2 minute read.
Daily Reading: 2 Kings 10:32-12:21 ESV, Acts 18:1-22 ESV, Psalm 145:1-21 ESV, Proverbs 18:1 ESV
Daily Verse: “When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.” (Acts 18:5 ESV)
DIMARTUROMAI (1263): “To attest or protest earnestly, or (by imp.) hortatively: charge (3x), testify (unto) (11x), witness (1x).”[i]
Protest earnestly.
Encountering Jesus will make you speak passionately about Him to others. You can’t help yourself. The life changes experienced when you submit to Jesus bring joy and peace into your heart; you can find no other way. And you want to share it with everyone.
My favorite earthly love story began on a tennis court in Yorktown, VA, where I met my husband. Forty-one years old, all in with Christ, my life lacked nothing. In Jesus, I found all I needed. I accepted my singleness because God provided all my needs. So, I didn’t think I would ever marry.
But then God.
Ron didn’t attend church when we met and hadn’t since college. Putting God first in our relationship did challenge me. But God taught me the perils of placing a man before Him during my season of singleness. God’s peace leaves when we put others before Him.
I still remember the first church service we attended together. A friend did the invite, and the message on handling Biblical finances became one of my favorites. Finally, after four decades, I had someone of my own sitting beside me. God’s walked with us ever since, the third cord in our relationship. And we never stopped attending church together after that first service, still the favorite part of my week.
How can I not talk passionately about Jesus? He changed my life in ways I never imagined.
Everyone’s walk differs, our stories and desires as varied as snowflakes. From a distance, they look the same, but up close, the patterns unique.
Tell others the work God does in your life. Share how following Jesus has led you places you never thought you would go. Speak passionately to all, telling them about Jesus. Help them find the peace and joy that comes from following Christ.
Know Jesus, know peace. No Jesus, no peace.
[i] Strong, J., & Strong, J. (2010). The New Strong’s expanded exhaustive concordance of the Bible. Greek Dictionary of the New Testament (p. 66) Thomas Nelson
