Receiving The Person of Jesus

We approached a guy to minister to him. We asked him to stand inside a hula hoop for healing. After standing for a couple of seconds, pain left both his calves and his chest. Then God spoke and we said, "You are so analytical in your mind that you take careful steps in making decisions. In fact, you plan your schedule and time very well, for God has given you a strong gift of administration." He kept nodding. We saw the word "engineer", so we said, "You are an engineer by training." He responded, "I study mechanical engineering!" We continued ministering and it came to a point where he was dumbfounded and wondered how all these are possible.

That is the time to introduce Jesus and the whole Gospel. We presented the Gospel and asked if he would like to know Jesus. He is a Buddhist. He almost wanted to receive Him, and we could have easily gotten him to say salvation prayer. But hey, saying salvation prayer doesn't get you saved. You can't find that in the Bible. Just because you are born in Mac Donald doesn't make you a Mac Chicken. It's about believing in the very Person of Jesus Christ - realising His finished works and the Cross.

He asked alot of questions, because the supernatural has defied all his logics and science. He said, "I used to be kind of an agnostic, but now I am kind of convinced that there is a God. But I am a Buddhist, what would receiving Jesus affect my family and Buddhist values?"

I love his questions, because it reveals his sincerity in knowing who Jesus is. At the end, we didn't take a step further to get him to receive Jesus. There are enough stuff for him to ponder and make a firm decision in time to come.

Often, we simply want someone to receive Jesus, without presenting the clear full Gospel. It is not about the number of people saying salvation prayer or "Yes" to Jesus. It is not about clocking salvation testimonies. It is about having the person know the person of Jesus and finally take the step of faith to believe.

If we tell someone that "Jesus loves you, would you like to receive Him?", of course everybody wants. If we tell someone "See this power that is in us, do you want it? You can have it, just receive Jesus"... of course everybody wants this Jesus.

We are so quick to get a person to say "Yes", and we end up having Christians who have a form of godliness but without power. We end up having Christians who 'fall away' easily because they have only heard of a feel-good-experience Gospel. Because they didn't know that receiving Jesus also means acknowledging that He is the only God and surrendering your life to Him.

It is easy to get anyone to say "Yes" to Jesus, until you present the Cross and the Way. Following Him is what the early church understood the moment they received Him. They knew what they had to surrender - Judaism (their predominant belief).

Many came to (Paul) at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening. And some were persuaded by the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved. - Acts 28:23-24

“Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you, and preach the gospel to you that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. 16 In the generations gone by He permitted all the nations to go their own ways; 17 and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” 18 Even saying these things, with difficulty they restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them." - Acts 14:15-18

If everyone you speak to easily believe in Jesus, you need to evaluate if you have presented the Gospel truth. Because both Jesus and apostle Paul had people who rejected the Christ that they preached. They had the message that involved changing their old belief (Judaism) into new belief (Jesus Christ). That is repentance. This is why when the early church believed, they went FULL ON for the kingdom. But nowadays, when we believe, we simply ADD Jesus into our list of things in life; when we are free, then we think about Him.

It's time to represent Christ and re-present the Gospel.