Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope

Guest (Male): Welcome to Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope. One thing I've noticed about Joni is that the older she gets, the bolder she gets.

Joni Eareckson Tada: The longer I'm a Christian and the longer I live, the bolder I am in talking about Jesus. It could be in a restaurant, with the clerk at a mall, a hotel maid, maybe the supermarket checkout guy, or even my next-door neighbor. When someone asks how I am, I smile and I give them the answer that they don't quite expect. Oh, I am so happy and I'm so thankful to Jesus. Or I'll say, I'm doing well, thank you, and I'm so grateful to the Lord.

I may never see that person again and there is certainly no time to give a salvation message, but I can at least lift up the name of Jesus. And the name of Jesus, as we know from Scripture, that name has power. Even Revelation 19 says that "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Look, if you want to do something prophetic, give the testimony of Jesus. Say his name and how he's changed your life and how he makes you happy.

Now, you may say to yourself, but Joni, I'm not qualified. I don't know much about the Bible. I'm afraid people might corner me with tough questions. You may excuse yourself, explaining that you have not been through Evangelism Explosion, or you might say that you've never taken training from the Pocket Testament League Seven Lesson Self-Paced Evangelism Bootcamp course, or you've never done Billy Graham's Weekend Evangelism Equipping seminar.

And you know there are scores of other evangelism courses that you've never delved into either. So you might say, I'm not trained. I've never done a course of study. I don't qualify. Well, if that's you, I want you to consider the example of the shepherds on the hillside above Bethlehem the night that Jesus was born. The angels appeared in the heavens and gave them a message, basically saying, here's the good news. Christ has come with his peace.

Really, that was about it. How interesting that the Lord chose to first give that salvation message to shepherds. Because my Pastor Bob Beercas tells me that the Torah says that the testimony of shepherds wasn't even allowed in a human court of law. They didn't count. They were unreliable witnesses. So why would God pick them to first ring out the good news?

Well, because God delights in getting his message out through unskilled, ill-equipped, unqualified, and poorly trained people. Yep, that was the shepherds on the hill that night. But their unreliability should encourage you because you too may be unskilled, ill-equipped, untrained, and friends might even think your word unreliable. But that's where the power of the Holy Spirit comes into play.

All you need to do is share the testimony of Jesus, the name of Jesus, and how he is lived out in your life. What has he done for you? How's he changed you? You begin sharing that simple story once or twice, and with each testimony, you'll grow more bold, more courageous, and even more convincing. Look, if you want to do something prophetic, give the testimony of Jesus and how he's changed your life.

As the old puritans would say, find your voice and give it spine. Friend, find your voice and give it courage, give it conviction, give it your all. For there is power, there is life and salvation in the name of Jesus. And if you would like to see how I share the story of Jesus, then visit my radio page today where I have posted a link to the Joni and Friends page where the gospel of Jesus is made clear. Just go to joniradio.org and get an idea of what the testimony of Jesus sounds like. Then find your voice and give it spine at joniradio.org.