GOD Morning! April 7 Boot Camp Day 31 / I Gotta Tell Somebody!

GOD Morning!  April 7

Boot Camp Day 31

I Gotta Tell Somebody!

Luke 3 AMP

 John the Baptist Preaches

3 Now in the fifteenth year of [Emperor] Tiberius Caesar’s reign—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod [Antipas] was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene— ² in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas [his son-in-law], the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. ³ And he went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin; ⁴ as it is written and forever remains written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

“The voice of one shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight.
⁵ 
‘Every ravine shall be filled up,
And every mountain and hill shall be leveled;
And the crooked [places] shall be made straight,
And the rough roads smooth;
⁶ 
and all mankind shall see the salvation of God.’”

What is my ministry, you may ask? It’s right here in black and white. Represent Jesus Christ. Encourage everyone, everywhere, by your speech and way of life to look to Jesus.

There is a 100% chance that He will put their lives in order, piece by piece!

The Message says it this way:

“Prepare God’s arrival!
Make the road smooth and straight!
Every ditch will be filled in,
Every bump smoothed out,
The detours straightened out,
All the ruts paved over.
Everyone will be there to see
The parade of God’s salvation.”

⁷ So he began saying to the crowds who were coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath [of God that is] to come? ⁸ Therefore produce fruit that is worthy of [and consistent with your] repentance [that is, live changed lives, turn from sin and seek God and His righteousness]. And do not even begin to say to yourselves [as a defense], ‘We have Abraham for our father [and so our heritage assures us of salvation]’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children (descendants) for Abraham [for God can replace the unrepentant, regardless of their heritage, with those who are obedient].⁹ Even now the axe [of God’s judgment] is swinging toward the root of the trees; so every tree that does not produce good fruit is being cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰ The crowds asked him, “Then what are we to do?” ¹¹ And John replied, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do the same.” ¹² Even some tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked, “Teacher, what are we to do?” ¹³ And he told them, “Collect no more than the fixed amount you have been ordered to [collect].” ¹⁴ Some soldiers asked him, “And what about us, what are we to do?” And he replied to them, “Do not extort money from anyone or harass or blackmail anyone, and be satisfied with your wages.”

¹⁵ Now the people were in a state of expectation, and all were wondering in their hearts about John, as to whether he was the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed). ¹⁶ John answered them all by saying, “As for me, I baptize you [only] with water; but One who is mightier [more powerful, more noble] than I is coming, and I am not fit to untie the strap of His sandals [even as His slave]. He will baptize you [who truly repent] with the Holy Spirit and [you who remain unrepentant] with fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat (believers) into His barn (kingdom); but He will burn up the chaff (the unrepentant) with unquenchable fire.”

¹⁸ So with many other appeals and various admonitions John preached the good news (gospel) to the people. ¹⁹ But when Herod [Antipas] the tetrarch was repeatedly reprimanded [and convicted by John’s disapproval] for having Herodias, his brother’s wife [as his own], and for all the wicked things that Herod had done, ²⁰ he also added this to them all: he locked up John in prison.

What is God saying to us today?

Be a John the Baptist! Preach the good news!

But I’m not a preacher, you may say. I’m not either.

All you have to do is get out there in public. Just open up your mouth and talk. Be friendly. Ask God if there’s a volunteer group, class or club He wants you to join. I promise you, He will lead you.

Make eye contact with people when you’re out.

It’s funny that I’m saying all of this because for my whole life, I have been very shy and reserved in public. (With my friends and family I’m loud and boisterous, however!)

·         Prayer in private results in boldness in public. Edwin Louis Cole

·         “One of the special marks of the Holy Ghost in the Apostolic Church was the spirit of boldness.”  A. B. Simpson

·         “When we find a man meditating on the words of God, my friends, that man is full of boldness and is successful.”  Dwight L. Moody

When I was healed in 2008, I suddenly started talking to everyone! The fear and anxiety was replaced with boldness! It was a spiritual transformation that I can’t explain! I started door knocking! I couldn't keep it to myself! 

Okay, I don’t advise everyone to say exactly what John the Baptist said. You might not want to say, “You brood of vipers!” to people. =)

If you are scared to talk about Jesus, just pray. Maybe you, like me, need to be delivered of your fear of people, what they may say, and what they may think.

God seriously wants us to be little John the Baptists. Preparing the way of the Lord. We each have our own style.

God gave you your personality. Use it for His glory.

“Dear God, I want to be living for You every second of the day. Looking around everywhere I go for someone to talk to about You. There is a young man in my bodypump class who reminds me of a worship leader from down south. I really want to approach him, but I’m not sure how. Please give me boldness and an opportunity to lead Him to You! I want to shine Your light, Jesus! I want to prepare the way of the Lord. I want to show folks that You are going to make their paths straight and level their mountains! How I love You!!! In Jesus precious name I pray, AMEN.”