One of the hardest things a person could ever attempt to do.  It can surprise you when you get someone to listen to you the first time.  Each and everyone of us have experienced this at lease a dozen or more times in our walk with Our Lord and Savior including Our Lord and Savior, who experienced rejection many more times than anyone of us ever will. He still gets rejected today. Over 2,000 years later.

Last night my wife and I were watching a movie about Mary the Earthly Mother of Our Lord and Savior. It was a great movie in that it tried to show what his Mother must have gone through with her shock of an Angel telling her that she would give birth without first knowing a man, and then that her child would be the promised Messiah! Great movie, like they said at the first that the movie is pretty much along scripture but we don’t have much detail about Mary’s or Christ’s private lives. The makers of the movie were trying to show what a mother must have gone through, love and emotion wise. As she watched her son grow up and fulfill his destiny as The Son of God.I mention all of this only to point out that this movie also tried to show how Christ was denied by so many people around him that had known him as he grew from a child into manhood. Jesus had to leave his hometown to find people who accepted his teachings.

It is often very hard for people who have known you all your life to accept the changes that come into your life after you accept Christ Jesus into your life. Even if they profess to already be followers of Christ. You see, they have their own ideas of what their relationship with Christ is or should be, and then,here you come. All on fire! Wanting to talk about it out loud, not quietly on Sundays only. You are excited!!! When we read Our Bible we see that Christ Jesus had the same problems. When he spoke in the synagogue like  all Good Jewish Men are required to do at some time in their life, they were shaken up when he didn’t need to look at and read the scriptures from the scrolls(or as we would call them, the books)! They rejected him primarily out of fear. They were afraid because they had a problem accepting that this simple carpenters son,who,they had known since he was born, could quote the scriptures without even looking at the written version of those sacred scriptures that they all claimed to know and live by.

You see, most people get complacent in their religious life somewhere along the way. They truly believe that they know enough of Our Scriptures to get by and possibly get into Heaven. Then, here you come!  Christ has put a great fire in your heart and sent you among your family and friends to reawaken their fires as well. It is scary for them, to say the least !!!! Even though your friends and family probably do know, or at least have been taught at sometime, enough to get them into heaven, they can get shook up when they see you on fire. They can get nervous and wonder to themselves if they are doing right in their walk with Christ, causing them to reject your life changes. Even God sent his only Son away from his earthly home to other cities to preach and teach,so people would more readily accept Christ’s teachings at first.

So, now you can see. You are not alone in your trials and tribulations during your witnessing for Christ. As for me, I as your pastor, still go through the same trials in witnessing to people. Almost no one in the area where I was born and grew up in East Texas will  listen to me when I tech and Preach about Our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus. They still see me as that wild child pain in their side that I was when I was growing up. They say they acknowledge that Christ Jesus has changed my life and for reasons only known to him, appointed me as Pastor of this Ministry for the last fourteen years. But, most of them will not talk with me about Christ. I many times simply want to just sit quietly and listen to them talk about their relationship with Christ but they are afraid or so unsure of themselves they wont even do this.

I am not Christ by any stretch of the imagination, but when I start to become discouraged in my life of witnessing for Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I just slow down a bit and reflect on his earthly life and remind myself that he went through the same trials and tribulations but he kept his eye and heart on the ultimate prize, going home to Heaven.

in church last week we were in 1 Peter where Peter said for us to live like we are strangers here on earth and in our communities. We are to concentrate on our Spiritual lives and always strive to keep on working toward our heavenly home. A major part of this, is to continuously witness to others around us. Even though it gets hard sometimes, always remember that Our Lord and Savior went through the same things long, long ago. My Prayer for YOU is this, May Jesus Bless and Keep YOU today and everyday until that Glorious day when HE brings us all home.

You can always join our services live and actually participate with other people of like beliefs  calling in on Sunday Evenings at 8 p.m. eastern time in the U.S.A. by dialing 712 432 3900 and when prompted put in conference number 431167#.