Have Your Ever?

by Ellen Clugston

Have you ever been in the position of not truly knowing what is right or wrong? Have you ever been in the situation of being reluctant in letting newcomers know who you ar and what you stand for? Have you ever wondered if the grass was greener on the other side and you were missing out on life? Have you ever denied being a Christians if only for a little while so you could taste the other life? Have you quit reading your Bible? Is it because you have too much to do, are bored with reading, can't understand the Scriptures, or just plain don't want to? Have you quit witnessing and spreading the Word of God? Did you ever? Can you answer yes to any of these questions or even part of one? This is known as no growth and for a Christian it can mean death. I am not talking about a physical death but a spiritual one.

Matthew 21:19 states, 'And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it. Let no fruit grow henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered and died.' Ladies, this could very well be describing some of us. We have leaves because we are saved, but these leaves are withering because we are not sharing and imparting our fruit to others. Luke 6:43-44, 'For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.' I know when I was first saved and so full of the spirit I couldn't keep my mouth shut. I wanted to share my joy and happiness with the world. I'm pretty sure there were times that my church family wished I would just clam up because I came up with some off the wall things and just let them rip.

A store comes to mind of one of the first times I ever witnessed to anyone. We had just started the newspaper, The Voice in the Desert, and wanted to make sure we had the dominion over its name. Pastor took me to the Cochise County registar's office to pay my $10 and register our name. Lo and behold, the woman who was waiting on us was named Christine. She went on to say that she had been named that because she was born on Christmas Day. Of course I got so excited and started expounding on how lucky she was to be born on Christ's birthday. This was only the first tie I had witnessed and the first time I got shot down. She informed me that she hated her name and she hated Christmas. Wow! What a put down. This only dampened my spirit for the moment as I thought to myself what a fool, for not knowing what she had.

As I continued my walk with Christ, little by little the world chipped away at my resolve to share the Word. Little by little! Without noticing the little chip here and the little nick there, my voice got quieter and quieter. Yes, I still had my joy in the Lord, and yes, I was still saved and going to Heaven, but I was no longer sharing with the world, the WORD. I was no longer bearing fruit and storing those gifts in Heaven. I was literally withering on the vine. Matthew 12:33 'Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corupt, and his fruit corupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.' And Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve;

The causes for this decline can be many, but all of them are summed up in one phrase, "We let the world intrude without a fight." We blame all of our reticence on frustration with the world, family, church - you fill in the blanks. Some of our quietness comes from lack of knowledge. Instead of studying the word to learn more about our Lord and Saviour, and His promises, we let time slip through our fingers and the world intrudes once more. Days go by without us even opening the Book till we are only opening it twice on Sunday and once on Wednesday. Shame on us! We use the excuse that we are just too shy or too new or too tongue-tied or just too, whatever. We let the world step in and step on us and our good resolve.

The biggest block we face is Fear, with a capital F. It can be fear of rejection, fear of losing family or friends, fear of looking like a fool or worse yet a know it all, or even a fear of not winning or being heard. There are different types of fear, but one of the most painful and crippling is fear of yourself, otherwise known as low self-esteem or too much pride. I Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. The biggest stumbling block we face is we let the world step in and take over. Without realizing we are doing it we are losing the very people we want to keep.

A prime example of this fear is that I have a daughter who lives about 10 houses down from me for about four years now. I quit witnessing to her when she told me she wanted nothing to do with my religion. Shame on me! I just quit, I quit on my daughter. I forgot that through Christ we can do all things.

There are no quick fixes, but the Lord lays out a plan for us to follow and if we follow Him, all things are possible. Instead, we let laziness, fear, frustration, shyness, or just good old 'I let the time slip away from me syndrome' happen. We should pick up the Word and breathe, live, love, and study it until there is no room for slackness. What would have happened to some of the women who needed help if the ladies at Broken Arrow had given up? John 15:4-5 'Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can no nothing.' Simple and to the point. We can bear no fruit without the Lord and without his Word. The answer is to know His Word.

Ladies, I let days go by without picking up my Bible except to dust under it. I let time slip away. I always had more important things to do. I was too bisy, too tired, too overworked. I, I, I.

My husband asked me the otehr day what the word HUMBLE meant to me. For th elife of me I couldn't come up with a concrete answer for him. We sing a song about the Lord making us humble (Oh, Lord make me humble in all thy ways) but that wasn't the answer. Humble should be self-effacing. No, that isn't it either. Humble is lack of pride. That does not quite cover it either. Humble should be all these things put together in a way that is pleasing to God. I think I am getting warm. Jesus was humble but never weak. He preached to all who would have ears and would listen. Can we do any less? Can we let our pride and pigheadedness rule us or should we let Christ rule us instead? I Peter 5:5-6 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time and Psalm 34:18 The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

The road back from slackness is a long one, because we have developed bad habits and will have to overcome them. We need to regain our joy in our salvation and in spreading the Word far and wide. Some of you will say, and rightly so, that you have never lost your joy or zeal and for some this will be true, but for the rest of us - we need to examine our hearts and truly face whether or not we are still full of the joy and zeal. Only we can answer these questions, but we only need ask help and the Lord will provide it. Psalm 51:12 'Restore unto me the joy of my salvation; and uphold a right spirit within me.' The Lord wants us to shout his message from the rooftops, into doorways, up alleys, and over the sea. He wants us to go out into the world and spread the gospel. (Mark 16:15) He wants us to show the fruit and to share the fruit. Not just today when we are all hyped up, but tomorrow, and the next day and the next day and the next day. He wants us to share even if they don't want to listen. His word never comes back void.

We can do all things through Christ Jesus. He chose us to be His preachers and ordained us as such. He asks us again and again to preach to Word; He died for us so that none should perish. Should we do any less? Should we let even one go if we can make a difference? God forbid.

Hebrews 13:5 'By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, tha tis, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.' I think one of the best lines ever quotes was in the movie "Independence Day" when Bill Pullman was addressing the fighter pilots. "And we shall not go blindly into the night" which I would finish with "but with the help and guidance of Christ we will truly be independent and fulfilled and flourish and bursting with fruit." Don't quit!!!