Boldly Proclaim

We can depend on the Lord to prepare our hearts to do His will: to proclaim, or testify, to His greatness, and to allow the Spirit of God to speak through us as He gives opportunity. Psalm 26 states:
6 I will wash my hands in innocence; So I will go about Your altar, O Lord,
7 That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving, And tell of all Your wondrous works.
8 Lord, I have loved the habitation of Your house, And the place where Your glory dwells.

Out of a pure and devoted heart can flow the testimony of what Jesus has done in our lives. We can be prepared to give Him honor and glory, to share our salvation story and to call attention to how He continues to express His love toward us.  We give Him praise and adoration because of His great love and His magnificent works. The Spirit will prepare our hearts and fill us with boldness and courage to make Him known.

+++++

We can make sure our hearts are open for God to move in us and that our ears are attuned to His promptings. Ephesians 5 addresses being sensitive to being used of the Lord, when it says:
14 Therefore He says: "Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light."
15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,
16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

We have emerged by and large from the graduation season, and while it seems we all too often hear or read stories of graduates who faced opposition in the form of censorship of their graduation messages due to faith content, this season, I have come across a couple of instances of bold students who have pressed forward and proclaimed their faith in Christ. 

One such individual is Lydia Owens of South Carolina.  The Washington Examiner relates:

A South Carolina high school graduate’s speech has gone viral for encouraging her classmates to reframe how they define success.

While speaking at her graduation ceremony, Lydia Owens, valedictorian and senior class president at Woodmont High School, told her fellow graduates that their future accomplishments should not be the measuring stick.

She said, “Even if you accomplish all of your dreams or none of them at all, you are still valuable, and you are still good enough because you are made in the image of God..." The article relates:

Owens explained that when her mother died two years ago, she realized neither her academic success nor her other accomplishments were what gave her value.

“When everything else in my life felt uncertain, the only person I could depend on to stay the same was Jesus,” she told her classmates.

Owens told WHNS that her mother was a strong role model of faith in her life.

“She’s the reason I have such a strong faith,” Owens said. “She wanted me to be my best, and she wanted me to keep going.”

She also noted, "... God promises that his grace is sufficient for us and that his power is made perfect in our weaknesses.”

A tweet from Wayne Bray, Pastor of First Baptist Church of Simpsonville, was embedded in the article; he stated:

In her 3-minute address, Lydia boldly proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ. She clearly communicated that Jesus alone determines value, defines success, provides real satisfaction, and gives us hope when everything around us falls apart. She unashamedly made much of her Savior.

Campbell Lino is another valedictorian who testified to what Christ means for her.  A Baptist Press article related that her original speech was rejected by the principal; the article says:

Lino found out in early May she was valedictorian. With the opportunity to share the Gospel with her entire class before her, she turned in her planned speech (as required) a few weeks later. It brought an invitation to the principal’s office.

“He told me I could not give that speech and there were certain things he didn’t want me to say,” Lino told Baptist Press. “We spent about 30 minutes combing through my speech and talking about phrases.

She said, "... the parts he wanted to cut out were very important parts of the Gospel presentation.”

The story says:

Wanting to honor her desire to share the Gospel while respecting authority, Lino and her parents worked through a rewrite of the speech.

“We talked about different ways to give the Gospel presentation,” she said. “A week after that, the speech was approved.”

She delivered the finished product, which she says was around 90% of the original. She included this line: "Now I want to talk to you all about the most important person in my life – Jesus Christ – and how He has changed my life..."

The article goes on to report:

Upon her saying, “… Jesus Christ, and how He has changed my life” the crowd responded with cheers.

“I didn’t know how they would react,” Lino said. “I just assumed it would not be warm. Walking up to the podium, I was very nervous and praying like crazy.

“When they started clapping, I was shocked. It was good to know the crowd supported me.”

Life was confusing before she really understood what Jesus meant to her, she shared. She was gifted in learning other languages and academics. She had a great family and friends. Yet she struggled to find happiness in what she saw in the world while battling her own self-centeredness.

“But then I learned that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the true king of the human race,” she said into the microphone, followed by clapping and growing cheers.

We can be inspired by these young people who decided to boldly proclaim what Jesus had done in their lives.  These instances can be examples to us to not shrink back in testifying to the work of the Lord. We can be bold and courageous in our witness. 

But, that doesn't mean we should not be careful - what we say and how we say it can play a significant role in impacting a life.  We can rely on the Holy Spirit to give us the right words to say and the right tone with which to say it. 

And, remember, we can take advantage of the opportunities to share God's truth.  We should be ultra-sensitive to those open doors and allow God to speak through us.