Category: infilling

Preaching, Without Preaching

One-filled-with-joy-preaches-without-preaching.―-Mother-Teresa-Quotes

“And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Nehemiah 8:10

“Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!
    Praise befits the upright.”

Psalm 33:1

There is a power emitted from a life of joy.

We can see it and hear it in the lives of joy transformed people; many others, not so much. The deep joy we see is the most significant evidence we can know of the real presence of Jesus Christ. As we journey with joy, we become a living ‘billboard’ of God’s reality.

This is an awesome thing, when you think about it. But it also ‘takes the pressure off’ a believer’s witness to a watching world. The light is God’s, and when it shines out of us it is the ‘clincher’ for many people. (So, you should relax some.)

My first contact with Christians was at a ‘hippie’ commune in the early 70s. These were ‘Jesus People’ and when I saw peace and joy in their faces, I just knew it was real. It wasn’t anything that was said, rather it was the way they said it. Their countenance was filled with a joy that couldn’t be faked. (I would’ve known it if it was.)

Evangelism has more in common with joy than with a formulaic presentation. It is good to know ‘the Romans Road’ method of preaching; it is far better to know the God behind it. The witness of joy will significantly touch hearts when nothing else will. There is no better witness to an unbeliever than ‘Jesus inside’ a believer!’

I led teams of evangelists in the streets from 1986-1989 with S.O.S. Ministries in San Francisco and Berkeley. We distributed tens of thousands of tracts and Bibles. I learned to preach at ‘the cable car turn-around’ on the streets at Powell and Market, and many other places. We would always prepare out hearts beforehand by a time of praise and worship. We would seek the ‘infilling of the Holy Spirit’ before we stepped out into the city.

The infilling part was critical, and we knew it. The methodology could be learned– but we weren’t salesmen. We had to be ‘in tune’ with the Holy Spirit first and foremost. Today, 2014 we still must radiate Jesus to those who don’t know Him yet. Mother Teresa once said, “Joy is the net we use to catch souls.”

Come away with Jesus, and spend real time with him. Joy and peace will follow you when you truly meet with him. He makes his servants shine. “The joy of the Lord is your strength.’

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Further Reading from Brokenbelievers.com:

https://brokenbelievers.com/2014/03/14/catching-hearts-like-fish/

https://brokenbelievers.com/2011/10/20/is-evangelism-our-greatest-fear/

 

 

Radiators

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“And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 13:52, NIV

“Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit,”

Ephesians 5:18, NLT

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Most old houses used to be heated with radiators. They were cast iron monstrosities that radiated steam to warm the house. You could come inside from the cold and lay your mittens on them to dry. They are now more or less, obsolete. But for the longest time were ubiquitously common; I guess new technology has replaced them.

But in a way, Christians are radiators of the Holy Spirit. Just as the heated steam from the boiler room flowed into them, so we too receive from the Lord specific ministry for others. We provide “heat” to the people around us. We simply share what He has given us. The radiator’s source of comfort comes from another source. All it is, after all it it is us  becoming a receptacle for the steam.

It is the Spirit that gives us warmth. We are basically hollow until He fills us. In ourselves, we are nothing. It is Jesus inside that makes the difference. Without His presence we just take up space and gather dust. We’re just in the way unless we are used. But a radiator is a good thing to have.

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Holy Spirit, full me up.

Perhaps we need a reminder of who we really are. We must make ourselves wholly available. Being filled with the Spirit is never a one time experience, but rather, a way of life. Someone once asked a preacher why he kept preaching on the filling of the Holy Spirit. His reply was classic, “Because I leak.”

Dear one, seek to be filled with Him today. Set aside your own agenda and allow Him to enter in. Apart from Him, you can do nothing. Let us pray with  St. Augustine,

“O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully into my heart. Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling and scatter there Thy cheerful beams.”

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