Boyd Bailey: Socializing With Sinners…

“While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples.” Matthew 9:10

Is socializing with sinners ok? Yes, and even preferred if your heart is to love them to Jesus. When you enter the home of someone who has yet to enter the narrow gate of heaven, you honor them with your presence. You can be with sinners and not be like sinners. In fact, we are all sinners, but Christ followers are sinners saved by grace.

You have an acquaintance that has just come to Christ. Providently, they still have friends that are outside of the faith. The Lord has placed you in their life to model for them how to reach out to the unrighteous. New believers, in their zeal, have to make sure they channel their passion into a productive, not a destructive process. It is the relational investment of love and listening that makes righteousness attractive to the unrighteous.

So whom do you know who is a new believer, that you can invest your time learning the Scriptures and socializing with their sinner friends? Authentic faith does not eat alone in judgment, but invites outsiders in to experience true grace. Christianity is first caught before it can be taught. How can you be intentional in your investment of others?

You say: “I am not very sociable and really don’t like being in groups of people.” This is understandable, but is being a Jesus follower about your comfort and preferences? No, it’s placing yourself in situations that require prayer, patience and acceptance. You now know better, but outsiders are still lost looking for their God-given purpose in life.

“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity” (Colossians 4:5). Wisdom looks for ways to work into the lives of those that need the Lord. Indeed, be prayed up and accountable, so you are not drawn into their unruly ways. Perhaps you start with your neighbors and begin initiating acts of kindness so that you earn their trust and respect. You still fellowship with believers, but also socialize with sinners.

“Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy” (1 Peter 3:15, The Message).

Who do I know who is a new believer? How can I help them love on their lost friends?

Related Readings: Judges 14:4; Psalm 1:1; 1 Thessalonians 4:11-13; 1 Timothy 3:7

Source: Wisdom Hunters by Boyd Bailey

The Daily Verse: Hebrews 12:28,29

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:28,29

We can easily be shaken by our circumstances, but remember that you've received a kingdom that cannot be shaken. You serve a God Who cannot be denied. Take every bit of your confidence (or lack thereof), insecurity and weakness and submit them to these truths. Seek and find hope and peace in knowing that you're loved, chosen and under the shelter of the Almighty.

Source: The Daily Verse by Kat Davis

The Daily Verse: Isaiah 60:17

Instead of bronze I will bring gold, and instead of iron I will bring silver; instead of wood, bronze, instead of stones, iron. I will make your overseers peace and your taskmasters righteousness. Isaiah 60:17

Too often we allow anxiety, fear, worry and restlessness to be our overseers. Rather, let us allow peace to be our overseer and rest safely in the palm of His hand.

Source: The Daily Verse by Kat Davis

Boyd Bailey: Follow Through…

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” Matthew 7:24-25

Follow through is the difference between just head knowledge and heart felt life application. It is what distinguishes success from failure. Follow through gives a boss creditability and a parent respect. It leads to championship teams in sports and excellence in business. Follow through is a form of honesty that honors the Lord and others.

How does it make you feel when a friend follows through with an act of service? Loved? Grateful? Respected? You probably feel all these pleasant emotions and more. So what do you face today that requires your faithful follow through? Who is depending on you? Jesus defined our responsibility to each other. “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12).

Follow through is an act of responsibility that communicates respect and accountability. Your ability to finish the task is a faith builder for you and for your colleagues. So follow through even when it costs you and you will gain God’s good graces. Avoid an easy shortcut that rests on unreliable sand. Instead, build on the solid rock of what’s right.

Above all else, follow through with what your Heavenly Father is teaching you. Put into practice patience, if He is teaching you to be patient. Schedule the unpleasant meeting and ask the hard questions, if He is teaching you accountability. Make good on your commitment, even if the circumstances have changed. Allow follow through to become your friend who helps you to overcome your fears, as you replace old habits with new ones.

“Surely you heard of Him and were taught in Him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:21-24).

What am I facing that I need to follow through with by faith? What is my Heavenly Father teaching me that I need to put into practice in my life?

Related Readings: Leviticus 26:2-4; 2 Kings 23:3; 1 Corinthians 4:19; 3 John 1:10

Source: Wisdom Hunters by Boyd Bailey

The Daily Verse: Isaiah 57:17,18

Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry, I struck him; I hid my face and was angry, but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart. I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners... Isaiah 57:17,18

God sees the actions that come out of the desires of our hearts. Whether they be righteous actions, or actions that steal us from His presence, He sees. He is constantly willing and able to heal us and restore us to Him. Press into Him today, asking Him to point out the areas where you've gone astray, as well as those where you've stayed close. Allow His mercy to keep you near.

Source: The Daily Verse by Kat Davis

Prayers for Ray: Phil. 4:6

Don't worry about anything instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. Phil. 4:6

Boyd Bailey: Road Less Traveled…

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it”. Matthew 7:13-14

What road do you travel in life? Is it the narrow road of trust in God and others, or is it the wide road of trust in you alone? Do you briskly travel down the road of life with the masses, or is your trip more measured and prayerful with a few? The wide road may seem more exciting in the beginning, but it is the narrow road that leads to fulfillment.

You may have been on the road of righteousness with Christ for a long time. But now it seems like your Savior is directing you in a direction that is less familiar. The level of faith required to digest the risk is much higher and daunting. Even within the family of faith there are not that many who have gone where your Heavenly Father is asking you to go. How will you respond? Do not be so cautious that you miss Christ’s new direction.

You first enter into the narrow gate of salvation in Jesus, and then you travel with Him down the fine line of faith and obedience. Those who go through the wide gate of disbelief experience destruction in their life and soul. So make sure you have entered into God’s eternal entrance and then travel with Him deep into absolute abandonment of self.

The gate of grace leads to a road of forgiveness and mercy. You still encounter resistance, and potholes of pride pot up, but you avoid them by slowing down and reacting in humility and grace. People will come and go on your trip of trust, so enjoy them for this part of your journey. Do not remain disappointed when good people move on. The Lord will lead you to new travel companions required for your next assignment.

Above all, stay focused by faith on the Lord’s leadership. Where He leads you follow. Where He leads for the future will require more faith than the past. Sometimes He leads with a cloud of limited perception and other times He gives you a fire for a long-term view. Whichever less traveled road you choose; make sure you journey with Jesus.

“By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night” (Exodus 13:21).

What road am I currently traveling? What road is the Lord leading me to travel?

Related Readings: Genesis 41:45-47; Numbers 10:33; Luke 14:24-26; Acts 16:6

Source: Wisdom Hunters by Boyd Bailey