Watch to see where God is working






Welcome to our (in) courage community, Pointing People to God

Wence, Elvie, and Laura

This work of pointing people to God does not originate in us.  Henry Blackaby says in his study, Experiencing God,  “….watch to see where God is working and join him.”  God calls people to him, but just how I don’t know.  Jesus told Matthew “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick…I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.”  (Matthew 9:13)  In the first gospel sermon Peter proclaimed “the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call (Acts 2:39)  Paul writes in Romans 11:29 that God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable and in telling his own story of conversion in Acts 26:14 he describes God saying, “Saul, Saul why do you persecute me?  It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”  From this I conclude that God has to work harder to get some people’s attention than others.  A “goad” according to the Encarta dictionary is a long pointed stick used for prodding cattle and other animals.  Another definition refers to it as a “stimulus”-something that encourages an activity or process to begin, increase, or develop.  





 Somehow, then, God encourages this activity of calling on him for salvation.  I have not personally witnessed any call similar to the apostle Paul’s.  I have, however, been privileged to hear again and again, stories of how people came to know the Lord because someone cared enough to help them.  Wence and Laura are a young couple like many others these days who had a month where the groceries just weren’t going to last until payday.  An inquiry at a family services agency, The Neighborhood Place, led them to the nearest Food Bank distribution point, Christian Hope Resource Center.    Elvie Martinez is a member of our church who works there.  She always does more than just take people’s information.  She listened, she cared, and she offered to pray with them.  In addition, she extended an invitation to our church that meets on that property on Sundays.  They visited, began attending, heard and responded to God’s call to them.  Wence and Laura made the life changing decision to give their lives to Christ!  A box of food with a kind invitation led to the gift of salvation.  I look forward to Wence and Laura's family soon sharing their testimony with you here as we keep our appointment on Wednesday and Fridays to meet as a community whose desire is to encourage one another and glorify God!

Do you have a story to tell?  Did a kind deed have any part in you coming to know God?  Please tell us about it here or send it to me at inpraiseofgrace@gmail.com.