"We shall individually be held responsible for doing one jot less than we have ability to do...But when we give ourselves wholly to God, and in our work follow His directions, He makes Himself responsible for its accomplishment. He would not have us conjecture as to the success of our honest endeavors. Not once should we even think of failure. We are to cooperate with One who knows no failure." ~Messages to Young People, p. 309

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Blogging Through The Gospels: Luke 8, Part 1

Good morning, everyone! Today's chapter (or more precisely, half-chapter) is Luke 8:1-25. These verses talk about Jesus telling the Parable of the Sower, a lamp on a stand, who Jesus' mother and brothers really are, and Jesus calming a storm. Today, I think I'm going to focus on the lamp-on-a-stand part for my SOAP. :)

Scripture:

"No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light." ~Luke 8:16

Observation:

I think I'm going to once again draw a lesson that I heard at campmeeting last week! On one of the nights, the speaker quoted Romans 1:16:

"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile."

The speaker then went on to talk about being bold for God, to step out and take some risks (as in, you may not be so popular, etc.) for God. In other words, "hide it under a bushel, no! I'm gonna let it shine...".

As I listened to this message, I thought long and deep about me being bold for God. Was I really being bold for God in my life? I didn't think so. I've never thought that I'm particularly ashamed of the gospel, I just haven't been bold. I've just sat, and been lukewarm on this whole boldness issue.

Application:

I don't know for sure, but I think that Jesus may have had boldness in mind as he told the parable of the lamp on a stand. Let's see the verse again:

"No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light."

Have we, as Christians, been bold for God lately? At times I wonder. How about you? Have you been bold for God, or have you been more like me, not being ashamed about the gospel, but not being bold either? Let's  pray to God right now and ask Him to help us to be bold.

Prayer:

Dear God, I've realized now that while I'm not really ashamed of your gospel, I haven't really been all that bold about it either. Please, come into my life and take control, and help me to know where and how you would want me to be bold for you. Amen. 


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P.S.--To learn more about this blogging-through-the-gospels program, or if YOU would like to join yourself (you're more than welcome-jump right in!!) go to: http://www.momstoolbox.com/
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