Friday, June 12, 2009

Boldness In Christ

Dear friends, 

My father once commented about the moon to my sister. He gave new perspective to her when he asked, "Isn't amazing that the same moon we are looking at now is the same moon that Jesus looked at many years ago." And I would agree to the same thing that yes, it truly is fascinating that we share the common view of the moon like that with Him, the Creator of the universe. As I was reading through Acts 7 this morning about the story of Stephen, my respect of preachers of the Gospel greatly increased. Here I am writing about the Gospel, but I don't get much heat for it. On the other hand, Stephen stands up in front of the High Priest and boldly calls them "stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, and resistors of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 7:51-53 ESV). If you ever needed an example of boldness friends, here is a prime example. We go on to find that the people are enraged, for they rush and him and then proceed to stone him. Stephen, on the other hand, isn't concerned with death. He is gazing at heaven, seeing the glory of God and Jesus standing at his right hand. Finally, when Stephen is near to death, he then cries out to the Lord to forgive the people that have just stoned him to death! I'm not sure about you, but this stuff is crazy. How many people do we see that on their deathbed forgive the people that have wronged them? The reason why I talk about this is to give you examples of faith in the Bible so that we can press on towards being bold in our own walk with Christ and take this as encouragement to never give up. I am speaking to both the young and the old when I say these words- You can always always always  be bold and stand for Christ no matter the situation. Kids say they are too young... Did Paul or Timothy think that people were too young to teach or be bold? This is what Paul urges to Timothy (who is a young man) in his letter to him- "Do not let others look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, and in purity" (1st Timothy 4:12 ESV). So apparently not, even if you are younger than an adult, you still can impact them and set a Christ-like example for them. As for the others, Christ calls everyone as a believer to speak the word boldly, and if you feel as if you can't; pray for boldness as in Acts 4:29-31 "And now Lord, look upon their threats and grant your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness....... And when they prayed, the place in which they were gathered was shaken, and they all were filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness." I urge your friends and brothers, to be bold in your walk with Christ and stand up even you are young, look at Stephen's story and be filled with the Spirit.

Grace and Peace to you,

Matt Galvin
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Mg

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