Forget Telling Someone About Jesus... Tell Everyone

 This past weekend I went on a college retreat with my church in Tennessee and on the way there, my friends and I discussed the topic of witnessing, Christianity, and disciple making. It was a beautiful time of fellowship and conviction, but at one point in the conversation as we were discussing the need to spread the gospel, one of my friends mentioned that we don't have to drop everything and go share the gospel, in fact we don't have to go out of our way at all everytime, rather we just have to open our mouths everywhere we are already going. His awesome comment struck me right where it hurt, and I realized we don't have to go to Africa or Europe or the dark spots of our cities just to spread the gospel, (even though I am in no way excusing that either) rather I am pointing out that we can no longer use it as an excuse. We are not to determine where and to whom it is appropriate to share the good news, for that gives too much responsibility to our perception, and not enough to our Spirit. We set ourselves up for deception when we allow ourselves to be persuaded that the pretty places, pretty people, or just plain normal environments are not as in need of Jesus as those that are poor and broken. What an illusion! God showed me that we, the Body of Christ, have fallen hard over this lie, and we dismiss it because we give our perception priority over the Spirit and thus give ourselves permission to keep our mouths closed. My friend shared with me that I do not necessarily have to drop my day everyday to share the good news, rather God has allowed me to keep the scattered destinations on my to do list so that everywhere I go I am given another opportunity to witness. It is no coincidence the many different or same people we cross paths with everyday! We pray to God for opportunities to share Him with others, and everyday those opportunities stare us right in the face, but we have it in our minds that sharing the gospel must look this certain way or be in this certain environment, when in reality the enemy has used our expectations as stumbling blocks to prevent us from witnessing in anything less than perfection. The truth is that no time, place, or person is absolutely convenient and perfectly just waiting for you to make the move. Sharing the Gospel is a priority because it interrupts everything we call reality, and it requires us to bring the Kingdom of God everywhere we go, not just the mission trips, retreats, or saturdays downtown. Rather, it means opening your mouth in line at the bank, and to the lady at the drive- thru window, your teacher, the person behind you in your Science class, the person you haven't talked to all year in your History class, the person in Math class that no one else talks to, the lunch lady, the cashier, the librarian, the Islam or Buddhist, your friends, your brother, your sister, your Mom, and your Dad. And that is just in one day. But the sad part is that if we as Christians remain so uneasy about stepping out of the illusive routine our everyday holds, then how can we expect those around us who know nothing about what life is really for- which is God- to have any anchor of reassurance that them stepping out for this God thing is worth it if we ourselves cant even take the first step that displays the faith that we know it is worth it? Why should we ask the world to do anything different for God than we do? I have realized that our commitment to Christ as Christians is lacking, and how pitiful is that! That the One we claim is our God, our Lord, and our Savior is the only One we never have enough guts, time, or willingness to talk about. I refuse to be in denial of being ashamed of Christ, because I look at my actions and they speak words much different than what I would enjoy hearing. Sharing the gospel with one person once a month or even just once a week is not good enough. I no longer want to be ashamed of Christ, but rather be ashamed of being ashamed of Christ. This past weekend I said to my friend, "I really want to do this. I really want this to be more than words this time, and truly make this discipline a reality in my everyday life. I am going to do it!" And ladies, I want you to do it with me! Everywhere we go there is room for us to open our mouths about the truth of Christ Jesus. Make it a point everyday and in every new environment you enter into. We must force ourselves to get into this routine even if we don't feel like it. I started practicing this on sunday night. The retreat I went on ended Sunday, and it was Sunday night at IHop that the Lord reminded me, "Jessica, now is time to hold up to the commitment." The college ministry goes to eat after playing a sport after service on Sundays, and as we were eating there was a table across the room loaded with 5 girls who looked about my age and as I saw them it was then that I felt God say, "Go." I remember feeling nervous, and a little intimidated, but more than ever the thought that I had an option rang in my mind stronger than ever. But I remembered what God had been teaching me with discipline and not giving my flesh the privilege of being an option. So I shared the conviction with my friends across from me and with no hesitation they moved the tables aside to let me out and went over with me to go talk to them as like an ice breaker. Come to find out, one  of the girls could sing and we asked her to sing for us. She sang some gospel for us and we clapped a beat for her right there in the middle of IHop. My friends eased out as I continued further talking to the girls, and then after my friends were gone I asked the girls if I could share the gospel with them. I went through the 8 points and one of them half way through even said "come on with it girl." None of them received Christ, but I have a feeling one of them it may have planted a seed. The girl who could sing said she lived in Christ and in realizing she was already a sister in Christ,  I wrote the 8 principles down on the back of a receipt so that she and any of the others could use it to witness to others. It was all God that night, and He gave me the opportunity just like I prayed for, but He showed me that opportunities are everywhere- it just takes eyes seeking to be obedient to recognize them. The next day I went to a thrift store on my way home and shared the gospel with the owner, then when I came home and shared it with my dad. The routine is not prefect and nothing is, nor is it predictable, because its just committing to sharing the Gospel, but I am determined to stick to it. Ladies, God said "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation."- Mark 16:15. Notice how there is a period at the end of that sentence. There is no continuation of that verse that also says "... when it is convenient for you." There is no such thing as convenience in this Jesus thing. When the Spirit moves and produces fruit, it rides on the heels of discomfort, for it is impossible to be faithful and your flesh be comfortable. Become friends with this uneasiness of stepping out throughout your day to share the truth that has saved you. Get familiar with this practice and do it everyday! God hasn't given you another day just to prepare you for another day- this 24 hours was given to you to get closer to Him and to share Him. All things are for this one thing. It is now up to you. Since God has given us everything we need through Christ Jesus, we are now able to make everywhere we go an opportunity for fruit to be planted or harvested. Quit wasting time thinking of all the reasons why you shouldn't open your mouth, and just do it. The longer you wait, the greater you are allowing your flesh to have a say in what your going to do. Rid your flesh of the privilege of being an option. Refuse to debate with yourself about doing the good thing, for you already know what the flesh wants and it is the extreme opposite of the Spirit. Ladies, sharing the gospel is step 1 in exercising your faith. It is time we grab hold of the basics and refuse that making such a choice be just a phase, but rather a routine we can finally build off of. Lets break the silence of our stagnation with the sound of our determination as we move our feet forward to spread the Gospel! Lets be real women of God who are consumed with the reality that Jesus saves, and lets do it now. 


 "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!" - Isaiah 52:7


"How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"- Romans 10: 14- 15


"As God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it. For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you." Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.
We live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault with our ministry. In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food. We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love. We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense. We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors. We are ignored, even though we are well known. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed. Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything." - 2 Corinthians 6:1- 10


Challenge: Last week you were encouraged to practice discipline for the sake of discipline. How did it go? What obstacles did you face that almost compromised your commitment? Write them down by day in your prayer journal and find the overarching theme. For example, if you went to go run Tuesday night and you went to a friends house to stay the night and instead of asking her to run with you, you reasoned it was excuse enough not to run and then wednesday night you were super exhausted and didn't feel up to it and felt that was excuse enough to skip out too and just told yourself you would make up for it thursday, then the overarching theme would be excuses. The point in this exercise is for you to be able to see how the enemy uses big, yet subtle things, to dictate your actions if you let him. I want you to figure out the bait he is using to keep you from completing your commitments because whatever you have allowed him to use to prevent you from running this past week is more than likely the same thing preventing you from witnessing, reading the Word, achieving your goals, doing your homework, etc. It is very important that you do this exercise and figure out the strategies he has set up against you. Do not allow him to use the very strategy he has been pinning on you to make you fall last week to keep you down this week. That's right, the ladders are going to increase! It will be tougher for those that opted not to do this weeks running, but only as tough as long you let the enemy keep you out of the game. Were going to move up to 7 ladders instead of 6, and I would encourage all of you to do the full 7 because were only going to keep moving up. Plus, I want you to use the discipline you have been building from this past week and let it overflow into another routine of sharing the Gospel. We are going to establish the practice of physical discipline and spiritual discipline everyday. It is going to require you to open your mouths everywhere you go ladies, and to move your feet. By the end of this week, if you are faithful to this commitment of sharing the Gospel everywhere you go and to at least one person in each new location, you will have shared the gospel with at least 21 people minimum: 3 places a day will mean 3 different people a day, 7 days in a week equals 21, (but more is encouraged). Below are the 8 principles of the Gospel just in case you forgot them (hopefully you didn't), write them down, and memorize them. You should be able to recite them in your sleep by the end of this week. As women of God, we are not weak nor are we scared, thus it is high time we stop acting like it. Push yourselves this week ladies, because as you accept this challenge you will become a prime target for the enemy, but just remember, satan isn't concerned with the stagnant, he is concerned with those that are determined to be agents of change. Expect nothing less than hard, expect nothing less than Christ, and don't quit. You think you can take the heat? Then lets see it, and this time... lets hear it too.


8 Principles of the Gospel: 
1. God is a creator God
2. The fulfillment of prophecy
3. Jesus is fully man and fully God
4. Jesus died on the cross for our sins
5. Jesus rose from the dead
6. Jesus ascended to the right hand of God
7. The Holy Spirit came upon men
8. The second coming