Last night, a colleague sent me a PM (we have an internal chat at work called same time) and she was asking me to teach her how to pray to cast evil spirits. Nagulat ako kasi out of the blue at medyo na-bother din na tipong na-lost ako kung paano ang tamang approach and response ko sa kanya, so I told her I'll get back on her about her concern.
I went out of production floor, took my Bible from my bag na nasa locker (good thing nadala ko kasi galing ako sa GCF prior to going to work) and looked for a passage na ni-remind sa akin ni Lord. Hindi ko kasi matandaan kung anong yung eksaktong passage na yun pero bsta pag binubuklat ko ang Bible ko alam ko kung saan nakapwesto (hehe. photographic memory na ito!)
Here's what the Lord reminded me of:
"Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, "In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. (One day) the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding." -Acts 19:13-16
I didn't shared it to her agad but instead prayed for her and asked the Lord for wisdom how to respond to her need that very moment. Then the Lord placed a burden in my heart to share to her the Gospel. Yung verse sa Acts ang pinaka starting pont ko (para din kasi wala naman akong choice kasi Gospel talaga ang sagot sa tanong nya. Hehe).
Good thing Carmie and I are scheduled to meet for our discipleship, so I invited our friend/colleague to join us, and thank God she said yes. Ayoko rin (at mali rin naman) kasing mag-share ng Gospel during working hours.
And so the time came, right after shift we went to our pantry floor (parang food court sya), sa 7th floor. And I started with Acts 19:13-16 and then went on to explain the whole thing.
Carmie was there to back me up, she interceded and also shared her personal testimony to our colleague/friend.
Nakakatuwa na naitindihan nya yung prinisent namin sa kanya and that most of her questions was answered by the Word, as in by God Himself. And though, she did not pray to receive Christ (and I mean, not yet), we can see that the Lord is up to something. Meron pa Syang work nagagawin sa heart ng kaibigan namin.
It was really a blessing! Nakaka-re-energize after my emo mode the other day! Nakaka-humble na almost the whole shift atang hindi right ang heart ko sa Panginoon, yet He still used me to minister and be ministered to...
God was so there, when I think about it I can't really believe how smooth the sharing time was. And her remarks before we parted ways: "para akong na-rejuvenate!" and she was very thankful. All glory to Him!
Nakakatuwa rin kasi she has been exposed na to a Christian school and meron syang mga friends na Christian din. So mukha talagang the Lord is and has been preparing her heart....
At, totoo talagang kahit anong book sa Bible ay magagamit sa pag-share ng Gospel... As in Both Old and New Testament.
As far as i can remember eto ang mga shinare ko sa friend namin:
(bukod sa Acts 19:13-16 na starting point ko)
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son."
-John 3:16-16
"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." -John 10:10
"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," -Romans 3:23
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." -Romans 6:23
(here, I explained to her that death pertains to eternal separation, eternal condemnation, the life after the physical death apart from the presence of God or in hell. While eternal life pertains to the life after the physical death with the Lord in heaven.)
"Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." -John 14:6
(I told her that Jesus is the only way to the Father. He is not a way, but He is the way.)
"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep." -1 Corinthians 15:3-6
(need I say more? Ü)
"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" -John 1:12
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." -Ephesians 2:8-9
"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." -Revelation 3:20
(I mentioned this to give her the idea and illustrate that the Lord is knocking at her heart.)
"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" -Jeremiah 17:9
(she mentioned something about a gift, her ability to discern and "feel" if there is something wrong or something weird... told her this to address the issue on basing everything in our own feelings)
Then she asked, how do you know if it's the Lord's will? If it is His answer to your prayer? And I shared these passages to her:
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." -Jeremiah 29:11-13
"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you." -John 15:7
"Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." -Psalm 37:4
(I told her this is one of my favorite life verse... And explained to her that the focus should not be in the "he will give you the desires of your heart" but rather in the "Delight yourself in the LORD". Because if we do, what we will ask of Him is according to His will, and if it is according to His will, it is given. Simple lang di ba? Ü)
"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him." -1 John 5:14-15
"When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." -James 4:3
(I also told her that the Lord will not answer a prayer/request that would contradict to His character: Him being a Holy God; who hates sin, Him being gracious, loving, kind, compassionate, just, faithful, and so on...)
And shinare ko rin sa kanya ito:
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" -Matthew 7:21-23
(to prove na, according sa Bible, hindi po lahat ng religion/beliefs ay genuine at para kay Lord talaga. Ü and also share to her na yung word na "knew" sa Greek word, it means intimate ang pagkakakilala, like a family member or a very-very close friend. Ü)
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." -1 John 1:9
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." -Romans 5:8
"We love because he first loved us." -1 John 4:19
...Ayun so far ang naalala kong mga passages na binanggit ko sa kanya. When I asked her how is her relationship with the Lord, she said okay naman yun nga lang hindi pa sya umaabot sa point na she can totally surrender her life to Him. So I said, maybe it's time to re-commit your life to Him. She did not agree nor did she refuse. But it was made clear to me, by the propmting of the Holy Spirit that that was enough, that we (Carmie and I) have done our part and let Him do the rest.
Carmie and I believes that He really is up to something in the life of our friend. As i mentioned earlier, we came there to minister to our friend/colleague, and yes, we did, but we too have been ministered and blessed by that experience. A joyful and glorious one! Sobrang fulfilling talaga mag-obey sa Kanya! As in... Nakakatuwa, as in WOW TALAGA!
We invited her, if she want, she can join again on our next devo-prayer time that we do every other week and I also invited her to attend our Sunday service.... So there, that's our divine appointment. Do join us, in praying for the salvation of our friend.
To God be all the glory!
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