open. your. mouth.

open. your. mouth. T.H.R.I.V.E., #34

Listen to the podcast: https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/2c056e0b/open-your-mout...


So, I was up in Los Angeles this weekend praying on and for a movie set when I met a young man who had brought his little girl to be in a scene. As we waited on the edge of things, I told him why I was there; he seemed to like the idea of my presence and purpose.

Here’s what I noticed: as I talked of faith in God, Dom leaned in.
I don’t know his situation, but God sure does.
I have also noticed that:
when I am willing to speak up, and that looks different each time
depending on the ‘who’ on the other end
and the opportunity for discussion . . .

Please understand, I’m talking the world over, Friend~
‘Remembering conversations with a restaurant owner
in Tiberias, Israel, one night, while I was writing…
‘Remembering God conversations in retail stores,
in a market with a boat owner on the Galilee
in Anthropology in Chelsea Market in New York City
in a Lucky Brand store in Brooklyn
in taxicabs in Chicago and also Nazareth …
the greatest conversations I have are about faith in God!
As I prayed this morning, offering up the unrest in our country over the horrific killing of a handcuffed, defenseless black man by a white policeman, offering up Covid-19, offering up our economy and scared people . . . I asked God what he thought as he looked down on all of this chaos. Then I sat still to see if I might sense a prompting.
I did.

“Will you tell them?
You know Me. In Me, they can know peace, they can have hope.
I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness,
but will have the light of life1
Somehow many of you just keep your faith to yourselves ~ maybe you think everyone around you already knows, and if they don’t, they don’t care.

That’s a lie.
I do not care where you are reading this, so many just haven’t heard. They have confused religion with Me; many are jaded because of religiosity, legalism and hypocrisy in the church. Tell them--that is not Me. Look what I said about you who walk in sincerity with Me:
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.
Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.
Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
In the same way, let your light shine before others…”2

Wherever you find yourself, you have influence every single day.
Child, share My hope with others.

I came that they may have life3. . .”

This last Friday, I was able to watch the memorial service of Ravi Zacharias--true man of God; whatever you can watch of this recording, you will be better for having seen it, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBZxZG9nkC0]. I feverishly took notes from what was said about him, and clips played of his speaking--privileged to have heard him speak in person at Brooklyn Tabernacle a couple times--and asked myself
‘how can I be more like him?’

hmmm . . .. The last two Thursdays, [probably only because of this pandemic], I taught the Word of God from the bed of a Ford truck in a local parking lot with a large speaker, for all who would/could come, and those who were interested or just curious, walking and driving by. (that was the picture up top) What a privilege, what an honor! We had about a hundred people this last week, so if you are local to San Clemente, I will do it again this Thursday at 10 am. Come! You see, people may not come to a church, but they will come to an outdoor gathering with uplifting music and a hope-filled message, where they can sit in their cars or beach chairs, not to mention with a backdrop of the ocean.4 Men, women, young children . . . all there, all welcome.

Anything else you would say to us now, Lord?

“Be ready. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.5 My Word will inform you what to say. Perhaps you will first gently offer something like ‘so much I do not know, but I do put my trust in God’. Figure out what works for you, but be ready to extend the hope that you have in Me to another.

Ravi is home with me now - my cherished servant, who came to Me from his bed of suicide at 17, his life resurrected when his mother read these words of mine to him:
Because I live, you also will live.6

Tell them, tell them about the peace you know… tell them about Me.

I love you.
You are My beloved,
your Father in Heaven.”

We have a privilege to open our mouths and extend the hope of Jesus Christ to others,
but we also have a responsibility and a mandate. Let’s go . . . !

Christine!
PastorWoman.com

1 - John 8.12, ESV
2 - Matthew 5.14-16a
3 - John 10.10b
4 - SC Outlets parking lot at Hwy. 5 Vista Hermosa offramp. Bring a chair if you like; where a hat, and be ready to be encouraged!
5 - 1 Peter 3.15
6 - John 14.19b