The Continuing Saving Work of the Lord Jesus Christ

I've been blessed to witness a miracle right before my eyes. I'm going to try and tell a little story about the first person I helped lead to the Lord. (I say helped because I can't do it, only God saves and gets the glory.) It's one of those "you had to be there" moments, but I'll try and convey it as best I can.

Alright, I work with a guy who's a few years younger than me, we'll call him John. (My friend's a little shy about talking to people about his brand new faith, even though I doubt anyone he or I know will read this, but just go with it. :) )

So I'm sitting in our lunch room about 6 months ago, and somehow God comes up. Being the carelessly bold dude I am sometimes, I'm defending God and the Bible the best I can to a few guys in the room. They say they're Christian, but they don't live it one bit. They're saying things like "How can 2 billion Chinese be wrong?" Basically telling me that all religions lead to the same place, a common new age Satanic belief that's spreading like wildfire. Total tolerance and acceptance. So I paraphrase Jesus when he said "I am the way, the truth, and the life and no one shall see the Father but by me." They retaliate with the same stuff basically, and I tell them if you don't believe in Jesus and repent you will go to hell. Now here's the cool part...John was listening in on the conversation, and when he heard me say that last part, he said "nahhhhhhh..." with a look in his eyes...the best way I can describe it here was that what I said really bothered him, he was shaken up by it. Right there I knew something was brewing! Of course, nothing phased the other guys, but that's another story...

So I begin dropping little hints and subtleties to my friend John here and there as the days go by. I should mention that he's well aware of new world order plans, and he's been seeing that the world isn't exactly what it seems. He's been realizing that something is wrong, and that there's some really bad stuff going down. So I approached him from that perspective, showing him how God is the Truth and Satan is trying his best to rule the world...he's beginning to become very receptive to it.

Before this huge change of his, he had believed in evolution. Thank God that I work with another Christian who was a marine biologist who used to believe in evolution himself! This friend actually found God through science, so needless to say he and I both helped John realize (with God's revelation of course) that evolution is a lie. Amazing! John would stand by us when we talked things of God and soak things up like a sponge. He started asking questions, and I could see a change start to happen in him. By the way, it was no coincidence that the two Christians were paired up working together while God was forming John's faith...

So then I hit a pothole. John and I are talking about stuff as usual, and I offer to get my mini Bible out of my car for him to borrow. He accepts, very excitedly. So I run it inside, and I'm all happy that another small step is being made in the process. Days go by, and I nicely nudge him about reading it, and every time he had told me he didn't have time, or he had this to do, that to do. About 3 weeks went by and he hadn't read a word. Needless to say I was discouraged. He gave me the Bible back, and I kinda took a break from talking to him about God for at least a week or two. I kept praying about it though...

Eventually I got a second wind, and we continued talking. I kept gently nudging him about things as time went on. He just kept soaking it up, and I saw a change in his countenance and everything. I told him he should get a Bible, and he told me funds were tight. I went out and bought him a KJV Bible a couple days after, and he was beyond thrilled. It was like a little kid getting his favorite toy on his birthday. It made me so happy. So he started reading the Bible here and there, and as of right now he's halfway through John! He had started with the first few chapters of Genesis, then moved right to John. I figured that was a pretty good way for him to get a grasp of what being a Christian is.

I think today marked the day where we both realized he is truly saved. John told me today that - and this was hard for him to explain - he felt calm before he went to bed, like he didn't have any thoughts going on in his mind, and that he had never felt that before. I asked him if it was like a peace, and he agreed. I lit up, and told him it was the peace of God, and the Holy Spirit living in him, the Comforter. He was thrilled, and it was no coincidence that he had just finished reading John 14!

I had told John that I couldn't save him, I couldn't convince him that Jesus Christ is God, and that he couldn't convince himself. I told him it is a supernatural revelation from God himself, imparting His Holy Spirit to a person, that saves. He understood that, and we both see God's mighty work in him! Jesus Christ is truly God, and is still saving people! Praise the Lord!