Tuesday, December 1, 2015

ABC's of Godly Character - B

B is for Boldness!  Are you ever a chicken to speak up? Boldness is not hesitating in the face of real or perceived danger.  Ephesians 6:19-20 says “words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.” (ESV). Paul, while he was in prison wrote these words. He didn’t ask for the church at Ephesus to pray for him to get out of jail, but instead, that he would continue to BOLDLY speak about Jesus. We, like Paul, should pray for God to help us be bold, regardless of our circumstances.  We should speak boldly for His honor and His glory about what is right in His eyes.  Acts 4:29,31 says “And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.” (ESV). Boldness is not running your mouth just to be heard. It requires courage to speak when we are afraid and courage to do what is right. How do we become more bold? Like the disciples, we should pray for boldness. To gain boldness we need to ask the Holy Spirit to give us courage, search for opportunities to tell others about Jesus, and realize that Satan will try to make us feel rejected, embarrassed, or uncomfortable. Boldness is hard, but we are all called to speak boldly about God.  
Prayer starter: Dear Lord, please fill me with your Holy Spirit and give me the courage to speak boldly about You and Your mighty power. Give me the passion to speak Your words of truth in love. Help me to not be ashamed to take a stand for what is right and pleasing in Your sight, even if it means I will be standing alone. In your name I pray, amen.  
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to speak boldly about Christ to someone today!

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