Conversion Long-in-Coming

When our team went to Costa Rica recently, I was greeting people at a luncheon and a woman came up and started to tell me her story. She said that she used to listen to our radio program years ago when she was a little girl. She is now a Supreme Court judge. She said that back when she was a child her grandmother made her listen to our radio program. And, she told me, she really liked it.

She also said that she took our Bible correspondence course when she was a teenager. And yet, although she had listened to our program for years and taken the course, she had never made the decision to receive Jesus Christ into her life. But that day, at the end of the luncheon, she did! The seeds that had been sown through our radio ministry so many years ago had prepared her mind and heart to receive Jesus Christ. It was a tremendous day!

The book of Job says, “Who endowed the heart with wisdom or gave understanding to the mind?” It is God who knows our minds and God who changes our hearts. Are you praying for someone who seems to be continually closed to the Good News? Don’t give up! Keep planning truth. It may take 25, 30, or 40 years of praying, but God can open that person’s heart and mind to Him.

A Prosperous Witness

I recently received a letter from a woman in Costa Rica. She wrote, “Luis, I’m so glad God put you in my path!” She told me that when she was a little girl, our radio program was the only thing that gave her hope.

This lady had a very rough childhood, full of horrible abuse. She told me that one night, at age 8, she was crying and she turned on the radio very low under the covers so that no one would notice. She said, “You were speaking about God and it comforted me.” At the end of the program she wrote down the address we gave.

For many years she received Bible lessons from us and when she was 12 years old she accepted Jesus Christ into her heart. Her family ridiculed her for her faith but through it all she said that “God never me.”

We can’t always see the ways in which God will use your efforts. But we can be certain that He’ll use them. I’m always humbled and amazed by the ways God uses our ministry! And, He wants to use you too!

Psalm 1 says this about the man or woman who walks with God: “He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.”

Keep on sowing seeds, and trust God to make your witness prosper. And, He will do it because He wants to work in people’s lives through you.

A High-Definition Life

I received an e-mail from a woman named Catherine. She wrote, “I just got done reading your book, High Definition Life and it has helped me so much and made my life so much better. I had some doubts about Jesus, but now God is number one in my life. I don’t know how to thank you!”

I think what she liked about the book was that I contrasted a good life with the BEST life. Too many people are settling for a mediocre life when God is offering the most amazing, fun-filled, adventurous life they could imagine! They have no idea what the possibilities are. And, it’s our privilege to tell them!

Are you settling for a mediocre life? Do you know someone who is? The Bible says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.”

Maybe you say, “Luis, I’ve been passing up God’s offer, but I want to take him up on it today!” That’s great news! So what do you do? Surrender to Christ right now. Ask God to take control of your life so He can work out His amazing purposes for you. With a repentant hear, ask God to forgive you of every wrong thing you’ve done and tell Him you want Jesus Christ to be your Savior and Lord. And then, hold on tight! You’re in for the ride of your life!
Conversation on an Airplane

A European friend of mine invited me to his home off the coast of France. I met an American there, very young, extremely successful. He had just sold his high tech company for millions and was feeling pretty good about himself. I flew back to the UK on the same plane as this wealthy American and we started talking.

He told me, “Luis, I succeeded without God. I never needed him. I made my money all on my own. I never prayed.” I replied to him with two questions: First, I said, “Are there any other successful people you admire?” and then I asked, “Who do you think gave you your brains to make your money?” Because, you know, the Psalms say, “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”

He looked at me and said, “You really know how to stick a knife in and twist it!” From there, we began talking about the real definition of success. He eventually told me he was tired and went to sleep. But I continue to pray for this man.

Not everyone you talk to surrenders to Christ. But you and I may be one link in a chain of events that one day may lead them to receive Christ by faith.

Not every conversation you have with people is going to end in conversion. This one certainly didn’t. But, I keep praying that this man will remember the truth I shared with him, and that the Holy Spirit will convict him and he’ll respond to Jesus Christ. So, even if you don’t see people respond immediately, share the Good News anyway.

Faithfulness Rewarded

A woman called up in a South Pacific nation and told me her story. When she was six years old, a neighbor from Australia invited her to Sunday school. Even though her mother said it wasn’t appropriate, she still listened when her neighbor told her about Jesus and showed her books with pictures. She loved it but didn’t make a commitment to Jesus.

Now she’s 40 years old, and has two children of her own. Our team came to her country a couple of years ago for an evangelistic festival. She heard God’s message over the radio: “Jesus loves all the people of the world, from every religion. Jesus died for the people of every religion.”

She called up the hotel where my son, Keith, I was staying and asked me questions about Jesus. Over the phone she opened her heart to Christ! The Bible study she had done with her neighbor years earlier as a girl had prepared her heart to receive Jesus – now in her 40’s.

That neighbor never knew that her faithfulness to a seven-year-old girl eventually led her to surrender her life to Christ so many years later.

What a great reminder to be faithful and reach out to others, even if we don’t see immediate results. God does deep things with the seeds we sow for Him in people’s hearts.

First Samuel 26 says, “The LORD rewards every man for his righteousness and faithfulness.” And God will reward you for faithfully sharing the Good News. So do it! Do it today and every day.