https://youtu.be/D1ZYhVpdXbQ?t=50
Gene Kelly’s performance of this is a classic. Oh that we would enjoy walking with Jesus and His Helper the Holy Spirit this much. I want the love of Jesus to splash over me and those whom I meet every day. How do we reach that kind of Christian walk? We need to saturate ourselves with Jesus so we walk splashing out the message of the gospel. Did you ever go walking after a strong rain shower? As a child, I loved to go walking in the rain. I loved to see the water splash up with each step. The bigger the splash the more fun I had. That is a picture of how we need to be in the world. With every step, we take the love of Jesus would splash in our paths.
Question of the day??
If we say we love Jesus but do not have splashes of his love as we walk, are we following his command to go and make disciples?
How are you spreading the gospel? If you are a child of God, then you have been given a command to go and make disciples of all the nations. (Matthew 28:18-20 NJKV).
How are you doing with that command?
In Acts, believers were given a similar command. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8 NJKV
Do you feel you have received the power to be a witness?
I bet if you are like most you said, “No.” Why do we have such trouble with telling people about Jesus? Most people feel inadequate to “do evangelism.” But that’s not what Jesus said! He spoke as if it were something everyone could do.
Why do we as Christians have such little power?
I am sure that I do not have all the answers to that question! Some of the answers that come to my mind are: we are afraid we will not be accepted or we will be considered intolerant, politically incorrect. We do not want to be “weird.”
Sometimes it all comes down to we do not know enough of God’s Word. Confidence will come when we dig into the Word. The Holy Spirit will recall to you the words you need. Most people think they will be asked questions for which they have no answers. That is OK. It proves we are humans in need of a Savior, a creator, and counselor. Remember Acts 1:8? It isn’t our responsibility to know all the answers. That is why Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to live in us. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” (Acts 1:8 NKJV)
So we ask, when do we receive the Holy Spirit?
“When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. He is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of the possession, to the praise of His glory.” (Ephesians 1:13-14 HCSB)
If you have believed and trusted Jesus as your Savior, you have the Holy Spirit’s power in you.
Why do we still feel inadequate?
Again, I do not have all the answers! I believe in my life the answer to that question came when I began to know who I was in Christ! I began the Christian walk, as we all do, as a newborn. We need nourishment for growth and knowledge. Babies have to explore and grow; so do newborn Christians. One reason we are so inadequate at sharing our faith is we do not know who we are in Christ because we have not studied God’s Word. It is not planted deeply in our hearts and minds. Sure, we memorized John 3:16 or Psalms 24. We know about Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Jesus wants us to walk deeper with Him. He wants to sing with us in the rain. He wants to laugh with us, cry with us when we hurt, and he wants to help us be bold to speak out for what He has done in our lives.
The following video was shared on Anne Graham Lotz’s blog. It is a picture of the last 2000 years and how the gospel has spread. “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and the the end will come.” Matthew 24:14 (NASV)
When we see in pictures how the message of Jesus has spread over the ages, I pray that we see the people around us everyday in a new light. Isaiah 9:2 (NKJV) says “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Jesus is that light and His light should shine in us.
People today are walking in darkness; they need to see His light in us. No man knows the hour when He will return. Can we continue to do business as usual when so many do not really have the kind of relationship with Him that is personal and real? If Jesus is real in our lives, others will see walking with Him as the great adventure that it is.
Splash on in the rain. There is joy in the rain (reign) of Jesus.
(Anne Graham Lotz – How the gospel spread)
Freda Reprinted from October 2016
