EMBOLDENED
BOLD DISCIPLES
The Old Testament mentions people being bold or having boldness only 3 times but the New Testament mentions being bold more than 30 times. Jesus told His disciples they would receive power after they receive the Holy Spirit. That power was given to equip disciples with a boldness to witness. Scripture says, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses” Acts 1:8. The disciples were emboldened, “Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly” Acts 13:46. “the brothers . . . are much more bold to speak the word” Phil. 1:14 ESV. “We were bold in our God to speak” 1Th. 2:2 NJKV. “he had preached boldly at Damascus” Acts 9:27 NKJV. “And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord” Acts 9:29 NKJV.
Jesus also taught us to pray with great boldness. “. . . we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him” Eph. 3:12 NKJV. “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” Heb. 4:16 NKJV.
When His disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, He gave them The Lord’s Prayer, then, He told them a story. He said if someone has a friend who knocks at his neighbor’s door at midnight asking for 3 loaves of bread because he has visitors and nothing to feed them, the man will not respond. But, Jesus said, “though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs. So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” Lk. 11:8-9.
Sometimes, the only way to get a prayer answered is by being bold and persistent. Ask, seek, knock and keep on knocking. The Lord trains His disciples to fight like soldiers who never give up until they win. The Amplified Bible says, “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violent assault, and violent men seize it by force [as a precious prize]” Mt. 11:12
Recently the leaders of CFM went on a 5-day Carnival Cruise and we had about 50 Christian friends with us. Carnival comes from the word ‘carnal’ and being carnal is the opposite of being spiritual. On the cruise, I saw what I had hoped I would see. I saw Christians having great fun, but being spiritual in the midst of a carnal environment. Every day we had a time of worship in a designated room. We worshipped for half an hour and enjoyed a time of preaching as well. Every night we went out on the upper deck, played the guitar and sang worship songs under the stars. About 50 people who were not part of our group, joined in.
We prayed with great boldness under an open sky, and one day, when we were at a crowded beach, we had a baptismal service. We baptized 17 people, and 10 of them were not part of our group. We were able to lead a couple of people to the Lord and others rededicated their lives to God. Even at the open market in Nassau we laid hands on folks, including a market stall vender named Rita. We boldly prayed over her for healing, salvation and rededication in the name of Jesus.
Every participant that I talked with said, it was definitely the best cruise they had ever experienced. We were in the world but not of it. In fact, for those days, and in that place, we were the light of the world. We were boldly sharing the Gospel, and demonstrating the power and love of God. We enjoyed great fellowship, broke bread together, studied God’s Word, witnessed, and saw people come to Christ. We did this while having a great fun and being on vacation. We were bold but it did not feel like we were; it just felt natural and normal.
The Bible speaks of Daniel, that he had an extraordinary spirit. He was great in the eyes of God and of man and we should be as well. Daniel had to win the heart of four different kings – Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Cyrus and Darius. Every new king dismissed the previous administrators, but Daniel became great in the eyes of each new king and rose to prominence because of his uncompromising boldness. We can learn from the boldness of Daniel.
1. He would not compromise his faith even when facing the lion’s den.
2. He boldly served, even under these pagan kings who where enemies of Israel.
3. He did not cower under slavery, but was bold to train himself to pursue knowledge and excellence, even learning the language and customs of Babylon.
4. He stepped out in faith to be a spiritual man. He interpreted dreams with supernatural grace and he boldly proclaimed the Word of God.
You are not called to be obnoxious or arrogant but you are called to obey the Lord and be bold. Even if you are a quiet person you can be courageous (even with fear and trembling) and you can be bold for Christ. You may offend some people, but that is what Jesus did some of the time.
If you step out in faith you will get stronger, for God will embolden you. After a while, you will not think you are being bold; you will just think it is normal.
We pray our monthly teaching
devotional empowers & inspires you
to live a supernatural Christian life.
DR. PETER WYNS
Founder & President
Christian for Messiah Ministries
Pastor at Antioch International Church
Instructions in Righteousness is produced by “Christians for Messiah Ministries” (CFM). Dr. Peter Wyns is the President of CFM and the Head Pastor of Antioch International Church. He has served as a pastor for 54 years and ministered in more than 45 nations.
Leave a Reply