Be Bold

I got out of class today and was super hungry. I went to the nearest cafe and got a sandwich and went to eat it on a bench nearby. Again, I found myself in a spot that I'm usually not in very often. I was tired, hungry and just wanted to finish my food and get on the bus home. This guy came up to me and asked if I was in his class. I asked what class (it was calculus) and I laughed and said no. He was a fairly awkward guy and kept talking to me. In my head I'm thinking okay thats great but I was just enjoying the sunshine and don't really want to talk to you. Then I remembered the scripture "Whatever you did unto the least of these you did unto me." Matthew 25:40 He asked if he could sit down, I said sure and he asked what I was majoring in. I thought okay how can I turn this conversation back to Jesus. So I asked him "How are you doing with Jesus?" He chuckled a little bit and then started quoting a few scriptures like John 3:16. I asked him if he was a Christian or if he grew up in the Church. He said he used to be a Christian and grew up in the Church. I then asked him how he fell away from the Lord. This was his answer*** He said "Because I loved darkness rather than light because my deeds were evil." (John 3:19) I proceeded to tell him what the Bible said about that, preached to him and told him that he could not serve two masters. He then said he loved God, he was studying philosophy and started naming all these man made hollow philosophies. I rebuked him and told him those were lies and that he needed to Repent and get right with Jesus. He said he was "surprised at my fanaticism for God." He asked me a few times if I was serious and I said yes. He then said they he had spoken with a Christian guy who was the leader of one of the Christian clubs on campus and said that he was shocked because I sounded more "fanatic" than him. He must have told me about 5 times that I was a fanatic and that I was bold. I showed him more scripture and told him that if you are not a slave to righteousness you are a slave to sin, in the same way you can only serve Jesus or the devil. I told him to choose today who he  would serve, and he left making it pretty clear he wanted to choose the devil. Heartbreaking. Last Days! What was shocking was his first comment though, that he "loved darkness rather than light because his deeds were evil." The bible tells us that that will happen and it has. This guy was fully conscious of his sin and did not have any fear of God before his eyes. Even though this guy was fully rebelling against God I praise God that I got to talk to him because he heard the un-compromised Gospel of Jesus Christ! And he just proved the word more true by admitting that he loved darkness, when God says that is what men will do. How are you doing with Jesus? Are you walking in the light or darkness?

John 3:16-21 "For God so loved the word that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him in not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believe in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict; Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has  been done through God."

1 John 1:5-7 "God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." (NIV)

1 John 3:8 " Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the work of the devil. (ESV)

1 John 3:9 "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the Children of the devil are." (NIV)

Silence is Deadly

The other day I got out of class, it was about noon, and I walked over to Trader Joe's to grab some groceries. After, I decided to go home before my next class which I wasn't planning on doing, so I walked to the nearest bus stop. This was an unusual time for me to be be at Trader Joe's and at this particular bus stop, but God used it for a reason. I sat down and started eating an apple that I just bought and was just praying while I was waiting for the bus. There was a elder lady sat a seat down from me who had just come from the grocery store as well. I sat there thinking, "Should I say something to her? Talk to her about Jesus?" I really was not in the mood. I was tired and just wanted the bus to come so that I could get home, but I felt the Lord tugging on me to speak up and talk to her. I went back in forth in my head for about 3 minutes wondering if I should engage in a conversation with this lady. Finally, I realized how dumb that was to get scared or anxious about talking to this Lady about Jesus, it was totally the devil just telling me to 'Keep quiet.' So I looked over to her and said "Hi Ma'am, do you know about Jesus?" She looked a bit puzzled and said, "No." I persisted by introducing myself and then saying, "Well I am going to tell you about him." I went on for about two minutes summing up the gospel and explaining to her who Jesus is. This was her reply, "Wow, that sounds very nice, I have never heard that before." I said, "No one has ever told you about Jesus before?" and she said, "No, but that sounds very well, thank you very much." The bus came and our conversation ended soon after that. My heart was broken thinking about how this lady has lived nearly 60 years of her life and no one had ever told her about Jesus, and I was almost going to be just another Christian who crossed her path and kept the redeeming message of Jesus Christ from her. We are in a time where people are being deceived by this idea of 'Just keep quiet', 'People will know my your actions', 'Just "love" on them and listen to them.' Folks those are lies straight from the devil himself. That is exactly what he wants you to do, keep your mouth shut and not share Jesus with someone. What if I didn't listen to God that day when he told me to speak to this women? She had already gone 60 without anybody tell her about Jesus! and she was so thankful to hear the Gospel! Preach!

Mark 16:15 "He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation."

Romans 10:14-15 "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"

Matthew 10:32 "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven."