JOHN SHIRK – In the Year to Shine, today’s Vital Step to a Radiant Faith is boldness for Christ.
To be bold for Christ is to be willing to speak up for Him and stand for Him even when it may not be popular.
The secret to having a bold faith is to have hope in Christ. The Apostle Paul said in Second Corinthians 3:12, “Since we have such a hope, we are very bold.” This hope enables us to think more about God’s glory than our security.
Jesus stood for us at the cross. He paid the price of His blood for our redemption. Because Jesus died for us, we can live boldly for Him. We might be rejected or ridiculed for our faith, but we will be commended by God for going public with our faith in Jesus.
Consider the example of Paul’s testimony in Acts 28:31, “He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ-with all boldness and without hindrance!”
Boldness for Christ is a Vital Step to a Radiant Faith that makes a difference in our world.
John Shirk
john@wjtl.com
JOHN SHIRK – Today’s Person of Integrity from the Bible is Micaiah.
He was a prophet of God who was more interested in saying what was true than what was popular.
In Second Chronicles 18, King Ahab had considered going to war, and consulted four hundred men about the decision. They all said the same thing, “Attack and be victorious.” But when Micaiah was summoned for counsel, he was pressured to let his word agree with theirs and to speak favorably. He replied by saying to the messenger, “As surely as the LORD lives, I can tell him only what my God says.”
This was the mindset that led him to say to King Ahab, “The LORD has decreed disaster for you.” He was slapped in his face for saying that, but his words proved to be true, because he heard from God, understood what God was doing, and spoke for God.
The faithfulness of Micaiah to be strong and courageous for God inspires us to be a bold witness for Jesus and to live a life of Integrity.
John Shirk
john@wjtl.com
JOHN SHIRK – Today’s Moment of Celebration reflects on the steadfast, bold witness of the apostles.
When Jesus rose from the dead, He did not keep it a secret from His friends. According to First Corinthians 15:3, “Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures,…he was buried,….he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures….and he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.” Here was a group of men who followed Jesus to Jerusalem, where they saw His suffering at the cross and the triumph of His resurrection. Brave souls will stand for the truth even in the face of persecution, but very few would die for a lie. Each of Jesus’ followers who saw Him alive again faced some type of persecution for their witness. Most of them died for their faith in Jesus.
In the life of the early church, the disciples went their separate ways, but they remained faithful to the mission of spreading the good news wherever they went. In their courageous witness for Jesus, they said to the governing authorities, who tried to silence them, “We must obey God rather than men.”
The steadfast, bold witness of Jesus’ followers is a reason to be glad in the Year of Celebration.
John Shirk
john@wjtl.com
