#149: THE FORGOTTEN ONE'S 3 (Final)

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.” (1 Cor 3:6-9)

What then can we do?

Having established that the mandate to go out there where the people are is the duty of every believer, we’d like to take a look at the kind of believer that goes out there and ways in which the believer can reach out to others.

One primary thing to take note of is that God can use anybody. He’s ever willing to use any vessel that is empty, available and yielded for His use. The vessel may be the same at different times, but the method or strategy may not always be the same at different times.

A believer that will embark on this mission is a believer that is wholly dependent on the voice of the Holy Spirit. He’s a man that is sensitive to move of the Spirit for a particular person, a particular people and a particular time. Because the Holy Spirit moved in a particular way today, does not mean that He’d move in that same way tomorrow and always. We as believers must be flexible enough to adapt to these changes.

Sometimes, you may not have planned to speak to a person, you may just be taking a walk or riding in a bus añd suddenly the Holy Spirit that knows the heart of the father at the moment, can speak to you to minister to a fellow or a group of people. Only a man that is sensitive can pick those signals and actually carry out that mandate there and then.

The believer that will go out there is a believer that is totally yielded to the giver of the mandate; it’s not about him, but the master and His mission. He does not go ahead of God neither does he lag behind when God is moving. He stops when God stops and moves when God moves, just as the children of Israel in the wilderness when they were led by a pillar of fire at night and a pillar of cloud by day.

He never embarks on this mission by himself; He goes out there as a messenger on a mission and allows the master of the business to take charge of the process; for it is the Holy Spirit that empowers a man to witness as seen in Acts 1:8.

There are however, many ways a believer could reach out:

#Mass evangelism to great crowds in public places

#One on one evangelism

#Door-to-door evangelism

#Street evangelism

#Embarking on outreaches: in hospitals, orphanage homes, prisons, refugee camps, rehabilitation centers, schools, etc.

#Film shows, videos or audio tapes

#Sharing gospel tracts

#Internet evangelism, etc.

Someone may be asking, what then am I supposed to say when I go out there?

Now I can’t really put words in your mouth but an understanding of what the gospel actually entails is the basis of everything. The gospel = Jesus. Ever wonder why the first four books of the new testament are called the gospels? Here’s why; because these books were a proclamation of the good news; which is Christ; His life, ministry, death, burial and resurrection. 

One verse that summarizes this fact is John 3:16; a verse almost all of us have been reciting since birth, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

I believe that the gospel in a nutshell is making the unbeliever understand our ideal origin; how sin had created a chasm between God and men; how sin cannot be taken away by good deeds; how God loved us so much that He gave up His only son to reconcile us back to Him; how Christ died, was buried and rose again; taking on Himself the punishment of all our sins and how that the only way we can be saved from perishing is by believing in Him and receiving His free gift to us.

No believer has the ability to convert anyone; only the Holy Spirit can. Our duty is to share this gospel as He’d have us do; saying what He’d have us say and doing what He’d have us do and leaving Him to do His work. However, we must continue to tarry in the place of prayer for these souls until they come to repentance.

The Question right now is;

Can God find you at this time?

Can God trust you with one soul?

Can God trust you with that classmate of yours?

Can God trust you with that work partner of yours?

Can God trust you with that family member of yours?

Can God trust you with the people out there?

PRAYER: 

Father I pray that you open my ears to your hearing daily.

I pray that you help me to tune my ears to the frequencies of heaven at every moment.

I pray that you help me to be discerning of your move at every time.

I pray that you help me rise above my fears and limitations and obey your instruction at all times.

I pray that you help me to go out there where the people are.

I pray that all believers will see beyond the walls of their church building and go out there where the people are.

I pray that an army of laborers rise and be sent out in their numbers, that the harvest may be reaped.

I pray that you help me to continue to increase in my knowledge of you.

I pray that I may be found worthy of your trust.

Amen.