A phrase that so many people are familiar with is WWJD or What Would Jesus Do? People have used this simple phrase for many things and one of them being using it in an accusatory fashion as if you were doing something that Jesus wouldn't do. Let me explain.....some say that you should not get angry at anything, or that you should not say anything bad about governmental leaders, such as the President. However, they seem to have forgotten that Jesus himself had some choice words of the leaders of his day! He labeled evil for evil! If a man's works are evil then he is evil. If he does the works of satan, he is of satan! It is that simple......you represent your true Master by your actions. And on being angry.......well, God himself is angry at the wicked EVERY day! (Psalm 7:11) Actually, true Christians HATE sin and even the garment spotted by sin! We are like our Father. Seeing that our laws allow the murder of babies is something that I get angry at and I KNOW God hates it and is angry at the evil people that bring it about.
Would Jesus ever say anything bad about someone or label them in public? Yes he would! Even Paul labeled people that left God and the Bible warns us to stay away from the likes of them! I like this one verse that Jesus told the Pharisees to tell Herod:
Luke 13:32
"......Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected."
WHOA! Did Jesus just call Herod a fox?? Yep, he sure 'nuff did! What did fox mean? Let's look at the word as it was used:
Fox - a fox; a sly and crafty man
Looking even further when we check the definitions of sly and crafty we see it as a whole that a fox is a man who is deceitfully cunning, one that conceals and is full of tricks.
Jesus wasn't someone who refused to label the "haters" or evil men! He told it like it was and didn't back down until it was His time to be quiet. While he carried out his ministry, he was bold and definitely did not resemble this mamby-pamby pious Jesus that some like to paint Him as. He was bold......he was straight to the point! When people say you aren't acting like Jesus because you may call someone out that is evil, just what Jesus are they referring to? Actually you are being like Jesus! There is a time to be bold and time to be quiet and we use the wisdom God gives us to differentiate between the two. When it came Jesus' time, he opened not his mouth and let the Will of God be fulfilled but until then, he boldly proclaimed the truth and called out evil doers and even whipped some people out of the temple and turned over their tables! It was his fierceness of righteous indignation (zeal) that drove them out! He knew what time it was that day......it was not a time to be quiet lol.
John 2:14-16
"And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables;
And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise."
Just what does it mean to bold? Have you ever really looked it up in its true meaning from the scriptures or do you just think you know what it means? Let's look it up as it was written in several places in the New Testament:
Bold - to use freedom in speaking; free spoken; to speak freely; to grow confident, have boldness, show assurance, assume a bold bearing
Mixing bold with confident we get this meaning from Webster's: standing out in assured and certain conviction
For some they seem to never have that time of boldness but rather are full of shame and embarrassment to even stand up for their God or His Word. What does God think of these type of people? In Mark 8:38 and Luke 9:26, it tells us that whoever is ashamed of God and His Word, He will be ashamed of YOU when he returns! We are rather admonished by Paul to do what?
2 Timothy 1:8
"Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God."
Paul tells us to not be ashamed but rather be a partaker of what? The afflictions of the gospel! The gospel comes with afflictions (to suffer hardships). Also we are told that we WILL suffer persecution as well. What is persecution?
Persecution - to harass or punish in a manner designed to injure, grieve, or afflict ; specifically : to cause to suffer because of belief 2: to annoy with persistent or urgent approaches (as attacks, pleas, or importunities)
Have you ever experienced any of the above in the definition of persecution because of Christ? I have! Just having a website of truths from the Bible opens you up to that. But I won't back down or let it shut me up! It just 'comes with the territory' of standing up for God and His Word in a sinful world! Rejoice when others revile you! Get excited when things come your way because God will work it for your good somehow! I found it so odd that the nurses in the hospital wondered why I was so happy, even though I was so sick. My response is I don't have time to pity myself! I force my mind to see ahead and to see just how God is going to work this to my good because God doesn't lie! I look for the positive in the situation - hey I lost some weight! I lost more in 1 week being sick then I did the past year lol.
It's high time that people STOP COMPLAINING about the cross they have to bear! Stop complaining that your cross is too heavy or its too hard! Did you hear Jesus saying this while he carried his cross and went all the way to Calvary? Are you bearing a greater burden then what he did; the sins of the world?? NO! So shut up! Bear your cross, quit being ashamed and trying to be a men pleaser and be bold and stand for something for once in your life!
I know people who claim to be a Christian, yet when they get around family and friends, and start getting asked about their faith and convictions or why they do this and why they do that........they clam up and say "uh I don't know, that's just what the Pastor said to do". When will you find out for YOURSELF what the Bible says? When will you be bold and not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ?
The misconceptions abound and there will never be a lack of them for satan is the author of confusion and his job isn't over yet. Will you listen to the lies of the devil or will you search God's word for the truth? Next time you hear someone ask WWJD......you might just have to tell them straight from God's word just what Jesus would do! Instead of getting down and wondering 'why me' when bad things come your way - why don't you shock satan and started Praising God for the trial? Why don't you rejoice that God counts you able to bear it? Get up and shake off the self pity and bear your cross with joy!
