GET TOGETHER- CAN WE STILL WIN THEM?
Lu 11:17 But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls. (NKJV)
What a great and undeserved blessing it is for me to live in the United States. I have been to several countries and met wonderful people in all of them. But I am always thankful to get back home and enjoy the freedom and the blessings that God has given to our nation. I pray that in no way in this Get Together that I try to make a political point on behalf of, or in opposition to any political figure in this nation. That is certainly not my intent. Also, I am not putting this here for some type political, or religious debate.
I will be upfront I am a person that believes that life begins at conception, and that marriage is between one man and one woman. I also know that racism is a very serious sin that has led to much mistrust and bitterness in our nation. When I was working in our family business there were at least two times as late as the 1970’s that I had some customers try to intimidate me because we had served African Americans in our business.
As a Christian that fully believes that there is only one God who has revealed Himself to us through His only begotten son Jesus Christ in whom I believe the following words to be so true “Ac 4:12 “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” I have a question for the church. And that question is for me as well.
Can we still win people to Christ? A Pastor friend of mine who I would consider more conservative in some ways than me gave me two good words of wisdom one time. He told me to not try to defeat those that oppose the Gospel, but to try to win them. The other word was to preach prophetically and love pastorally. Meaning preach the word without compromise, love the people, and depend upon the Holy Spirit to do the work of convicting people of their sin.
There is an uncivil war going on in our nation now. For us as Christians our battle isn’t against people. Eph 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (NKJV)
One of the devices of the enemy is to try to get Christians to respond in a manner no different than the world’s response. We are told to respond in a different way than the way that the world, or those who oppose the Gospel respond “Ro 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”(NKJV) Jesus said it like this Mt 5:44 “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. ” (NKJV)
Certainly, there are evil forces at work in this nation and yes, they do work through people. Before I became a Christian the forces of evil worked through me as they do all lost people in some way. But praise God somebody was praying for me and loving me despite my sinful wicked condition! And Praise God that God used them to win me to Christ!
As we celebrate the birth of this wonderful country that many have died for. A country that I believe was founded on Christian principles although we have not always been perfect in adhering to them. My prayer is that God will birth a desire to pray for those to be converted that oppose the Gospel in this nation. For we all once opposed it either wittingly unwittingly: Ro 5:10 “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”
My prayer also is that God will once again birth an evangelistic and missionary zeal in His church again. Here is a statistic that should challenge us all 75 percent of all Christians do not believe that sharing their faith is important. We can’t win them if we don’t think that it is important. My answer to the question that I posed is yes, we can still win them. We can win them if we get our eyes on Jesus. We can win them if we truly make our churches Houses of prayer. We can win them if our lives reflect the life of Christ and most of all we can win them if we really have a desire to win them. I pray that as we all celebrate the 4th of July that we will prayerfully ask the Lord to guide us and direct us in order that we can win the lost to Christ. I believe that God would love to redeem all that is wrong in this wonderful nation and make it a light shining on a hill. Not only may God bless you, and God bless this nation, but may God use us to bless others.
Let Us Pray
Lord Jesus we thank You that you are the only Name given unto Heaven through which men and women can be saved. Forgive us for not being concerned about the souls of those that oppose the Gospel. You came to seek and to save that which was lost. Make our churches Houses of Prayer. Make us a people that rather than trying to beat the lost, but a people that can win the lost.
In Jesus Name
Amen
I do pray that all of you in the United States that are reading this will enjoy a wonderful 4th of July. For our brothers and sisters in Christ that we have been so blessed to serve with in other countries that are reading this we do covet your prayers and we do know that God desires to bless your nation as well. Looking forward to seeing our friends in Guatemala very soon!
Your Friend/Kinfolk
Preston
