It is God who saves, not us. It
is God who leads us to the people who are ready to hear and accept.
Recently, we were able to spend some time with the different teams that
we are supervising and join them in their ministry. In one barangay (village),
I joined some of the team going house to house to share the Good News of Jesus
Christ and inviting the people to accept the free gift of salvation that God
offers to all people. At one house in particular, I was reminded about how God
brings us to the right people who are ready to hear and accept the good news.
We approached an older lady gardening outside of her house and she invited us
in. She sat and listened for a short time while her husband came in from the
back. Eventually, the older woman left and we ended up just talking with the
old man. As our translator was continuing to share with him, he had tears in
his eyes and by the end of the conversation, he wanted to put his faith and
trust in Jesus to be his Savior. He prayed to confess his sin to the Lord and
tell Jesus that he was putting his trust in Him for his salvation. At the end
of our time with him, the old man had only one prayer request: that his family
would also know Jesus as their Savior. I left that house encouraged. It is God who saves, not us. It is God who
leads us to people who are ready to hear and accept.
Later that evening, we had Bible study with a woman and her daughter
who are Christians. We studied about the parable of the sower in Mark 4. God
reminded me through that passage that we need to continue to share with
everyone because we do not know what kind of soil the seed in falling on when
we share. Like with the old man earlier in the day, he seemed not interested at
first, but eventually came to accept Jesus with tears in his eyes. It is not up
to me to find good soil but to share with all people.
Our salvation in Jesus Christ is
sure.
Joining another team in ministry, I shared with a younger woman in the
national language, Tagalog. Thankfully, I had a translator with me to help with
anything I could not express clearly. After sharing, I asked if she knew where
she would go after she died – would she be in Heaven with Jesus or in Hell
apart from God? She began to reply but stopped speaking as she began to cry.
Her response was that she did not know where she would go because of her sin. She
wanted to go to Heaven but was unsure if she could. I explained to her again
that Jesus paid for all of her sin on the cross and by returning to life 3 days
later, Jesus conquered death and gives eternal life for all who confess their
sin to Him and trust in Him alone as their Savior. Our salvation in Jesus Christ is sure. Jesus says in John 5:24 “Very
truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has
eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.”
The genuine response from this woman gave me the desire to continue to share
this. There are people who need to know that Jesus brings salvation and once
they believe in Him, they have eternal life that cannot be taken from them.
They can know they will be Heaven with Him.
Thank you for praying alongside of us as we and the teams have shared
the Good News of Jesus. Continue to pray that the seeds that were sown will
grow and those people who have accepted Jesus will continue to grow in their
faith.
Elizabeth
