Saturday, September 26, 2015

do not be afraid of them //

then i said “Agh Lord God! look, i don't know how to speak- i am only a youth”  
but the Lord said to me 
do not say ‘i am only a youth’
for to all to whom i send you

you shall go
and whatever i command you
you shall speak.
do not be afraid of them
for i am with you to deliver you" 
jeremiah 1:6-7 //
did you get that? go back and read it all the way through if you found yourself skipping some words or just scanning it. i do that a lot. read it slowly. hear those words that are meant for you. 
do you hear yourself in jeremiah's voice? i do. it brings all my insecurities and fears to the surface. ever since like forever i've been shy and ever since like before forever i've been scared of and resistant to the idea of evangelism. sharing the gospel has always seemed like such a daunting thing to me. i was and am just like jeremiah. i use excuse after excuse after excuse. why? a lot of times it's because of one of these.
- fear of embarrassment
- fear of misrepresenting the gospel
- fear of rejection 
- fear of failure
are you noticing a trend? it's fear. i am afraid of so many things when God has already set all these fears to rest. look up these verses: psalm 118:6, hebrews 13:6, psalm 27:1, isaiah 43:1. really just google them right now. those are the words God gave you on the fear of man. paul was beaten and stoned and imprisoned and put to shame over and over and over for telling people about the God who loved them enough to die for them in order to give them life in perfection forever. here's what he said.
but I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us // romans 8:18
you know where that fear comes from? it comes from our enemy. the devil uses it time and time again to numb us and mute us so that God won't be glorified and so that his name won't spread and so that people millions and millions of individual humans will die and go to hell. that's a harsh reality to face. don't let fear be the reason you don't tell people about the life that Jesus gives.
but how in the world do you overcome fear? fear is so powerful. but you know what's more powerful? Love. God's love is all-encompassing and safe and so full of grace. 
there is no fear in love. but perfect love drives out fear. // 1 john 4:18
love God and love people. it's that simple. love God enough to really take up your cross and follow him. live the life of a servant that Jesus did. give freely of yourself for Christ's sake. and give freely of yourself for the lost and broken souls around you. love them enough to get past yourself. go out of your comfort zone and speak the raw, beautiful truth to them. show them the love Christ showed to you. and for the love of God in the most respectful way please don't stand off in pride, too disgusted by their sin to draw near to them. Jesus ate with the lowest of people: prostitutes, tax collectors, lepers, and all who were seen as unclean.i see this attitude of hypocrisy and pride in myself all the time. "yeah, i'm a sinner, but not like them. i'm not that bad." this is so incredibly contrary to the truth and beauty of the gospel. do i not remember?
neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,
nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. and such were some of you. but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit. // 1 corinthians 6:11
and this is where love comes in again and again as it always does. in all cases and
above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. // 1 peter 4:8
so, back to the original trail of thought: speak truth in love and share the gospel. think about the individuals around you. remember how empty and dark your life was before Christ came in and filled the emptiness of your life and shed light in all the dark places- that's how they're living. and that's how they will keep living until they find Jesus. and they can't find Jesus unless someone tells them about him. and if they don't find Jesus they will live and die and live in eternity in misery and torment separated from God forever.
so now read the text over. and listen to what he says.
do not say 'i am only a youth'
and you will go 
and you will speak
and do not be afraid of them
and then read those and think about the reasons he gives after each command. and realize that evangelism isn't an option. i don't know why i always see it as that. it's a command. so, go, and speak, and do not be afraid of them cause God is with you and he is with you to deliver you. he is faithful when we are faithless. trust in him<3

26 comments:

  1. Thank you. I was thinking of posting about a similar topic, but this was much better.

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    1. <3 loved your latest blog post, bae. so much wisdom.

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    2. So you did see it! Yay! I didn't know if you had seen it yet or not. And thank you!

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    1. oh lauren<33333 you make me so happy
      i'm honored that i could have benefited you in any way:)

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  3. amazing <33
    couldn't have said it any better. this is a message that really needs to be out there more and heard.
    you have inspired me ^-^

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  4. Your words are beautiful, brave, and authentic. Thank you so much for this post.

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    1. thank you so much for this comment. <3 just.. askjfhkj so much love. thank you:')

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  5. I love this. I love this a lot. Girl, you speak my heart. I'm terrified of talking to people about Jesus, I'm filled with the fear of rejection, or misrepresentation that I always chicken out. It's hard, but it's something I really need to work on.
    Thank you for this post, dear. <3

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    1. yes yes and yes. i'm so glad it speaks to you. :') thank you for this comment, dear. <3

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  6. i cannot cannot say enough how much i needed to hear this today. not just for evangelism but for approaching people in general. you are such a blessing to me, dearest olivia<3<3 UGH THANK YOUSS xxx

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    1. yesssss, i'm so glad you mentioned that. this can be applied to every area of life.
      ugh NO THANK YOU <3<3<3 YOU'RE LITERALLY THE SWEETEST. xx

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  7. you always seem to know what to say about things that are so wish-washy in our young lives. thank you for these words. thank you for bringing us back to scripture. thank you for the reminder of this so very important command.

    thank you for loving the lost.

    p.s KEEP BEING BEAUTIFUL AWESOME

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    1. I'M CRYING. ugh thank you for these words. you always know what to say :')
      p.s. GAH <3<3<3 YOU'RE THE BEST xxx

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  8. THIS PASSAGE HAS ALWAYS BEEN SO IMPORTANT TO ME!!!! since the summer of 2014 when i first read it and it broke and remade me

    this is so bold and brave and beautiful and i thank you for releasing it into the world. gahh.

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    1. REALLY? TWINSSSSS. i only discovered it over a missions trip this summer. yes gah how do you know. that's exactly how it felt. i can't even tell you how many times i've gone back to it.
      thank you being you gahhhhhhhh. i love you

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  9. *gasps* YOURE RIGHT LIKE OMW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW this is too stinking cool i'm just sitting here in awe

    *wraps you into a hug* the best part of this all?

    you understand.

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