Going Forth With All Boldness

We read in Acts 28:31 that Apostle Paul "proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!"

He proclaimed and taught with boldness. The definition of boldness is "the willingness to take risks and act innovatively with confidence or courage". With that definition in mind, let's look at more examples of boldness in scripture. Acts 14:3 tells us that Paul and Barnabas "spoke boldly for the Lord" to the Jews and Gentiles. In Acts 4:13, we read that the rulers, elders and teachers of the law "were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures."

Paul, Barnabas, Peter and John shared and taught the gospel with courage and confidence and a few of these men had no special training in the Scriptures. Where did they get this strength of boldness? They asked God for it as we read in Acts 4:29-31. They prayed, "'Lord, ...enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.' After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly."

Through prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit, they were able to speak boldly with courage and confidence. We can do the same through the power of the Spirit. As we read in 2 Timothy 1:7, "For God has not given us a Spirit of Fear, but of power and love and a sound mind. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord."

We are disciples... followers and students of Jesus... and as such, we have been called to “Go into ALL the world and preach the gospel to ALL creation." (Mark 16:15). From a human perspective, that is a big, overwhelming task. But with the power of the Spirit we have the ability to fulfill this task, this great commission of the Lord.

We can share and teach the gospel with great confidence because as Philippians 4:13 tells us, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. We have a great crowd of witnesses such as Paul, Barnabas, Peter, John and many others who have gone before us to show us this is true.

Not only can we share the Good News of the gospel, but we can also be bold to bless others and show God's love in our interactions, speak Jesus into situations, pray over others, and share the encouragement of Jesus towards the people who cross our paths daily.

We are the light of the world, one of which continues to become darker and darker. We are Ambassadors for Christ, His representatives. So let us go forth boldly with great courage and confidence, into all the world and share the good news, the love & the power of Jesus to all creation.

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