2 Timothy 1:7-8 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner.

Verse 7 gets quoted many times, but not often in the context of verse 8. The love, power, and self-control, as opposed to timidity, that Paul is talking about are in relation to witnessing to Christ. The world is full of Christians who have never spoken to a non-believer about Christ, even a single time. They need to be filled with the Holy Spirit! As Jesus said clearly in Acts 1:8, the Holy Spirit is given to us to supply power to be His witnesses. Failure to witness indicates either a deficiency of submission to the Spirit, or a misapplication of His presence and power. In Timothy’s case, he needed to trust what God had already given him, and that is the case with the majority of non-witnessing believers today. If you don’t believe that God has given you His Spirit, then you will be hesitant to allow the Holy Spirit to express Himself through you. Much has been made of a distinct experience of baptism in the Holy Spirit, and especially of the gift of tongues, but I think that does a disservice to the Church. Jesus didn’t say, “When the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will speak in tongues,” He said, “You will receive power and be My witnesses.” There are two sides to that. One is, the Church groups around the world that are growing, rather than declining, are those that accept and acknowledge the active ministry of the Holy Spirit today. The other is, the majority of missionaries, of whatever denomination, are Pentecostal/Charismatic by belief and practice simply because they know by experience that they can do their job only by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is not to say that every Christian is to be a 5-fold ministry Evangelist (Ephesians 4:11). Some who have that gifting and calling believe, or at least give the impression, that everyone is supposed to have it. That’s not the case! However, everyone is called to demonstrate Christ in their daily living and not hesitate to tell others what makes such a difference in their life.

This of course fits in with my own experience of the Holy Spirit, and it is a theme I keep coming back to in my pastoral ministry. Some people have actually gotten offended at my insisting they are to be witnesses, saying that I don’t understand their circumstances. That’s not at all the case. I don’t know everyone’s circumstances, and I know that some circumstances make witnessing difficult, but I also know that God calls us all to be witnesses regardless of our circumstances. Some people don’t want to hear that! I need to be loving and patient, but not back down. Japanese society is a particularly difficult environment for witnessing, because for the most part, people don’t talk about religion and faith. However, if we are looking for them, God will give us opportunities to witness, and that’s what I need to encourage the believers in doing.

Father, thank You for the man You brought here the other day. He is actively looking for You because of recognition of his own need, and he says he has no trust of Buddhism. I pray that the words You spoke through me to him would indeed illuminate his heart with Your truth and set him free to receive Your full salvation. Thank You for the believer who came with him, and for that believer experiencing the witnessing session. I pray that every believer in this church would rejoice in the privilege of being Your witness, so that Your Spirit may use us all to draw many into Your kingdom, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!