Why Sinners Share the Gospel

Sabotaging a witness
by John Fischer from Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotion

A lot of Christians stay relatively quiet about their faith when in the company of those who don’t know Christ. There are probably lots of reasons for this, but the one I hear most frequently is the feeling of not being good enough. “Who am I to tell someone about Jesus,” the rationale goes, “when my own life is in such a mess?”

There is an improper assumption that goes along with this kind of thinking, that in order to witness for Christ you have to have a close to impeccable life. There’s a certain standard one has to live up to before being in a position to tell someone about Jesus. Otherwise, people will point the finger at you and spot your own inconsistencies.

The absurdity in this kind of thinking is the fact that no one, not even Christians, will ever have it all together in this life. Instead of being an excuse not to witness, the fact that we aren’t good enough should be the whole point. We tell people about Jesus because we know, better than anyone, how much we need him. When people throw our own inconsistencies up in our faces that is just another opportunity to tell our own story of how Christ has forgiven us on the cross and how much we need his salvation every day. So instead of being a threat to our witness, our faults and shortcomings are the very things upon which our witness hangs. If we were perfect, we wouldn’t need Jesus.

When I think of the essence of our statement as Christians to those who don’t know Christ, I always think of the blind man that Jesus healed by covering his eyes with mud and telling him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. (John 9:1-34) When the Jewish religious leaders got wind of it, they started to question the man extensively – wanting to know who healed him, how it happened, where the man who healed him was now, and even asking his parents to verify whether their son was in fact born blind. When they came back to the man and pressed him with questions a second time, accusing Jesus of being a sinner for doing work on the Sabbath, the man replied, “I don’t know whether he is a sinner … But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!” (John 9:25 NLT)

There’s our message: “I was blind, and now I can see; I was lost, and now I am found; I was guilty, and now I’m forgiven; I was alone, and now I have a friend.” It doesn’t take a perfect life to spread that message – just a saved one. So what’s keeping you from telling your story?

My response:
Many, many times I have missed the chance to share Jesus with people because of this.Yes, fear is one of the reason, but the feeling of inadequacy is definitely at the top. I am a sinner. I admit that I still sin andhave much to learn in my walk with Him. But at least now I know I could share despite all the shortcomings and "embarassment" I've committed in the midst of my friends. Thank you Jesus once again for saving my day!

The Blog updated! (dayofsalvation.co.nr)

As you have already notice, notweak.blog has gone "a step further" with a new look and feel (thanks to the new Blogger Beta). Also, the 'underlying ' message has also changed. The 'Day of Salvation' is my renewed passion to see God doing wonders through my blog, in my life, and in my community! With HOPE comes motivation, with motivation comes BREAKTHROUGH, with BREAKTHROUGH comes the fulfillment of GOD's WILL. Most importantly, whatever message that dayofsalvation .blog could bring, the most important is the message of SALVATION through our Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus. To Him be the glory forever and ever! Amen.

Oh yes, from now on, the new address for this blog/website will be dayofsalvation.co.nr . notweak.blog will still be available until further notice.

God bless you.

Motivation from Above

I remember my new year's resolution last year and I still keep it. It seems inappropriate to state everything I put down but one of the more "matured" goal was to bring 2 lives to Christ. And I did. I also have a joke for myself (arguably, it's not) that if I put down 200 or 2000, I was going to do it too. So it goes that resolution, goals, objective does account to something. It's not that it's a prophecy thing or what but I think it's got to do with the mind being subconciously aware and "motivated".

Which brings me to MOTIVATION. It's cold here in Hobart and it's foreign. I admit at times, especially recently, the 'fog' of being in a new environment, a new lifestyle, new friends could bring many to a sudden but (I insist) temporal state of lostness and indecisiveness. Sometimes I wonder what I will be in 10 years time or even in a year's time. Will the path I took be a downfall for me. Albeit the fact that I have been through some past stages of my life having this thought and has always been resolved (thank God), I again come to this point where I ponder upon the same. Socrates (or was it Aristotle) once said- "A life without purpose is not worth living"; I thus ask myself- what is the purpose where I am, what I'm doing and how I'm doing it. The answer must be MOTIVATION... I admit my weaknesses and my apparent lack of faith but I'm not going to pretend this is easy and this is nothing. It is something- the fact that "everything's gonna be alright" doesnt mean that I have no right to feel the way i feel- the way I think.

On mentioning rights, I should mention that anyone who criticize me and talks behind my back on what I do or have reservations in this respect have their rights to do so, too. But though most of us willnot change deep in us, I am changing to think less of what people think of me. In the past I might have been- and to a certain extend still, but I'm not here to please everyone. Your criticism I willingly and happily accept- if you let me know- and I will change to "A Better Man".

Just a thought.

Shalom
p/s: God was awake on the 11th of September 2001.