"The time has come" He said. "The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news." Mark 1:15
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" Luke 4: 18-19
What do you do when you receive good news? Do you keep it to yourself? Never sharing it with others? For the most part, we share it with everyone within earshot. It's the kind of thing you cant withhold, it almost wants to burst out from within you.
That's how it should be in sharing the Gospel. The word gospel derives from the Old English meaning "good news" or "glad tidings". The gospel was considered the good news of the coming of Jesus. This includes His teachings, His ministry, and what He continues to do for each of us.
Do we treat it though as truly good news? Do we read it as life-changing news? Or, can we pick and choose what we want to follow and push those items to the side which make us uncomfortable? Are Jesus' words to us the good news or merely good advice we choose to follow occasionally?
I know that a lot of times for me that I choose to treat the words of Jesus as advice. I can either follow it or not. Kind of "thanks for the advice, Jesus but I can handle this my way". Usually, it's a subject he speaks of in the moment. I choose not to follow. You know like the "love your enemies" thing. Sometimes, I treat it with you don't really understand the situation Jesus. If you met this person, you'd understand why that's impossible.
As an aside - does anyone else talk to Jesus sometimes as if He were completely unaware of your situation? I know I do, too often if I am to be honest. There's a few times where I read Jesus' teachings and say to myself "I'm not sure I like where this is going" or "I don't know how I'll sell this to others"
Maybe, that's why we don't treat the Gospel in the same way as we treat other good news. We are afraid to point out Jesus because in some places, our lives don't reflect it. Or, perhaps we don't want to be asked the "tough" questions. Or, even its possible that standing up for Christ could get us some undue negative attention. So, we keep this more quiet and not to draw attention to it. Maybe we will talk about but only if the time is "right" and when it is "safe" to do so. If we wait for that moment, then we will never share it.
If you knew the cure for cancer, would you keep it to yourself? If you knew of impending danger, would you not warn anyone? If you had an answer to a crisis, would you stay silent? The answer to those questions is no. You wouldn't, not when it could save lives.
You have that now in your walk with Jesus. He is the answer to the sin problem we have, which is far greater than any cancer. We have already experienced the good news of Jesus. WE should be all sharing it. And we don't have to be such gifted speakers for this either. Talk about yourself and what God is doing in your life. We can easily talk about ourselves, in fact I'm pretty sure we are good at it. Just be sure to place the focus on where it belongs, on Jesus. It's not advice, but good news to share.
There's sure to be fear in the sharing. We don't know how people might react to it. So, we could shy away from doing it. That's OK we all run into that problem sometimes. Another aspect is that we're not sure what to say or feel confident in saying it. Sometimes I think we assume the only evangelism is talking Jesus non-stop or quoting bible verses. That's important, but not the only thing.
Maybe, its just listening to another person. Perhaps offering to help another person whether that would be physically or financially. Taking time out of your day and spending it with someone who needs it. Not once, do you have to quote the bible or even mention Jesus by name. But, you're sharing with your testimony of service. You're evangelizing by the way you walk. You're building relationships with others. And in relationships (rather than projects) deeper conversations can take place. A majority of the times I share the good news, it is not intentional it just happens naturally. People can sense when you are being real and natural and that's good. It happens if you only talk to someone once, or they've known you for years.
So, what I am saying here is twofold. We need to treat Jesus' words as the good news it truly is and let it change our lives. Secondly, we tell this good news to those around us the same way we share any other good news. The choice is ours as to what we do when we hear the Good News.
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" Luke 4: 18-19
What do you do when you receive good news? Do you keep it to yourself? Never sharing it with others? For the most part, we share it with everyone within earshot. It's the kind of thing you cant withhold, it almost wants to burst out from within you.
That's how it should be in sharing the Gospel. The word gospel derives from the Old English meaning "good news" or "glad tidings". The gospel was considered the good news of the coming of Jesus. This includes His teachings, His ministry, and what He continues to do for each of us.
Do we treat it though as truly good news? Do we read it as life-changing news? Or, can we pick and choose what we want to follow and push those items to the side which make us uncomfortable? Are Jesus' words to us the good news or merely good advice we choose to follow occasionally?
I know that a lot of times for me that I choose to treat the words of Jesus as advice. I can either follow it or not. Kind of "thanks for the advice, Jesus but I can handle this my way". Usually, it's a subject he speaks of in the moment. I choose not to follow. You know like the "love your enemies" thing. Sometimes, I treat it with you don't really understand the situation Jesus. If you met this person, you'd understand why that's impossible.
As an aside - does anyone else talk to Jesus sometimes as if He were completely unaware of your situation? I know I do, too often if I am to be honest. There's a few times where I read Jesus' teachings and say to myself "I'm not sure I like where this is going" or "I don't know how I'll sell this to others"
Maybe, that's why we don't treat the Gospel in the same way as we treat other good news. We are afraid to point out Jesus because in some places, our lives don't reflect it. Or, perhaps we don't want to be asked the "tough" questions. Or, even its possible that standing up for Christ could get us some undue negative attention. So, we keep this more quiet and not to draw attention to it. Maybe we will talk about but only if the time is "right" and when it is "safe" to do so. If we wait for that moment, then we will never share it.
If you knew the cure for cancer, would you keep it to yourself? If you knew of impending danger, would you not warn anyone? If you had an answer to a crisis, would you stay silent? The answer to those questions is no. You wouldn't, not when it could save lives.
You have that now in your walk with Jesus. He is the answer to the sin problem we have, which is far greater than any cancer. We have already experienced the good news of Jesus. WE should be all sharing it. And we don't have to be such gifted speakers for this either. Talk about yourself and what God is doing in your life. We can easily talk about ourselves, in fact I'm pretty sure we are good at it. Just be sure to place the focus on where it belongs, on Jesus. It's not advice, but good news to share.
There's sure to be fear in the sharing. We don't know how people might react to it. So, we could shy away from doing it. That's OK we all run into that problem sometimes. Another aspect is that we're not sure what to say or feel confident in saying it. Sometimes I think we assume the only evangelism is talking Jesus non-stop or quoting bible verses. That's important, but not the only thing.
Maybe, its just listening to another person. Perhaps offering to help another person whether that would be physically or financially. Taking time out of your day and spending it with someone who needs it. Not once, do you have to quote the bible or even mention Jesus by name. But, you're sharing with your testimony of service. You're evangelizing by the way you walk. You're building relationships with others. And in relationships (rather than projects) deeper conversations can take place. A majority of the times I share the good news, it is not intentional it just happens naturally. People can sense when you are being real and natural and that's good. It happens if you only talk to someone once, or they've known you for years.
So, what I am saying here is twofold. We need to treat Jesus' words as the good news it truly is and let it change our lives. Secondly, we tell this good news to those around us the same way we share any other good news. The choice is ours as to what we do when we hear the Good News.
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