I will be giving the Gospel on Friday evening at a small café called 'Somewhere Else' in Cirencester. I don't know who will be there, don't know how many or where they will come from. I don't know their circumstances, or if they have any knowledge at all of the Lord Jesus - but one thing I am very clear about is my absolute inability to come up with a convincing word. I can hear the questions forming in my mind - the accusations from the enemy that I won't have enough or be enough or say enough. I can hear him telling me that maybe this isn't what the Lord would have me do - that maybe I should stick to what I know best - teaching believers - and though I know that every single believer who has ever walked this planet has a commission from the Lord to 'go and make disciples' still I am plagued by doubts about the way I am doing it or the place or the time.....
I'm wondering if I really care about those complete strangers - am I really bothered about their eternal destiny? Do I have the right attitude? Do I love them with the love of Christ and will He really give me what I need to say when I need to say it? And I'm left with a nagging thought - have I prayed enough, have I prepared enough - and the answer comes screaming back at me - NO!
So I'm left now wondering what I should do - I have no other ideas of what to say - how to explain the truth that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. How will I put over the truth that those who believe in Him will LIVE forever with Him but those who refuse Him will spend their eternity in a place where 'their worm dies not and the fire is not quenched'. How will I do that in a way that they will receive - in a way that will get their attention and draw them to Christ?
So here I am at Acts 4 - and I see that those first disciples had the same thoughts - the same doubts, the same attack from the enemy and they did what I must do - God wrote it down so that I would know what I must do. Now Lord take note of my doubts, take note of the enemy and his taunts, take note of my insecurity and my inadequacy and grant that I, Your bondservant may speak Your Word with all confidence while You extend Your hand to heal the souls of those who hear and signs and wonders might take place through the name of Your holy servant, my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Please pray with me and for me - pray that the Lord Jesus Christ will be exalted in that place on Friday evening - that His name will sound forth, that He will be shown to be the glorious Redeemer and Saviour of the world. Pray that I will boldly speak His Word and that His Spirit will anoint that Word with power that everyone who hears might be changed, might be healed, might be brought into the glory of the salvation of God.
And then, through these weeks as we approach the celebration of the birth of our Lord - pray with me that we might know that '..we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit'. Pray that the knowledge of that transformation will be our assurance, will be the foundation from which we will boldly speak the name of Jesus and from which we will confidently explain the wonder of His offer of forgiveness and grace. Pray too that in that knowledge His surpassing great power will be manifested in and through each one of us for His glory and our very great joy.
