Randy & son Aaron

www.truthworks.com                 12 NOV 04                 devotion archive

CALLING ALL SAINTS

I tell you the Truth,

After the last devotion, I received a letter from my young friend in Perth, Western Australia, which pretty well sums up the question that most of us ask ourselves from time to time.  Oh yea, Joshua just graduated from high school last week, so CONGRATULATIONS Josh!

“Hi Randy,
I love getting your emails, I think they rock.  Anyway, I have a question which I’m sure every Christian goes through. From your last email, it stated that we should go into the cities and the streets with the good news. I am all for that, however, for me personally I would have a lot of trouble going up to a stranger and saying, “Do you know the Lord?” and fully preaching down on them.  I think this probably because they won’t believe me and these days as we are surrounded by science and other new age stuff, no one quite believes it anymore. What are some ways I can do to bring the good news to 'the streets' (I mean like my workplace, school, etc) without being preachy?
Thanks,
Joshua"

As usual, God has a better answer than I do, so let’s check out some words from Paul and see what kind of help we can find for ourselves.

1 Corinthians 3
⁵What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe--as the Lord has assigned to each his task. ⁶I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. ⁷So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. ⁹For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.
¹⁰By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. ¹¹For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹²If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, ¹³his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. ¹⁴If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. ¹⁵If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

So, according to Paul, we need to nail down a few facts before we even begin to worry about sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.

First of all, we’re all called to different tasks.  Some are called to plants seeds and some to water them.  Each task is important and God desires to use us for that task.

But then, Paul calls our attention to the One who makes seeds grow.  It is by God’s own power, through the Holy Spirit that seeds grow and develop within people.

So what does that mean to you and me?  It means that the salvation is God’s responsibility, not ours.  The real pressure is on Him, not us.  We’re simply, as Paul stated, God’s fellow workers or “co-workers.”  It is His work that we’re doing, not our own.  We are simply tools of His work.

So how does all this help me to wittiness to the lost?  This knowledge should help me to realize what my job is.  And with the knowledge that I am God’s fellow worker, it takes the pressure off me because I know that God is with me and it is His Spirit that is at work in the people that I come in contact with.

With that said, there are two things that I should add.  Pray and read your Bible.  It is through prayer and reading the scripture that we are strengthened for the tasks that God places before us.  I will guarantee you one thing – if you are not spending daily time in prayer and reading the Word, you will be weak in your spiritual life.  I’m not guessing, I’m stating a fact.

So, lean upon the Lord with all your might.  Realize your need in Him to do the work He calls you to do.  Depend upon His faithfulness.

And you will see His Spirit do wonderful things through you.

Your Servant,

Randy Hunt
randy@truthworks.com
2TIM 1:7

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