[Faith-talk] Good Night Message for Friday, November 30 2012

[Paul]

Well, here we are on the last evening of the month of November, at least here in North America.  For the rest of you in other parts of the world, it's already December.  Anyway I hope that, by God's matchless grace and His providential care, that your day went well or is going well.

Sharon Conners is back with us today with an article entitled "Phone Witness," rendered as follows:

Lynne is my cousin, but she is more like a sister.  Occasionally she tells me things her late mother did.  Lynne's mother was a wonderful Christian woman.  One of my favorite stories is of Aunt Mary witnessing about Christ with complete strangers over the phone.

Aunt Mary would spend a couple hours at a time giving her testimony to a stranger on the other end of the line.  When she got off the phone, Lynne would ask whom she had been talking to.  Her response would be something like, "That was some man selling vinyl siding."

In her latter years, my aunt had become ill with diabetes and complications from the disease.  She also cared for her other child, a son who was mentally handicapped, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

My aunt loved the Lord and loved to talk about what He had done in her life.  She was not always a Christian.  At one point in her life, she had turned away from God.  She was angry because she became a widow in her forties and had two children to raise on her own--one of them mentally handicapped.

Lynne went away to college and met some good Christians.  On weekends she would come home and witness to my aunt.  At first, my aunt thought that Lynne had joined a cult.

My aunt's life was not improving, and she had become terribly frustrated with her son.  Everything seemed hopeless.  One day she decided that she would take his life and hers.  She was ready to do it when a television program caught her attention.  It was a preacher who said something that seemed to speak directly to her.  Right then, she broke down and asked God for forgiveness.

Even though she could not get out of the house because of her son and her own health, she found ways to share her testimony with others.  God used her to minister to telemarketers on the phone! What a wonderful way this was to share Christ with someone who did not know Him! It certainly presents a different way of handling telemarketers.

Jesus told His followers to share the good news: "He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15).  Have you found a way to share the gospel? My aunt proved that you can do it without even leaving the house.

And there you have it for today.  I don't know about other guys, but it has been my distinct impression that the ladies are better at witnessing than the men, or perhaps I should say that they have a more effective approach.  I know it is our job to plant the seed, someone else watering that seed and God causes it to germinate, but sometimes I feel that, at least locally, that I'm a failure at even seed planting.  Maybe other guys on these lists feel differently, but I'm not sure.

And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, throughout the night or day and especially in these last days in which we live.  And don't forget that beginning tomorrow we will have articles focusing on the true meaning of Christmas.  Your Christian brother and friend, Paul