Be Bold

be-bold

Be Bold

Who wants to continue talking about standing out, being set apart and hoping someone can see Jesus alive in us? It has been the topic of many of my conversations lately. We all realize the craziness that is going on all around us. The sad part is with all of the rants and political posts it is hard to tell who loves Jesus and who does not know Him at all. So how do we stop fitting in with this world and stand out? Well, what if we decided to be bold?

The dictionary tells us that to be bold means to show an ability to take risks; to be confident and courageous. Well, what does the Bible say? In my study Bible it explains that boldly is the same word that is rendered confidence and means plainness of speech, fearlessness or courage. It goes on to say, “Believers should courageously approach God in prayer because His is a throne of grace, and our High Priest sits at His right hand interceding for us.”

“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16

So today, what if we raised our hands in total surrender to Him, took a few minutes to remember who God is, and boldly cried out to Him committing our words, our actions and our reactions to Him? You see it is not about being bold so that others can hear what we have to say and agree with our opinion. It is all about being bold because God is alive in us. When we surrender our way and allow Him to guide us, others will not see us, but will see Jesus in us. Be bold-not for me, but for Thee. How can we do this?

• Spend time surrendering our self and being filled up with Him. Less of me, more of Him.
• Love others. By others I mean everyone! Love those who love you back, those who don’t, those who don’t buy your love for them and do not return it; those who disagree with you and love to find fault with you, those who live differently than you; those whose beliefs do not line up with yours, those who lash out; and everyone else. Boldly love others! We can reflect His love in our words, our actions and most importantly - in our reactions.
• We can tell someone we love Jesus. What?!? Yes, tell someone you love Jesus. Share a graphic or a post from my blog, Master what Matters. Then we need to live out our love for Jesus by developing the fruits of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
• We can pray boldly. We can believe boldly. We can trust boldly. God is in control, He is good, He will not leave us nor forsake us. Read the back of the book – God’s word – rest in the truth that we already know how this is going to play out – the trumpets will sound, Jesus will burst through the clouds and we are heading home with Him! Who will meet Him in the air because you decided to BE BOLD?

Let’s pray.

Dear most gracious heavenly Father, we raise our hands in complete surrender to You. We come boldly to You in prayer and ask You to forgive our self-filled ways. God, You are so good and we love you! God we praise you for all you have done and given to us. God, we know that you are in control, help us to live like we believe that. Lord, we surrender our thoughts, our words, our actions to You. Lord, help us love boldly! Help others see you alive in us. Lord, use us and our lives so that others might come to know You. We love you! We thank you for all of our blessings. We praise you for You are so good! Help us be bold for You!

In your most precious son, Jesus’ name. Amen.

By the way, I love Jesus and I love YOU!