Step Up

“Courage and Enthusiasm”

February 9, 1876, crowds of people gathered in cold, rainy weather outside of New York’s Hippodrome (site of current Madison Square Garden) to hear a man named Dwight L. Moody speak. Every detail about the meeting was printed the next day in the New York Times.

It’s recorded that Moody then stepped up in front of the huge crowd of people and announced the title of his sermon would be, “Courage and Enthusiasm,” because he said, “these are the two most essential qualifications for success in the Lord’s service.” Toward the end of his message, D. L. Moody said…

“I believe we would accomplish more in one week than we could in years if we had only fresh baptism. Many think because they have been filled once, they are going to be full for all time after, but we are leaky vessels. We have to be kept right under the fountain all the time in order to keep full.”

The New York Times article records that many of the thousands of people who came received Christ into their lives.

Courage is doing what you’re afraid to do

There can be no courage unless you’re scared. Courage is necessary for sharing the message of Jesus because it can be scary. But the fact is the Holy Spirit can do more in and through you in one moment that you could ever do on you own. This is why we need to be constantly filled with the Holy Spirit.

John Wesley once said, “If you light yourself on fire, people will come watch you burn.” We burn with the power of God on the inside of us. God’s power doesn’t work through random objects, it works through people.

When you come in to contact with someone, you have the opportunity to step up with God’s power and hope to whatever is presented. There’s nothing God can’t handle, and there’s no life he can’t reach. This should fill you courage and enthusiasm!