Salesmen or Signposts ?

We often get trapped into thinking that we ought to sell Jesus to one and all. Guess what? You don’t have to. Jesus never sold–either himself, the kingdom, or God. Certain Biblical incidents always seemed strange to me. Like for instance, why did Jesus go to the Bethesda pool and heal only one guy? John 5. 1-5 Why did He go thru Samaria and speak to one particular sinful Samaritan woman? John 4. 3-7 Why did he enter a particular house and wait for a certain gentile (Canaanite) woman to come? Matthew 15. 21-29

Well, [Quote] ‘He was locating those who already belonged to him. He was giving substance to the indescribable hunger that true seekers have. He was putting words to their deep thirst. He was explaining why they felt strangely drawn to him.’[Unquote]

Is it not great? It is not our job to create the hunger for God or eternal life. All I have to do is point to Jesus, allow them to [Quote] ‘hear His words of life, see him as he is, and check for signs of spiritual life. The whole endeavor of “converting” someone is a mistake. God converts people.’ Our job is to ‘locate them and help them understand and trust what they are already experiencing. There is much explaining to do, much to clarify, some areas to challenge, and a great deal of listening to do. But there is no burden to create a spiritual interest that isn’t there.’ [Unquote]

So now I can [Quote] ‘stop worrying about how people respond to me. Either they are being drawn to Jesus or they aren’t—and I can’t do anything to change that. I can only help the person determine whether they are spiritually alive or not, and what to do next.

Second, I would focus much less on persuading and more on the signs of spiritual hunger and thirst. I would ask direct and honest questions like, “Do you ever think about God?” “What do you like or not like about God?” “Do you ever wonder what he thinks of you?”
[Unquote]

We belong to God because God drew us to Jesus, and we believed in Him, so we have His life in us. Like wise, when the hungry ones have believed in Him, ‘[Quote] they need to be taught and even challenged to trust, follow, surrender, obey and remain in Jesus.’ [Unquote]

We [Quote] ‘don’t sell admission tickets to heaven; we point to Jesus, the source of immediate, abundant and eternal life.’ [Unquote]

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