Listening to the Holy Spirit:
They must hear your faith. It is not enough that they perceive, but you must speak as well. Their eyes only perceive in part, but the mouth speaks of the heart. You bring to them a hope not found in their life. As a callous built on the foot, so the imperceptions of their mind grow thick. It is in the heartfelt sharing of your faith in Me that penetrates. They see only shadows, but the depth of the Word of Life can remove the scales of blindness by hearing. Do not fear their rejection or the harshness of their pain. Speak as you are called, and your gentle words of faith will not be forgotten. In such, the Father draws them to Me, and in time given, the hardened heart can soften, dry bones become alive, and scales fall from their eyes of faith; but it is of hearing. My Word and My witnesses give forth the greatest blessings into the lives of the lost. Who do I send? It is you that I send. Speak, that they will know I Am.
Matt 13:15 (ESV) – For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.’
Rom 10:17 (ESV) – So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
Philemon 1:6 (ESV) – and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.
Taking It to Work:
Today were going to talk about sharing your faith at work. It’s a scary subject for most, but it does not have to be. Now we are not talking about sharing the full Gospel, that may come down the line, we are talking about sharing your faith, or creating the opportunity to do so. It is different, and much easier. The visual the Lord gave me is a tree and a seed. Let me explain…
Most of us work in places where if we started “going overboard” with our our “religion”, it may result in undesirable consequences. Probably not as bad as we fear, but uncomfortable, and for many of us, that is enough to keep us from sharing our faith at all.
So, if the full Gospel is the tree, and there no room for that tree at the office, then we learn how to drop faith seeds. And I can tell you from experience, some of those seeds become trees in time.
So what are faith seeds? They are subtle but intentional hints to those we work with that are men and women of God. And faith seeds rarely get us in any trouble.
Some examples: A scripture on your screensaver. A cross around your neck. A Bible in the corner of your office. Christian music while you drive your Uber. Words mixed-in in conversation like “Praise God, that’s wonderful”, or “Man, I pray we get that contract”, “That promotion came just in time. What a blessing.” “Wow, that’s a prayer answered!”
That may seem corny to you, but let me tell you, those people the Father is drawing in your workplace, they are going to seek you out. It usually starts like “Can I talk to you for a minute” followed by “I think you go to church right?”…and from there, many of those seeds sprout, and before you know it, their family is joining your family at church on Sunday.
One of my favorites seeds now-a-days, and my kids actually use this in high school: Not cussing. With the incredible increase in profanity in our culture, people notice when they never hear it from you. And when the time’s right, that will be the reason they will want to talk to you, and you will talk about your faith.
So, that’s not so scary is it? Drop whatever faith seeds you are comfortable with, and let His Word, and the call of our Heavenly Father, work through you, today.
