Boldness: September 17, 2012

TODAYS WORD FOR MONDAY SEPTEMBER 17, 2012.

BOLDNESS

DEFINITION:

Courageous; brave; fearless; undaunted; self-assured.

SCRIPTURE:

Great is my boldness of speech toward you; great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation. II Corinthians 7:4.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

“Political correctness” is a term heard frequently these days. It is becoming increasingly difficult for Christians to speak out with boldness about their faith. Prayer is no longer allowed at many public events because it might offend someone and be “politically incorrect.”Even the display of religious symbols such as crosses, manger scenes, and the Ten Commandments are considered “politically incorrect.” This is intimidating to believers and makes them more concerned about what the world thinks than obeying God’s command for us to be witnesses to a lost and sinful world. This should be a deep concern and a wake-up call for all believers.

Some of the most powerful passages of scripture in the Bible are the Apostle Paul’s accounts of his journeys and imprisonments. Paul’s words are powerful because he wrote with conviction about what he personally had experienced. During this time Paul wrote to the church at Philippi that he was not ashamed to have been serving Jesus. Paul also wrote that it was a privilege to suffer for Jesus. Paul looked for every opportunity to speak with boldness about Jesus and sharing with others God’s plan of salvation. He was not ashamed to speak boldly of his faith regardless of the consequences.

Paul knew the reality of persecution for the first century believers. Before his conversion he had been a persecutor of Christians. And then after he became a believer he was beaten, stoned and thrown into prison because of his faith. Paul did not let any of that persecution stop him from preaching with boldness. Even while in prison, Paul spread the good news of the gospel by writing letters to the churches he had helped establish.

As he waited in a lonely place during his last imprisonment, he wrote the church at Philippi asking them to pray for him that as he stood trial he would in no way be less bold than he always had been for Christ. Paul’s desire was to have a bold testimony whether he lived or died. In Paul’s own words (1:20) he wanted Christ always to be magnified in his body, whether by life or by death.

There are not too many Christians today that are bold in declaring their faith in Jesus. Some of the boldest that we have seen are children. We have mentioned before in these devotionals about one of our grandchildren who was in the hospital waiting for an emergency appendectomy. Before they put him to sleep, the doctor walked in and asked if he had any questions. Our seven year old grandson said that he had one question. He asked. “DO YOU KNOW JESUS?’ The Doctor said “Yes” and our grandson had no more questions.

How many people in your family are bold enough even to ask their friends whether they know Jesus? It is not easy to be outgoing and bold about our faith. We believe the Lord wants us to be courageous in living our faith and consistent in showing our moral standards so others will see that we are living a consistent Christ honoring life. Then when someone asks you about seeing something different in your life, you can respond with boldness about your faith. We must live boldly and we must speak boldly regardless of the consequences. Time may be running out because Jesus may be returning at any time.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Philippians 1:6.

Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

PRAYER:

Thank You for the examples that are in Your Word concerning my need to be bold about my relationship with You. Help me to respond to every opportunity that comes my way to be bold about my relationship with You.