- 1)
Get to know the person:
- Likes, dislikes, family situation,
needs, goals, dreams, etc.
- 2)
Cultivate their friendship:
- Invite them over to eat, to go
out, visit with them
- 3)
Avoid being judgmental about them, their family, or their
lifestyle.
- (Remember:
But for the grace of God, there go I!”)
- 4)
Look for the right moment—wait for it---SEIZE IT!!!
-
Question to ask:
- “Have
you ever felt like there was a “tug-of-war”
- going
on inside of you?”
Comment to make:
“If
you ever felt that, then you have probably been under the conviction of
the Holy Spirit of God. He is
that part of God Who pulls/draws us toward the salvation that all of us so
desperately need…and, deep down…really want!”
“That
feeling of being pulled in various directions is known as the “warfare
of our souls” that the Apostle Peter talks about in 1 Peter 2:11.
It’s kind of like the devil telling you one thing to do and the
Lord reminding you that if you yield to Satan’s temptation, consequences
must be paid.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I use the following scriptures from the Holy Bible is this particular
order to tell what Jesus does for a person who wants to be saved:
ROMANS 3:23---“For all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God.”
(Comment:
Everybody is a sinner and has no ability of his/her own to meet the
standards of God outside of Jesus.)
- ROMANS 6:23---“The wages of sin is death, BUT the gift of eternal life
through Jesus Christ,
-
our Lord.”
(Comment:
If we work in sin—do sinful things---then, we will be paid for
that work by spending forever (eternity) in Hell.)
But…
if
we take the gift offered to us by God, then we automatically inherit
(receive) eternal (never-ending) life in Heaven. The act of
"Salvation" or "being saved" or "being born
again" is free (without cost) to us. The price was paid for by the
blood that Jesus shed on the cross of Calvary. Did you know that we
can believe that Jesus is the Son of God and still go to Hell!?! The Bible
says " the devils in Hell believe and tremble, " but we know
that they can't be forgiven of their sin. "Believe" means to
trust! "Trust" means that you have faith in somebody or some
thing. So, when we take the "gift of God-- eternal life"
we are receiving forgiveness of sin and the salvation for all eternity
that is offered by Jesus Christ!!!
- JOHN 3:16---“For God So loved the world that
He gave His only
begotten
Son that
-
whosoever
(that
means you!)
believeth
in Him should not perish,
-
but have
everlasting
life.”
(Comment:
“WHOSOEVER” = YOU!!! “BELIEVETH”
= trusts fully!!! “PERISH” = spend eternity in Hell!!!
This verse explains why God did what He did for us in sending Jesus
to be the sacrifice for our sins! It
was His unconditional, all-encompassing LOVE that motivated Him to take
care of our sin-debt in such a wonderfully self-less way!)
- EPHESIANS
2:8-9---“For by grace are you saved through faith
and that not of yourselves,
-
it is the gift of God,
not of works, lest any man
should boast.”
(Comment:
We are saved (pulled from the clutches of sin and Hell) by the very
grace of God. “Grace”
means “undeserved favor.”
Someone has also described “grace” like this:
G-od’s R-iches A-t C-hrist’s
E-xpense!!
None
of us can save ourselves. Jesus
does the saving! If we could
work and gain our salvation, we’d all be bragging about what we did that
was better or bigger than someone else did or could do.
God does the saving through Jesus and we do the receiving by “exercising
our faith” {activating our trust
in the Creator to know what’s best for His creation}.
- REVELATION
3:20---“Behold, I stand at the door and
knock, if any man
-
hears my voice and opens
the door to me, I will
-
come into him and
fellowship with him and he with Me.”
(Comment:
The picture is that of a door, locked from the inside.
The visitor is Jesus, knocking and hoping that the “soul”
(person) behind the door will choose to unlock the door and extend an invitation for Him to enter their life.
He never says anything in this verse about leaving once entry is
attained. Note that He
knocks; He doesn’t break down the door; or, in any way force entry into
our lives. He comes in only as we extend the invitation to Him.
We do that through prayer.)
- ROMANS
10:13---“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
(Comment:
Again, “whosoever” means YOU! “Calling
on the name of the Lord” doesn’t
mean crying out, “Lord, Lord, Lord!”
It means that when we exercise our faith, (like we’ve already
discussed), and make the choice to ask Jesus into our lives; then, He will
come in. It’s important to note here that Jesus will not enter a
life that is still full of sinful thoughts, deeds, etc.
You can’t fill a vessel that’s already full of something else. It
has to first be emptied of one thing to make room for the other.
To take care of that barrier, “forgiveness”
(complete pardon) must be requested or asked for! When one truly asks for God’s forgiveness for his/her sins
and for God to grant salvation, he/she is “repenting” of their sins. “REPENTING”
means that you are really sorry that you ever committed the sin in the
first place---not just “sorry you got caught doing it.”
To ask for forgiveness under that circumstance would not be
considered valid repentance. There
is a marked difference in saying words and making a heartfelt commitment
to refrain from such sinful activities in the future.
- ROMANS
10:9-10---
- “That if you confess (admit) with your mouth
“JESUS IS LORD,” and believe (trust) in your heart that
God
raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (rescued).
For it is with your heart that you believe (trust) and are
justified
(made acceptable), and it
is with your mouth that you confess (admit) and are saved (rescued).
-
-
(Comment:
Jesus never called anyone privately to salvation.
All
whom
He
-
called,
He
called publicly.
In order for you to follow the example of Jesus, we
-
believe
that
you should publicly “profess” (tell someone)
your faith in Jesus in a
-
church service. That is
known as a “public profession of faith.”)
CHECK
THIS OUT:
| After you have--
1.) realized your sinfulness,
and
2.) decided you are helpless to be
clean from your sins; then, with a broken and repentant spirit,
3) Ask Jesus to forgive you and
cleanse you from your sins
4.) Ask Jesus to come into your life
and make you over again (save you) |
I then ask,
“Is
there anything to keep you from asking Jesus to come into your heart right
now?
If
the Holy Spirit is there with you and has led you in your presentation,
most of the time, the person with whom you have shared will commit his/her
life to Christ. There is no
greater joy in the life of a Christian than to see someone trust Jesus as
a result of your witness.
I
hasten to add, there are many who feel uncomfortable in verbally sharing
their faith as described here. I
remind you that a life faithfully lived—following the teachings of our
Master, Jesus Christ, is a testimony in itself.
There have been many, and there will, no doubt, be many others who
will find Jesus to be their Savior because of something they saw in the
life of a faithful one!
Never
underestimate the power of a non-verbal witness.
The Bible states that “we are the aroma of Christ both to those
who are perishing and to those who are being saved!!!”
All of us have a witness. Let’s
be sure we smell good for Jesus and that more folks are saved by our
witness than perish because of it!!!
God
bless you as your share the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ!!!
Now, go….
Throw
out the Net!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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