Tag: talk

Pray For Boldness

In the last post, we talked about not speaking up and out about what God has done in our lives. The world wants us to be quiet, but if God has done something great, let’s tell someone about it.

Peter and John left that meeting with the high priest and went back to their own company, the Bible says. I looked up that word “company” and two of its meanings are as follows: the fact or condition of being with another or others, especially in a way that provides friendship and enjoyment; a number of individuals gathered together, especially for a particular purpose. Your company tells a lot about you as an individual! The crowd you spend time with is who you are.

Peter and John went back to their own company, a group of believers whose main goal was to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ! After they heard what had happened, they had an on-the-spot prayer meeting!

“And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.” Acts 4:23-30

We as Christians should be more like this group in Acts. We need to learn to pray! They lifted up their voice to the Lord in one accord! As they prayed they asked for one thing and that was boldness to speak the Word!

When was the last time you asked for boldness to speak the Word? Have you ever asked for boldness? We need bold Christians! We need Christians who aren’t scared or deterred by the threats of the world! As this world gets worse and worse, we need to speak up and speak out about the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Ask for boldness every day! Ask for strength to be a witness!

Once they prayed, God answered!

“And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.” Acts 4:31

They asked for boldness to speak the Word of God, God gave them the boldness they needed to go out!

If you have seen and heard great things that God has done for you, don’t be afraid to tell someone! If you are afraid or shy or timid, ask God for boldness to speak His Word! If there is one prayer that God will answer besides the prayer of salvation, it is the prayer of boldness to speak His Word!

Pray for boldness everyday to share the Gospel of Christ!

Does the Cat Got Your Tongue?

The other week in church, we were asked to turn to Acts 4 to read some verses. Now one of the things I do, is I scan the rest of the verses of the page we were on just to see what the rest of the story is talking about or to see if any verses jump off the page at me. Well, this time a verse jumped off the page and I haven’t stopped thinking about it.

The verse that I have been thinking about is this, “For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” Acts 4:20

I found this verse interesting. The story is about Peter and John. They had just finished preaching and performing miracles in Jerusalem. They were used in such a great way that the Bible estimates that about 5,000 men believed. God did a great work that day and He used these two men to do it.

The high priest and his buddies heard what had happened and they found Peter and John and asked what they had done and whose name they had done it in!

“And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?” Acts 4:6-7

Peter stood up when he heard the questions and answered it in the form of a mini-message that had the Holy Spirit all over it!

‘Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.” Acts 4:8-12

The high priest and his men heard this message. It did not change their perception of Peter and John as they thought they were unlearned and ignorant men. It did make them marvel at the fact that they spoke with such boldness. Because the high priest was trying to get people to not talk about Jesus, he ended up threatening them. The interesting thing about these verses is that they knew that a miracle had been done, they just didn’t want other people to find out about it.

“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, Saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it. But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.” Acts 4:13-18

Peter and John heard this threat, but they were unfazed by it.

“But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” Acts 4:19-20

The point I want to come to after reading all these verses is that they couldn’t help but speak of the great things they had seen and heard in their service for and with Christ.

Hey Christian, why are you so quiet? Have you lost your voice? Does the cat got your tongue?

Has God not done something in your life in such a long time that you have nothing to praise God about? Have you forgot the joy you had when you first accepted Christ? Have you not realized everything that God has blessed you with?

The world’s message is growing stronger everyday! Part of the reason is because more and more Christians become quieter and quieter and don’t tell the story of Christ and His goodness to them.

No matter how loud the world gets, no matter how much the world threatens you, you shouldn’t be quiet, you shouldn’t shut up, you shouldn’t retreat! Let your voice be heard! Tell others about the saving grace of Jesus Christ! Tell others about God’s goodness in your life!

If you have lost your shout, ask God to give it back to you! Think about what God saved you from! Think about His goodness in your life!

You, as a Christian, have nothing to be quiet about! Go ahead and speak about what you have seen and heard in your own life!

Don’t let the cat get your tongue!

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Working or Talking, What Are You Doing?

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. Thomas A. Edison

In today’s generation this is a word that hardly anyone puts to practice.

To some it is a dirty word, they don’t want to say work, think about work or even attempt to work.

Work. If there is one thing my parents taught me, it was how to work. I remember as a kid having to do chores. I learned how to vacuum, do the dishes, clean the bathrooms and so much more. I learned at a young age to work hard and I’m so thankful that my parents taught me to work!

“For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.” ‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭5:3‬ ‭KJV

This verse is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. Simply it states that if you ever want to accomplish anything you have to work hard.

If you have a dream, a goal, a desire…you will have to work hard to see it come to pass. The greatest athletes didn’t become great just by sitting on the couch, they became great by spending hours and hours practicing and working on their game to become better. Whatever you want to do in life, you have to work hard.

I’ve seen people who talk more than they work and they wonder why they never accomplish anything. God’s Word tells us that a fool’s voice is known by the multitude of words. Foolish people are the ones who sit around and complain about how things are going. They are the ones who always have something to say about whatever is going on. The people that talk a lot are the ones who never get anything done.

Whatever your dream is? Whatever your goal is? Stop sitting around talking about it. Get up and start doing something to accomplish it!

Stop talking about what you are going to do for Christ! Stop talking about serving Him! Just start doing what you know to do as a Christian. If you start working for the Lord, He will bless you more then you will ever dream of!

You have to choose a side.

Be a worker or be a talker.

A worker accomplishes dreams and goals.

A talker talks about the one who is working, yet wants the success of the one who works!

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” ~ Thomas A. Edison