Listen to the audio version- https://soundcloud.com/user806231230/mile-markers-witness-unashamedly.

A few years ago, I visited a Christian bookstore in another state. What I found written on the wall of a restroom stall surprised me.

Someone had scribbled the words “God is so good” and the phrase “Jesus loves you.” They added, “Ask God to come into your heart now.” Below those phrases were scripture references for how to become a Christian.

The well-meaning person who penned those words considered his actions “witnessing.” I agree with the intent of the message, but not how he delivered it. Writing on the stall of a bathroom—even content from the Bible, in a Christian bookstore—is vandalism.

There are better ways to share your faith than defacing property. In this new year, I want to be a better witness, but I want to do it correctly. I want to use positive methods to spread the good news.

Paul’s Boldness

In the book of Acts, the story of Christianity expanding is a story of moral courage. The disciples obeyed Jesus’ command, spreading His word from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. They did so unashamedly.

The Apostle Paul states his reason for boldly proclaiming Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. In Romans 1:18, he says, “For  I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes”  (NKJV).

The boldness to tell others about Jesus is like the accelerator on a car. Wisdom for how to best deliver the message is like a car’s steering wheel. The accelerator and the steering wheel are both needed.

Unchecked Brashness  

The bathroom stall scribbler insisted on using the accelerator more than the steering wheel. Accelerator-alone techniques usually win zero converts. If you ignore the following rules, using more zeal than wisdom, your attempts are likely to crash.

• Don’t let your head alone rule your tongue. You can unload spiritual truth on someone in overwhelming amounts, supported by myriad scriptures. However, the recipient may feel more of a weight than a witness. Or you can win a debate with a non-believer. But no matter how right you are, if you don’t draw them closer to Jesus, then nobody wins.
• Don’t leave a foot in someone’s path. Romans 14:13 warns against putting a stumbling block in anyone’s way. It occurs when a Christian’s walk doesn’t match their talk. Again, what is shared may be correct, but it clashes with attitudes, words, and actions the Christian exhibits at other times.

The Holy Spirit’s Brilliance

You can tell someone about Jesus, but you can’t convince anyone to follow Him. That’s the Holy Spirit’s job. When we submit to His guidance, we become tools in His hands. The Holy Spirit prepares us to share the gospel and He prepares people to hear it.

Like the first century disciples, we need courage to speak the truth. But our words need to come from a heart that cares about the other person. Evangelist Leighton Ford has said, “Real faith sharing comes not from compulsion, but from compassion.”

When concern for someone’s eternal welfare directed by God’s love fills your heart, speaking unashamedly about Jesus will come naturally. Your words won’t feel forced. They won’t sound false.

The Holy Spirit can help your words and your actions to match. He’ll give you the courage to accelerate and the wisdom to steer. Your voice may not be the final one the other person needs to hear, but you’ll be an important voice the Holy Spirit will use.

The Road Ahead:

1. Meet the other person on common ground. Both Jesus at a well in Samaria (John 4:3-29) and the Apostle Paul on Mars Hill (Acts 17:16-32 ) launched conversations their listeners could relate to. The results in those two settings differed, but Jesus and Paul gained and kept their listeners’ attention.  Jesus’ initial words to the Samaritan woman—who was plagued by unsatisfying relationships—led her to ask a series of honest questions. Paul’s address to a group of seekers opened their minds to something they had not previously considered.
2. Accept God’s Assignment to witness totally. The meetings at the Samaritan well and on Mars Hill were short, single opportunities. Our most effective witnessing will occur over long periods of time. Total witnessing is not only conversations, but Christ-like actions and attitudes (which speak louder than our words) displayed over many months or years. Do we show that we care? Do we exhibit kindness? Does our daily disposition reflect one who’s life is richer for being a Christian? Is our faith an evident anchor in times of temptation and severe problems?

It’s the witness of our daily lives, not acts of vandalism, that helps others truly see the writing on the wall.

Further Fuel: I Peter 3:15; Colossians 4:6; Matthew 5:16.

 

Listen to the audio version- https://soundcloud.com/user806231230/mile-markers-pray-unceasingly.

Ask any engaged couple. They might give you insight into a hard to understand verse in the Bible. Not because of their expert Bible knowledge, but because of their current relationship.

The verse in question is I Thessalonians 5:17. The New King James Version, among other translations says, “Pray without ceasing.” Other versions phrase it, “Pray constantly” and “Never stop praying.” How can an engaged couple help us understand that short verse? Ask them how often during the day the other person occupies their thoughts.

The couple looking forward to their wedding day is, either consciously or unconsciously, constantly thinking about the other person. That fits how John Piper says a Christian can pray unceasingly: “Make the default mental state a Godward longing.”

We can still concentrate on our work. We can fully focus on important conversations. But no matter what else we’re doing, we’re always meditating on God in either the forefront or the background of our minds.

Oswald Chambers describes continual communion with God in another way: “If we think of prayer as the breath in our lungs and the blood from our hearts, we think rightly. The blood flows ceaselessly, and breathing continues ceaselessly; we are not conscious of it, but it is always going on.”

Here are four prayer habits that can help keep prayer flowing as constant as the blood and oxygen in our bodies.

• Follow visual reminders. Let the faces of strangers remind you of people you know (Friends who can always use prayer). Accepting someone’s likeness or other association with a person as a cue to pray for him or her will add many unexpected prayers to your day.
• Begin your day with phrases you’ll refer to and repeat. Write one or two phrases on post-it notes or leave a reminder on your digital device. Here are some suggestions: “Lord, I need You today,” “My heart longs for You,” “Help my words honor You,” “My main prayer today is…” During free moments, refer to the phrases and say them out loud. The repetition will keep those prayers in your subconscious.
• Practice speaking to God before you speak to others. A prayer before talking in front of a group makes sense. So does praying prior to casual conversations, so that you’ll speak with clarity.  Equally important is the need to be as good a listener as a talker.
• Always pray with anticipation. After you pray expectantly, looking forward to the answer becomes an unconscious mental action. At any point of any day, the desired outcome of a prayer may resurface in your mind. When it does, you can silently restate your desire and thank God for His answer in His timing.

Keeping communion with God on your mind pays off. I’ll share one of many examples. Years ago, my family was driving on a busy Interstate through St. Louis, Missouri at night. Suddenly, a rear tire blew, jerking our car toward the other lane of traffic. My grandmother instantly called out from the back seat, “Please help us, Jesus!” Within a couple of seconds, we were safely on the shoulder of the road, unharmed. Because she was often in prayer mode, when needed, prayer was her immediate response.

The Road Ahead:

1. Begin seeing God in things all around you. Like an engaged person thinking of the one he or she loves, you can make the God you’ll see forever someday your “default mental state.” He’s there in the beauty of each season. He’s there in the friendly smiles and helping hands of others. He’s present whenever someone is protected from harm. His handiwork is evident in variety in the animal kingdom and in the night sky.
2. Begin praying for needs you don’t normally think about. If you don’t already, let the following visual and audio reminders trigger spontaneous prayer: individuals and groups whose needs you see or hear about on the news; when you hear the blaring siren of an emergency vehicle, pray for whomever they’re helping; at the sight of an American flag, pray for those who serve our nation’s military; when you pass a hospital, pray  for people you know who need God’s healing touch.

Further Fuel: Ephesians 3:18; Psalm 19:1; I Timothy 2:1 .

Listen to the audio version- https://soundcloud.com/user806231230/mp3.

In a “Family Circus” comic panel prior to Christmas, Jeffery and his mother are walking past a church. The sign out front says, “Ask and you shall receive.” Jeffery says to his mom, “That quote came from Santa Claus, right Mommy?”

Sadly, most Americans don’t understand Biblical references when they see them. A simple lesson in hermeneutics would have helped little Jeffery. For most of us, a recent TV series might clue us in.

One of television’s modern ground-breaking series was “CSI.” It aired from 2000-2015. Each season gave viewers insights into how police dig beneath the surface to investigate crime scenes. Their diligent techniques also suggests something important for every serious Bible reader: You understand the Bible best by studying it, by plunging beyond words on a page.

Why reading it is not enough

Each book in the Bible was originally written to a specific culture living at a certain time. By 2016, layers of language and cultural change may obscure the full, original meaning for anyone just skimming the surface.

Jesus told the Pharisees, “Search the Scriptures.” The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, “Study to show yourself approved.” A few good investigative techniques will protect us from drawing wrong conclusions and give us the full picture.

Proven investigative techniques 

Let’s adapt methods used to solve TV criminal cases as guidelines for interpreting a Biblical passage.

• Any piece of evidence is part of the overall scene. Don’t interpret a Bible verse by isolating it from its context.
• The physical evidence helps you recreate what happened when it happened. Don’t draw conclusions by superimposing modern-day ideas, including those of your own, over a passage.
• Look beneath the surface to understand the complete evidence. Probe beneath the veneer of a verse or portion of scripture.
• Learn the circumstances that led to the situation. Try to comprehend what the original readers understood and why they needed to.

Finding meaning beneath the surface

We can prove the validity of these techniques. Let’s uncover a familiar verse from the Sermon on the Mount–Matthew 7:1: “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged” (NLT).

Contrary to popular, modern usage, the words “Don’t judge” don’t mean to never make a statement that evaluates someone. That’s a present-day interpretation, not what the first readers understood. The verse needs to be framed in the context of what Jesus was saying.

In His next breath Jesus clarifies His topic: “For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged” (verse 2). It’s about the listener or reader setting a standard that they’ll need to live up to. 

Jesus then uses a ludicrous visual image: “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye?” (verses 4-5).

Jesus concludes that His real topic is hypocrisy: “Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye” (verse 5). He says only after you resolve your own, larger version of the miniscule problem you’re condemning, will you be free to “deal with” the speck in the other person’s eye.

Applying proven investigative techniques to scripture throughout the year help you study and interpret God’s word more wholeheartedly.

The Road Ahead:

1. Read a passage only in context. How does it fit within the framework of the surrounding verses, the chapter, and the rest of the book? How does it compare with similar portions of scripture by the same author?
2. Be alert for recurring words or phrases. Which words and word combinations does the author repeat in the chapter or book? Do certain themes pop up again and again?
3. Uncover the historical context. Did other significant events at previous times in Biblical history occur at the location in the text? For instance, in any of Paul’s epistles, what experience in the book of Acts led to him starting the church the letter is written to? Do those experiences shed light on things he says?

Further Fuel: Psalm 119:160; Acts 17:11.