Category: Boldness for the Lord

Isaiah 40:9                                                Go Tell It on the Mountain

“Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voices with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, ‘Behold your God!” (RSV)

“Go Tell It on the Mountain” was one of the songs used to save a university.  In 1871, Fisk University was deep in debt and desperate for supporters and funds.  A ten-member singing group, called the Fisk Jubilee Singers, left on a fund-raising campaign.  When they left, they took with them the entire university treasury to cover their travel expenses.  Their very successful tour helped Fisk University survive, and “Go, Tell It on the Mountain” became one of their mainstay songs.  For that reason alone, it is a very important song.  But this spiritual arouses many through its words and its demand that we “Go tell it on the mountain” and everywhere, that “Jesus Christ Is Born.”

Go Tell It on the Mountain

Isaiah 40:1 tells us to lift up our voices with strength and announce, “Behold your God.”  This spiritual does just that.  It seems that the chorus gets louder and more robust each time it is sung, as it should.  Each time we announce the arrival of our Lord as the Baby Jesus we should be shouting, and with each shout the joy of His coming increases in our hearts.  If we shout it loud enough and long enough, all the world will come to hear our proclamation.  And then each man and woman will have to make the most important decision of his or her life—whether to accept Jesus as Savior or not.  It is a fateful decision that will determine where each one of us will spend eternity.  Please accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  If you do, I will get to greet you one day in eternity.

2 Corinthians 3:7-13                                        Am I Bold Enough?

“Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?  If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!  For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory.  And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!  Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.  We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away” (NIV).

Paul was speaking of Moses whose face shown so brightly that he had to hide it from the people after he had been with the Lord, when Paul compared this glory of Moses with the glory we should be showing because of the new covenant we have in Jesus Christ.  Moses’ glow lessened as the time grew from the time he had been with the Lord.  Our glow should not diminish because God, in the person of the Holy Spirit, resides with us daily—every day.  We need to be as bold as this outstandingly beautiful fall tree with its bright red leaves so different from its leaves before it was changed from the green shown by all the trees.  It needs to be obvious that we have “seen” Christ and have been changed by Him, and the change is bigger than the change this tree undergoes in the fall of the year.  The tree stands out, proclaiming its change for all to see, but it does not force itself on those who see it.  It is merely obvious that it has been changed, and it shows the result of that change in a grand manner.  Lord, help me to be as bold as this tree in proclaiming the change that Jesus has made in me.  No one should have to ask me, “Are you a Christian?”  It should be obvious by my actions and the love I show to others.  I want to be BOLD for CHRIST!

Matthew 5:14-16                                               Am I in Camouflage?

“You are the light of the world.  A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (NIV).

Do you see the roadrunner in the picture above?  God created them with colors that blend into the desert surroundings so that they are difficult to see.  It often takes some degree of concentration to discover a roadrunner in its surroundings.  God did this for their safety.

God asks those who have accepted Jesus as Savior to do the opposite.  As the verse above says, “…let your light shine before others….”  No camouflage for us.  We are to stand out by doing good deeds.  We are not to be hidden for our safety.  We are to shine for His glory.  The result of our good deeds will be the glorification of our Heavenly Father.  So I have to ask myself the question, “Am I easy to pick out as a Christian in a crowd?”  God asks us to, not only be easy to spot, but also asks us to shine forth so that God is glorified and so that others may be drawn to Him.  There’s a saying, “Don’t do as I do.  Do as I say.”  Jesus doesn’t live by that saying.  Instead He says, “Do as I Do and do as I say.”

Acts 4:8-12                                                          Peter, the Rock

“With that, Peter, full of the Holy Spirit, let loose, ‘Rulers and leaders of the people, if we have been brought to trial today for helping a sick man, put under investigation regarding this healing, I’ll be completely frank with you—we have nothing to hide.  By the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the One you killed on a cross, the One God raised from the dead, by means of his name this man stands before you healthy and whole.  Jesus is “the stone you masons threw out, which is now the cornerstone.”  Salvation comes no other way; no other name has been or will be given by which we can be saved, only this one’” (MSG).

Wow!  Peter certainly earned his name, the “Rock” this day.  He and John, upon entering the Temple for a meeting, raised a man, crippled from birth, to his feet and gave him the gift of walking through the name of Jesus.  None of the religious leaders liked it, so they arrested Peter and John.  When they were questioned by the religious leaders, the most powerful people of Israel, as it says above, Peter let them have it.  He held nothing back.  He not only said that they healed in the name of Jesus;  he reminded them that they had killed Jesus, and that God had brought Him back to life.  He also took away their authority by saying that Jesus was the only name by which anyone could be saved.

Jesus had changed Peter’s name from Simon to Peter, the Rock, and Peter certainly earned his changed name that day.  The leaders threatened Peter and John never to speak in the name of Jesus again.  We all know how well that worked.  Because of the rock-hard strength given to the disciples of Jesus through the Holy Spirit, we today are blessed to proclaim, as they did, “Jesus is the only way to salvation!”  Lord, help us to speak in the same strength they had on behalf of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Galatians 6:14                               Removed from the Grand Canyon

“As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died” (NLT).

This cross was at a beautiful spot on the south rim of the Grand Canyon where we saw it in 1964.  Unfortunately, it is no longer there.  The area is set aside as a place to spend time in contemplation of the beauty of the Canyon and appreciation of however each person believes it came to be.  This is just one of the many places in this nation that the cross of Jesus Christ is no longer welcome.  There is concern that it may offend someone.  I imagine it would offend those who are actively opposed to the message of Jesus Christ.  But I and many of my friends are proud to claim the cross of Jesus Christ as the symbol of the sacrifice Jesus made to guarantee an eternal home in heaven with Him.  If you claim to be a Christian, I encourage you, no, I challenge you to boast publicly of the importance of the cross of Christ in your life.  It’s time for us to push back.  Jesus expects us to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” Mark 16:15 (NIV).