As I write this blog I am spending the night with my 90 year old Mom in the old house where I grew up. My Dad and his brothers and sisters (eight of them) were all born in this very house. I am doing an interim pastorate near where my Mom lives so I spend Sunday nights here to give my sister a night off as she is the principle care giver for my Mom.
I just finished my devotion and began to think about the decisions made in this very room where I slept last night. I did my home work in this room, stored all my stuff, talked on the rotary phone (ok I am old!), and read my Bible most nights.
One strong memory took me back to my senior year of high school. On a cold December night I was reading a devotion magazine and read a quote that God used to rock my world. The quote said this, “The world is far more ready to receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ than Christians are to hand it out.”
The Holy Spirit took that quote and nailed me. I was vice president of my class, involved in lots of clubs, first trumpet player in the band, attended church every week, but I had not intentionally shared the Gospel with my high school friends. I was so convicted by this that I got on my knees by my bed and asked the Lord to forgive me for not sharing and promised not to pass up any opportunities the remainder of my senior year.
The second part of my senior year was phenomenal. I did not know that the Lord was also speaking to several other friends in my high school. A group of us started to carry our Bibles each day to school and began to meet to pray and share testimonies and soon we received invitations to lead worship services at various churches throughout our county. About the same time this was occurring, the Asbury revival broke out in Wilmore, Kentucky. You can read about that in the book, One Divine Moment. Three of us from my high school actually drove over to Asbury and witnessed firsthand this great move of God on that campus.
It was an amazing year that carried over as I went off to college and got involved in Baptist Campus Ministry (back then it was the Baptist Student Union) where I got to use my spiritual gifts, serve as president one year and met my wife. That experience so long ago taught me many things that I seek to practice today. The main life lesson is this, “when we share our faith we grow spiritually.” As I made the commitment to intentionally share my faith, my spiritual life grew exponentially.
Church members often share with me that they feel they are not growing much and are stuck in their spiritual growth. I always ask, “Are you attempting to verbally share your faith on a regular basis?” The most frequent answer is “no.”
If we step out on faith and allow the Holy Spirit to use us as His witnesses, we will grow. If we choose not to share, we will stagnate spiritually. God wants to use you today to share Christ with people you meet. He has some “divine appointments” already made for you. Will you keep those divine encounters and share Christ? If you do get ready for some new spiritual growth in Christ! Proverbs 11:30 says, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.” NKJV
Keep the Son in Your Eyes,
Mike James
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Thank you Tony and blessings as you serve!
Thank you for reading it my friend!
Brother Mike, that’s a great connection to point out. Thank you for giving this challenge.
Thank you brother for sharing this very personal experience. I will definitely use this when I meet with our leadership team this Saturday. I will be sharing with them what I learned at the Healthy Church Conference in Fresno.
God Bless You and thank you for your impacting ministry
Pastor T