What do you think of when you hear the word BOLDNESS?
There are many faces and pictures that flash through my
mind. Boldness is a word that many try to define. The greatest picture of
boldness was painted by a man who humbled himself. He came to earth to live a
perfect life and died a death that we deserved. Even though we may be good,
hard working, and try to do the right thing ....realizing that God is Holy and
nothing we could ever do would be enough. Nothing that would be the equivalent of pleasing himself enough to
earn or win our salvation and seat in heaven next to Him. No, it took a
perfect, spotless Savior. It took a man who considered equality with God
something that could NOT be grasped (as Jesus....we have no hope with our selfish, haughty attitudes). It took Jesus knowing why He was born. To come to earth to die and take on Him the sin of the world. Each one of us in the world. SO that we could
stand before the Lord, covered in the blood of the Lamb. What a boldness Jesus
had to know what He had to do. AND STILL CAME. He didn’t just come. But he
LIVED. He spoke, taught, preached, delivered, saved, raised, healed, discipled, and made
it his mission to full-fill His purpose. Boldness that prayed, Let this cup
pass from me. Not my will, but yours Lord. Boldness that was NOT OF THIS WORLD.
(Phil 2: 5-8)
That is a boldness type that this world does not know what to do with. Jesus defines boldness in how He lived. What
a boldness. What humility. The courage he exhibited with his life should always
serve as our example.
Why do we look or strive so hard to please this world? Why
do we exhaust ourselves so much toward missions that have deadlines that never fulfill
us? Instead set our sights, our hearts, and goals on Jesus. And living with the
kind of Spirit filled boldness to live as Christ lived. Knowing that God was
God. There was only one. And Jesus came as the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE. He
is the only way to the Father. By no other name are we saved from our
wretchedness and our hopelessness. It is the True, King Jesus. The King of Kings
and Lord of Lord that is coming again! Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!
Revelation 19:16
Phil 2: 12-16
Phil 3: 20-21
We wrapped up a fabulous bible study by Lisa Harper called Believing Jesus. I wrote this at the end of the study to remember so many things that He taught me through this study of Acts. Wow, just WOW! We need to not just be saved, baptized with water, but baptized through the Holy Spirit! The stories in Acts of how the Spirit moved and the beautiful record of JUST HOW MUCH the Spirit did and still does has to be told. And that is just the beginning if we will latch hard to the gospel of This TRUE King Jesus. The Spirit ignites us. The study also reminded us to Be regospeled. Remind yourself of the what Jesus did for you that is worth telling. Share your testimony. By the blood of the Lamb and the words of your testimony we each have a Gospel to share. Nothing is the gospel like the gospel of Jesus. (There's nothing our life could add to the gospel. The gospel is all about Jesus. That His life, death, and resurrection demonstrate a Savior that loved us before we could love Him. But He still died a death that no one would want. To SAVE us and provide us a way to God the Father.) The untainted story that needs no addition. That powerful story that Jesus came. Did the most incredibly powerful events, miracles while He was here. But when He left, He left us His trusted Holy Spirit and told us that He was leaving so that the Spirit could come. Because unlike Jesus who covered only land now called the Holy Land, The Spirit is everywhere all the time. With each of us. It makes this power in the name of Jesus possible because we have the Spirit living in us. Come Spirit come. And bring us Jesus!
