Witnesses

Acts 1: 7-8, “He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even the remotest part of the earth.”

My mother shared with me a dream the other morning with a message about sharing who Jesus is. Part of her revelation was that in order to share who Christ is, we must know Him and not just know of Him. As her son you could give infinite detail of who I am, but her question of herself is does she know Christ to the degree that she could do the same of Him?

And so it made me think of the above passage of scripture. Jesus said to us all, “you shall be My witnesses…” Have you ever considered the role of a witness? A witness repeats, describes, and reports on what he/she has personally seen. This is not only a promise that we will witness Him moving and acting upon mankind and the earth, but it also beautifully limits our responsibility.

As a “witness” we have somewhat of a passive role in the kingdom of God. Of course we are required to walk in love, act in brotherly kindness, exhibit patience and understanding, but in terms of being a witness; I believe we are more a witness of Christ, rather than for Christ. We can slow down on the man created and concocted versions of evangelism and proselytizing, and focus on watching the murmurations (the moving of the Holy Spirit in beautiful unison with mankind and nature) and be like Peter on the day of Pentecost when he said, “this is that described by the prophet…” this is God moving.

We want to tell someone how to live. We have a natural desire and tendency to be or support kingdom entrepreneurs in ventures that will “change the world.” Those efforts are wonderful, but they are not the primary actions we are called to. Our primary action is to witness Christ. To be in relationship with Him… to be close enough, aware enough... to see what He is doing. This is the “power of the Holy Spirit.”

I could rewrite the passage above to say, ‘Life with Christ is not about knowing the future or how or when the end is coming. That stuff is for the Father to know. Life for you is to have your spirit empowered by the Holy Spirit so that you can see what God is doing. And He is doing it all over the world, even in the remotest parts.”

There is a “power” from God that heals, and prophecies, and speaks in tongues, and inspires, and so much more. But the power most needed is the power to see. To see that the kingdom of God is at hand. The power to hear the voice of God. The power of the Holy Spirit to be in living relationship with Christ.  From here God will project out with, or without you. But His primary objective is for YOU to witness Him. For you to see what He is doing. For you to love Him spirit to spirit until we can do it face to face.

In my mother’s dream she was in prison and under the threat of death she was asked to tell a man about Jesus. As I listen to the dream what I hear in my spirit is this. It is not about being in prison. We are all prisoners of our flesh. It is not about being a martyr. We are all destined to die. It is not about telling someone else about Jesus with or without consequence. The dream, life, Christianity is about how well do you know Christ. What is our relationship to Him? Is He a character in a book? Or is He someone your spirit is acutely aware of? Is He in a distance, or so close and personal that He is worth dying for?

What of Christ do you witness?