Conversations that Count: Confession

"The woman said to Him, 'I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.'

"Jesus said to her, 'I who speak to you am He'" (John 4:25-26, NASB).

I would have loved to see the look on this woman's face when Jesus told her that He is the Messiah. Do you remember the first time you realized and received Christ as the Messiah, the Lord who came to earth to save the world?

Jesus made a confession of His identity. Where are our roots, and where do we get our water?

Our confession as believers was made to Christ to receive forgiveness, that we are sinners in need of God. We can make this same confession to others, that God has since forgiven us from our sins and our debts were paid on the cross for those sins. Now, we aren't perfect - we are still human. As believers, God is still working in us. Yet, God has given us this forgiven, new life with Him as a part of His family. He walks with us, guides us and helps re-align us as we continue our relationship with Him.

This Easter season, you may get the chance to invite someone to church. It may help you start a conversation on where your hope is from. We can live with hope and peace because we know and believe that Christ loved us, died for us and forgave us. His forgiveness has covered us, and that is what makes the cross so wonderful. A cross is a symbol of death and condemnation, but Christ turned it into something beautiful as He paid the price for our sins and suffered on one.

No matter where we are at the moment, as believers, we know that having this mended relationship with God is the best thing we have going for us. We have a God who is always there for us, who loves us unconditionally and who suffered in our place, taking victory over sin's hold. Our strength and peace comes from Him, even in challenging or tough situations.

Let us share our faith in Him, His love for the world and how He came to save it. Our confession has helped us, and it could help someone else as well.

Study based on the workbook HeartCall: Women Sharing God's Heart (Jaye Martin, 1999).

Let's Set Up Our Banners!

"May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God 'set up our banners'! May the Lord fulfill all your petitions! Now this I know: The LORD saves..."!! Psalm 20:5-6 (ESV)

Please look at Jaye's post from yesterday if you would like to post a gifted2go "banner" on your facebook! As we look at the gifted2go banner, please pray for this great opportunity to make facebook pages evangelistic! You are invited to use the gifted2go banner, or possibly you may feel led to make an evangelistic facebook banner of your own creative giftedness from God! We would like to encourage you to look for opportunities to share Jesus through your social network of friends that God has gifted your life with for His purpose!

We would like to share with you the simple yet powerful meaning behind Gifted2Go that includes: an empty box, the cross, and a bow! This is a simple way to share Jesus with others! (If you would like to print on your own printer these free witnessing business cards that includes this powerful plan of salvation, please let us know! We would be glad to send you the printer ready copy:-)

Empty Box = Empty Life that we all have without Jesus Christ! We were born "separated from Christ, alienated...and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world" Ephesians 2:12b ESV (this very week, when I saw a news report of a 2011 famous singer arrive at an awards show in an egg, then she was hatched out to that egg as she sang a song about how she was "born" this way...I was compelled to PRAY for this precious young woman that is needing to hear from someone about how JESUS can fill up her EMPTY LIFE that is searching for true answers/purpose that is only found/fullfilled in JESUS CHRIST!! Please join me in praying for someone that I know God must be using to reach the "trend setters" of Hollywood that are "alienated" from the promises of God, can you imagine with me what will happen when this young woman that is very popular in today's culture "is born again" WOW!! This leads me to what must fill up our empty life....

The Cross = Jesus!! "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) God sent JESUS to die on the cross for you and for me!! We must received Him into our empty lives to be SAVED and to have HOPE for now and HOPE for the future!! When we turn to God and believe that He died on the cross for our sins and accept His forgiveness, HE enters our life and FILLS the VOIDS of our empty life!! God not only FILLS our life/box because of the CROSS the day that we believe, He stays in us and with us FOREVER!! This leads me to the beautiful bow that is on top of the most beautiful cross...

The Bow = Eternity!! F O R E V E R!!! "...because God has said, "Never will I leave you; Never will I forsake you."! Hebrews 13:5b How many people in our lives are looking for someone that will NEVER leave them, NEVER let them down, NEVER reject them, NEVER misunderstand them, NEVER hurt them, NEVER lie to them, NEVER NEVER NEVER?!!! The BOW of ETERNITY is one of the most beautiful parts of a "GIFTBOX"!! JESUS is A FREE GIFT you and I are given to make an ETERNAL difference in our lives and for us to "GIVE" to others so that they too can be SAVED!!

When we ask for forgiveness, accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, and turn to the life that He has for us to live, isn't it AMAZING what God can do through an " empty box, the cross, and a bow"...God desires to change the world forever through YOUR LIFE because now you are Gifted2Go!!

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the GIFT of GOD, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them"!! Ephesians 2:8-10 (ESV)

Lift Up Jesus

"And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” John 12: 32, ESV)

"For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice" (John 18:37b, ESV).

It is so easy to get sidetracked with good and even great things. Easy to forget why we are here, easy to be overwhelmed with a huge to-do list, easy to forget the main thing - Jesus Christ and the incredible, incomprehensible sacrifice that He made for us in His life and in His death.

This week, I am going to concentrate on lifting up Christ. I'm going to try to keep from complaining about doing my dissertation, keep from being overwhelmed about the economy and how it is messing up our lives, keep from being discouraged that our house is still in the never-ending remodeling state, and keep from complaining that I am gone 3 weeks in April, keep from complaining...(okay I am stopping here).

I'm going to lift up Christ. I'm going to try to focus on the fact that I have ONE MAIN PURPOSE: to witness about Christ in my words, how I treat people, and how I live that out every minute of every day. If I'm quiet this week, you will know why. I am choosing to reflect on that fact this He is Risen and that I need to start living like it!

Will you join me?

"Trust no one, not even the finest saint who ever walked this earth, ignore him, if he hinders your sight of Jesus Christ." Oswald Chambers

Carrying His Cross

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it” (Matt 16:24-25, NIV).

A few years ago, I went to Canton, Texas on a shopping trip with a few of my neighbors. My most exciting find was a 5-foot tall iron cross. As I picked up the 30 lb. cross and carried it up the hill to the car, I realized it wasn’t going to be easy but I knew deep down it was worth it. I placed it carefully in the car, we worked all the people and packages around it, drove it home and then drug it in the house. I found myself exhausted after a very long twenty-one hour day. But, it was worth it. Right in the entryway was the perfect place for it.

As I sat there looking at it and thinking about how tired I was, I understood a little more about what it meant to deny oneself and take up His cross. Mine was a physical one; His cross a spiritual one…but one that has physical implications. The find of His cross is the most exciting find of my life. The price is great but worth it. I have to count the costs and go over a few fields and up a few hills. I’m exhausted some days and wondering if it is worth it. But along the way, there are neighbors to tell how the cross of Christ has impacted my life. And that’s what denying myself is all about. It’s all in what you are shopping for.

Lord, may I carry your cross today. Give me an opportunity to share as I walk the journey with those who do not know you.

(Adapted from HeartCall: The Call to Prayer, Jaye Martin, January 30.)