Christ-Connection

I was lead to write by a combination of things, including but not limited to, personal experiences, blogs, Bible studies, and conversations. My purpose for writing, to express what God has impressed upon my heart. As believers we are purposed to be not only carriers of the Gospel but examples of Christ and sharers of the Gospel. I will not speak for all but I will speak for myself; I was saved because someone took the time to present the Gospel to me. I saw Christ in their lifestyle, their actions paralleled their speech. After I was saved, I wanted those close to me to be saved as well. In order for me to present the Gospel I had to study to show myself approved. But somewhere between becoming a believer and studying, I lost that zeal. I did regain it, but with a different focus. As a new Believer, I was like the early witnesses of Christ, “REPENT OR GO TO HELL”. By no means am I speaking against this (Acts 2:41; thousands were converted daily) but as I studied and prayed, I saw them grow and a bigger picture. Not only were they able to minister in front of thousands, they were able to minister on a personal level, to one individual, and bring them to Christ, just as Christ did. Looking at the lives of Christ and His followers, every interaction became an opportunity for a presentation of the Gospel, they just had to connect.

That has become my focus, just connect. If I can find a place to connect then the opportunity will present itself. Look at John 4, Christ connected with a prostitute; end result….conversion of a whole city. Acts 8, Philip connected with an Ethiopian; end result…conversion. It didn’t matter where they were, how they felt, or who they were with; if they connected they converted. One thing I love about John 4 is that it shows the humanity of Jesus. As tired as He was from ministering to large crowds, and long journeys, He still connected and converted a woman everyone else would have disregarded. How can I say I’m too tired to share the Gospel? Now I must turn the mirror on myself and ask why don’t I see the same results? Am I Not expecting or trying to connect? Disobedient to the Spirit? Lack of knowledge? Whatever the reason/excuse, it must stop. I am Christ’s Ambassador, He’s making His appeal through me. There are people out there that only I connect with, if I don’t connect with them they may be eternally disconnected from Him. It could be the boy across the street, the lady at work, a man in Africa, or my cousin. The world is my mission field, not just third world places, but everywhere I go.

Our life experiences allow us to connect with others. There are things that we experience in life that we may not understand, until that day when our experience connects us with that one person who was lost and that connection led them to Christ, led them to deliverance, or encouraged to keep going. Believe me, I’m a witness. STOP READING NOW IF YOU CAN’T HANDLE TRANSPARENCY: back in 2005 shortly after I joined Great Ambassadors, a Sunday morning came when I was able to connect. I was led to share my experience; I had been struggling with sexual perversion (pornography, masturbation, etc.) One Sunday, in front of the entire congregation I told them just that(prior to that I told one person in my entire life). After service, a married woman came to me and thanked me because she said her husband was struggling with the same thing and because of my sharing he was ready to face it and overcome it. Through Christ and obedience, I connected with a man I never met.

Even now as I write, I hope and expect to connect with someone. In whatever way we connect, there is a Savior and He does love you, despite what you’ve done. He’s here waiting for you to accept Him. If I never know who you are, I thank God that we connected. Even if it’s another believer who has had these same thoughts, I encourage you, we serve a God who is Sovereign. No person that we connect with remains the same. We may not see the end result, but we claim the victory in Christ. Just connect.