Tag: Why Share

Rejoicing in Heaven

Putting things into perspective, we only reside on this earth for 100 years or so and then there’s Eternity…that never ends. So regardless of how important things on earth might seem to us at the moment, the entirety of our lives on Earth represents a minuscule amount of time in our total existence. The words to “Amazing Grace” could just as easily say, “When we’ve been there 10 trillion years, we’ve only just begun,” because there is no end to our existence.

Indeed, we will pass from being mortal into immortal beings with our conscious minds fully in tact and forever functioning. For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face: now I know in part but then I will know even as also I am known (I Corinthians 13:12).

We are confronted with two possible destinations for Eternity known as Heaven and Hell. The choice is ours. Both are very real and both are described in graphic detail with scriptures you can easily Google. Clearly, you don’t want to go to Hell!

Regardless of our ultimate destination, death is the beginning of our Eternity. That’s why Christians can say with all confidence, Where O Death is your victory? Where is your sting? Death has been swallowed up in victory…knowing that our labor in the Lord is not in vain (I Corinthians 15:54-55). For this reason, we touch God’s emotions when we pass from mortality into immortality. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His Saints (Psalm 116:15).

We can’t begin to imagine the emotions of that moment when we see God face to face for the very first time and realize there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things will be gone forever (Revelation 21:4) as we rejoice in His Presence at the beginning of Eternity.

You Can ID Non-Believers

When you’re concerned about the eternal destiny of everyone around you, your first question is whether or not they go to church. But asking that question directly is at least awkward if not outright offensive. So don’t go there.

There’s a far simpler, and just as fast, way to get the same information. Simply mention something in passing about your Pastor or your church. Something simple like saying, “My Pastor told the funniest joke,” or talking about how you loved the restaurant you went to after church on Sunday morning. That tells them immediately that you’re a Christian.

If they’re Christians as well, they will always, always, always say words to the effect of, Oh, you’re a Christian! Where do you go to church? Now you know that they’re Christians and your relationship is off and running!

If there’s no response to your church reference, you can be sure that they’re not church attenders and probably not Believers. Knowledge is power! Knowing that you have a new unbeliever under your influence adds even more purpose to your life. Praise God!

Why Sharing is Mandated

The weight of scripture makes it abundantly clear that the sharing of your faith is not an option. This begs the question, Why? Why does God view the sharing of your faith as the dominant task of your walk with Him?

There’s a phrase that says, “If you don’t use it, you lose it,” which applies to everything in life, including your walk with the Lord. When you cease talking about the life-changing scriptures and experiences that brought you to Christ, their emotional impact on your life goes progressively downhill. This is a natural process known as atrophy, and it’s inescapable when you’re not actively using those scriptures and experiences to lead other people to Jesus.

This is where the American Church is today — overwhelmed by Spiritual Atrophy. Everywhere you look, the joy of the Lord has been replaced by a complaining church that registers just as much anger and anxiety, and consumes just as many pills, as the unchurched. Incredibly, 85% of all our pastors have actually considered quitting the ministry in the last 12 months because of the apathy of people in their pews. On a personal basis, this is a serious issue that can be easily reversed by having the joy of your Salvation restored by the sharing of your faith.

God’s given you a story to tell with the two-fold purpose of leading others to Christ, and keeping your own walk with the Lord alive and fresh. Some would actually argue that God’s top priority in making the sharing of your faith His primary purpose for your life, is to guard your own heart and keep your eyes focused on Him.

In I Corinthians 13, Paul said, even if we have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and have faith and give all our goods to the poor, it profits nothing if we don’t have love. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of doing and supporting great things, and being greatly respected for doing so, without doing the only thing that has Eternal Significance — loving people into Heaven. You need to keep this in mind: Once you’re in Heaven, the only thing that will matter is how many people are in Heaven or on their way to Heaven because of your influence…and great will be your reward.

God is calling you to live a Holy Life because it’s the first step in “loving your neighbors into Heaven.” As mentioned earlier, your actions don’t speak louder than your words, but they do speak before your words, and should give your words the power and authority to move everyone you directly influence closer to Jesus.

Jesus spoke directly to this issue when He said in John 17:19, And for their sakes, I sanctify Myself, that they might also be sanctified through the Truth. He didn’t need to earn extra brownie points with His Father by sanctifying His life. He was doing it so that those around Him might also be sanctified through the Truth. Your level of commitment to live a Holy Life is wholly driven by your level of commitment to lead everyone you influence closer to Jesus

Leading people to Jesus is not just another thing to do, it’s the only thing to do! And when you do that, when you live your life for His Purpose (Romans 8:28), He promises to make everything, even the bad stuff in your life work for good. It doesn’t get any better than that!

You Can’t Force Feed

There’s always a time and a place. The problem is that God’s timing may not be our timing…and it’s ultimately decided by the one we’re trying to reach. We are, after all, creatures of free choice! No one, not even God, can make life’s most important decision for someone else.

The sharing of our faith is often referred to as the sowing of seeds with Matthew 13 explaining that the seeds we sow fall on all types of ground — from hard to fertile. As much as we would like it to be otherwise, we can’t expect a harvest from every seed we sow. We’re simply required to be a sower. In addition, some seeds germinate in a matter of hours while others require years. So take heart even if you don’t see immediate results. His Word never returns void. The seeds you’re sowing will continue to sprout forth until Jesus comes.

It’s not an exact science! Jeremiah 17:9 tells us the human heart is the most deceitful of all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? As much as we want to focus the hearts of the unsaved on the Lord, they may not be ready. This is where we must depend on the leading of the Holy Spirit. They may not have reached bottom yet. They may have lessons yet to be learned.

Indeed there are times to be bold and God will confirm those for us. But in the absence of that leading, we can do more damage than good in our over-exuberance to lead someone to the Lord. Patience is a Virtue! We can’t force feed Christianity! Continue reading “You Can’t Force Feed”

Church is Not Enough

While being a faithful church member, giving sacrificially of your time and resources, and knowing good teaching from bad, may earn you respect in your church, it’s not enough for God. God wants nothing less than to be your “First Love” and for you to return to doing the “First Work.”

In His letter to the Church at Ephesus, God says: I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people…you have suffered for Me without quitting. Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen and repent and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy candlestick…except thou repent.

What’s the last thing you remember being so excited about, that you repeatedly told people about it — something like a great meal, a movie or something you did? When’s the last time you were that excited to tell someone about God?

There are lots of things in life that we love, but God wants to be your “first love” above everything else, and telling someone is the “first work” every new Believer does when they get saved. In this letter to the Church at Ephesus, God is calling His most faithful church attenders to repentance or He’ll remove their “candlestick,” which is commonly understood to be their testimony or the Holy Spirit. This is exactly where the American Church is today. Not only have we dwindled to just 20% of our population but also, by our thoughts and actions, we love God like we love so many other things in life, having lost our excitement over telling people about Him. The Church has lost its testimony. Our salt has lost its saltiness and it’s being trodden under the foot of man (Matthew 5:13).

Loving God and sharing our faith (doing the first work) are inextricably connected. When we love God as our first love, we love to lead people to Him. And when we love to lead people to Him, it’s because we love God as our first love. The two cannot be separated.

God Directs Your Steps

While we often look at God’s promises as being separate and standing alone, they’re actually interrelated and interdependent on each other. God’s promise to make everything in your life work for good depends on living your life for His Purpose…the Redemption of Mankind.

When you live your life for the Redemption of Mankind, you automatically live in faith by knowing God’s making everything in your life work for good. This equation is foundational to how you are to live your life every day. We’re called to be People of Faith and, in fact, without faith it’s impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).

This is reinforced in Proverbs 3:5 when God tells us to trust in the Lord with your whole heart, do not lean unto your own understanding, acknowledge God in all your ways and He Will Direct Your Path. When you focus on leading everyone, every day, closer to Jesus, you will acknowledge Him (speak of Him) in everything you do. Then God promises He will direct your steps. This is where the rubber meets the road for Christians and it’s absolutely consistent throughout scripture.

God’s Purpose

People often spend their entire lives wondering what God’s purpose is for their life? Like an itch you can’t scratch, no matter how much time and money you give to your church and other ministries, you know something is still missing . . . Joy! Hear me on this, it’s not about your purpose . . . God doesn’t have one purpose for you and another for me and another for himself! He has but one purpose, the redemption of mankind, to seek and save the lost, that none should be lost! Sharing your faith is not an add-on to being a Christian, it’s what being a Christian is all about! If you’re a Christian, the only thing that will matter 100 years from now is how many people will be in Heaven, on their way to Heaven, and not going to Heaven because of your influence!

Herb Ellingwood – The Search for Joy

Barry Meguiar has been sharing his faith for over 40 years! Learn how Herb Ellingwood, the legal affairs secretary for Governor Reagan, was the spark that ignited Barry into the “full-time ministry” of sharing his faith! You can have the same never-ceasing joy that Barry gets on daily basis and start living out God’s purpose for your life!

Faith Comes by Hearing

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God (John 1:1). And then the Word became Flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His Glory (John 1:14). Everything changed when the Word (Jesus) became a man of flesh, blood, warmth and personality, transforming the letter of the Law into a relationship with our Creator. The scriptures came to life as Jesus Christ gave them context and understanding, connecting the right scriptures to whatever the issue was at the moment.

Today, while a book that sells a million copies is considered a best seller, more than 150 million copies of the Bible are sold every year in more than 500 languages. While most homes in America have at least one Bible on their premises, most remain unread until the hearing of the Word on radio, TV or a public place prompts someone in that home to read it. Unfortunately, the stereotype of it being an outdated book of rules that no one wants to follow anymore has added greatly to this paradigm.

More than 50% of our population identifies itself as being Christian while rarely, if ever, reading the Bible or stepping inside a church. Unless they hear the Word of God from someone they trust, their spiritual status is unlikely to change. Indeed, there’s a spiritual dynamic between hearing the Word and coming to faith that’s intrinsic to scripture: Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). Without question, the Word is alive and the Holy Spirit is active in reaching the hearts of the unsaved through the reading and recitation of scripture.

On a more personal basis, our personal testimonies are powerless when they’re devoid of scripture. No matter how impressive we might sound, only the Word of God breaks the yoke and sets the captive free. Your personal story is a testimony to the truth of scripture. Connecting it with the appropriate scriptures will authenticate your words and lead the people you’re sharing with to Jesus. Everything else is context. Reading out loud or reciting scripture inspired by God and powered by the Holy Spirit is where the transforming power of the Bible enjoys its greatest success.