Tag: boldness

Voice Recognition

In a recent conversation with a friend, I recounted a situation that left me feeling kind of yuck in my heart. Ninety-nine percent of the time, running brings a lot of joy and goodness to my world. Time to commune with the Lord, escape from the worries of the day, and work hard. But in this particular scenario, I allowed my frustration to get in the way and have a negative attitude about someone in a race. As time went by, instead of feeling content with my effort or even victorious of the outcome, I was left feeling pretty blah and embarrassed about the thoughts going through my head about this other athlete. It definitely took away from the joy of the hard work.

Most friends, when hearing this story, would brush it off and say hey, that other athlete has issues. Don’t worry about it, we all have negative thoughts. She said some pretty rude stuff in the past, anyone would think those thoughts. Shake it off.

But not this friend. She’s a wise truth-teller. She made a point of saying, ‘if you’re feeling that press on your heart, I’m not going to speak contrary to the work the Holy Spirit is doing in your life’. She asked me some really insightful questions to help me get to the root of why the Holy Spirit was working on me in this area. Multiple times I have recalled the conversation, mostly her example to allow the Holy Spirit to work, and not gloss over it, justify it, or try to absolve my conviction. There’s definitely a time to lift someone up, and there’s a time to allow the Holy Spirit’s conviction to do his work. My friend had the wisdom to know the difference, and clearly she is filled with the Holy Spirit herself.

I’m reminded of this outline I came across years ago – which helped me pray and process through different thoughts. It can be HARD to distinguish between thoughts from the Holy Spirit, my own thoughts, or even thoughts from the enemy. I love this tool to help recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit:

When we recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit, we can continually empty our hearts and minds of other voices, and make more room for him.

Today’s reading is all about Stephen, Acts 6-7. He’s often remembered as the first martyr, stoned to death, but his testimony begins much before his stoning.

The early church was growing in size in Jerusalem and they needed to differentiate roles. Specifically, they sought out disciples that were filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom, to coordinate the needs and sharing across the body of believers. Stephen was chosen, and recognized as a leader in the church. As the church grew and multiplied, Stephen kept showing up, with more grace and Holy Spirit power, miracles following. Fear spread across the Jewish leaders. They made false accusations against him (claiming he was going against Moses), and chapter 7 outlines Stephen’s response. Picture a courtroom setting and this is his closing statement to the Sanhedrin (the same Jewish council that sent Jesus to his death). Again, so filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom, Stephen rehearses for them how they are behaving just as their fathers did and resisting the Holy Spirit. From Abraham, to Jacob, to Joseph, to Moses, to Joshua, to David… he pointed out salvation through Christ, and their history over time of disobeying God and persecuting his prophets. Stephen’s testimony of Jesus hit them right between the eyes. Verse 55 tells us that in that moment, being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the Glory of God and Jesus standing at his right hand. This enraged the Sanhedrin and they took him out and stoned him.

Because of this persecution, the church scattered, and the salvation through Jesus was brought to more parts of the world. Instead of Stephen being shut down through his death, instead his impact was multiplied! His witness of living a Holy Spirit filled life and boldly proclaiming the truth of Jesus, was the catalyst for the church growing outside of Jerusalem.

Yes, Stephen was stoned to death and the first Christian martyr. But much more than that is the life he lived, recognized for how the Holy Spirit filled him, equipped him, and strengthened him.

I can’t help but think of this hymn, All of Thee, that verse by verse shows the process of sanctification, from a life of pride and self, to a Spirit-filled life.

God, You are so faithful and abundant. Show me areas I need to surrender so I can continually be filled with the Holy Spirit. Amen

 

Boldness

Acts 4

I’m fired up to be studying the book of Acts. Although some of the financial advisors and interns I coach joke with me that I use the term “fired up” a lot, I chose those words strategically here. We moved to Bloomington-Normal, IL in 2011 and began attending Eastview Christian Church during a yearlong study of the book of Acts. Although I’ve attended church most Sundays my entire life (except for a hiatus away in college which I pray our children don’t do), I didn’t know much about Acts except for the story of Saul, who was later called Paul and wrote a good portion of the New Testament, going blind for a brief time. Reading and learning about the disciples’ dangerous witness and the new church’s ridiculous love caused me to catch “fire” for the Lord like never before, and I’m praying I recapture that contagious excitement again and that you do as well.

I believe one the biggest pieces of proof that Jesus was who he said he was, the one true Messiah who was resurrected from the grave, lies in the fact Peter denied Jesus three times and most of the disciples were not to be found during and right after Jesus’ crucifixion. They were scared for their lives. Yet here in Acts 4, Peter and John speak boldly (that’s putting it lightly) to the same Jewish Council who just scourged and killed Jesus when questioned about a lame man they just healed in Jesus’ name in Acts 3. Can you imagine being captured and questioned for speaking in the name of the same person they just tortured and martyred not long ago? Still, Peter says in Acts 4:8-12…

8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus[a] is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.[b] 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men[c] by which we must be saved.”

I can just see Peter sending a text message to a friend a few days later telling him of what he said followed by Bitmoji of himself dropping the mic with #Boom after! Would Peter, who just denied knowing Jesus three times not too long ago, really have spoken at all, let alone with the boldness he does here, to the those who just killed Jesus if he had not seen Jesus alive with holes in his hands and side? To me, there is almost no greater proof in the Bible of the Resurrection and everlasting life than this!

Have you ever made a statement or done something under pressure in the heat of the moment that worked out really well and then thought after, “That was really dumb! What was I thinking? I’m glad that worked out ok, but I would never do that again!”? Well, Peter and John do the exact opposite here. After releasing them, the Council brings them back a second time to question them and tell them to not speak of Jesus and to go on with their lives threatening punishment. Still, they say in Acts 4:20, “for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” Wow.

It may seem strange, but I’ve often thought about what I would do if someone put a gun to my head threatening my life and asked me if I believe in Jesus. I’ve always believed I would speak with courage if I faced this situation. Instead of asking myself this question about the scenario which is (I hope) is highly unlikely to ever happen, I should be asking myself if I will tell my neighbor, co-worker, friend, or even a family member about the love and saving grace of Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection on Easter. We will talk with them about the game last night (as I have the NCAA Men’s basketball championship on right now and will probably be discussing it tomorrow), a TV show, a movie we just saw, or even a controversial political or social issue, but not about our knowledge, faith, and relationship with Jesus. Gang..this is serious stuff! We are talking about where they will spend eternity…as in “for-ev-er!” I had to lighten a serious topic up a little bit with The Sandlot reference there for movie fans. We must trust the Holy Spirit will give us the words to say as the Bible states here in Acts 4:8 and Acts 4:31. Let us not stop speaking boldly to others about what we have seen and heard today and every day. It may be the difference in where they spend eternity. I know that sounds like a lot of responsibility, but it’s NOT ON YOU once you decide to speak, it’s on the Holy Spirit, and most importantly, it’s NOT ABOUT YOU either!