When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13 KJV).
     I read in the Bible that Jesus told His disciples to get His Good News to everyone in the world. I thought, “That’s what I should be doing, but I don’t know what I could do.” Although I had no idea of what I might ever be able to do, I set out to find ways to tell everyone the Good News.
     Then I read that the disciples were considered ignorant, unlearned men. I thought, “I am ignorant and unlearned, but since I’m like the disciples I should try to do what Jesus said.”
     So, I began . . . And what a beginning it was. I couldn’t get anyone to pay much attention to me but I kept trying to find ways to give people Jesus’ message. I thought about the way Jesus had inspired men to record what He did and taught. They could only write one copy and pass it on to a few people. Other men copied what they had written and passed that on. After all the disciples were dead, what they had written continued to be copied, one at a time, and shared. The written word spread, and spread until millions of copies were printed and one day I read one of those copies.
     So, I decided to act. I wrote a one paragraph testimony about how I had become a Christian. What should I do to get people to read it? I found some bright colored cellophane paper to wrap around “my testimony” and began to leave them where I thought someone would see them. I watched and saw that people did pick up the cellophane and looked at what was inside. Some put it in their pocket. I was telling people the Good News and that excited me.

 by Merlin Carothers

     I was given the opportunity to work in a printing shop. There I learned the marvels of setting type and using a printing press. My spreading of the Good News began to increase as I learned how to print “my testimony”.
     In college I worked in the school’s print press, and learned more about the real power of the press. My main point to you is that I did what I could – one small step at a time. God made it possible for me to tell His Good News to ten people. Then to more! That is one of His laws. If we sow one seed we will reap more seeds. If we sow what we have, He will give us more opportunities to sow more seeds. You and I are His workmen and He will use each of us according to how we use the opportunities that we have.
     Ask God to help you think of ideas to get His Good News to others. Don’t wait for someone to tell you what to do; you may wait and wait as opportunities pass you by. If necessary confess to God that you too are without special talents. However, our reasons are not valid. Jesus told them: The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field (Luke 10:2 NIV).
     Ask God to whisper to you one new idea of what you could do. If you do your best to do it, then He will give you other opportunities.

by Mary Carothers

     Then Gideon built an altar to the Lord and sacrificed an offering on it. In a way, this was Gideon’s way of responding to God’s call on his life, and committing himself to obey the Lord. Since worshiping God had fallen out of favor with the people, this took courage. If we read further in the story, we would see that the people wanted to stone Gideon for this act of worship.
     As the facts continue to unfold, we see that Gideon was required to trust and obey God in increasingly difficult circumstances. He clearly grew in faith and God gave him the victory. You can read more fully about Gideon’s story in Judges Chapter 6 and 7.
     Gideon’s growth in trust and obedience to God is clearly seen, as he was required to act in ever more challenging situations. Because he obeyed he eventually delivered his people out of the power of the enemy.
     There is a message here for us. First, watch and pray that the enemy will not overcome our nation as the Israelites had experienced. Second, be alert to the gentle urging of the Holy Spirit as He speaks a word of encouragement, instruction or correction to us. And third, be obedient, trusting Him, no matter what the circumstances. We won’t be used by God the same way Gideon was, but each of us can grow in trust and obedience to God more than we have up to now.