Following a new path

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.  -Romans 8:26 ESV

Recently at church we talked about standing up for Christ.  About sharing the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ with our friends, family, acquaintances, and everyone else that we may come in contact with.  After one particular service I shared with Jeremy on our way home that I have no idea how to share Jesus.  Which kinda seems weird since I grew up in a culture where going out on missions and sharing our beliefs was totally normal.  But I'm just not really that person.  I mean I have shared my beliefs with friends and family but I'm just not the type that strikes up a random conversation with someone I don't really know and tells them all about Jesus and my faith in Him.  I know that as Christians we are supposed to share Him and I want everyone to know about him and have the opportunity to accept him as their Lord and Savior but I want that to happen without me having to stretch out and feel uncomfortable and share Him with others.  in my perfect world I would wear a button kind of like retail workers sometimes wear and it would say  "Ask me about Jesus and how you can accept Him as your Lord and Savior!"   Because I really don't mind sharing Jesus but I don't like the idea of bringing the topic up.  If someone would ask me outright about my beliefs I am happy to share.  But that isn't what we are called to do.  We aren't called to sit in our comfort zone and share Him only with those who actively seek information about Jesus.  We are called to go out to everyone, stretch ourselves in ways that we don't feel like being stretched, be uncomfortable at times, and make sure that when someone meets us they ultimately meet Jesus.  

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. -Acts 1:8 ESV

Since I told Jeremy about my lack of confidence in sharing Jesus with others I started really thinking about what I could do to be a "better Christian."  I wanted to find a way to make myself comfortable with sharing Jesus.  I wanted to "feel better" about myself and feel like I was doing everything I could to share Jesus.  But lets be honest here, growth is painful.  It isn't easy to become a better person and it can't just happen.  But I really didn't have any idea how I would stretch myself.  The only thing I could come up with was just forcing myself to walk up to random people and ask, "Excuse me, do you know where you will go when this life is over?  Would you like to know more about Jesus and how you can be saved by His grace?"  And starting to ask this question as a habit every time I meet a new person just didn't seem right,  nor did it seem like anything I would ever actually do.  But recently I have been thinking about the few blogs I have written about my faith and I started having this thought in the back of my head that blogging is how I was supposed to share Jesus Christ.  I was supposed to share Him, His message, and His Gospel through our blog.  And every time this thought popped into my head I immediately would think to myself that it was a ridiculous thought and I would immediately dismiss it.  But as I was praying a few nights ago the thought came very strongly to me that I needed to blog about Jesus.  And as strong as the feeling was I still wasn't ready to accept it.  Blogging about Jesus just seems weird to me.  Jesus who lived such a simple, humble life, travelling town to town by foot, a carpenter who's apostles were fishermen, a man who shared His Gospel through parables and on hillsides would never want little old me to share him in a virtual world.  But the next morning while I prayed I couldn't deny that my recent prayers to have the courage to find a way to share Jesus were being answered and even if the answer wasn't what I thought it would or should be it was none the less God's answer to my prayer.  

So here I am.  Writing my first blog since being prompted by the spirit to share Jesus by writing about Him and His teachings.  And I want to be very clear here.  I am not confident in my Bible knowledge.  I do not think I am even sort of knowledgeable when it comes to the teachings of Jesus.  Every time we go to church I learn something new.  When I read the bible I constantly come across things that I don't understand.  But I am putting my faith in God trusting that if it is His will for me to share my faith through a blog that He will give me the messages he wants me to share and he will speak through my fingers.  I plan to share a weekly "devotional" here on our blog and will also continue to blog about our family and any other random things that strike me.  

If you do not have the desire to read my Christian posts I am totally ok with that.  I hope that the messages I share will reach those who are searching for faith but I realize that not everyone is open to my beliefs or cares to hear my thoughts on faith.  When I share my blogs I will try to post in such a way that people will know if the posts are a devotional or something of a different nature.  But if I don't share that information and you open my blog and realize you don't want to hear what I have to say close the window and move on.  If you feel so inclined feel free to share by blog with others.  And please bear with me as I attempt to follow the promptings of the spirit and share my faith in Jesus because right now I am very unsure of this but I know that starting this blog is an answer to my prayers and God has a purpose for me and this new adventure.