Wednesday: The Bidding
Jesus and His disciples healed people and then turned their minds to eternal issues. (See Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing, p. 20.) Evangelist Mark Finley reminds us that not to introduce God to people is spiritual malpractice. Jesus’ method of evangelism was to touch people at their points of greatest need. This is medical missionary work.
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Christ was not content only to heal them physically and do nothing else. The goal is eternal life in Jesus. Medical missionary work may not start with bidding those whom we know to follow Jesus, but it should get there eventually. Out of our love for people, we will long to offer them everything that Jesus offers.
But you may say, “I will take care of the first part of Jesus’ method, but I don’t do the bidding ‘follow Me’ part. That’s not my gift.” If you do the first part, you may surprise yourself by automatically sharing Jesus-and it will be so natural, so much easier, because you did the “groundwork” in the soil of their hearts.
As you become better acquainted with the people you serve, be alert for opportunities to talk about faith and about what the Lord means to you. Seek for opportunities to bring up spiritual topics. Ask your new friends about their family, their occupation, and their religion, which opens the way to share your personal testimony.
In fact, personal testimonies can be the most powerful way to witness, because they can also be the least threatening. You aren’t overtly preaching; you are simply telling a story, and we all should have our own personal story about what Jesus has done in our lives.
Read Acts 26:11-27, the apostle Paul’s telling of his personal testimony to King Agrippa. What can we learn from this for ourselves in seeking to witness to others about Jesus?
Notice the various stages. Paul told about what he was like before he knew the Lord. He then told about his actual conversion experience. And Paul then told about what God had done in his life since then. Then he made an appeal.
Though our stories might not be as dramatic as Paul’s, what is your own story with Jesus, and how can you learn to share it with others when the time is right?
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The medical missionary work is the entering edge of the gospel and we Seventh Day Adventist should fully embrace it.It will open doors which forever might never have been opened and secondly we need to learn how to share the message of salvation.
We should share:
-What God has done for us like Paul
-What a saviour we have found in Jesus like David in psalms 51.
-Our experience in the Lord like John the beloved disciple
Remember we said that we should make this intentional.And acompanied by prayer,the power of persuasion and the power of the holy spirit, this work cannot be without success.
Every trial is an opportunity for us to become living witness of the power of God.
Esther
No other stories is best ever told than sharing your life's experiences with God...in that way people will be eventually feel God's love for them also tru you...as the song goes by, "...that by I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ....Share His message of love.
Medical work is seriously professional these days, but sharing and living a healthy lifestyle is something we can all do. I usually try to walk 10000 steps a day, and often find opportunities to discuss the benefits of healthy living with others. For many unchurched folk, even a minimal improvement in health is a glimpse of heaven. We have the key to open doors of better health for others. Of course that implies that we are committed to a healthy lifestyle ourselves and are not just good at quoting what we should be doing.
There is an idiom that has two closely related thoughts or definitions. The prime word is,opportunity. Closely related but different is opportunistic. One version of the idiom says, Opportunity is the mother of invention. Another version says Necessity is the mother of invention. Another closely related word is opportunist. One of the three words is positive. Another has negative connotations. One tries to take advantage of an individual or situation. Another tries to help by providing positive opportunities. The word agenda seems to find a place in the mix also.
Now I ask myself, am I an opportunist, or do I look for opportunities to help? Let my conscience be my guide. The methods may not be directives but we have a personal Guide. I believe God will provide what ever opportunities He chooses.