Results of the Work – 10/25/21

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was filled with Good Things from the Lord. I had a good day on campus encouraging some Christians one of which, Donovan found assurance after I explained what it mean that he said was trusting in the sacrifice of Jesus. “Thanks for this,” he said gratefully as I got up to go, giving him  Bible Promises for you. Brooklyn & Sam each prayed with me to receive Jesus today. Their stories are below if you have some time please pray they are blessed in their newly confessed faith in Christ.

Sam was sitting in the cafeteria at the counter looking to the outside. He was eating and had kind of the better than average looking every man appearance. He had a days worth of beard growth and wore sweats, a purple hoodie and grey pants. Not a very big guy, sandy hair. He had a triangular nose and a Clark Kent hair cut. He said he had been to Lutheran Church as a kid. I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven and he said, “’Cause I believe.” He was hopeful it was more likely he would go to Heaven than not. When I asked him how Jesus had taken away his sins he knew Jesus had died. He took in the Gospel closely and understood it as I talked to him about the righteousness of God earned by Christ that could be to his credit. He was really attentive through the entire thing and it was nice to talk to someone who was eating and could have their mask off. As I finished I asked if he’d want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done and he said he would. I told him there was a prayer he could pray to be forgiven and I explained that God living inside him would give him power to live the Christian life, “Inside out”.  I suggested he might have grown up with some of this story, and I know you said you believed, but if you were just believing in God in some general sense, and had not placed your faith in that to be forgiven, the Bible says “the demons believe and they shudder”. I said if he had not had a chance to trust in what Jesus had done there was prayer he could pray and I talked him through it. “I hadn’t but I would like too,” he replied. “OK,” I said “wanna do it?” “Yeah he replied and he prayed to receive Jesus. I explained then that now trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be his righteousness the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do writing “Just Ask” on a couple of the pages and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front along with “By the Spirit’s Power” and gave him a website for a local church. I had explained everything in the Christian life was by the Spirit’s Power. I gave him The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet and a Bible study. We hit it off and talked for a while. I told him I would pray for him for the next year or so and he was very grateful and I headed out.

A couple hours later I was back at the cafeteria and Brooklyn walked in and sat at the counter looking outside as I was headed back across the room. She was African American and had red sweats on that looked cotton and white tennis shoes. She had a nose ring on the right and crisscross braids and lengths of brown wavy hair, a bright white smile and a cute demeanor. She was a cute kid. I asked her if she wanted to do a student survey and she asked, “Is this for CRU?” I said the booklet was CRU’s booklet. I said the main question is “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus so you’re dead and you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “I don’t know what I’d say.” She said I said, “Would you like to know what the Bible says about how you get to Heaven?” and she said, “OK.”I began going through the Gospel with her that God loved her, wanted her to believe in Him and to know Him where He would live inside her with His Holy Spirit. He did this by first taking away her sin. She knew Jesus had died to take away her sins. I explained everything about the blood and righteousness of God and that her good stuff could not take away her bad stuff, “You’re bad stuff is still out there kicking people around and there is not much you can do about it.” “It doesn’t go away,” she agreed. “But God says He can turn your bad things into good things because he controls the future. In Romans 8:28 it says ‘All things work together for good for them that love God and are called according to His purposes.’” I explained that sometimes it isn’t even a bad thing you’ve done but just something that happens to you. You miss the stoplight and it makes you late, but the crossing gates were broken a little ways down the road and if you’d made the light you’d have been hit by the train. So sometimes God takes care of us that way too. I explained that she could be forgiven if she placed her trust in Christ and believed and I asked if she believed and wanted to place her trust I Christ. She said she did and it seemed right to her because she had “always been around it.” I said if she wanted to be forgiven trusting in Christ there was a prayer she could pray and I walked her through it saying she could pray it silently and that I wouldn’t hear her but God would hear and He’d forgive her. “Wanna do it?” I asked. “Yes.” She replied firmly and she took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life to her living “inside out”. I gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do also and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven” on the front. “I’m going to show this to my friend,” she said. So I asked if she would like another booklet and she said she would so I gave her one. I went back to the survey and said, “I never asked you this but the likelihood you will go to Heaven now is 100%.” And I explained trusting now in Jesus righteousness to be her righteousness in God’s eyes she would get an A. “I would like to get an A,” she said as if that had not happened yet in her first year of college. I said it was better to get one in eternity where it lasts forever, your GPA starts over at your next school. “Yes better to get one from Him,” she replied happily. I told her I would keep her I my prayers and encouraged her to tell the CRU staff she had prayed the prayer in the booklet saying they would be happy. She was happy about that and like the staff girl at school. Then I headed off.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. God truly blessed.

In Him,

Bob