Be Prepared, Bible Study

Act Wisely Toward Outsiders

The title of this post came from Colossians 4:5-6:

5 Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. 6 Your speech should always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person.

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The Lord may place people in our paths for the purpose of guiding them into the Kingdom of Heaven.  We may see and hear horrific problems other people are going through.  It’s important that we never judge anyone and that we listen to what they have to say.  They may simply need some “shoulder to cry on” and this can lead us into prayer for them. Remember that the Lord doesn’t want anyone to head into Hell for eternity.  He also doesn’t want us to judge others for sins they have committed. Everyone must come to repentance. 

1 Timothy 2:4

2 First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, 2 for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Prayer_Closet

We are all sinners.  This world has become a disgusting mess and we need to get over any preconceived notion that some people are not worth our time!  If we stay inside of our comfort level, we could be dis-obeying the Holy Spirit by not helping other people.

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This is not a time to withdraw from society and stay locked up in our houses.  It’s time to help others while we still can!   Time is running out and so many people are already heading into Hell for all eternity every second.  The statistics show that almost 2 people die around the globe every second!

Prayer_Warrior

We do need to continue prayer for everyone and not give up.  

Proverbs 18:1   One who isolates himself pursues selfish desires; he rebels against all sound judgment.

Philippians 2:3   Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.

James 3:16   For where envy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every kind of evil.

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We also need to remove the “It’s mine and you can’t have it” attitude from all areas of our lives!  If someone is invading your “space bubble”, then it’s probably time you blow up that bubble!  Are we “barking” at people because they have done something like walking on our property without intent of doing harm?  Really?  Is it worth losing your soul because you want your own little space to be protected from everyone and everything?  What are you going to do if a child is out playing and they accidentally toss a ball into your yard?  Do you want to be found “barking” at someone when the Lord returns?

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jcsouthwest

30 thoughts on “Act Wisely Toward Outsiders”

  3. I love this James, thank you for posting. My hubby and I try to go out of the way to be friendly and speak to everyone we can when out and about. It has had some interesting results sometimes lol. You would be surprised at how open people become with just a smile and a kind word.

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  4. Yes James how perfect. A fellow believer on Saturday I teach with was all wound up and I know his heart. He was in a little shout orders tornado at me, and didn’t realize it until I responded calmly to him. He’s just as intense when we talk about the Lord, I know his heart. Lol the spirit of calm descended on him and his voice responded accordingly.Amazing some times how the power of His peace overrides our flesh to want to defend when we don’t néed to defend. It’s just our flesh.

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  6. A sermon like this would require a real interaction by the Lord himself to work in Finland. Even since Finland or finnish tribes were known to the world the Word about finns has been they are there but nobody knows them or meets them.
    Refugees coming to Finland said, there are cars moving but nobody to be seen. Still christianity has been strong in Finland for say 300 years but our national characteristics which have been beneficial like humbleness and hard working have become pride and sloth!

    Both were steeped in silent non communicative ways but nowadays what made Finland great the ability to bring help is/has been taken away by prosperity.

    Once the crisis starts mine and others mettle will be measured! Praying i wont be found wanting.

    Great post JC this one should be aired on finnish television!

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  7. And not to be too hard on us finns some people have to work too hard to even be able to meet outsiders.

    I have always had the idea that help works best at the source of trouble.
    Look at Israel they refused help from the Lord and spent 300 years in captivity in Babylon. Should they been able to recognize their problem Sin….they could have sought the Lord and avert the problem.

    The result after the babylon incident was an even deeper trouble that to this day has kept the majority of Jews from Jesus. Their sin twisted them even further from the Lord by accepting the talmud etc as superceding even the torah.

    Once we learn the error of our ways outside Christs boundaries of faith,love,mercy only then can we help and show others the way. And that is easier said than done, here be prayer, the Word and wisdom needed.
    First find mercy(Jesus),then truth(the bible),then love for others and yourself, and then only then could i see someone ready to help others to truth.

    My small moment of pondering here.

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  8. Powerful message! And as others have shared, very timely personally! This is crazy, I’ve never “seen” the scripture in Proverbs about isolation and yet is my greatest challenge here. I just listened to Proverbs again on CD last week, maybe the week before. Have read many times too. Amazing how He highlights one that just takes off!
    Isolation = why the Lord doesn’t give retirement ages…………can also mean stop worrying about being behind, does it really matter? I heard a sermon a few years ago about Christians should be an example by always having a lawn mowed etc. That sure puts a lot of pressure on a person. Sneaky little enemy. Going to visit some family and old friends to have prayer and worship time. The lawn/property will still be here when I get back. It’s only a foot tall and too wet to mow, besides its beautiful seeing green!!!

    Yes, we go out of our way to be kind to others. That cashier being so rude may have just had a loss,,,,,,,if you look around the others in line are usually rude and snappy. UHG!

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  9. Daily Devotional — 05/09/16 “TEACH YOUR CHILDREN THE COST”

    As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:57-60

    One of the costs of following Jesus is the impact on our children. If we, as parents, try to shelter our children from the cross then we are guilty of the third temptation of Christ. Our children need to understand that there will not be a victorious life in Christ without following the footsteps to the cross. Not around the cross, as we often desire, but through the cross.

    A co-worker once asked a Christian in Vietnam how he introduces the gospel in the villages where people have never heard about God. Without hesitating he answered “Oh very easily. I simply say, ‘I have good news for you but it might cost you your life, would you like me to continue?’ People want to hear good news and most of the time they eagerly ask me to tell them. But the introduction is always that there will be a cost involved because for us in Vietnam, being a Christian means a life of self-denial. When they are persecuted and imprisoned they are not surprised. They expect it.”

    The co-worker went on to say, “It sometimes amazes me how we find it suitable to counsel our children regarding the costs involved in buying a new bicycle or starting a new hobby but we never sit down and discuss the cost of following Jesus. We need to train our children in no uncertain terms that being ridiculed at school, being rejected and facing mockery, is part and parcel of being a Christian. It comes in as a package and you cannot have the one without the other. We need to train our children to sacrifice; we need to train our children to count the cost; we need to train our children that they do not belong to themselves.

    “Our lives are often based on our expectations. If we are confronted with the unexpected, we seldom know how to react. If we neglect to teach and expose our children to the reality of the cross, difficulties will come as a surprise.

    “But, once again, if we as parents cannot testify through our lives by being examples of living sacrifices, our teachings will be futile. When was the last time you were ridiculed for the name of Jesus? When was the last time you sacrificed your time and money to work among the lost? When was the last time you sacrificed anything to visit the persecuted church?”

    RESPONSE: Today I will be an example to my children and teach them the cost in following Jesus.

    PRAYER: Lord, help me to be willing to sacrifice everything to follow You and to be an example.

    Standing Strong Through The Storm (SSTS), a daily devotional message by SSTS author Paul Estabrooks. © 2011 Open Doors International. Used by permission.

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  10. I may have posted this on here before but it reminds me of Henry Gruver speaking of a trip to another country. He was leaving a ship and wanted to share the Gospel with a roudy group of people. Holy Spirit stopped him and was stern about it. He said, do not toss your pearls before swine lest they turn and rend you. It turned out the group was headed for a gay pride event

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  14. Endure
    May 09, 2016 11:01 am | Glynda Linkous

    My people have grown weary in a world full of wickedness and sin. You are sometimes fainting in the way as I strengthen your faith and help you learn to endure, but I tell you truly, My people, if it were not much needed, I would not put you through these trials.

    Endure a little longer. You will indeed be very glad you did.

    Be strong and very courageous, My people.

    Galatians 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

    Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

    James 1:2-4
    2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
    3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
    4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

    Joshua 1:9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

    Jeremiah 31:25 I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint. (NIV)

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  16. A Watchman on the Wall
    Posted: 09 May 2016 08:11 PM PDT
    Spoken clearly, May 9, 2016:

    “What is man that the Son of God is mindful of him? What has man to offer to his Creator? You come with demands, your heart seared with worldly fires; you care not to be still and know that I AM God. How dare man assume to demand from God – man’ place is on his knees crying out; ‘LORD have mercy on me a sinner.’

    The earth is Mine. I will do with it that which pleases Me.”

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  17. Daily Devotional – 05/10/2016

    WITHOUT WOMEN THERE WOULD BE NO CHURCH
    Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. Matthew 27:55

    The New Testament records the fact that many women were among the larger body of disciples that followed and served Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, we only know the names and stories of a few. They were more loyal to Jesus at the time of his crucifixion than his male disciples.

    Despite the patriarchal society of that day, four women—two of them Gentile foreigners—were named in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel chapter one. It is significant that Jesus included women in his teaching putting them on equality with men. The same ethical and moral standards were demanded from both genders and the same way of salvation was offered for both.

    Throughout the Bible, women filled significant roles—from leadership like Deborah to unique motherhood like Mary. The same has been true of those in the persecuted church.

    A pastor in Cuba once told me, “Lenin said that without women there would be no revolution. I say that without women there would be no church!”

    In China, the group of Christians who have had a major role in the revival and church growth are referred to locally as “Bible Women.” Chairman Mao once said, “Women hold up half the sky.” But it is estimated that about seventy per cent of the active Christian workers and church leaders in China today are women.

    For example, Chinese Bible Woman, Ding Xianggao, has an incredible testimony. She is a young itinerant evangelist in China. Very much aware of the cost, she says, “In my country there are many brothers and sisters who suffer for Christ. Some of my co-workers have spent thirty years in prison for the sake of the gospel.”

    Two of her associates were actually martyred. Because she is a hunted woman, she often sleeps in caves and fields to avoid capture.

    Her commitment is expressed this way: “Jesus died for me. The least I should do is die for Him. To suffer and go to prison for Him is my honour, and I look forward to it.” She ended up in a large prison with over eight hundred inmates involved in prostitution, murder and kidnapping. But Ding believed God had placed her there for a reason. After three years she was released from prison. But not before seventy-eight people had made a personal commitment to Christ.

    Sister Chan was sent to prison for six months for public preaching in central China, a prison with six thousand other women. During her time there, she led eight hundred women to faith in Jesus.

    God uses everyone who is available in establishing His kingdom on earth.

    RESPONSE: Today I will not assume that I am not useable by God. I will make myself available to Him.

    PRAYER: Pray for the ministry of Christian women around the world—especially those who serve our Lord in difficult assignments or places.

    Standing Strong Through The Storm (SSTS), a daily devotional message by SSTS author Paul Estabrooks. © 2011 Open Doors International. Used by permission.

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  18. “Serious Word” — From Bette Stevens 5/10/2016:

    Well ,here it comes,I have heard this today.,Such a strong word……..We ALL need to be getting back to bible basics…….We need to be centered on Jesus Christ(Yeshua) and not on all the things and people going on around us ,in the world ,in the nations……..
    Idol worship seems to be running amuk,but I tell you this,Every eye will behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,Every eye will see Him coming in the clouds……Every eye…..
    We need to refocus,we need to redirect.We need to sit still in silence and stay there until we hear from Him and what He has to say…….We need to seek Him now,

    God is a Spirit of fire,and those that worship,worship Him in Spirit and in Truth…..

    .Seek His voice….like the deer that panteth after the water…

    See,be persistent,know His voice for yourself.worship Him and Him alone……..

    Corporate worship is well and fine,but you need to find that intimacy with Him…He is an all inclusive God.
    What does that mean for you?It means He wants to be included in everything,our decisions,our thoughts,our words..what ever we are going through……

    Every word that we speak comes from the heart and there is life and death in the power of the tongue…Choose wisely whom you listen to,,go and counsel with,share with……..

    SEEK HIM——-SEEK HIM——-SEEK HIM——AND GLORIFY HIM—-GLORIFY HIM…

    Perilous times,even more so than now,warning us of the things to come,and will they come?? YES they will come.SEEK HIM ,SEEK HIM
    so He can make His abode in you and you in Him…..

    Please take this word to the Spirit..Please,I beseech each of you…….Time is not necessarily on our side.

    Prepare yourself,for both the righteous and unrighteous are going to go through some things and it will not be pretty…….

    I speak this as the Lord has put in my mouth……..May all who hear surrender themselves to the Lord and hear His voice.Amen,

    Lord ,you have heard and I have given it as I have heard it…….
    I plead the blood over each one that hears and receives…..

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  19. Enemy Attacks
    May 10, 2016 12:44 pm | Glynda Linkous

    I desire My people would be ready each day for what is coming.

    The enemy has plans against you, my children – intricate plans of intense attacks aimed at making you fall. Plans set in motion to steal your joy, your faith, your finances.

    But My plan for you is a good one. My plan is a plan of ease, of abundance, of great glory to My Name. If you will let Me lead you in the way you should go, if you will turn away from sin, and do the things I ask of you, his plans will not succeed. It is when you disobey Me that he is able to attack successfully, and take away from you.

    When you walk outside My ways, when you sin (I saw He means by commission or omission), his attacks succeed because you are giving place to him.

    Follow Me. Obey Me, that it may be well with you.

    John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

    Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

    3 John 2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

    Ephesians 4:27 Neither give place to the devil.

    Psalm 32:8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

    Deuteronomy 5:33 Ye shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.

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  21. Please consider a review of this post: https://jcsouthwest.wordpress.com/2016/03/09/god-is-not-the-author-of-confusion/

    I am seeing more and more “prophets” posting what appears to be contradictions! God does not state something and then “Take it back”! We need to take these things to the Holy Spirit for confirmation.

    I think many are being influenced by Facebook or other popular news sites and then stating something “Is a word from the Lord”!!!

    Jeremiah 14:14 But the Lord said to me, “These prophets are prophesying a lie in My name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, worthless divination, the deceit of their own minds.

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  23. PRAYER: TURNING PERIODS INTO COMMAS
    Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. Acts 14:19-20

    Today we hear from Open Doors’ author and co-worker, Anneke Companjen. These are the concluding paragraphs of her first book, Hidden Sorrow, Lasting Joy:

    My husband, Johan, likes to speak on Acts 14 when he challenges Christians around the world to care for the Suffering Church.

    In that chapter we read how the authorities won the crowd over and stoned Paul. They dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead.

    “Period!” Johan tells his audience. “The devil wanted to put a period here. Paul was finished as far as the enemy was concerned. But God had other plans. The story continues, ‘But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city’ (Acts 14:20). Something happened that turned the devils period into God’s comma. What made the difference? The disciples’ prayer.”

    God loves to change the devils periods into commas, and he’s still doing it today.

    It is my heart’s desire that he will use you and me to make a difference in the lives of Christians who are persecuted for their faith around the world. We can reach out to them, each in our own church and community and in our own way, through awareness, through action, and most of all, through prayer.[1]

    RESPONSE: Today I will not underestimate the power of prayer for persecuted brothers and sisters around the world. I will pray asking God to turn the devil’s periods into His commas.

    PRAYER: Pray for persecuted Christians today whether they are experiencing pain or pressure, guilt or relief, sorrow or joy, faith or denial, isolation or fellowship, prison or freedom, hope or despair, forgiveness or bitterness.

    1. Anneke Companjen, Hidden Sorrow, Lasting Joy (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), pp. 216-217.

    Standing Strong Through The Storm (SSTS), a daily devotional message by SSTS author Paul Estabrooks. © 2011 Open Doors International. Used by permission.

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