Day 22

So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom of Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” — Acts 1:6-8

One of the greatest joys and privileges open to each of us is to experience God’s working in our lives for the benefit of the world at large. Being a witness for Christ is not only something we do ‘door to door’ or on a street corner, though that may be good, but it is living a life of total availability to Jesus and His purposes. Being a witness is not an option once we are indwelt by His Spirit. When that happens, Jesus said, ‘and you will be my witnesses’. The option is whether I am prepared to be a good witness or a bad witness, a true witness or a false witness, but a witness I am. Before my wedding day I had an option: Do I want to be a husband or not? But once I had said ‘I will’, the only option open to me is whether I am going to be a good husband or a bad husband, but a husband I am.

The Greek word for witness is ‘martus’, where the English word ‘martyr’ comes from. Death doesn’t make martyrs, it only reveals them. A true witness dies to themselves that they may live to express Christ. In 2 Corinthians 5:15, Paul writes, “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” Our old self has been crucified with Christ, yet we live, but now it is in the strength of His life, fulfilling His objectives through my means. This is being a witness.

The way we live expresses what kind of witnesses we are. Paul says of Christ in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “So that His life, His presence, His power might be manifest in me.” To live with that conviction is to experience the working of God in our lives. Then we don’t need to be afraid if God calls us out of our depth. It’s when we’re out of our depth, and out of our own resources, that we discover the Spirit of God alive and active in us.

God does not give cold orders for weak people to implement in their own strength, but He gives us His Holy Spirit as the means to accomplish them. 1 Thessalonians 5:24 says, “He who calls you is faithful and he will do it.” Working in and through people is God’s strategy in the world, and in our obedience to Him and dependence on Him, the Holy Spirit works. That is why we must never detach the power of the Holy Spirit in us from the Lordship of Jesus Christ over us.

Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, thank you for your Holy Spirit who works in me to accomplish your purpose in my life. Please help me to be a good, true witness for you and bring to my attention anything in my life that would speak otherwise.

To reflect upon: In what areas of my life do I need the help of the Holy Spirit most in becoming a good and true witness for Christ? When I’m tempted in ways that are more pleasing to myself than to God, what do I do about it?