First Things First

As we are grounded in Jesus and growing in Him, we will do the wonderful
work of evangelism, sharing the message of Jesus with the lost and hurting.

First Things First

"Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.'"

(Matthew 4:19)

With her permission, I am sharing with you today a really neat story from Alicia Sparkman. Alicia and her husband, Travis, are members of Great Hills BC in Austin, TX. I am so proud of Alicia and the way she responded to a very tough situation.

Alicia writes:

Good news, bad news....

Good news: I witnessed to a nonbeliever yesterday!

Bad news is that my car might be totaled. I'm sore, but everyone is ok.

Driving home from picking up Kora, traffic stopped quickly and a girl behind me rear-ended me pretty hard. I hit the car in front of me and that car into the one in front of him. Air bag deployed only on the car that hit me, driven by a 19 year-old. She came to me in hysterics saying, "I'm so sorry," over and over. I kept calm and reassured her everyone was ok, told her to take deep breaths, and hugged her. A minute later, she was back at her car, I went to her and asked, "Do you believe in God?" She said, "Not really." I asked if I could pray for her, and she agreed. I said a quick prayer over her, and afterwards, she stood up and asked for another hug. We exchanged phone numbers, and later that evening, she texted that she was very appreciative of my kindness and hugs. So, I pray this will leave a positive mark for her regarding faith.

Even though it was an eventful day with all sorts of bad things happening, it didn't ruin my day, and I was ok with everything. In fact, I was actually excited I got to pray over and be a positive example of a Christian to someone. I've been in a small discipleship group the last few months, and I know without a shadow of doubt that this is the reason that I felt compelled to pray over her. This small group of incredible ladies has helped me deepen my relationship with God, and has given me the strength and courage to share my faith in ways I didn't anticipate.

If you've ever felt compelled to join a discipleship group, please reach out to the GHBC staff. You won't regret it!

IT IS CHANGING MY LIFE!!! ❤️

Way to go Alicia! Her story reminds me so much of our focal text today, Matthew 4:19. As we are grounded in Jesus and growing in Him, we will do the wonderful work of evangelism, sharing the message of Jesus with the lost and hurting. Now, I get it. It is a much easier task to share the Gospel when all is well in your world: you are happy and healthy, the kids are well and behaving (for you young parents reading), your bank account looks good, etc. But it is much more difficult and revealing to actually share the Gospel when you frankly do not feel like it, due to any number of issues going on in your life. For Alicia, it was a pretty traumatic event. Have you ever been rear-ended? It's no fun! But notice that she had the spiritual wherewithal to pray for and minister to the very person who ran into her!

Matthew 4:19: "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." The sequence is crucial: we only fish for men as we are following Christ, abiding in Him. When we are properly following Jesus, abiding in Him, being with Him, then we will naturally share with others out of the overflow of our relationship with Jesus.

If you do not regularly share the Gospel with those who do not know Jesus, is it because you have forgotten the basic tenets of the Gospel? I think not. Do you no longer remember your testimony of salvation? Again, the answer is no. It is not a knowledge issue but a following and abiding issue.

I want to help you in your spiritual journey so that you are so deeply connected to the vine (Jesus) that you always bear much fruit! Join me in tomorrow's devotion for some practical help on how to do this very thing.

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