Jesus’ disciples were called ignorant and unlearned. Jesus taught them for three years and at their graduation ceremony they all fled when He was arrested. Yet before Jesus ascended into Heaven, He gave them their assignment.

Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation (Mark 16:15 NIV).

Jesus also told His disciples that they would be despised, persecuted, and killed if they obeyed Him. Not an effective way to recruit, but as always, He told people what God was telling Him to say. But what was Jesus saying to you and me?

Two thousand years later we can avoid trouble by believing in Jesus, as the disciples did. Yes, people can embarrass us if we invite them to know Jesus, but that is not the same as being killed for sharing about Jesus!

In many parts of the world people can believe whatever they want, but if they try to convince others about God’s plan, they are subject to imprisonment, torture, or death. Now that is a really good reason for people to keep quiet about what they believe.

Here in the USA the lines are being drawn. In new ways rules are being passed that want to control where and when we can witness to others. We are being told that we must be more careful to not offend other religions by our Christian symbols, songs, or prayers. Every day we have opportunities to witness for Christ, but when we are too afraid to do so we are doing what His disciples did when He was arrested. Satan can cause us to be afraid to even hand someone a small book. He doesn’t say, “You might be killed if you do this,” but he uses whatever tactic will convince us to do – nothing.

Let us rise up and believe that we can do what God calls every Christian in the entire world to be doing. We can be afraid but still get God’s Good News to others. We can be timid but just go ahead and do whatever we can. God promises to, in some way, bless every effort we make. If we take one step forward, He will help us take two steps.

If we give the Good News to a prisoner, soldier, a friend or a stranger, the Holy Spirit will give us the same strength He gave to Jesus’ disciples when they asked God to fill them with His Spirit. We too will reach around the world and give Jesus’ message to many people.

Please do not feel limited by lack of money! Just as Jesus told Peter how to find money in a fish, He will help us learn how to get His message to others! What will He tell us to do? Well, He has never told me to find money in a fish! I ask Him for wisdom to know what I should do. If I obey Him, He produces His results. But what if someone prays for instruction and receives none? They can keep asking and keep expecting Him to answer! In the meantime, they can do whatever they can do. When we do that, God is pleased. He will never fail to give us some blessing out of His abundant resources.

(Reprint from September 2010)