Preach it !

I understand the Scriptural teaching on authority in the church and in the home. Therefore, I will never pastor a church. In fact, my son says I shouldn't even be speaking in church. Ha! Yeah, we all know that will never happen. But since the word preach actually means proclaim, I have been accused of doing quite a bit of preaching. In fact, one of the things I preach to my ladies the most is that they need to be proclaiming Jesus, what He has done in their lives, and what He can do in other people's lives.

Most of us are talkers (some more than others). According to my niece, Tara, I talk to random strangers in the most unusual places. According to my daughter, Hannah, I cannot simply go into and out of a store without making a new friend. Last week, Hannah and I went in Hobby Lobby while David waited in the car. I said "This won't take long. We will just run in and out." About 30 minutes later, I hear Hannah on her cell phone talking to David. She is saying: "Guess what she is doing. Yep, making a new friend. Now they are exchanging contact info. They are going to be Facebook friends." When Tara was growing up she was afraid to go to the mall with me because I would embarass her. For some people, talking to others especially strangers is not natural or easy. Whichever kind of personality you have, the mission is still the same. In fact, God gets more glory when a shy person speaks up because that is proof that He is the one speaking.

I have felt such joy the past week as I have heard several of my ladies (they are not mine - they are God's; I just have to call them something.) share how they have been obedient when God told them to preach it (proclaim Him). One is in a southern gospel group. God used her to minister to a lady. She listened and then prayed for her. She let God speak through her and may never know what an impact that had in that woman's life. Another was driving down our street and hit a woman's mailbox. She stopped to check the damage and knocked on the woman's door. She spoke with the woman for awhile and was invited to stop by anytime and visit. My friend lost a daughter several years ago - when I told her that the woman who lives in that house also lost a daughter, everyone in our group got goosebumps. I promise I am not making this up. Another dear friend was visited by a person who is a member of a cult. She invited the lady inside. The poor woman had knocked on her door while she was in the middle of her quiet time. Ha! I love to watch God at work. She shared Jesus with her. When you are walking daily, closely with Jesus, these types of things will happen all the time. He will begin to show you all the many opportunities you have in your everyday life to preach it. The fear that you may have expected just doesn't happen. It is a natural process. You love God; you have experienced Him in your life; you are filled and controlled by His Spirit. In obedience, you open your mouth and He does the talking. When I share Jesus with someone or share with a group or teach, inevitably I walk away having no idea what I said. If I do know, that probably means that I was the one doing the talking not Him.

The first step in being able to preach it is to get to know God on a very personal, intimate basis. That takes some discipline, but very soon you become hungry to know Him more and more. Once you experience Him speaking to you through His Word, there is no going back. The next step is to get out of your "me box". If we don't have our focus where it should be at the beginning of each day, the natural (fleshly) thing to do is to go through our day with our focus on ourself, our family, our job, our problems, our list of things to do, etc. Those things are important when kept in perspective. We need to walk through our day controlled by God. We do and say what He wants us to. We don't say and don't do what He tells us not to say and do. When that relationship is where it should be, the result is an overflow of Him. Remember that amazing hymn - "Make Me a Channel of Blessing"? We become a channel of Jesus. It is no longer nerve-wracking or even a conscious thing. We just proclaim it. Sometimes only sowing a seed. Sometimes having the mind-blowing honor and joy of leading someone to be reconciled to God.

So, think back over this past week. What have you been talking about? Maybe you are in a very, very difficult situation. Preach Him! Maybe you don't like your job. Preach Him! Maybe you are a very shy person. Preach Him! Maybe you don't know all the answers. He does. Preach Him! Whatever situation you find yourself in, God will give you opportunities to talk about Him. Preach it!