Christ relevant to them, and
that might mean that we go slowly and carefully – the Holy Spirit can guide us
IF we let Him.
Silence. Hmmm?
When could it be appropriate not to say anything concerning Christ? All too frequently I have seen a person, like
the one my friend had in the restaurant, want to make a big deal out of their
beliefs and overpower everyone around them.
If you say anything it just makes them more arrogant and aggressive – and
nothing is accomplished except anger on both parts.
This is a hard one for me, when
someone pushes, I push back and that may not be the best approach. There are ways to deal with these people and
not always is it to challenge them, if we rely on the Holy Spirit to guide us we
may find we just need to walk away.
That doesn’t mean that we won’t
proclaim Christ in these situations, it is just that we do it in a manner that
doesn’t try to one up the other person and get into a shouting match. Sometimes the best speech is the one not
given. We may speak more loudly and
effectively by our presence and actions, than anything we might say.
Love of Christ and sharing Him
love for others needs to be a part of our daily life. We need to give others the opportunity to
find Him – and sometimes we find that they already know Him and we find a mutual
bond, often sharing stories with each other.
We just need to have Christ
within us and be willing to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Later, Art :-)
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