July 12, 2022 Verse Of The Day
Witness
Exodus 18:8 Tell What God Has Done
Moses told his father-in-law about everything the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake and about all the hardships they had met along the way and how the Lord had saved them. Exodus 18:8
As one goes through life there are many different challenges that he must face. Many will find different ways to overcome those challenges in their own strength and abilities.
People will be proud to talk about how they overcame a problem and will often forget to talk about how others may have helped them in the process. God is seldom seen in the picture.
When Moses father-in-law came for a visit, Moses told him all that God had done for them in rescuing them from Pharaoh and meeting their needs in the wilderness.
Since God is invisible and works in the background of what is going on in one’s life, people often forget to talk about what He has done or is doing. Instead of putting the focus upon God, the focus is placed on self and what one has done.
Having the right focus is important for a believer. One will realize that it is God who gives abilities to overcome the difficulties and challenges thrown his way. Instead of bringing focus to himself, he will point to God and His strength, power and abilities, knowing that he is unable to do anything in and of himself.
As the believer tells others about what God has done, it is being a witness of who God is. This is spreading the gospel message as Jesus commanded all believers to do.
It is also encouraging to other believers who are still in the process of learning and growing in Christ Jesus. And all of it is giving glory to God to whom it belongs.
Over the time of your life, you have most likely been through various challenges in which God has helped you get through. Do not hold this information back from other people but be willing to share what God has done for you.
Let the world know what God has done so that they may know who God is and what He is like. As it will encourage others, it will also help remind you of who is in control and did the work, taking the focus off of yourself and placing it upon God.
Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will recognize what God has done in your life; that you will tell others of what God has done; that other people will see who God is through your words; and that God will continue to meet all of your needs in His way.
Acts 10:28 Give Them A Chance
He said to them: “You are well aware that is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean.” Acts 10:28
Society has often divided itself into different segments in which each does not mix with the other. Some common divisions are the extremely wealthy don’t mix with the extreme poor, or the prim and proper don’t mix with the drug-addict criminal.
This is often done to keep up appearances or to keep from being affected by the lower classes of society.
Peter, a Jew, was called to visit with Cornelius, a Gentile. As Peter meets with them he lets them know that it is normally against the Jewish law for them to meet, but that God has told him that no person is unclean to the point of not being able to meet with them at all.
In the same way that the society has different classes that don’t often mix, the church acts in the same way with others, both inside and outside the church.
There are many believers who will not associate with believers of a different denomination, believing the others are sinners being condemned to hell for their beliefs. Along with avoiding other believers, they refuse to go around and visit with non-believers for fear of being contaminated with sin.
Acting in this way does not give people a chance to believe in or even hear the truth about Jesus. It writes them off before they can hear about Jesus.
When Jesus walked on the earth, He met with anyone and everyone, regardless of status or ethnicity. As the church began to grow, the apostles learned to do the same.
Every believer needs to meet with the unbeliever to give him a chance to believe in Jesus.
There are people in your life who are of a different social status or belief than you. Each one needs a chance to hear the gospel message. God will open doors for you to meet with these people, so that you can tell them about what Jesus has done for them.
Do not allow yourself to be like the Jewish people and refuse to meet with them out of fear of being contaminated. Go in the power and strength of the Holy Spirit and bring the gospel message of salvation to them. Without it, they are dying.
Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Savior; that God will give you boldness to be His witness; that you will tell everyone you meet about Jesus; that you will give every person a chance to accept or reject Jesus; and that God’s kingdom will be built up through you.
Acts 8:13 Everyone Can Change
Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw. Acts 8:13
While most people feel as if they are completely set in their ways of thinking, there are times when they can change their thoughts. Some event or something said to them can occur that gets them to thinking in different ways.
Often this cannot be foreseen until it actually occurs. There are no signs that there is coming a change in thinking until it happens. The world likes to push certain thoughts a little everyday, in every way possible, to get people to change their thinking.
Philip was going around preaching the gospel message and healing people. Many started believing in Jesus. One of them who believed was Simon, a very famous sorcery in the area.
Although most believers in the church will say that anyone can begin to believe in Jesus and be saved, many also do not feel that there are certain people who could ever be saved. When they look at these certain people, they see them as beyond all hope.
As a result of this type of thinking, many will not even attempt to be a witness to those people.
Jesus told the disciples to be a witness to everyone in the world, not just to certain groups or types of people. He wants to save every person. He wants every person to have a chance to be saved.
Since the time of Philip the message has not changed and there are people who still need to know Jesus as their Savior. Those who are believers in the church need to go out and proclaim the message of salvation to everyone and anyone that they can come across.
Only God knows which ones will choose to change and believe.
If you are a believer in Jesus, someone had taken time at some point in your life to share with you the gospel message of salvation through Jesus. It did not matter if you were a really bad person or just a sinner with decent morals the message was shared and you believed.
In the same way, give everyone a chance to accept or reject Jesus by sharing the message with them. Do not look at the hardness of their heart, but how big God is and how He can change hearts.
Anyone can change, if given the chance.
Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Savior; that you will share the message of Jesus with all you meet and know; that God will draw many to Jesus through you; and that God’s kingdom will grow through your witness.
Acts 5:42 Never Stop
Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah. Acts 5:42
In order to get something big accomplished a person must start and keep going. As he is going, there will often be some difficulties or troubles that attempt to stop him. Instead of allowing those troubles to stop him, he must push forward and keep doing what he wants, or else he will never accomplish his goal.
Most will give up, when they hit a mountain of troubles.
Peter and some other apostles had been preaching the gospel message, when they were caught and put in prison. Upon a warning and a release, they went back out and continued openly to proclaim the good news of Jesus everywhere.
When Jesus left the earth the last thing He told the disciples to do was preach the gospel in all of the world. At that time the world had a large population, spread across the entire world. Today that population has grown extremely exponentially to over seven billion people.
Along with the growth of the population, the need to spread the gospel message has also grown.
Every believer has an opportunity, every day to tell someone something about Jesus and the good news of salvation. Sadly, many will want to talk about the weather, sports, work or something else. They have chosen to stop telling people about Jesus, because they may be ridiculed or persecuted and hated.
Jesus and the disciples kept moving forward with the message, despite any troubles. In reality, the more trouble there was, the more they spread the gospel message.
Believers have the need and the mandate to spread the gospel message. The world needs this message and they cannot stop, until everyone has heard it.
Throughout your life you may have attempted some big projects. Some you may have accomplished, while others you stopped because of problems.
The largest and greatest project you have to work on is getting the gospel message out to everyone you can. As you accomplish this task, people will be saved and be given true, eternal life.
If you chose to stop spreading the gospel message, people will die in their sins, never having true, eternal life.
Despite the problems and troubles, don’t stop spreading the gospel message. Make it your highest priority to keep it going to all the world.
Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Savior; that God will give you the boldness to preach His gospel message; that you will tell everyone you meet about Jesus; that God will give you strength to keep going; and that God will strengthen you in times of trouble and persecution.
Insights From Tom 