Dear Bros in Christ,

Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
Brothers in Christ, this monthly devotional is sent and meant to be an encouragement to
all and to build up and edify in the Lord Jesus Christ. Oikodome means "Builder". The Lord
has put this on my heart to send out a monthly Iron Man Oikodome {oy-kod-om-
ay'} to build up and encourage the men who love and follow Jesus Christ in their walk with
Him.
Hebrews 3:13 "But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none
of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness."
PRAYER REQUESTS: If you have any prayer requests please send them and I will send
them out to the bros for prayer, if privacy is needed I will send in a discreet way.

AUGUST 2010

“BOLDNESS WITH JESUS”

“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated
and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus” (Act 4:13
NKJV).

When you read this account and realize the boldness with which Peter and John went forth in and
shared their testimony in, it only could have come from the Lord. He gave them that boldness and this
was realized as a result from hanging out with and spending time with Jesus and just like it says “And
they realized they had been with Jesus. When we walk in His ways and stay in His Word and spend time
with Jesus it will be evident to all. When you see Gods hand moving and see men and women He is
using. You can see the fruit that comes from their labors, from their testimony, from their witness, from
them being available, obedient and willing vessels to be used and poured out by the Lord, which can
only come by spending time and being with Jesus. God was moving mightily through Peter and John
people were being healed, miracles were happening and thousands were coming to the Lord.
A few years ago I was looking through an old personal phone book and ran across a number from a guy
I worked with in my youth. I paused and stared at the number and began to think upon this man and
wondered whatever became of him. I thought to myself could this number still be good, I brushed it off
and said no way it has been at least 32- 35 years since I last saw or talked to this man. I thought surely
he has died he was older than me by at least 20 something years. And when I worked with him he was
an old man at least 40 something, amazing how when you are younger you think 40 is really old and
then it seems really young when you are 40ish….
I decided to give it a try and call this number just out of curiosity. I called and someone answered who
did not speak English and when I asked for the guy I once worked with they hung up and I thought
hmmm. Well let me try again and when I asked for him this time using the Spanish version of his name
they handed the phone to someone who spoke English, could they have possibly known how bad my
Spanish was??? Oh well, anyway when I asked for him again she asked who was calling and what I
wanted, so I thought maybe this is his number and he has passed away and she is just being guarded in
her responses… But when I told her I used to work with this person she replied let me get my dad, I was
stunned to say the least. So I waited and when this voice came on I immediately recognized it to be my
old friend and coworker. I could not believe that he still had the same phone number for one thing and
another that he was still alive and living in the exact same house… This man was the hardest working
man in the construction business that I ever knew; to this day I still practice what I learned from him in
terms of work ethics. He was the best at what he did and the most common sense logical worker you
ever saw. He always made everything even the most difficult jobs seem so easy because of the ability
he had to simplify and organize total chaos in a construction work environment. You did not see many
guys in their 40’s doing the type of work he did, you were considered to old to do that kind of back
breaking hard work at that age but not him he did it with ease.

On another note I was young and easily influenced at the time, I was thrilled to be working with this guy
at the time and he made me a better brick layer than I had ever been because of his expertise in all
areas of our work. He was also quite a drinker as I was, but I never drank while working, but that
changed while working with this guy he taught me to be a professional at it with little effort on his part...
This part of our relationship came with a great price as I started drinking more and more and it created
huge problems needless to say. We had a lot of fun times working together it seemed, but painful as
well. Even before I met this guy he knew my dad they hung out in the bars together. After a few years
we parted ways mainly because I moved to another area and started doing another type of work that I
could make a lot more money at and he did not particularly care for that type of work style so he went
his way and I went mine. I heard about him a little through the grapevine but then you know how time
just seems to fly by and you realize wow where did and how did the time go and I wonder what ever
happened to this dude or that dude…. This is just a brief outline description of our friendship prior to this
phone call what happens next still blows my mind, only God could have done this….

Back to my conversation with my friend when I started talking to him after he answered the phone; He
started talking about old times and joking of all the old memories and all the guys we use to know that
had passed away and after 30-40 minutes of catching up we said goodbye. Before we hung up he told
me he lived in the same place and to come by sometime as he was retired, so I said I would.

You see the Lord had put this man on my heart to share the Gospel with and had led me to call him
which seemed crazy at the time. So after a few weeks I went and saw him and we reminisced and went
over all the old stories and then some… But I was on a mission I wanted to share the Gospel with him,
but could not get up the nerve or boldness because it just did not seem the right timing; he was still
reliving the past, caught up in those old times and they were so far removed from me… he did say that
he quit drinking about twenty years ago and I said really me too about the same time and that I started
going to church and following the Lord. But for some reason I just could not get an in to share with him
and after a bit of time I left his house. I was discouraged I felt like my reason for going there was to
share my testimony and the Gospel but he wanted to talk old times and I just couldn’t, it seemed difficult
to find the right opportunity to share with him.

A few weeks and then months went by and I had become so convicted in my heart that I called him and
this was after much prayer asking God for boldness and when he answered I immediately started to
share my testimony. I told him that the reason I went to his house in the first place was to share the
Lord and the Lord had put that on my heart and I wanted him to know what God has done for me and
how he delivered me and I wanted him to be able to have what I had and that without Jesus he was
going to hell. I told him he was such a great influence on me work wise when I was younger and that I
had learned a lot from his work ethics and experience and I had never forgot what he taught me and that
he was the best at what he did and I used everything he taught me to this day in my work and everyday
life for common sense logical application for getting every job done no matter how big or small without
wasting a step in fact making sure every step counted. I said I found Jesus and that was the reason I
didn’t drink anymore, I left that old lifestyle and that my life had been such a blessing since receiving
Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and wanted him to know that and that was what I wanted to share with
him when I came to his house. Also, his only son died from a drug overdose when I was working with
him back in the day and he had dealt with it by drinking to bury the pain and I said that is where I was
headed was certain death from the life I was leading from over indulgence, which is the only thing that
can result from living like that. I asked him if he wanted to ask Jesus into his heart and be delivered from
that and have eternal life in Christ. I told him he had been so good to me teaching me so much and my
heart loved him for that and that I wanted to share the best thing that ever happened to me with him so
he could have what I had and he said yes- so I led him in a prayer and he received Christ right then and
there on the phone. The Lord Jesus Christ had given me the boldness to share with this old friend and
new found brother in the Lord. I prayed and spent time with the Lord asking Him to help me and equip
me with His word to share and He did and it amazes me to this day how the Lord did this, you see it is
just as the Sanhedrin had supposed they perceived that Peter and John were untrained and uneducated
just as I was and am and maybe you too, but the Lord can give you boldness like He did with Peter and
John and even me on that day to boldly proclaim His Gospel and the testimony He has given each one
of us to share the Good News! This was a miracle from the Lord when I ponder the facts of this story
that took thirty plus years to formulate it seems impossible, but nothing could be further from the truth
because all things are possible with God. Ask Him and you shall receive Boldness to share His Truths
and spend all your time with Jesus and it will be in that day evident to all who come in contact with you
that you too have indeed been with Jesus- Amen! God bless you with boldness & zeal in all His ways as
you acknowledge Him and serve Him!

Agape,
Daniel Wright
Iron Man Oikodome
Proverbs 27:17
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