I have been moved by the Lord to share some amazing ways that He has reached down and touched some people I know to win them into the Kingdom and to remind us all that it is he who calls us!
JOHN 6:44 kNo one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me ldraws him;
1) Barry:
Barry was a farmer and he came from a conservative rural town in the Thames Valley area of New Zealand, He was 28 years old and his family were staunch atheists and had taught their Children that there was no God. One autumn morning Barry was on his Tractor at the back of the farm, the sky was clear and there was not a breath of wind. His mind was on his work and nothing else, He hadn’t ever given God a thought, suddenly! a whirlwind enveloped the tractor with Barry in the middle of it. Barry was filled with awe of God, He had experienced something divine, and he knew it! From that moment he couldn’t get God out of his mind. Next day was Sunday and he was determined to find out more about God, he went to town and found the little Church we were meeting in at the time, that morning Barry was confronted with his sin and found Jesus. He was very hungry and grew at an amazing rate from that day. I have lost touch with him now, but imagine that he will still have a strong faith because of the touch from heaven
It turned out that he had a praying Aunty
PSALM 57:3 He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.
2)Gavin:
Gavin was about 20 and in the same town, he was with a group of friends drinking in a car in the main street he was sitting in the front on a bench seat his two companions on either side. I stuck my head in their window and said I just want to tell you Jesus Loves you. I got alot of flack from the two friends but Gavin just sat quietly listening so I continued with a gospel message. When I had finished I bid them well and went on. The next morning Gavin sought me out, he said I just couldn’t sleep last night thinking about Jesus. He was saved baptized and filled with the Spirit within days.
It turned out that his Grandparents had been praying for him
ROMANS 10:9-14 For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. 11 As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who believes in him will not be disappointed.*” 12 Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They all have the same Lord, who generously gives his riches to all who ask for them. 13 For “Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”*14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?
3) IAN (That’s me)
I was 19 years old and had never heard the gospel, never been to Church or Sunday school, I was staying with a family in Tokoroa NZ for the night. They said we read the bible and pray after dinner would you like to join us? I listened to the word but became nervous and excused myself when that prayed. I went to my bed and turned off the light. The room filled with light and I knew it was God, I didn’t know who he was but I said God help me! Over the next few weeks from never having heard the gospel I must have met every Christian in NZ. I soon moved to another town and right opposite my new home was a Church. I went and the rest is history. 30 years later the experience of his manifest presence still carries me through the hard times.
That families’ prayer changed a young mans life forever.
1 Tim 1:15 This is a true saying, and everyone should believe it: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—
4) JOYE(my wife)
Joye was born in a Christian home and had a heart for God from an early age, but when she was 13 she drifted off and over the next few years went into deception, the deception eventually led her to India and into an eastern cult. On a dusty road in India a group of young believers shared with these hippies the love of Jesus. Big warm tears flowed down Joyes face, the beginning of a revival which would take another 12 months to bear fruit. Eventually when listening to Bob Dylan’s “you got to serve somebody” she made a choice and the journey home to Jesus bought her full circle.
Her Parents wept and prayed buckets of tears for her to come back to Jesus
Ezk 34:1616 I will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak.
5) Ken
Ken was raised in a Baptist home and every thing was black and white to his parents, Ken saw in colour and didn’t seem to fit into the family mould. He drifted into a worldly lifestyle, and was seen at the wildest parties. But when the subject of Jesus came up he could never deny him, in fact he had got into serious fist fights in bars defending the name of Jesus! After a few years he returned to Jesus and was filled with the Holy Spirit, He saw that God also saw in colour and soon he was defending Jesus with the sword of the word!
His Parents never stopped praying for him to come home to Jesus.
Matt 18:12 “If a shepherd has one hundred sheep, and one wanders away and is lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others and go out into the hills to search for the lost one?
Jesus is no respecter of persons, he judges not after the flesh but after the heart, these five short testimonies are only a handful of the many people I have seen come to faith in Jesus. Right now the Holy Spirit is touching someone I can guarantee that! Why not take five minutes now to pray for someone you know who needs Jesus. It may be your prayer that triggers the next Billy Graham into the Kingdom. Fan the flames!
Ian Johnson
www.papelim.org
