December 21, 2018
Revelation 12
And they have defeated him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb
and by their testimony. Revelation 12:11
In a few days family and friends will be gathering together to celebrate Christmas. This means that there is a great potential to have a spiritual impact on their lives. We will be spending time with people who have a negative view of Christians. A Gallup poll found that 45% of Americans have a mostly or very unfavorable view of our faith. So how do we navigate around this negativity? I offer three suggestions:
1. Live the "wonder" of Christmas. Have your own heart so thrilled with Jesus that no one can steal that joy from you. Put on a "GRACE" face and share out of the abundance of God's grace and mercy shown to you. The goal is to live our testimony.
2. Ask questions rather than make statements. Become Lieutenant Columbo, a brilliant TV detective who used questions to catch the bad guys. The key is for us to go on the offensive in an inoffensive way by using carefully selected questions to productively advance the conversation. Simply put, never make a statement when a question will do the job.
Here are a few great questions:
"How did you come to that conclusion?"
"Can you unpack what you mean… I just can't grasp it."
"Help me to understand why you believe what you believe."
3. Pray and rely on the Holy Spirit in everything. Without the work of the Holy Spirit, we will never touch or influence a person's heart. I have never argued a person into the kingdom of God. If you find yourself in an argument, you have already lost the battle. So pray for God's preparation of their hearts. Without God's work, nothing else works, but with God's work, many things work. Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, love persuades.
Merry Christmas to you and may God use your testimony to make this a Christmas filled with "WONDER."
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