Author: jim0211

Praying for Boldness

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Reaching out to unbelievers to talk about God, especially in today’s non-spiritual environment, is hard for all of us. The key to improving in this is not to depend on our own power, but as in everything else, to focus first on God.

“And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. Acts 4:29-21

To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, Ephesians 6:18b-19

The boldness needed here is not something that we can drum up within ourselves; we need the Spirit to give us boldness in speaking.

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Telling of God’s Mighty Works

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The arrival of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost changed the nature of the church profoundly. In one fell swoop, it went from a small ragtag group of people cowering in a secluded room to a thriving assembly of thousands of disciples.

And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? … We hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” Acts 2:7, 8, 11b (ESV)

During Pentecost, Jews from all over would come to celebrate in Jerusalem. As a result, the town was filled with people who spoke many different languages when the Holy Spirit descended.

Since God’s will, and Jesus’ instructions, was to proclaim the good news of the kingdom in order to grow it, the very first work of the Spirit was to enable this ragtag group to speak in ways that the diverse crowd would understand. They did so, and proclaimed God’s mighty works in a variety of languages.

The crowd was surprised, not just by the diversity of languages, but because apparently the people speaking weren’t the type they expected to capable of such diversity.

We’re not told what works were proclaimed, but one “mighty work” that we know is the resurrection – the whole story of Jesus and the establishment of the kingdom. Peter certainly built on that in his subsequent speech.

Given the changes in today’s world and the growing diversity of our culture, we need this same empowerment. It may not look the same, but however the Spirit wants to work through us to proclaim Christ, we need to open our hearts to Him.

Heavenly Father, no matter who we are or how unlikely we are to speak, let us be filled with the Spirit to speak of Your mighty works, especially the good news of establishing your kingdom at the cross.

Balancing Spiritual Priorities

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A key part of our spiritual relationship with God is the time we spend in worship. It is an act of obedience, sometimes described in Scripture as serving the Lord. It is an act of holy devotion, as we set aside a part of our time to focus on Him. It is a time of celebration and praise, as we raise our voices in song to our great God and King.

That this last part is important is clear from Scripture’s emphasis on singing in worship.

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Eyes Open to Spiritual Needs

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For most people, the majority of the information we take in about the world is through our own perceptions. But our senses are imperfect, they only show us part of the world around us. Even when we are able to see more, we sometimes limit ourselves to seeing what we want to see. It takes discernment to see beyond our own preferences.

And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Mark 2:16–17 (ESV)

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A Reason for Unity in Christ

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There are many approaches used to evangelize, to let the world know about the kingdom of God and that Jesus is the Savior. Jesus Himself taught several approaches, and one of these is a way to convince the world that He is from God.

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” John 17:20-21

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Seeing Spiritual Needs

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This idea that we need to be spiritually sensitive runs throughout Scripture. It allows us to understand how God is working around us, how Satan may be active, how God speaks through Scripture and many other ways, and so on. Importantly, it also helps us see the spiritual needs of those around us.

And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” Matthew 9:10-12 (ESV)

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 2 Corinthians 5:16

With eyes to see and ears to hear, we can look to the unseen, the spiritual needs in people’s lives.

It is our natural bias to see the world only through eyes of flesh, but this is not how Jesus saw people. As we seek to become more like Him, we should expect to become increasingly aware of people’s spiritual condition, their spiritual needs.

This is not to ignore their physical condition, but to see it in the context of the spiritual. Doing so may cause us to have even more focus on their physical needs because we see how there are opportunities for them to know the Father.

However, while this may be an important part of our growth as disciples, we need the Spirit to open our eyes. So, let’s pray for His help.

Lord, open my eyes to the spiritual needs of those around me, that Your kingdom may come in my heart as well as others.

About Exploring Antioch

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This blog is my personal journey to understand how to share the gospel with the growing number of people who don’t seem to be reached through common evangelism techniques, especially those who are far from faith, who have no interest in the Bible, in our spiritual perspectives, or even visiting a church.

Inspired by those in Acts who sought out unbelievers far from Jerusalem, I’m seeking new ways to share Jesus with those far from the faith. Those believers, even though not leaders, recognized the urgency of the mission when persecution started and they accelerated growth toward the ends of the Earth. They eventually reached the first purely Gentile audience in Antioch:

And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. … Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. … Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. Acts 8:1b, 4, 11:19-20

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The First Step in Sending People

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Acting in agreement with God’s heart for the lost results in people going to them. Jesus taught us that a key step in sending people is to pray for God’s involvement in that process.

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Matt 9:35-38

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Luke 10:1-2

Early in His ministry, Jesus saw the spiritual need of those around Him and directed His disciples to pray that people would be sent to them. Shortly thereafter, He repeated that command when sending out the Twelve. Clearly, Jesus recognized the huge number of people needing to hear about the kingdom and the relatively few number of those sharing it.

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God’s Heart of Love

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John 3:16 is the most commonly quoted New Testament verse, for it speaks of God’s heart for reaching those who are far from Him.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 (ESV)

This passage describes the great sacrifice that God made for our benefit. However, note that this does not say that the sacrifice was for God’s people, or for the church, but for the world. That is, it was for those who, without this sacrifice, are alienated from Him. At the right time, Christ died for the ungodly, demonstrating God’s love (Rom. 5:6-8).

In other words, God loves those who are alienated from Him.

This must be His motivation for sending us out as Jesus described, and must also demonstrate Jesus’s heart.

So then, if we are to be His disciples, we should seek for it to describe our hearts, too. This is a great place to start praying for our role in God’s plan to reach into the darkness with His light.

Father, I am in awe of the unbounded love that would move you to save people who are naturally hostile to you. I ask You to give me Your heart of love for those who don’t know You.