Series: Sharing Your Faith
Part One: Through Words
By: Kristen L. McNulty
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If someone asked you right now what the Gospel message is, would you be able to tell them? Would you brush off the question, stumble over words or would you be able to give a clear presentation? If your answer is anything but the last, then listen up because tonight's message is for you.
Before you turn off the radio, let me tell you something. If you have a hard time sharing your faith through words, I can relate. I'm not exactly the type of person who you'd call an evangelist either, but no matter if you're Billy Graham or Kristen McNulty or fill in the blank for your name, Jesus gave us all the same commission. Before He left the world, He gave us all one assignment to complete while He's physically absent from this place. It's found in Matthew 28, verses 18 to 20
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
That commission is for all believers. Now some of your friends may have no trouble at all talking about Jesus, while you may faint at the idea and that's okay. We're all wired differently, but that shouldn't stop us all from following the same commission.
Yes, it's going to be harder for you to step out of your comfort zone and share Jesus with someone, but let me share a secret with you. If God has His hand on your life, which I'm positive He does, then He's going to have His hand on your mouth as well.
Let me share a little story with you. A couple years back I was called to do a presentation in English class. The teacher assigned every student a poem. We had to get up in front of the class, read the poem out loud, then break it down line by line. It so happened that I got "The Hollow Men" by TS Eliot, which if you've never read it, let me tell you there's lots of religious symbolism in it. I thought to myself, this is great. I can share the Gospel with my classmates all under the cover of a poem, and the best part is I can have the whole thing written out ahead of time so I can't mess up!
I spent hours researching and preparing the presentation and made sure that my little tidbits on the religious aspect were all written out. The day to present came, and Miss Shy herself got up to the front of the class, read out the poem and then went through the presentation. As soon as I was done, I thought that wasn't too bad. I started to pick up my papers and head back to my seat when my teacher stopped me, "wait, I've got a few questions." I quickly prayed, "Lord, help. Please."
My teacher and fellow students started firing questions at me, all having to do with the Christian symbolism in the poem. I am telling you, what happened next was just awesome. It was almost as if Kristen was sitting in her seat and someone else was answering those questions. The Holy Spirit was totally speaking through me. Just to give you an example, I'll share one question that was asked. The girl said: "What do you think the broken stone represents." I personally, being only one years old as a Christian, had no idea. Out of my mouth came the words: "I think those probably represent the tablets that Moses smashed that contained the ten commandments."
I am telling you, I didn't even know that I knew that Moses had smashed the ten commandments. No, what happened in that classroom that day was supernatural.
What happened to me isn't an isolated or freak incident. I've heard the same story with different details too many times. The truth is if God opens the doors for you to share your faith with someone, He isn't going to leave the scene. If you allow Him to, He will speak through you. But the key is allowing Him too.
So many times we think we're so good and we can do it all on our own. Speaking our own words aren't going to make an eternal difference in anyone's life. But speaking God's words will.
So how do we do it then? How do we allow God to speak through us when witnessing? The main tip I can give you is to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and when He puts something on your heart, don't be afraid to say it. And how do you tell the difference between God's Spirit and your own thoughts? By learning what He sounds like and you do that by spending time with God, whether it's in prayer or in the Word. You can't recognize someone's voice if you never spend any time with them, the same goes for God.
In closing, I'd like to read a quote. Howard Hendricks said: "In the midst of a generation screaming for answers, Christians are stuttering." In many cases, that's true. Let's you and I commit to reversing this trend.
This devotional was aired as a part of the Making A Difference Christian Radio Show.