A good friend of mine sent me a text this morning with this message, “Mom passed away peacefully on Jan 19. I was with her. She accepted Jesus about six weeks before she passed.” The back story is that her mom did not believe in the Bible for years and was very resistant to the good news about Jesus and His salvation. A few weeks before she believed, my friend told her mom, “You don’t have to understand everything in the Bible to believe in Jesus—some things we simply take by faith. Her mom heard an old mountain gospel song from the Grand Old Opry several days later. Suddenly, the gospel came alive for her. The Holy Spirit opened her spiritual eyes, and she believed Jesus died for her and loved her. She cried tears of joy as Christ came to live in her. My friend faithfully shared the gospel with her mom for years, planting and watering seeds. They finally sprouted this past December, and she is present with the Lord, fully whole. Never give up.
One of my sons has been praying for a Christian friend he grew up with. His prayer was two-fold – that Jesus would move His friend past a surface relationship with Jesus and with my son. He recently shared that this has happened over the past few months, resulting in a much closer friendship. Never give up.
My wife and I have prayed for a young man for over 30 years. Recently, God showed him that there is nothing this world offers that can give permanent satisfaction, only temporary. So a person has to keep going from one thing to another in search of it, only to come up empty every time. Finally, this prepared him to turn to Christ. Like all of us, he is on a journey of growth but has passed over the threshold into new life in Christ. Never give up.
When I was in college, I became more and more concerned about my paternal grandfather’s salvation. The Holy Spirit led me to start praying for him. One day, I drove over an hour to his government housing home to visit with him and my grandmother. Yet, they were not at home, and after a while, I left. I made that trek again a few months later, and they were home. After we talked for a while, I transitioned the conversation to God’s love for my grandfather. After spending a few minutes explaining the good news of Jesus and His salvation, I asked my grandfather if he would like me to lead him in prayer so he could make sure Christ was in him. He declined, but I didn’t give up. I replied, “Paw Paw, I’m going to pray to God about your believing Jesus as our Lord and Savior. If you want to make sure you are a Christian, you can pray the prayer with me.” At that moment, my very introverted grandmother said, “Just to make sure, Roy.” I could hear the love in her voice for him. So, I started praying, and my grandfather prayed to God, repeating my prayer. As he did, he began to weep with tears of joy as the Holy Spirit led him to become a child of God that day at age 82. Never give up.
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9
