Respond:

Here I am again, a new day, a new opportunity to look towards you in all things. Each day tempts me to waste countless hours doing things that do not matter. Help me be reminded of the importance of things to You Father and not be deceived by the rankings my flesh creates. Shift my priorities to match yours. Help me to be consistent in desiring Your Word and Your Mission!

Rejoice:

 

Read:

19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Paul asks his readers to petition for him to be led by the Spirit. He wants to only speak the things God would have him say. He knows that the only way to truly “make known the mystery of the gospel” is to be in constant connection with the King. We sometimes think that we can come up with the right things to say or the right way to say it. Yet we forget that our flesh cannot understand purely the things of God (1 Cor 2:11) but only the Spirit within us can. Our minds will not wisely construct something that convinces people of God. Rather, it is the Spirit’s constant drawing of man and our ability to come alongside Him and repeat through human lips the things He has been speaking into the heart of the hearer that breaks down their fleshly walls. We have the ability to say things that God has been specifically speaking to each hearer! You will never, aside from God’s grace, come up with the truth that connects with everyone’s hearts without seeking the Spirit. Yet so many ministers and laymen alike walk in the flesh and since they are doing “good things” they just assume they are correct. 

Just quickly mentioning ambassadorship since we have discussed it in recent posts: Paul makes the point to say that he is an ambassador. An ambassador is someone who speaks on behalf of a country or political power. It is an ambassador’s job to assure they are only speaking things that reflect the party who has placed them in that position. Again, this tracks back to 1 Cor 2:11- we cannot know the truth of God ONLY the Spirit within us can properly represent Him. If you try to represent God you will fail. If you allow the Spirit to represent God He will succeed. You must be asking Him to lead you in all things. This is weird and hard at first because your desires are generally opposed to God’s (Gal. 5). However as you practice you will get better at yielding to Him. 

Then Paul asks them to pray that he declares the gospel fearlessly. This is the man who had been shipwrecked, beaten to near death, arrested, and now was in house arrest due to his zealous ability to share the Gospel. Yet he asks them to pray that he is fearless. Don’t feel like you’re the only person who becomes fearful when sharing the Gospel. Paul seemed to be a super evangelist but asks the Ephesians to be praying for his fear! We are not alone in our apprehensiveness at times. We just need to be transparent about our disposition. We need to be willing to say, “I am just too afraid to talk about God.” For when we can be transparent we can ask for prayer and help from our brothers and sisters around. 

Respond:

God, train me in being your Ambassador. Teach me how to listen to the Spirit above my own thoughts. Foster within me a desire to share the Gospel above the things I want. Help me to be fearless about speaking Your truth. Help me to be transparent with others so I can ask for help in sharing Your Word. I desire to be a faithful ambassador but cannot do it without You. Amen.

Relate:

It’s time to pray and trust. Just as Paul asked to be fearless in sharing the Gospel so have you. So it’s time to talk about Jesus, get connected with people so that you can share the Good News. Use your Facebook as a platform for the Gospel. Use it to share with the masses the hope you have. Do not be stingy in your freedom. Do not be freed from the prison cell of sin and walk past those wasting away in their cells without stopping to share the key to freedom.