"Call to me and I will answer you, and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. " Jeremiah 33:3

Friday, October 21, 2011

"Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of every opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person." Colossians 4:5-6 NASB

Jesus said to His disciples and followers, "...you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." Acts 1:8. Every born again believer is to be a witness for Jesus Christ, it isn't up to evangelists, pastors and teachers, it is a command for all of us who call Jesus, Lord. The most amazing thing about being His witness is that He does all the work; He gives the opportunity, He prepares the persons heart to receive the gospel, He gives us the words, (our only part is to be the obedient vessel!) and He alone convicts a soul and grants them godly sorrow that leads to repentance. And then a soul is saved, washed in the blood of Jesus Christ, sins forgiven and they are born again. "In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Luke 15:10.

"Jesus said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, You must be born again." John 3:3,6-7.

There is a very special joy that fills your heart when you have the privilege of sharing Jesus Christ with another, and a strong sense of the presence of the Lord when you are blessed to be able to pray with them for salvation. Just think, the mystery of the gospel of Jesus Christ was entrusted to every believer not for themselves alone but so that we might share the Good News with those that are lost. What a privilege, what an honor, who would dare refuse? You don't have be a bible scholar, you don't have to be super out going, all you have to be is surrendered and obedient, God does it all and He gets all the glory, you are just blessed out of your mind by getting to be a part of His work!

I would like to share with you some of the opportunities to witness that the Lord gave me over the past few years so that you might be encouraged and looking for the open doors that God gives you. Please note; God gives opportunities in the oddest places, none of these happened in church. Life application; I have to get out of the pew and into the world to share Jesus Christ.

The point is God will break into our lives at any moment, any where, any place, any time and we must be ready; here are a few of the places and people He put in my life.

I love shoes and one time I was shopping and the young girl who was waiting on me, said she was going to switch to this exotic diet because she suffered from anxiety, this was my cue and I responded, there isn't any diet in the world that will help you with anxiety, but I know Someone Who can take away your anxiety and His name is Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. May I tell you about Him? She said yes... We jumped up and down later that day in the shoe department, because she was born again, she now knows for herself the Prince of Peace! He orchestrated the whole thing and to Him belongs the glory!

Airplanes and airports are great places to share Christ because you have a captive audience. And God is quite capable of delaying flights when a soul hangs in the balance. One of my sister in laws received Jesus Christ as her personal Savior and Lord sitting in an airport terminal. The delayed flight was then cleared for takeoff! Our God is amazing!!! As I drove away from the airport, the dark clouds parted and the sun burst through the clouds and the thought came to my heart, God has given me a picture of what He just did in my sister in law's soul, He delivered her from the pit of darkness and transferred her to the kingdom of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ the Light of the world!

Technology can carry filth of the world, but praise God it carries the Gospel of Jesus Christ, three times I have shared and prayed with individuals on the phone to be born again. One time I sent an email to a gentleman who couldn't talk on the phone because he is elderly and losing his hearing, with much prayer I sent the email which was quite lengthy,full of scripture and Good News, two days later I received an email back that I still have, he said he asked Jesus into his heart and confessed his sins and knew he was forgiven. He is 90 years old.

The Lord also gave opportunities in the following places; hospital waiting rooms, during an ultra sound, in Bible study twice, in hospital rooms, in a stroll around a lake,the break room at work, in several restaurants, at a roadside vegetable stand, in a hair salon, in various peoples homes, in my home with the workmen who were installing a new counter top and on another occasion with the gentleman who installed a new heater, with people in the check out line, in the parking lot at Wal*Mart, at a garage sale, with my grandson on a shopping trip, and a children's book I wrote for and about my grandchildren with the plan of salvation. It was complete with my pathetic attempt at illustrations, but my grandchildren didn't mind, they just laughed. I will never forget any of these people or these Divine appointments, I praise and thank God for each one, they are forever etched in my memory and I look forward to spending eternity with them.

Okay just one more example; it was in a bible book store, in the bible section, two young women were looking for a bible, one of the women asked if I knew anything about bibles, I asked them what they wanted to do with it, etc. And we looked at two study bibles that I knew were very good and compared them side by side. She made her choice and I asked her, do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, have you ever been born again, because if you don't know Him you will never be able to understand any bible. She said she didn't and God swung that door wide open, I took the bible she had chosen and we ended up in Romans 10:9-10,13; "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For Whoever will call on the name of the LORD will be saved." God did what only He can do and we bowed our heads, held hands in the bible section of this very busy book store and she was born again! Glory to God!!! A very dear friend and my aunt and uncle were there too, they saw what was going on and stayed in the back ground praying for this woman, it was their open door too. We had a praise festival right there, even some of the employees were in on it, we were all so full of the joy of the Lord that we were positively giddy!

If sharing Jesus Christ with others is not the abundant life, then I don't know what is. Ask God for opportunities, for open doors, it is His will so He will hear and answer your prayer.

1 comment:

  1. Awesome! I always love those accounts of God's children finding Him. I love the article you shared from a Billy Graham magazine one time. We need to pray for Open opportunities, Open hearts, and to Open our mouths. That article helped me grow in my witnessing. I am more aware of the opportunities He presents for me to share Jesus Christ now. God has drawn them to Him. Then, I just have to be obedient. There is great joy from being a part of a miracle. I get great peace from eagerly watching for Him to move! Praise God He intimately includes us in His kingdom work.

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