Leading Others Into Freedom

Imagine that right now, wherever you’re sitting, you hear the noise of your front door go ‘boom.’ And you turn around and Jesus Christ, Himself, comes into your room. Wouldn’t that be something?

He comes to you and says, I want to have dinner with you tonight. What would your response be? Perhaps you’d be excited, maybe a bit nervous. I can imagine you’d have many things to talk with Jesus about. And you’d be looking forward to hearing His words of love and wisdom poured out to you.

But you know something? If you’re a follower of Jesus Christ, He is with you — right now! Even though you can’t see Him, He really is living with you. No, your front door won’t open. But when you receive Jesus Christ into your heart, the Son of God literally comes into your life. He speaks to you through His Word and His Spirit. The Bible says, “Whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him.”

Jesus can be as real to you as a physical figure walking into your house. It’s important to meditate on what it really means that He is lives in you, and is one with your spirit. The more we believe this to be true for ourselves, the more likely we are to share this wonderful promise with people in our world.

Born and raised in London, England, Emma Owen grew up going to church with her family. But even as a young girl, there always seemed to be something missing from her church experience.

Then, in 1984, Emma’s mom brought her to our team’s “Festival to London.” This festival was a 6-week campaign to touch the heart of London for Jesus Christ.

The night Emma, the teenager, and her mom attended, Emma realized what was missing in her life was a relationship with Jesus. So when I asked all those in the stadium how many wanted to make a decision for Christ, Emma jumped up from her seat to make a public declaration.

Emma says that her commitment that night was the foundation of her faith that she built on for years to come. Today, Emma and her husband, with two children, live in Manchester, England where they share the Good News with teenagers in their city: first-class contemporary Christian music and messages.

Think of children you know who attend church, but perhaps don’t know the Lord personally. Pray for them, by name, and when there’s an opportunity, share the way of salvation. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” and that includes children.

Don’t ever assume that just because someone is inside a church, they know the way to Jesus. Many times they are unconsciously waiting for someone to share the missing link with them. That someone could be you!

Do you desire for God to use you in powerful ways for His Kingdom? In order for this to happen, you can’t escape an essential element: having constant spiritual intimacy with the Lord.

A great picture of this is in the Gospel of Matthew, where we read about the transfiguration. You remember — The Lord takes Peter, James, and John up to the mountain where Jesus is transfigured into His true state of glory.

Peter gets so excited, he just starts talking. But God says, “Peter, this is my beloved Son. Listen to Him.” Through this amazing story, we see that intimacy comes from spending time with God and listening to His Son.

The Lord chose Peter, James, and John to experience that closeness for a special purpose. After they came down from the mountain, they were different men. They went on to greatly influence their generation, and future generations, for the purposes of God.

Just as God the Father exhorted the disciples to listen to Jesus, He says the same thing to us: “Listen to me,” He says. “I’ve got so much to tell you. I want to teach you. I want to build you up. I want to use you in a mighty way in this generation.”

When we have that kind of closeness with the Lord, we can’t help but draw people to His heart.

There was a humble British maid who lived in the early 1900s. Her name was Gladys Aylward. She was uneducated but she believed that God had called her to China. Yet because she wasn’t educated, no mission society would send her.

But Gladys was tenacious and she finally found a way to get to China without the support of a missionary agency. Finally, with a few coins in her pocket and a one-way train ticket across Europe and Russia, she said good-bye to her family, and she set out to go to China.

Once in China, Gladys shared the Good News wherever, and however, she could. First, she began working at an inn and told Bible stories to the travelers who stayed there.

She later started adopting orphans, and saved scores of boys and girls when World War II broke out in China. At one point, she walked for 12 days with 100 orphans to escape the bombing of her city. She led them to safety, and then collapsed with Typhoid fever.

Gladys later wrote, “My heart is full of praise that one so insignificant, uneducated, and ordinary in every way could be used to His glory…” First Samuel 16:7 says “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

God can use you (look, he can use me!) so, whatever your shortcomings, lacks, failures, or fears may be, He will use you. He has chosen you to spread the Good News to your world. So make the most of it.