You Can Share

“When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, ‘Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last. I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave…Write down what you have seen—both the things that are now happening and the things that will happen.’”

Revelation 1:17-19

Here’s the visual. John has been sent to a remote island called Patmos. While he is there, he is in communication with God. He hears a loud voice like a trumpet and the voice says to write everything he sees. He looks to see who is speaking and sees Jesus. When he sees him, he understandably falls to his feet. And then Jesus reaches out His hand, introduces Himself, and tells John again to write everything he has and will see. 

John gets a visual of Jesus. This is where we get the concept that Jesus’s eyes are like fire, skin like bronze, and hair like wool. This is a story where John experiences God in a way that is different from many other accounts. 

We have stories of people like Moses who could only see God’s back and now we have John who gets to experience Jesus in His full glory. He has this crazy encounter and look at what he’s told to do next... Write. 

John has this experience with God in his life and the action he is told to take is to tell others. 

And that’s how we get the book of Revelation, from John, writing the things he sees, hears, and experiences. 

Revelation is a weird book. I heard a pastor once say that if anyone says they understand revelation they’re lying, and while I wouldn’t go as far as to say that,  I will say that Revelation is a lot. Revelation is weird. It’s different. But we get it and its gems because John was not afraid to share his personal experience. 

Revelation may be weird, but based on the genitive phrases in greek, we can actually see in the title that it can be  called both “A Revelation of Christ” and “A Revelation from Christ.” This is a book of Christ revealing himself. This is a book that describes Jesus through over 45 names. This is a book that reminds us of the triumph we have in Jesus. This book describes Jesus as The Past, The Present, and The Future. He’s already won the game and we are just living in the spoils of His victory! 

Though we may not understand all of it, this book is special and we only have it because John was obedient in his instructions to write. 

So what does that have to do with us? I think so often we think it’s the job of others to share. We feel like we can’t speak or we don’t know what to say but God is calling us to share. You may not be asked to write a book. You may have other gifts. This is deeper than just the surface practice of writing. The deeper action we see here is recognition that leads to sharing. We are called to sit back, take inventory of our experience with God, and share it. 

He could have easily been like “God, this is too weird, I’m not going to share.” “No one’s going to get this.” “Matthew, Mark, and Luke just wrote books! Why do I have to write too??

But because John listened and told His experience, we have a book that starts off with the promise that “God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and He blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near (Rev 1:3).”

We only get this because John made the decision to obey and share what he experienced. 

In Acts we see a similar situation happen to Paul. He was a murderer who was tasked with killing Christians, then one day he experiences Jesus and is told to be a witness. 

“For you are to be His witness, telling everyone what you have seen and heard.” Acts 22:15

You have an experience. If you don’t know, take some time out to identify what it is, then realize it’s your job to share. It’s not just the job of the pastor’s around you. You have a testimony that is specific to you that no one else can tell. Yo, you have a story that can reach people only you can reach. We need your real story! These other people be corny and I know you know it. Be YOU! Don’t hold back! 

You are the solution to a problem in this world, and not allowing God to shine out of you is holding back the answer to a question someone is having in this life. 

It’s easy to look at others and think you don’t have the same gifts as them or that you can't communicate your story like them. But what I love about the Bible is that it seems to have a solution to every problem you may come across. 

If we continue to look at Paul, we can discover that he was a terrible speaker. There were actually times where church communities he started turned around and turned their backs on him once they found better speakers. He didn’t use much lofty speech or great vernacular. Yo, he was so bad that someone fell asleep, fell out a window, and died when he spoke for too long. He wasn’t great at speaking. And he could’ve given up and been like “ok bet I'll just let people like Peter and Apollos do all the work cause they can talk better than me.” But no. He started to write. And now we have most of the New Testament because he shared within his gifting. You may not be a speaker like him but you’re a singer. Sing. You may not be a singer like her but you’re a writer. Write. Share your story in whatever way you can!

God gives us all different gifts. It’s your job to use it. Take inventory of your gifts and start using them intentionally. 

Here’s a spiritual gifts test I like that helps people learn about themselves:

https://gifts.churchgrowth.org/spiritual-gifts-survey/

So let your light shine so that others can see your good works and glorify your father. Let YOUR personal light shine so others can see what you personally bring to the table and be pointed back to Jesus. 

Jesus ignited a light in you. Don’t hide it. Share it. 

I’ve spent so much time hiding my light ut now I’m learning not to hold back. I hope you can get on that wave with me. Let’s let our lights shine. Put that album out. Plan that conference. Speak that thing. Don’t hide. Share. Shine. 

Thanks for supporting! Subscribe to ThoughtsByPace by texting the word “Thoughts” to (844) 750-0137. You can also support by CashApping $ThoughtsByPace!