Day 38: Peace With Others

Wednesday, October 7 Day 38 Peace with others Sharing the Good News brings God’s peace Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” Luke 24:45-47 Please read Luke 24:36-51 I keep asking the Lord for the gift of ending this Forty Days of Peace study with an exclamation mark (!). What if each one of us embraced the challenge to pray for an opportunity and then for the boldness to share the gospel with someone who does not know Jesus? Wouldn’t that be AWESOME! One way to share the Good News is to simply give your testimony in a conversational way. Tell how Jesus entered into your “mess” and saved you. There are other methods as well, such as using the familiar “Salvation Bracelet” that contains six colored beads. I am a visual person so this helps me to remember the truths. Here are the colors’ meanings: BLACK represents sin. Humans have a sin nature; thus, we cannot reach God on our own–no matter how hard we try. RED represents God’s love found in Christ’s blood that was shed for us on the cross. Jesus, the perfect God-man paid the price for every sin, past, present, and future. WHITE represents the forgiveness of sin. When we confess our sin and believe in the truth of Christ’s death and resurrection, we can then stand fully forgiven in the presence of God. BLUE represents the Holy Spirit, given to us, alive in us… an amazing thought… a life-changing truth! GREEN represents growth. Because of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling, we have the ability to understand and obey God’s word. A beautiful relationship begins! GOLD represents God’s eternal kingdom that we as believers in Christ will inherit. (See Romans 3:23; Romans 5:8; Psalm 51:7; Romans 6:4; 2 Peter 3:18; John 3:16 respectively). Remember, the good news about Jesus is delivered with saving power, not because of the eloquent or not-so-eloquent words we say, but because of the truth that our words contain. The pressure is off of us because God’s power is inside of us. We just need to go and tell. Will you be a messenger of God’s peace? Together, let’s end this study with an exclamation point! For further reading: John 20:19-22; 2 Timothy 4:1-2; Psalm 35:28; Romans 1:16 Dear Lord, Give us both the boldness and desire to share your Good News today. May we know that you are at work in our words of truth. Come alive in those that are desperately looking for a hope that is living and eternal. What a privilege to be used by you. We love you with our whole heart and want others to do the same. Amen.