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My
Jerusalem
by: Diana Roth
Diana Roth of Greenville,
S.C.
If someone were to graph my spiritual life
since the age of nine, it would look like a roller coaster ride, including
both dangerously low dips and heart-pounding peaks. To my shame,
consistency would not describe my overall walk with God. In March
2001, I reached a turning point. Having turned 40 years old, the
realization set in that my life was half over. I began to search
my memory, to take account of what treasure I had laid up in heaven (Matthew
6:20-21), and concluded that I had not been the steward of God’s amazing
grace that He had intended for me to be.
I remembered some instances where I had purchased
Bibles as gifts for friends who were openly seeking spiritual truth, and
one of those friends did find Christ as a result of my obedience to the
Spirit’s urging. But too many times, I had ignored the Holy Spirit’s
leading and hid my light under a basket. There was a lot of emotional
pain when I realized that the hours, days and years wasted on worldly pursuits
were forever lost to me. On a positive note, God did bless me with
a renewed understanding that I could make every day ahead of me count for
Christ, that every sunrise is a new opportunity to redeem the time because
the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16).
Since “redeeming the time” is now the major
focus of my life, each day begins with prayer and Bible reading.
My alarm clock now rings 30 minutes earlier, allowing me an extra half
hour every morning to pray for strength and wisdom, to pray for unsaved
friends and family, to pray for the spiritual growth of my children, to
pray for guidance and witnessing opportunities. And I have found
that the busier my planned schedule for the day, the more vital prayer
time becomes. Prayer is no longer an option in my life – it is my
number one priority, the essential job that God has given me to do.
The Apostle Paul told the Philippian believers to pray without ceasing
– the only other thing I do without ceasing is to breathe, so prayer must
hold a great deal of importance to my heavenly Father!
When the shocking events of September 11th
occurred, I was put in the same grief mode as everyone else, but the idea
that more attacks might be on the way made me take a hard look at my own
personal evangelism. I had put off meeting two of the neighbors on
my block by using one of Satan’s recycled excuses...tomorrow is another
day. I had distant relatives to whom I always sent religious Easter
and Christmas cards, but had never given any of them a straightforward
gospel witness. I had coworkers badly in need of a Savior, but was
more nervous about my professional image than about their eternal destinies.
About a week after WTC was destroyed, I had heard through the grapevine
that a little church in New York was passing out about 1,000 gospel tracts
a day, and that during the week following 9/11, the laymen of that church
had seen 400 souls saved! It reminded me of Nineveh’s response to
Jonah’s message of God’s impending judgment! Carpe diem! It
was then that a little light turned on in my heart, and I realized that
people everywhere across the USA were seeking answers, were seeking security,
were seeking salvation like never before in my lifetime. A sense
of urgency gripped me at that moment.
Motivated by the fear that I might lose some
of them and have their blood on my hands (Ezekiel 33:6), on September 19th
I finally wrote that straightforward gospel witness to those distant relatives
who had only received cards from me in the past. I shared the verse
that brought me to Christ (John 3:16) and the verses that clarified how
to be saved (Romans 10:9-11). I asked that they please not
be offended by my words, but realize that I would not run the risk of alienating
family and friends unless I truly believed in the power of the message
I shared. And I assured them all that I would pray for them all by
name every day until I knew for sure that they too had accepted God’s gift
of eternal life. That is a promise I intend to keep -- I have not
skipped even one day praying for those who received my letter.
As a newbie in my office, I had been cautious
in my witnessing efforts to coworkers, but I realized that Christmas was
the perfect time to do some evangelizing. Since I am not a preacher,
I must win souls one at a time by building relationships. Each coworker
received a goody basket containing homemade treats along with a Christmas
card. With each card, I thanked them for their kindness to me since
coming on board and assured them that as a praying person, I would pray
for each of them daily in the coming year. By doing this, I hoped
to lay a foundation that I believe in the power of prayer, so that when
troubles inevitably enters their lives, they might turn to me for prayer
or for spiritual advice.
Last but far from least, I also made Christmas
goody baskets for those two neighbors I had not yet met. Along with
the homemade cookies and cinnamon-scented pinecones, each family received
a card from our family. As a relationship builder, we offered to
keep an eye on pets and homes when vacation time rolled around, and said
that as a praying family, we would pray for their family every day.
It included our e-mail address so that they could alert us to any special
prayer requests in the New Year.
Today is January 3rd and it is too early
to tell what spiritual fruit may result from my most recent efforts.
However, I do know that for the first time in my life, I feel as though
I’ve obeyed Jesus by being a witness in my “Jerusalem” as He directed in
Acts 1:7-8. This was Christ’s final command to his disciples before
ascending into heaven, and please note, He didn’t tell them to start their
mission work on some sweltering island halfway around the world.
Instead, he directed them to begin right where they lived. I can
testify that to obey this command brings great peace and absolutely no
regrets.
Diana Roth
Diana has also contributed
a testimony entitled "A Case for Trust".
Note from Dragonfly
Ministries: If you would like to speak to someone about asking
Jesus Christ into your life, or to pray with you, please call 1-888-NEEDHIM.
Counselors are standing by 24 hours a day, waiting for your call or you
can visit NEEDHIM at http://www.needhim.org |
