Bold and Ready

ALL – Psalm 71:1-24
ALL – Proverbs 24:9-10
OT – Isaiah 57:15-59:21
NT – Philippians 1:1-26

Interesting passage for the day: For I live in eager expectation and hope that I will never do anything that will cause me to be ashamed of myself but that I will always be ready to speak out boldly for Christ while I am going through all these trials here, just as I have in the past; and that I will always be an honor to Christ, whether I live or whether I must die. – Philippians 1:20, The Living Bible

Thought: Do you notice what would make Paul feel ashamed? He would feel ashamed if he were not ready to speak out boldly for Jesus at any point, no matter what trials he was facing.

Easy to say.

But for Paul, it was serious. He meant business.

Would I feel ashamed if I weren’t ready to boldly speak up for Jesus? Do I? I think I’m pretty sensitive to my opportunities to speak for Jesus. But when I’m faced with the choice—to speak up or not to—do I speak up?

It’s one thing to be sensitive enough to our opportunities to speak up for Jesus that we feel ashamed when we miss our chances. It’s another thing to get to the point where we don’t need to feel ashamed, where we gently, passionately and boldly point people to Jesus instead of passing up our opportunities and walking away with our shoulders hanging.

Question: How do you develop a sensitivity to openings for sharing about Jesus? What helps you to be bold when you need to be bold?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.