Acts 1:7-8 (NASB)
"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 shall 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 to the remotest part of the earth.'"

How do we witness for Christ? How do we let others know of His love and peace? Think of a time before we knew Christ. Really knew Him. One can be born into a Christian home and not know Christ at all. One can even be a minister in the church and know nothing of the love and peace of God, or the assurance of salvation through faith in Christ alone. Such a life is without the power of God, full of darkness, and without hope.

We must remember the way we used to live when we were outside of Christ, so that we may appreciate the grace that God has shown us and truly be glad. There must be a clear difference between the old life apart from God and the new life in Christ. When we repent of our sinful lives and accept Jesus as our Savior, though we are physically the same, we are renewed in spirit. Not repent in the sense of remembering every single sin and repenting of it. For if that was the case, the thief on the cross would have spent all day trying to remember all the sins he had committed in order to repent of them before accepting Christ. Or a seventy year old man on his deathbed would have to spend several days trying to remember all his sins in order to repent of them and receive the forgiveness of Christ and salvation. Our memories are not that good. It would be impossible for us to remember all our sins. What repentance involves primarily is godly sorrow and renunciation of the previous sinful way of life. When this is done and Jesus' atoning sacrifice is accepted by faith, then salvation is assured. The dividing wall between us and God, our sinful way of life, is removed. We become new creations in Him. There is no greater blessing than this. If we realize this difference and keep it often in our hearts and minds, true joy and peace can be ours. In the best of times as well as the worst of times.

So what has this to do with being witnesses for Jesus? It has quite a bit to do with it. The only way we can effectively witness for Jesus is by realizing the grace His life, death on the cross, and resurrection has provided for us. When we truly experience the joy, peace, and assurance of His salvation, we are able by the inner working of the Spirit to not only live lives pleasing to God, but be a light to the world so that others may see it and be drawn to Christ.

May the Lord help us to realize our status as people already saved by grace through complete faith in Jesus, so that we may though our faith draw others to Him.