Part 2 in a Series of 6 on “How to Share Christ”
1. Anything we do for God starts with preparation. God does things altogether different than the world. He wants to prepare you in such a way that you will permit Him to do His work THROUGH you - And that always starts with Him doing His work IN you.
2. To submit means in part to yield to another person. It also means to surrender. My dear child in the Lord, Mona Corwin laughs and says “Whatever topic Barb is teaching on, you can be sure it will include surrendering to God!” And she’s right.
3. Surrender means giving God permission to take out and put into your life what pleases Him…in other words you give up your right to do as you please.
4. Have you ever fully surrendered yourself to Him? Whatever your situation, He beckons you to come just as you are and surrender it all. Only empty vessels can be filled and He will indeed fill you until you are overflowing with His Holy Spirit.
5. Thank goodness the Lord doesn’t wait until we’re perfect to use us. If He did, His work would never get done! If you’re not already sharing Christ with others, we hope you’ll start today. The Lord will continue working in your life as you go about His business!
A good example of what we’re talking about is the Great Commission Jesus gave us in Matthew 28:19 (Living Bible). “Therefore go and make disciples in all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and then teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you; and be sure of this – that I am with you always, even to the end of the world.”
Jesus gave this command to his eleven disciples, instructing them to teach others. Their obedience to His command can be seen in the Book of Acts, along with the fruit of many thousands being saved. The original eleven started sharing the gospel where they lived and they taught those they brought to Christ to do the same. From there, they took the gospel to other cities and countries.
However, somewhere along the way, Christians started putting this job into the hands of mission organizations, pastors and evangelists, and God has gloriously used that, but there is nothing in the Bible to indicate that Christians were to stop sharing Christ on an individual basis.
Dave and I never set out to be Evangelists. We simply read in the Bible that Jesus said to tell the world about Him and we took it personally and seriously – we simply believed Him. We began telling family, friends and co-workers what Jesus did for us and that He had a plan for their lives too. We really didn’t know “how to witness” but the Holy Spirit faithfully helped us and sometimes used us in spite of ourselves!
What about you? Are you willing to place your fears and pride at the feet of Jesus and ask Him to help you share Christ with someone that He puts in your path? Are you ready to not only believe in God, but truly believe Him? He’s waiting for you to take the first step and He promises to be with you.
Steps to keep in mind as you share your faith…
Love is the strongest motivator in the world
- If a person feels you really love them, they will open up to you and hear what you say
- Don’t try to fake love – the world knows the difference
- If you feel you’re lacking in love, ask the Lord to pour His love into your heart so you can share His love with others
- Love means you tip extra; you show people respect; you never condemn; you go out of your way to help people even if it costs you time and resources
- Be willing to let the other person have the last word if they are not willing to hear what you have to say – love doesn’t get mad. Never return evil for evil, but return good for evil.
Invest in inexpensive materials and keep them handy
- Good gospel tracts are inexpensive and a great tool for sharing your faith – we discreetly leave them in public places such as bathrooms; we also put them in envelopes when mailing bills; our bank deposits are tucked inside tracts when we go through the auto-teller, etc.
- Gospel tracts are also a great ice-breaker when speaking to people about Christ. Hand someone a tract at the fast food place and as you do, look them in the eye, smile and say, “This is about Jesus – do you know Him? (more about this later)
- You can check out gospel tracts online at www.atstracts.org – look under “Evangelism.”
- We give paperback New Testaments to new believers and others who need them. We prefer they start with Jesus’ teachings beginning in Matthew, and they’re not as likely to do that if we give them full Bibles.
- You can get the New International Version New Testament in paperback at www.ibsdirect.com for under $1 each if you buy by the case
A Real-life Example of This Teaching
Have you noticed that keeping up repairs on a house is never ending? Just about the time you think everything is fixed and in good working order, something else breaks down! Since we can no longer do many of the repairs ourselves as we did in our younger years, we recently called a company to check out their prices and set an appointment for an estimate.
I__ and F__ introduced themselves and right away got down to business. We treated them warmly…“Can we offer you a cup of coffee or something cold to drink?”…as we showed them the work we needed done. I__ gave us a cost estimate and after we picked ourselves up off the floor (smile), we told them to go ahead and do the work.
After several hours, they finished the work and we invited the two guys to sit down for a minute while we wrote out a check. A key factor in making people feel at ease is to show them genuine love and respect. It’s amazing how people respond to this.
We gave them tracts and asked them the question, “What if you died tonight and God said, ‘Why should I let you in my heaven?’ What would you tell Him?”
I__ said he thought he’d probably go to heaven because he’d been a pretty good person. We asked if we could show him something, and pulling out a New Testament, we turned to Ephesians 2:8-9 (New King James); “For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
We explained that according to the Bible, it’s impossible to be good enough to inherit eternal life, but you don’t have to - Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins…He took your place and if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that He is Lord, the Bible says you will be saved (Rom 10:9). Jesus is God’s gift to the world so that we might have eternal life. It is only through your belief in Him that God will let you into His heaven.”
F__ was listening intently and taking all this in, but he seemed to prefer to sit back and let I__ do all the talking. We continued… “I__, do you believe the Bible and that Jesus died for your sins?” “Yes, I do, I definitely do,” he said. “Then don’t put off giving your life to Christ…the Bible says ‘Today is the day of salvation.’… none of us has a guarantee that we’ll see tomorrow. Would you like to pray right now and know for certain that if you die tonight you will be with Jesus?” “I’d like to do that,” he said.
We turned to F__, smiled and said, “What about you? He answered, “Well, I gave my life to Christ when I was a teenager, but I’m not living for Him the way I should. I need to make things right.” We said, “F__, would you like to pray with us now and rededicate your life to Christ?” “Yes, I would” he said.
The four of us prayed together. I__ repented of his sins and gave his life to Christ and accepted Him as his Savior. F__ repented and made his life right before God. These men looked like a huge load had been lifted off of them – and indeed it had! F__ and I__ left that day with Bibles and literature and plans to find Bible teaching Churches they could attend with their families. Please pray for them to guard their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Pray that their families will be saved.
A lesson to learn on looking back at this true story: If you are serious about submitting yourself to God to be used by Him, you will always be looking ahead at how you may share Him with others. We were prepared to share Christ with I__ and F__ before we made the phone call to have the house repairs done. We had tracts and New Testaments on hand to share. When the repair men came in, we were looking for the right opportunity to talk to them about the Lord. We try to take every opportunity to turn a worldly situation into a time to tell others about Jesus. Years ago we started with small steps as we shared about Christ. We encourage you to do the same. Take small steps and before you know it, sharing Christ will become second nature!
No comments:
Post a Comment