Christ’s Ambassadors

Evangelism Tips August 25th, 2008

If you follow Jesus Christ, you have been set free from the law of sin and death. So, what’s God’s purpose in granting you such freedom? I believe it’s a two-fold plan.

First, God set you free because He loves you. He made you in your mother’s womb, and He is crazy about you. No matter what you’ve done; no matter how badly you’ve messed up, the Lord still loves you very much. He says in Jeremiah, “Before I made you in your mother’s womb I knew you. And before you were born, I separated you.”

But God also sets us free so that we can be His instrument to bless other people. We’ve got to see ourselves as liberated for the good of others. II Corinthians 5 says, “He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us.”

In the eyes of the Lord you’ve been appointed an ambassador — at your high school if you’re a student, at your college if you’re at university, at your office if you go to work, or in your neighborhood. Wherever you are, you represent Jesus Christ, and the freedom He offers. So, use your freedom to help liberate others, as you share the Good News with people in your life.

The Kingdom of Darkness

Evangelism Tips August 24th, 2008

Sometimes, we who are raised in the church treat the Kingdom of Satan like it’s a bunch of foolishness. But the Bible teaches there is a very real enemy of the human race - the thief. He comes only “to steal, to kill, and to destroy.” It’s a sobering truth when you see people under Satan’s influence.

I have a friend who’s dying of Lou Gehrig’s disease. He recently said to me, “Luis, my life has been a total waste.” I felt so sorry for this man because I understood what he meant. He has been ashamed of the Gospel for many years.

When he was a teenager he made a commitment to Christ, but he married a girl who wanted nothing to do with Jesus. So he kept it under wraps all these years. He was handsome and rich, but his life was wasted. He believed the lie that it’s better to ignore Jesus than to stand up for Him.

Satan would like nothing more than to see us ineffective in God’s Kingdom. But we can have victory, as we remember the Scripture: “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

Don’t come to the end of your life regretting that you never really stood up for Jesus Christ. That’s what Satan wants, but God has so much more planned for you and the people in your world!

Once I was Blind

Evangelism Tips August 23rd, 2008

In the Gospel of John, Jesus heals a man who was blind from birth. Immediately the disciples ask, “Lord, who sinned — he or his parents that he was born blind?” But Jesus replies, “Neither he nor his parents sinned, but this happened so the glory of God could be revealed.”

This passage is such a tremendous picture of how God works. He wants His glory to be revealed in us through our weaknesses. The blind man was weak, yet God showed His power by giving Him sight. Can you imagine the story this man had to tell? When people saw him, they couldn’t believe he was the same man who had been blind only a few hours before. His transformation was that miraculous!

When the man told the religious leaders what happened, they tried to get more information about Jesus. Yet because the man barely knew Jesus, all he could say was, “One thing I do know. Once I was blind, but now I can see.”

Each one of us has our own stories of how God has healed us from weaknesses — whether it’s addiction, fear, depression, or whatever. Like the blind man, we can tell people, “I was once afraid; now I’m at peace.” Or, “Once I was an addict; now I’m sober.” What a powerful way to witness for Jesus Christ!

He is Alive

Evangelism Tips August 22nd, 2008

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.