{"id":5489,"date":"2020-08-16T09:00:12","date_gmt":"2020-08-16T14:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5489"},"modified":"2020-07-05T21:04:21","modified_gmt":"2020-07-06T02:04:21","slug":"everyday-witnesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5489","title":{"rendered":"Everyday Witnesses"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Journal of Joy: Things that make my heart smile\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I must admit that I balk at the idea of being a witness for Christ. The word \u201cwitness\u201d conjures up negative images of Christ being on trial in a court of law and I must testify to His innocence. I finally figured out that Christ does not need me to defend Him. However, He does want me to attest to what He has done in my life if someone should ask (1 Peter 3:15). It doesn\u2019t say to pounce on unsuspecting people and shove Christ down their throats. And, yes, people do that!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet the scripture clearly tells us we should be witnesses for Christ. \u201c<\/strong>You shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, and all of Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth\u201d (Acts 1:8). Since I need to be a witness for Christ I decided to explore the subject further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many think this passage in Acts commands us to go out and witness for Christ. Although that could be one interpretation, it could also be stating a fact. It could be telling us that the gospel will spread to the ends of the earth and as it does Christians will be witnesses for Christ\u2014not by trying to persuade skeptics to follow Him, but by showing how the fruits of God\u2019s Spirit can be manifest in our lives so others will want to follow Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we call ourselves Christians, then our lives are a witness for God. Our lives are either a good witness or a bad witness\u2014but they are witnesses just the same. Hopefully our lives are a living testimony for God\u2019s goodness, so others might say something like, \u201cWOW! That person has a peace that passes all understanding. I\u2019d like to have that kind of peace in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t think being a witness for Christ is as difficult as I thought. I don\u2019t have to convince others to follow Christ. Christ does that. I don\u2019t even have to go out looking for people to \u201cwitness\u201d to. God will do that. God will make sure I come in contact with the people He wants me to know. He will even put it in their hearts to ask me questions about Him that I can answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The early church knew this. They continued steadfastly doing what they had been taught. They met together, ate together, worshipped together, and prayed together. They were happy and got along with all the people (Acts 2:42-47). \u201cAnd the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved\u201d (Acts 2:47). The early church members devoted themselves to living a Christian life. That\u2019s how they witnessed for Christ. They didn\u2019t talk people into becoming Christians. They didn\u2019t \u201clead\u201d people to Christ. They allowed the Holy Spirit to transform them into what Christ would have them be and then God added to the church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hey, I think I can do this. It\u2019s not as difficult as I thought and that makes me happy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*****<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Father, help me live my life reflecting the fruit of Your Holy Spirit so I can witness in a way where You get all the glory. I don\u2019t need clever arguments or profound doctrine to convince others to follow You. It\u2019s all about You and what You do. It\u2019s not about me at all. Let Your love overflow from me to others so You can be glorified.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Journal of Joy: Things that make my heart smile\u2026 I must admit that I balk at the idea of being a witness for Christ. The word \u201cwitness\u201d conjures up negative images of Christ being on trial in a court … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5489"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5489\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}