Relying on Christ

"This is my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples'" (John 15:8)

Today, I spent time with the Lord doing my Masterlife section titled 'Relying on Christ'. If I really want to be like Christ and put Christ in the center of my life, I will be His disciple. And by being a disciple, there really is no excuse for not witnessing! 

Last week, I pulled up in a shopping center and parked my car. As I got out of my car, a homeless man yelled at me from across the lot. He asked if I had anything to buy food. At first, I pretty much brushed him off and replied something very quickly, not giving him any attention. Then I thought to myself, I do have a granola snack that I had brought to the gym. I thought to myself, God doesn't teach us to let our neighbors starve. I knew I could spare this granola for someone who really needed it. I reached back into my car and approached the man with this granola and told him it was for him. After that I quickly turned away, not asking for anything in return. The next thing you know, he was asking other people in the parking lot for food. I proceeded to go inside the store. I thought to myself as I was walking around. I totally missed a chance to witness to this man! I could have said something as simple as "Jesus loves you" and it could have changed the slightest thing in his heart. I couldn't believe I didn't think about this before. 

As I left the store, he was gone. I asked God why this incident happened. Even though I wasn't able to directly witness to this man, God prepared me with this incident to always be ready. There are going to situations when we are totally unprepared and God will suddenly place a situation in our lives. We always need to be ready to be witnesses of our Lord and disciples of His love and mercy. 

In my Masterlife time today, I read about Acts 8:26-40. The Lord had sent Philip to "Go south along the desert road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza." (V.26) On the road, the spirit told Philip to catch up with a chariot. He ended up meeting an important Ethiopian official who had gone to Jerusalem to worship and was now heading home. The man had been reading the book from Isaiah and Philip asked if the man knew if he understood what he was reading. The man replied that he needed someone to help him understand what he had been reading. The passage talked about how Jesus was led like a sheep on its way to be killed, treated like a nobody and did not receive a fair trial. Philip proceeded to this this man about the good news of Jesus Christ. Soon after, they came to a place where there was water. The man had asked Philip to be baptized and the man was saved. This story showed the importance of listening to the Spirit and being prepared to witness at all times.  

Preparing for this upcoming missions trip to Shanghai, I know I will need to listen to the Lord and be prepared at all times. Knowing our team will be facing cultural and language barriers, I know that it will be harder witnessing to the locals verbally. There will be people that have never heard of the gospel before. I need to continue to trust in the Lord that He will deliver. I need to trust the Lord that these opportunities will be opportunities to witness no matter what circumstances we are placed in. All it takes is witnessing to one man's life and hundreds will be able to follow after.