Be A Witness Because You Love Jesus
By Bishop Wilford G. Raiford – Edited by Apostle Bishop Shirley Cole-Raiford
I have started this message several times trying to reveal what I believe is the Heartbeat of God for this hour. I was on the phone talking with a fellow Bishop friend and started preaching and sharing the Word of God and I heard the Word for myself “God is not through with me yet”.
On March 31, 1981 at Osan Air Force Base in South Korea on a Monday night at 9:30 pm I kneeled down next to my bed in building 219, room 2b and said these words to God “If You Give me Joy and Peace I will give You my Heart, Mind and Soul. When I woke up the next morning to go to work, I had to walk nearly one mile to the Control Tower and my feet only touch the ground twice. I had so much Joy in my heart I couldn’t believe it. I walked all the way singing to God any song that came to mind and put the Name of “Jesus” in it just to say how good it felt to be Saved.
From that day forward I begin to share about the Good News of the Lord Jesus Christ. God used my excitement about Him and the limited vocabulary I had in His Word about Him to describe His Glory. The only thing I could talk about was the Joy I felt and how much God Love me. I witness everywhere and I spoke to everyone that I possibly could because I though who wouldn’t want this Joy if they knew about it. God is a Good God and He wants the Best for every one of us we just need to believe Him and ask for it.
Two Days later I was working a midnight shift and there was no air traffic so I began witnessing to a Co-worker the entire night talking about this Joy that God had given me Although I had only been Saved myself for three days I couldn’t help not sharing about God. Sunday morning my Co-worker came to church and gave his life to Jesus Christ. I remember Him staying at the alter weeping the remainder of the Service and when the Pastor began to give the benediction he stopped and spoke to my co-worker and said “I don’t know if anyone got anything from the service today but, I know this man did”. He then asks him to share his story. He was crying profusely and said, “I can’t tell it, come on brother Rai you tell it for me”.
After the church service one of the men in the church said, “God bless you with a soul already”, I didn’t know what that meant or what he was talking about because I didn’t grow up going to church. I just love telling people about my Joy I had found in Jesus. From that moment my life changed because my co-worker had found the same Joy I had found. When He called his wife in the States to tell her his good news. He found out she had been praying for him to find Jesus as His Lord and Savior. The next witnessing story that I share with you may sound a bit farfetched but it’s the truth ; Jesus said in the Book of Mark 9:23“, “if you can believe all things are possible to him who believes” I left Osan Air Force Base 30 days later for Hawaii for 17 days of vacation and I witness to my 2 ½ year-old son and he gave his life to Jesus. Parents never believe that your children are too young to understand about Jesus! I would talk to everyone about Jesus including the babies because I couldn’t believe how much He loved everyone and wanted us all to be Saved.
After Hawaii I was stationed at Reese Air Force in Lubbock Texas. There God directed me to enter an Air Force Base Talent Contest which was in 3 days. I didn’t know any Christian songs at the time, but I heard a song by BJ Thomas “What A Difference You Made In My Life”. I told the Master of Ceremony “that when he introduces me to say “That Jesus was the one that had made the difference in my life” I won the Talent Contest that day and everyone in the talent show got Saved because of an act of obedience.
In those beginning days I witness without any formula or strategy just sharing about my Joy and Peace. I later began to study a small book called “Growing in Christ” and it taught me how to memorize scripture and it gave me a couple of witnessing tools to work with. One was “Romans Road” and the other was “The Bridge to Salvation”. Each was very effective, and I saw souls saved almost every day. Although these methods were awesome, I Love listening to my heart and following the unction of the Holy Spirit leading, directing, prompting and encouraging. God gave me a way to talk about Jesus without being offensive because I wanted everyone to See Jesus and see and feel His Love as I did.
In John 14:15 Jesus Said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments”. Being a Witness for Jesus Christ is the last and Greatest Commandment that Jesus gave before ascending to Heaven. It’s called the Great Commission to the Church found in Matthew 28:18-20 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”]Amen.
Saints you don’t need to be a Bible Scholar to share your faith and love about Jesus Christ. God is looking for vessels who are willing and obedient to pick up Lost Souls. Jesus Christ paid for our Salvation on the Cross. The message in this hour is simple, “if you were to pass away today, do you know where you will spend eternity”? We are in a time crunch and we must be about Saving and Winning Souls. Jesus said in Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Take up your cross and tell people about Jesus, tell them about His Love. The command in this scripture is also simple, start witnessing at your feet anyone around, family, friends, neighbors and unto the whole world. I Love Jesus therefore I share my faith, but I also love people and I don’t want anyone to miss Heaven.
In the book of Habakkuk in the first chapter God gave him a vision showing him lawlessness, injustice and evil covered the earth and it put a burden on Habakkuk where he cried night and day asking God for intervention. Recently I have had that same burden pour upon me. I see lost souls everywhere and I feel almost helpless. The Good news is the Holy Spirit encourages me to pray and tell the world about Jesus Christ and His Love; “then hope fills my heart”. In Habakkuk 2:4 God said, “write the vision and make it plain so all who read it will be able to run with it”. I believe if we all start sharing our faith and Love about Jesus Christ with everyone, we can change the world and billions of souls can be Saved before the (Rapture) Jesus Return. I know all believers feel the urgency to see all their family and friends “Born Again”, and the time is now; not four months or later. We all need to be thinking and telling our family, friends and acquaintances “don’t be left behind”! Choose today Jesus Christ as your Savior? He could come any time Now. “Be A Witness Because You Love Jesus”
And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua 24:15
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