Dec 03, 2012
Read | 2 Timothy 1:6-12
The apostle Paul understood the awesome responsibility of being entrusted with the gospel. Since he considered this calling a stewardship for which he would one day give an account to the Lord, he was willing to suffer for Christ’s sake in order to complete the task. As believers, we have this same obligation to share the gospel with whomever God places in our lives. However, we must ask ourselves if we have a similar level of commitment.
Paul felt compelled to tell people about Christ. In fact, he said, “Woe is me if I do not” (1 Cor. 9:16). No matter how anyone treated him, he wasn’t ashamed of the message of Christ. The prophet Jeremiah had a similar experience (Jer. 20:7-9). Even though he became a laughingstock and was persecuted for delivering the Lord’s message of coming judgment, he discovered that not speaking created a worse feeling inside—like fire in his bones (v. 9).
We may not want to warn people about God’s judgment for fear of driving them away from Him. But in reality, the lost are already far from the Lord and need to hear about His offer of forgiveness. Paul was willing to die to get the message out, yet too often we’re not even willing to face a little discomfort in order to share our faith.
We are surrounded by people who are desperately hungry for something, and they don’t even know what. Yet we have the answer to their need—and the responsibility to share it. Never be ashamed of the best news ever offered to mankind. It can change someone’s eternal destiny.
God bless you!
Amen
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The Danger in Being a Christian: It began as a Jewish sect; fierce persecution only helped it spread
Acts 8 Acts 8:1 On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. In some countries, a person who becomes a Christian forfeits a good education and job. And in a few countries, a person who converts risks his or her life. One church historian estimates that more Christians were martyred in the twentieth century than in all preceding centuries put together. Yet, strangely, more often than not, intense persecution of Christians leads to a spurt of growth in the church. An ancient saying expresses this phenomenon: “The blood of martyrs is the seed of the church.” The First Big Advance For a while, the new faith enjoyed popular favor. But very soon it involved grave risk. In the book of Acts, the persecution that produced the first Christian martyr, Stephen, ironically brought about the advance of Christianity outside its Jewish base. Forced out of stormy Jerusalem, the scatterin...
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