Read and Grow

Jesse is a life coach - passionate about skateboarding and Jesus. We talked to him about his story and how he uses his past to change people’s future.

Jesse:

So, growing up out in Western Sydney was a bit rough. After going through a miscarriage, a meth addiction and my best mate committing suicide—going from absolutely nothing to finally having Jesus is incredible! I've gotta share that with others.

Experiencing living in ‘nothingness’ is a scary place. The place that I've come from provides relatability with other people that have gone through such turmoil and hardships—that relatability provides empathy, not just sympathy. There are definitely divine appointments where the Holy Spirit prompts you to reach out and share the gospel with someone. But there are also those moments where you can just see that someone's heart is so broken, and they need to experience that joy that I experienced, right?

I love going down to the skate park and seeing an opportunity to share about Jesus and jumping on it. I've got a really unique way of doing it. I've always got some chalk sitting in the back of my car and often it's young guys down at the skate park that I will speak with. I will just say to them, “Hey, do you guys know what the meaning of life is?” and they're like, “No, of course, I don't know what the meaning of life is,” And I say, “Well, would you like to know?” [often I catch one person’s attention] then their friends sort of congregate and you end up with three or four guys standing there and with the chalk I say, “Hey in five years time, what do you want to have done [with your life]?” And they give me a bunch of things. And then I ask, “What about in ten years?” and then in their lifetime and we get this list of things in chalk. And I then say, “You live your life in one of two ways. You either live your life with purpose or without purpose. And if there’s purpose, then there has to be a purpose creator [Jesus] and I don't know about you guys, but if there's a purpose creator I want to know who that is.”

I'll then go on and essentially say, “because of all the bad things I've done, like the meth addiction, the hardships that I have been through, I'm not able to get to him. There's only one possible way, and that's if that purpose creator comes for us, and he did”, and they're like "Woah are you serious?" I'm like, “Yeah, his name is Jesus and he died on the cross so that you could be reconciled with him.” They can sometimes be really, really open. Like “yeah, that's awesome”. They can also sometimes have great questions and I always try to have a Bible as well just to be able to give it to them and say, “Hey take this, it will open up doors for you.”

Understanding where I've come from and not being shameful of that, has enabled me to be able to share about Jesus. I know that if we as Christians can embrace those things then the gospel can be shared with many people.

As a Christian, you want to share Jesus, but sometimes it’s difficult to know what to say. You don’t want to “preach” at people, ruin the vibe of a conversation or just seem plain weird. So, what should you do?

Let’s face it, it’s easy to get so caught up in a moment that you forget you have a helper to guide you—the Holy Spirit, God Himself! (John 14:26). The secret to knowing how to bring up Jesus in the moment is to work in tandem with Him. He wants to help you, you just have to be willing to listen and respond to what He asks.

At first, listening to the Holy Spirit is a pretty weird concept. How do you know it’s not just your own mind talking, or that the extra shot of coffee you had at lunch time isn’t making you stir crazy? Learning to discern the Holy Spirit’s voice from the noise around you is key to living an effective #LifeOnMission. So let’s set some foundations:

The Holy Spirit is God

To recognise and understand the Holy Spirit’s voice, we need to know who the Holy Spirit is. The Bible says that He is part of the God-head with the Father and Jesus. While He is a mysterious expression of God that we can’t fully understand, He is an active force and wants to guide us, just like He guided so many people in the Bible (Luke 2:27-32, 2 Peter 1:21, Acts 8:29-31). As part of the God-head, the Holy Spirit shares the same character as God and Jesus Himself, so what you hear should always line up with God’s nature—loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind and so on (Galatians 5:22).

The Holy Spirit wants to be pursued

The Bible says that if we seek God, we will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13), and the same is true for the Holy Spirit. Spending time reading the Gospels or studying His character will help you learn to discern His voice—what He would and wouldn’t say (Romans 10:17). The Bible says that God’s word gives peace (Isaiah 32:17, John 14:27, Romans 15:13, Philippians 4:7), so if you hear something that you don’t feel peace about, you should question it. You can also pray that the voice of the Holy Spirit will become clear to you as you spend time with Him (John 10:27)—like being able to pick out a friend’s voice in a room even when you can’t see them.

The Holy Spirit wants you to be “filled” with Him

The Bible tells us to be “filled” with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). In the original Greek language, this is an ongoing and active practice. This may require some mindset shifts, like learning to be thankful to God (Psalm 100:4), repenting and apologising for the wrong things we’ve done (Psalm 66:18), or silencing the negative thoughts the devil places in our minds (James 4:7). Overcoming these mental and emotional barriers can open us up to be more receptive and willing to what He’s asked. If you struggle with this, pray to God—He will help you.

The Holy Spirit wants you to respond

The Bible encourages us to have open hearts when we hear His voice (Hebrews 3:15), and to be “doers of the word”, not just hearers (James 1:22). This requires action—we must learn to respond to the Holy Spirit. Usually, the Holy Spirit will show up as “promptings”—like suddenly recalling a Bible verse, a story or something your pastor once said. Sometimes it’s a strong feeling or urge to talk to someone, or mention a particular topic. God wants you to follow those prompts so He can show up in miraculous ways in your life, and in the lives of others.

If you still feel unsure about hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit, rest assured that you have heard Him in the past. Whether you’re aware of it or not, He’s been leading you your whole life, and He’s a big part of the reason you accepted Jesus in the first place. You can do this!

All it takes is being aware during your conversations and interactions with others that the Holy Spirit might be speaking to you. Listen and follow His voice the best you can. You can be confident knowing that He is in control.

KEY POINTS

• If you struggle to know how to share Jesus in the moment, it’s helpful to have the Holy Spirit on your side.
• It can feel weird or even confusing listening to the Holy Spirit—you need to learn to discern His voice.
• To know the Holy Spirit’s voice, it’s helpful to know that He is God, He wants to be pursued, He wants to fill you, and He wants you to respond. These four aspects are key to living an effective #LifeOnMission with the Holy Spirit.

ACTION POINTS

• Recognising that He is God and reading about Him in the Bible.
• Pray that His voice will become louder and clearer to you.
• Learning to overcome mental barriers—like selfishness, negativity or sins we struggle with.
• Taking a leap of faith and responding to His promptings.

“I want to talk to people about Jesus, but I just feel distant from God.”

Your relationship with God is just that, a relationship. If you’ve ever been in one, you know just how much attention and love is needed to remain close. A relationship with God is no different - it needs care, attention and cultivation.

God has given many practices and rhythms to help you cultivate that relationship with Him, these are the heartbeat of the Christian faith. Here are 5 practices that you can start today.

1. Read Your Bible

The Bible is God’s love letter, instruction manual and manifesto all in one. Its contents and teachings are God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16). In other words, the Bible is showing you the goodness of God and instructing you how to live a good life. So start reading the Bible today. Spend 15 minutes a day reading it and you’ll start feeling closer to God.

2. Pray

Prayer is how you communicate with God. Think about it, you can’t even approach a Prime Minister or President without being tackled to the ground by their security detail, but you can speak directly to the eternal God who created all things. You’re not bothering God when you pray, He loves it, it’s like a sweet aroma to Him (Psalm 141:2). And if you’re not sure what to say don’t worry, the Holy Spirit will intercede for you (Romans 8:26-27). As you read your Bible, include some time for prayer too. If you’re not sure what to pray, pray about what you just read.

3. Worship

Worship is more than just singing at church or a style of music on Spotify. Everything we do is worship to God. The way you treat strangers is worship, the effort you put into your study or work is worship, the way you love your family is worship. In the same way God has given us music to worship Him (Psalm 33:1-4), He has given us our lives to worship Him (Romans 12:1). So, why not do both! Create a worship playlist for your morning commute or for your gym workout and choose songs which speak of God’s greatness and encourage or inspire you. Also, endeavour to live your life in a way that pleases God, this will take time (a lifetime in fact), but you will feel closer to God, because it’s literally what He created you for.

4. Join a Church Community

Church is designed by God to help you grow into the kind of person He wants you to be. Attending a church service is a great start but it’s when you get involved in the life of the church and in the community of fellow Christians that you begin to become more like Jesus. Church community allows you to be encouraged as you encourage others and be prayed for as you pray for others. Decide to make services and community a priority (Hebrews 10:24-25). Find a healthy church, make friends and be involved in their lives. If you have trouble making friends (people can be cliquey sometimes) ask the pastor to help, or find a church where you connect easily.

5. Talk to People About Jesus

Jesus told His disciples to go out and share the story of Jesus to the whole world. That includes you (Matthew 28:18-20) and a big part of growing your relationship with Jesus means being obedient to Him. This doesn’t mean you have to travel to a different country, but it may mean going into your neighbourhood, workplace or community. The Bible encourages us to be ready to give an answer for the hope that’s in us whenever we are asked by the people in our lives (1 Peter 3:15). How can you do this? Think about how God changed you, write it down as a story and memorise it so that you can bring it up naturally when the topic of Jesus comes up in a conversation.

If you’re feeling distant from God and want to go deeper with Him, start building these practices into your week; read your Bible, pray, worship, join a church community and talk to people about Jesus. And remember, take it easy. The best habits are built by the accumulation of small gains, so give yourself encouragement as you go.

Have you ever been surprised by someone’s generosity at Christmas? Christmas has a way of making us think about other people’s needs before our own – defying the natural selfish tendencies of humanity.

Generosity is not based on your economic status, nor is it determined by the size of your bank account; but rather by the size of your heart towards others. Generosity is the habit of giving without persuasion. It has no social bounds.

To put it simply, generosity can be a very effective way to share Jesus at Christmas time.

Christmas celebrates God’s generous gift of Jesus. Isaiah 9:6 says that God gave His Son to the world, who would be a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace and Philippians 2:4-8 says that Jesus gave up his place of privilege in heaven to live a life as a man and ultimately gave up that life as an act of generous love that can inspire our own acts of generosity towards others.

Here’s how your generosity at Christmas time can be a powerful way to share Jesus:

• Generosity creates opportunity – it stands out in a culture of self-promotion.
• Generosity has power when it is devised and planned.
• Generosity will bless the hearts of those who receive it – people who don’t know Jesus can experience a slice of God’s kingdom.
• Generosity stretches your faith – it builds your trust in God.

God reaches the world through the generosity of His people.

There are countless other moments and verses in the Bible that show the beauty and power of generosity. Without a doubt, having a generous spirit is the most rewarding and most effective way to live as a Christian. It is also the most effective way to lead people to Jesus.

Make the most of Christmas and use the power of generosity to point people towards Jesus.

BIBLE VERSES

Isaiah 9:6 - For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Philippians 2:4-8 - And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Acts 20:35 - In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’