Belated Thank You's

When my husband and I got married, our friends and family blessed us with many gifts. Because I’m not the most organized person in the world (and somewhat of a procrastinator), it took a while to write all the thank you notes. Eventually, I did get them written (which is more than I can say for the baby gifts).

 

In spite of having the thank you notes written, I failed to address and deliver them all. Years later (yes, years), I found some of those notes. And I delivered them, saying something to the effect of: “I’m not sure what this says, but I wrote it a long time ago and I forgot to give it to you.”

 

Last week, I wrote about Christians being letters from God with a message for the world. But a letter doesn’t deliver itself. It doesn’t deliver itself because it can’t deliver itself.  It needs a stamp, a postal system, a carrier, or something with the power to deliver it.

 

Note again what Acts 1:8 says: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

 

You will receive power.  It’s not something the disciples had on their own. Until they received power, they were like letters without stamps.

 

When would they receive power?  When the Holy Spirit came upon them. 

 

God does not expect us to just pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and go out and share the gospel.  He is the one sending us.  Jesus even told the disciples not to go out on their own.  He told them to stay in Jerusalem and wait!

 

“And while staying with them He ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, ‘You heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” (Acts 1:4-5, ESV)

 

 They needed the Holy Spirit to immerse them. They needed to be covered, filled, moved, and carried by the Holy Spirit.

 

We are here not only to share the gospel, but for the Holy Spirit to share the gospel through us. Only He can convict of sin; only He can change hearts and minds; only He knows exactly where and how He is at work and what role He has planned for us.

 

When I get nervous about witnessing, I like to look outside. I think to myself: “Yes, this person seems intimidating. They might not like what I have to say. They might disagree with me. But the One who sent me made that tree. He upholds that mountain.” And somehow the person isn’t that intimidating any more.

 

When you’re scared to talk about your faith, remember: you are not alone. You are being powered by God Himself. You are a letter with a Supernatural Mail Carrier.

 

And He never fails to deliver.

 

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