Margaret walked into our Saturday school one day about 4 months ago, holding one of our brochures. She had been a waitress at a restaurant we visited. God told her to come and find us. She joined in and began bringing people to the school. One day she confessed drug use, cigarettes, and other strongholds. She also struggled with her class assignments and daily bible reading. So one day the Lord said, “ask her, Margaret, have you ever totally surrendered your life to Jesus Christ?” She did not hesitate, “no.” I told her to pray about doing so and I would be praying for her. It took about two weeks and she asked to surrender to Christ at our next meeting. Margaret is now off drugs, cigarettes and can’t wait for bible study. We did not convict her of her actions but let the Holy Spirit convict her in His time.
Many years ago God spoke to me about the true Gospel. The words the true Gospel seemed important but what is the true Gospel and why would the Lord speak those exact words to me. I embarked on years of seeking, praying and learning about the power of total surrender to Christ, the true Gospel. Let me share a few passages with you. Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Another was a direct question from Jesus in Mark 10:17-21, “What must I do to inherit eternal life. One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” We find the Gospel the Apostles preached, for example in Romans 10:9, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, emphasized Lordship to Christ. The same question is addressed when Jesus speaks to Nicodemus, “you must be born again” but what does it take to be born again? See Nicodemus and Jesus discussion in John 3:5. “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Here Jesus explains in verse 8, what a born again person does. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” The born again life is a life led by the Spirit of God. It is a life that has been totally surrendered to God’s will. Consider the verses in Gal. 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
Recently God has directed me to speak about the true Gospel and urge others to ask people if they are truly born again, not are you a Christian. As a result people have been getting saved in the School of Discipleship. People who struggled for years without the real power of God in their life now are experiencing dramatic changes as they feel the need to surrender to God. First one, then another and another and now more are asking questions. Here is the question one of our students asked, what does it mean to be saved every church has a different answer? We forgot it is not a prayer we pray or a church we join. It is the total surrender of our will to God without reservation. This does not mean we fully arrive at being 100% successful at surrendering to God instantly. However, you must make the commitment and understand that now Christ is the Lord of your life. If one is born again he or she is supernaturally regenerated and desires to do God’s will. Could many of our struggles be because we never fully surrendered our life to God?
We praise God for drawing his people to Himself in these last days. Please pray for us to reach the lost and be faithful to disciple them. Amen! Thank you for your prayers and continued support!