He provides us with a whole Bible full of information, power, explanations, illustrations, proofs, and help. All of it is so we will be able to respond to that one element of pressure He has placed on us. In this particular case we are being pressured to put our complete trust in Jesus for our life and ministry. When we hear words like "do not let" and 'do not be" we automatically think we are being instructed to use our own strength. We think He is saying: "Try hard to not let ...." "I am holding you responsible for not being ...." "My peace I give you" precedes "do not let" and "do not be afraid." Peace is the power to not let our heart be troubled and keeps us from being afraid. Jesus is the prince of peace. Having Him living inside of us can bring great peace. The only thing that would keep us from having that peace is a lack of faith in Who Jesus is. When Jesus said this in John 14:27, did it include us and was it spoken with creative power? Why would this Scripture apply to us? Because we have the same responsibility the disciples did. We have peace because we have been commissioned to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every person. As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.

There are some things we don't have God's permission to do. That is why we fail at some of the things we try to accomplish in God's Name. We assume God wants us to take a certain job. We assume God wants us to move to a certain place. We assume that God wants us to buy certain things. When that assumption is false, we fail. The same is true of the ministry. We assume that God wants us to work with certain people. We don't bother to consult God as to where He wants us. Here is the broad command. This broad command is pointing us in the general direction of where Jesus wants to take us.

Mark 16:15 (NIV) He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.

Jesus said it to His disciples. He sent them into all the world. Is He sending us? Are some of us exempt? If we don't believe that this broad command is applicable to us, we aren't going to yield to Jesus when He starts trying to take us there. Maybe we don't have this feeling of peace concerning sharing the gospel because we are not required to by God. Let's see what the Bible says.

Acts 1:8 (NIV) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you WILL be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

The disciples received His permission and now we see them being given the Holy Spirit's power to do the work. Is that just them or does it include us? If it does include us, does it include all of us or just some of us? Does God want all of us presenting the gospel to those around us? We have to know. Many of us are experiencing problems with telling our story and sharing our faith. If that is because we don't have God's permission, then we would be fighting God when we start sharing with others.

Acts 2:38-39 (NIV) Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And YOU WILL RECEIVE THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. The promise is for you and your children AND FOR ALL WHO ARE FAR OFF—FOR ALL WHOM THE LORD OUR GOD WILL CALL."

That's us. That's all of us. We have received the power of the Holy Spirit to be His witnesses all the way "to the ends of the earth." Let's look at it again. There are four things we are going to have to have in order to get out of our home and church and be Jesus' witnesses to the ends of the world. Jesus has to be with us. He has to give us His peace. We have to be sent. The Holy Spirit has to occupy our body.