Sunday, June 19, 2011

The Gospel and our daddy's!


One of the greatest joys of my life was being used by the Lord to share the Gospel with my father.
Many years ago I owned a homeschool bookstore that sold used curriculum.  My daddy had been a postmaster at one time and was very good with numbers so he volunteered his services in the beginning years of the business to keep my books. Even though I have a lot of regrets about running that business while my children were still home I am forever grateful that it gave me the opportunity to be with my father on a regular basis because it enabled me to share the 'Good News' in a way that I can't imagine otherwise. God truly does work ALL things together for our good and His glory. (Romans 8:28,29)
 


Daddy was a quiet man... a man of few words (unlike his daughter). He had the respect of many.. and was especially a good father. But, even though he had many 'good' qualities by the world's standards... he was a sinner in God's eyes (as we all are).  His good reputation would not buy peace with God.
Since my daddy was a man of few words the opportunity to share the gospel didn't come easy. But, the Lord had laid a burden on my heart to pray for my daddy and pray I did. It seemed the shower was the place I often cried and poured out my heart to the Lord begging Him to save this precious man he had given to father me.
I was given 2 golden opportunities to share the gospel with my father in a matter of 10 years while he helped in my business. Both times my father said 'no'. I cried so hard I thought my heart would surely break. The burden increased.. I prayed more. Finally one day while I was cutting his hair the Holy Spirit opened up another divinely appointed door to share once more. This time the tears ran down daddy's face... he was ready to follow Christ and he never turned back until the day he died 8 years later.
I learned a huge lesson in all of this and it was to not give up on sharing God's Good News. To the human eye it looked as if nothing was happening in Daddy's heart. But, that day that I led him to the Lord I realized (by a few things he had said and his immediate humble response) that the Holy Spirit had been drawing him.
I have others now in my family that I pray for and my faith has increased because I have seen the power of God work in my daddy's heart. I just wanted to encourage you... not to give up on your loved ones but to be faithful.. in season and out... to know God's Word well enough to share the Gospel with your loved one and to pray for an opportunity to witness of the great love of God found only in His Son Jesus Christ.
May we live (coram Deo) before the face of God!
Georgene

(If you want to know more about the Good News please click this link below:)
http://www.gty.org/Resources/Articles/A335_Who-do-you-think-that-I-am?q=tract,+heaven/

7 comments:

  1. Oh, what a beautiful post, thank you for sharing. My parents and one sister do not have faith in our Lord, and my younger son claims to be an atheist, as a mother, daughter, sister, I find this heart breaking. I pray for their souls and hope that one day they will be open to receiving the Lord as their savior.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you so much for your post today. You don't know how much it means to me.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You are so rich in experences, Living on Less. This is a wonderful Father's Day post. God be praised!

    Hugs,
    Carol

    ReplyDelete
  4. I don't take lightly the gift/blessing I have of a family of believers, back several generations. A rich heritage. This is a wonderful post!

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is the sweetest post! You and your dad were truly blessed to spend this special time together, and for you to know that you led your dad to the Lord..... what a blessing!!!
    Hugs,

    ReplyDelete
  6. Very nice post. Thanks for dropping by. My suggestion to you is to ask the town animal control officer if they could trap the cat or if you are able to do it yourself they might give you a humane trap to use. If you trap the mom you will have to watch the trap around the clock so she is not left in it too long with the kitten trying to get to her. Once she is trapped and spayed she would most likely do best to be returned to the kitten. I would really try hard to get the kitten so it is not one more out there to feed and it has a chance to be adoptable if caught early enough. It is a bit of a pickle when there is a kitten involved. If the kitten goes in the trap first just scoop it up and have someone try to tame it. They are usually not feral until 12 weeks. Keep me posted.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Like many others, I too have family members who are not saved. They know the Gospel and what is required to have eternal life, but they have chosen to reject it so far. However, I keep praying. Thank you for sharing your experience, because it is a real encouragement to me.

    I don't pray that I would necessarily be the one to lead them to the Lord; my prayer is simply that they will be saved, whatever it takes. Frankly, if someone else can reach their hearts more effectively, then I pray for that "someone else" to have the courage to share the Gospel. (Conversely, I need to share my testimony with other people's family, because I might be able to reach them more effectively than their own family members too. We've all gotta do our part!)

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your comment.