DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT THURSDAY-COMMITTED CHRISTIANS!

You must get involved to have an impact. No one is impressed with the won-lost record of the referee. - John H. Holcomb.

Then he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts. Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of 'Grace, grace to it!'" - Zechariah 4:6-7. ESV

It is nothing we can do of ourselves, or by our own strength, or by our status in life that makes us committed to Christ, the building of His Church and the extension of His Kingdom, but it is by the Holy Spirit! We are committed Christians, by His divine intervention in our lives, by His authority, power, and force! Hallelujah! Apart from Jesus, we can do nothing!

The Bohemian reformer John Hus was a man who believed the Scriptures to be the infallible and supreme authority in all matters. He died at the stake for that belief in Constance, Germany, on his forty-second birthday. As he refused a final plea to renounce his faith, Hus's last words were, "What I taught with my lips, I seal with my blood." - Source Unknown.

Here, I believe are 3 characteristics of someone fired with commitment, see if they apply to you…

CONFIDENCE
A confident person always sees success, never failure… Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. - 2 Cor 5:17.

A confident Christian is aware of problems, but recognizes the solutions, knows about difficulties but believes they can be overcome, sees the negatives but accentuates the positives, is exposed to the worst but expects the best, has reason to complain but chooses to smile.

A missionary society wrote to David Livingstone and asked, "Have you found a good road to where you are? If so, we want to know how to send other men to join you." Livingstone wrote back, "If you have men who will come only if they know there is a good road, I don't want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all."- Good News Broadcaster.

COURAGE
How do we react in the face of fear? Courageous people understand that greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world! Courageous people understand this… for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. - 2 Tim 1:7.

When we are filled with His power, His love, and His self-control, we have absolutely nothing to fear, and this gives us great courage.

In his book, The Yoke of Christ, Elton Trueblood quotes a letter from a schoolgirl who probes the depth of her soul. She writes, "I've been thinking much this year about the importance of caring, of the passion of life. I've often realized that it takes courage to care. Caring is dangerous. It leaves you open to hurt and to looking like a fool. And perhaps it's because they have been hurt so often that people are afraid to care. You can't die if you're not alive. And then who would rather be a stone? I have found many places in my own life where I keep a secret store of indifference as a sort of self-protection."

That's a penetrating insight -- a secret store of indifference. We're to care, because Christ cared -- even though it means a cross.

COMMUNICATION
Understand the power that you speak. This is not to be confused with those who believe in, extreme positive confession, but this is communication in balance!

Prov 8:6-8 Hear, for I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right, for my mouth will utter truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

Prov 31:8-9 Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Phil 1:14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

Jesus said in… Mark 16:15-18 "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover."

Don Hewitt, creator of "60 Minutes," on his special talent as a journalist: My philosophy is simple. It's what little kids say to their parents: "Tell me a story." Even the people who wrote the Bible knew that when you deal with issues, you tell stories.

The issue was evil; the story was Noah. I've had producers say, "We've got to do something on acid rain." I say, "Hold it. Acid rain is not a story. Acid rain is a topic. We don't do topics. Find me someone who has to deal with the problem of acid rain. Now you have a story." - Terry Ann Knopf .

These are the 3 characteristics of someone fired with commitment, do they apply to you, if not, you need to ask the Lord to give them to you, or you move in your own strength, might and power, and not by the Spirit of God…

Loving father, I want to be a committed Christian, help me to do this by the might and power of your Holy Spirit, and not to try it in my own strength! Grant me, my Lord, confidence, courage and commitment, in Jesus wonderful name I pray! Amen!