Daily book quote;

Matthew chapter 28 records these words of Jesus “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."  This is a process we often refer to as witnessing or evangelism. It means telling people about Jesus —and what He has done in your life; something most Christians believe they should do, but rarely ever accomplish.

    Why is that? If witnessing is such an important task (and it is), why do we have such a hard time with it? Notice I use the word we. Pastors aren’t some kind of Christian super heroes. This is an area that is also difficult for me a lot of times. Our difficulty stems from a number of reasons, including but not limited to: fear and uncertainty about what to say or do. This morning, I want to help us understand our role as a witness, and hopefully, in the process, we will be able to let go of the pressure and anxiety that often accompany us causing spiritual stress. Remembering that intentional living means having PURPOSE, DISCIPLINE and RESULTS, let’s look at being an intentional witness.

    First, the purpose of witness.  A witness is one who gives testimony concerning something they have seen or experienced first hand.  This means that the only people who can give testimony about Jesus are those who have actually had a personal experience with Him.

A witness is intended to shed personal light on the work of God in the world. We cannot operate on a purely theoretical basis—we must give flesh and blood to the Bible.  It’s one thing for a person to hear that Jesus can change lives; it’s something totally different for family, friends, and coworkers to see the fruit of a life Jesus has changed.

Daily book quote;

Make the time to get to know God on a daily basis. Read the Bible - Get a version you can really understand. (There are no anointed versions.)  Pray—just talk to God--Tell God how you feel. Ask God to let his will be done in your life. Ask God to meet your needs. Ask Him to forgive your sin. Ask Him to help you fight temptation. Tell him when your angry, tell him when you are happy, tell him when you are disappointed or you don’t understand. You can’t tell God anything He doesn’t already know! He just wants to spend time with you. Put a better relationship with God at the top of your priority list.

    I have given you this definition of an intentional life:  “An intentional life is one with purpose that is followed by a steady disciplined determination until the desired results are realized.”  Make that the definition of your relationship with God. Pursue his purposes with a bold and steady determination until you become exactly what he wants you to become. Remember that it’s a process; it’s a marathon, not a sprint. It will not happen overnight. 

Daily book quote;

The number one priority in the spiritual area of our lives is a closer relationship with God. It is my conviction that to fall short in this area will leave us open to possible disaster in all the other areas of life.

    Ironically, as with most priorities, it is easy to neglect the discipline needed to care for this relationship. It doesn’t scream for attention. You can go through some days and hardly even think about God or your relationship with Him; except for an occasional Sunday. It is this danger that powerfully emphasizes its importance. Our relationship with God is one that requires constant maintenance, constant awareness, and must be a part of our daily living. We need to have some sort of daily time with God. Whether that time is in study, prayer, devotionals, meditating, or whatever, it is important that we take the time and make the time to do it.

    Whether it is our spiritual area, our family area, our physical health area, or any of the eight, we all know people who are gonna do this and gonna do that, but this gets in the way; and that happened; the time wasn’t right; and there is always a reason why they didn’t accomplish what they “intended” to do.  That’s exactly what this  is about!  Purposely, or intentionally doing those things and not allowing “this” or “that” control our lives.

    Jesus’ words in Mark 12:31—“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength; and Love your neighbor as yourself” are the types of things that we could write on a piece of paper and then list an endless list of ways to do just that.  But, as with all eight areas of life, unless we make an intentional plan; a spiritual “time budget”; we will not do much of anything toward loving God or our neighbor. It will just be another one of those things we “intended” to do. And, “If we always do what we have always done; we will always get what we have always got!”