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Easter, the Release of Our Fears!

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What Happened on the Cross By Mark Hankins

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Easter: Rescue

DEVOTIONAL

Today's featured devotional...
Lately, I have been hearing statistical reports about the Church - the Body of Christ. These have not made my heart rejoice at all. I have been hearing that the number of salvations has decreased and that church membership is down.

I know that we now have mega-churches - you know, churches that have thousands of members. However, if you really check out the statistics, you will find that many of their members just came from other churches.

Membership increases appear to be merely relocations and not new members to the Body of Christ. The Church is not growing; it is merely relocating. Yes, I know that there are some new converts, but I am talking about the majority of churches in the United States.

Not too many days ago, my husband called my attention to the fact that our church has had no new converts and few people reaffirm their devotion to God in the last couple of months. Our church attendance has dropped, and we have had few new visitors to our services.

If this sounds like your home church, I have a question for you. Are you content with this situation? Is this what you want? More importantly - is this what God wants?

This is not a new problem. Andrew Murray, a minister in the 1800s, wrote about this same problem in a book entitled, "Reaching Your World For Christ." He expressed his dismay regarding his current situation and then quoted D.L. Moody, a well-known minister of that day.

Mr. Moody heard the alarming statistics of the lack of salvations and decreased church growth and made this statement. "Can this be true? The thought has taken such hold of me that I cannot get it out of my mind. It is enough almost to send a shiver of horror through the soul of every true Christian. Are we all going to sit still and let this thing continue? Should we not lift up our voice like a trumpet about this matter? What must the Son of God think of such a result of our labor as this?"

Tough Questions
This statement caused me to stop and look at the atmosphere of our particular congregation, and I am asking you to do the same. Are we disturbed about the status quo? Do we wish there were more people coming to our churches just because we would like to have a full house? Do we just dismiss the lack of a crowd from our mind as soon as we walk out the door of the sanctuary?

Do we just make excuses for the lack of salvations and growth in our own particular part of the Body? Are we content to just sit still and hope that someone else comes in and does something? Are we looking to God to do something? Are we waiting for the pastors to start something? Are we of the mind that it just isn't our responsibility? Are we only concerned with numbers and not concerned about souls?

Only you can answer those questions for yourself.

The statement that Mr. Moody made that impressed me the most was, "What must the Son of God think of such a result of our labor as this?"

David, my husband, has been preaching and teaching lately about the Kingdom of God. All of a sudden, I became intimately aware that Jesus, the Anointed One, was my Lord and King. He had given me the privilege of being a part of the Kingdom of God, the internal and the external. What was I doing to promote His Kingdom?

In the last chapters of both Matthew and Mark, Jesus gave all believers a direct commandment to go into all the world and preach the good news of the Kingdom of God. Did you notice He said all?

He did not say that just the five-fold ministry should go. He did not say that those who have a great talent for travel should go. He did not say that only those who felt like it should go. Jesus said that all believers are to go and witness about Jesus, the Anointed One, and the Kingdom of God.

This was not a suggestion for those who wanted to be super-Christians. This was a commandment to all believers.

How and Where to Start
I can hear some of the talk in your minds right now. "But I don't know who to witness to." I can answer that: witness to those that you know first - your family, friends, neighbors, people at work, etc. "But I don't know what to do first." I can answer that one too: PRAY.

You do not have to witness alone. In fact, you must not. Jesus told the disciples that they had to go to Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit to come and be with them. He stated that they would need power to witness for Him and that the Holy Spirit would provide them with the ability and power to witness.

If they couldn't do it without the Holy Spirit, you can't either.

Oh, you might tell people about Jesus but there would be no power to give sight to those blinded by the devil in order that they might hear and receive the Word of God. When you witness, you are squaring off in direct opposition to the enemy. You need God's power to break the hold that Satan has on the individual to whom you are witnessing.

Rely on the Holy Spirit
Only the Holy Spirit carries that kind of power and ability. Alone, you are no match for the devil. With the Holy Spirit as your witnessing partner, however, no devil, principality, or power can stand against the Word of God.

The Holy Spirit will give you words to say that will confound even you. He will give you knowledge, which you could not know in the natural, concerning the person and the situation. He will give you wisdom when to speak and when to keep silent.

The Holy Spirit is the one who is in charge of this mission that Jesus gave us. He will identify the person you are to talk to about Jesus. He will tell you the time and the place to talk to them. He is never inappropriate. However, the Holy Spirit expects us to be ready at all times. He won't always give us notice ahead of time.

Usually the Holy Spirit will just put it on our heart to go and talk to some person - now. But if we have been on our knees asking God to open a door to witness for Him…if we have been on our knees asking the Holy Spirit to guide us throughout our day…if we have been reading and studying the Word of God…and if we have yielded our lives to the Anointed One (big breath) then, we will be ready when the Holy Spirit says, "Go to that one and witness - now."

We can also prepare the way by praying for our family, friends, neighbors, people at work, etc. Then God has a place to work.

Do you want to see souls saved and people brought into the Kingdom of God - then witness! Do you want to see the membership of the Body of Christ increase - then witness! Do you want to see your particular part of the Body of Christ grow - then witness! But first of all PRAY!

Let us all set our focus on the work of the Kingdom of God. Let us all dedicate and devote ourselves to the work of Jesus, the Anointed One. Let us allow the Holy Spirit to prepare us to do that work and then allow Him to send us out. And, let Him do it now!

Copyright © Church of the Fulness of God
All rights reserved. Used by permission.

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