After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. Acts 4:31
Happy New Year!!
The new year always feels like a fresh start for me, a push of the reset button and a time to set goals and exciting plans for the new year. 2016 was great and yet it had it's own set of challenges, but one thing that I accomplished last year was I read a lot of books all on God, his goodness and people of faith. One concept that really resonated with me that I wanted to share with you is that God wants us to co-labor with him. I love that! You might be asking what does co-laboring look like? I found a few scriptures that I hope will help define co-laboring. In John 5:19, Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does." Then in Chapter 15 of the book of John 15:1-5, Jesus tells us “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. Jesus could do nothing without his Father and we can do nothing without Jesus. That's co-laboring.
If you're like me, sometimes I feel like I need an extra dose of courage and boldness to really step out and share what I believe. Don't get me wrong, I can get going around friends and family and before I know it I feel like I'm preaching because I feel safe! But what about when we're eating out at a restaurant, or shopping and we clearly see someone who is in poor health or spirit. I don't know about you but I generally keep to myself. I truly believe God is calling us out to really co-labor with him and change the world around us. Jesus said to remain in him. This year, I'm going to focus on remaining in him, keeping my eyes fixed on Jesus and letting the Holy Spirit move me to be more bold, courageous and loving.
We have Jesus as the vine and God as the gardener, WE CAN'T FAIL. We just need to step out in faith, pray for those who are hurting, lay hands on the sick by taking the authority and power that we have as believers. I'm challenging myself and I'm passing the same challenge to you. Let's be Bold Believers by believing what Jesus has told us in his word! .
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