Be a Soul Winner

The great Commission. The one thing that all Spirit filled believers should know and go out and do. If you have ever wondered how to get unimaginable favor upon your life, look no further than doing the work of the Father. All throughout scripture if we can only take away one major bullet point, it is that our Father in heaven wants to be reunited with His creation. He wants to be reunited with us so much that He had His own blood shed to atone for the sin that separates us from Him. From the words of Jesus, He gave us what we have coined to be "The Great Commission."


18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

                                                             Matthew 28:18-20 (NLT)

Every single one of us has been charged with spreading the Word of God, and, sadly enough, some people have taken this charge to apply the rules of religion, harsh standards and judgement on others in the name of salvation. There is definitely a right and wrong way to do this, but that perhaps, is another message in itself for another time.

I find it odd when people say, "I don't feel called to the ministry," or even when they say the opposite, "I feel called to the ministry." I always respond the same, "We are all called to ministry." I usually hear back something along the lines of, "Well, I mean full-time ministry..." to which I always reply "Are you a full time believer or a part time believer?" Most often they'll laugh and say something to imply that what I said is a play on words, or funny and clever. But seriously, if you are a full-time, Holy Ghost filled believer, your actions, words and character should be spreading God's word Full-Time, everywhere you go. 

Vocational ministry and ministering to people are not to be confused as one and the same. You are to be the face of Jesus full-time, even if your job does not include titles such as pastor, evangelist, apostle, prophet and so on. There is an entire earth filled with people who are going to miss out on their reunion with God for an eternity of suffering. 

There's an incredible story about what happened to Bob Jones in 1975. I first heard it from one of his spiritual sons, but there are also books and videos that tell this story as well, it is very well documented. Bob Jones was a very powerful man of God, a man with major influence for the Lord, and many years ago God revealed to him things that the enemy was planning to carry out in the earth. After hearing from God, he was going to tell these things to the church and have the people of God to pray against these evil things.

The enemy then appeared before Bob and instructed him not to talk about what he had heard. He said that he would leave him alone if he just goes about his business, even getting people saved and spreading the gospel, but that if he exposed this wicked plan then he would kill him. Of coarse Bob did not submit, he responded by saying that "I don't belong to you anymore" and intended to reveal the devil's plan to the church. Shortly after, he began to experience sudden catastrophic bleeding and was taken to the hospital. The doctors could not explain what was happening or diagnose anything, they were unable to help him and as a result he died.

Bob found himself just outside the gates of heaven where there were two lines of people. One had many people and the other had a few. The two lines were either able to enter into heaven with God, or were sent away for eternity. For every 100 people, the ratio of the lines was 97 to 3. As his line moved forward he came face to face with the Savior. As he prepared to enter in Jesus told him that he was ahead of his time only because the enemy persecuted him for obeying, He said he was able to enter into eternity in heaven, but only if he was okay with the ratio of 97:3, otherwise he needed to return to the earth to save souls.

Bob's spirit returned to his body and his death was only temporary. He continued in ministry and went on to share his story and tell of the things he saw and heard; he was a soul winner until 2014 when he went to heaven for a permanent stay. This was the short version of the story, but you should definitely read the detailed version, it is quite amazing.

I think it's very evident to see what is on the Lord's mind: Saving souls. He wants to see people redeemed. Not only did He commission us to do so when He was living on the earth, but it is still on His mind today. God wants to see you blessed, and we understand that we are blessed so that we can in turn be a blessing to others. So go be a blessing to others. Romans 4:7 says that those whose sins are forgiven are blessed. Since your sins have been forgiven you are blessed, and your are blessed so that you can be a blessing to others by leading them to Jesus that their sins may be forgiven as well.

36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” 
                           
                                                                                                              Matthew 9:36-38 (NIV)
               
I believe we are in a time where the fields are ready for the harvest, people are hungry for the supernatural. The new age occult and witchcraft are on the rise in western society, even within the church, because people are searching for more than what the motivational speech churches have to offer. Churchianity does not satisfy the hungry soul, and, if you do not have a godly influence in your life, as you pursue the supernatural the enemy will meet you with the counterfeit, thus we have the occult. We need Spirit filled Christians to be in the field gathering the harvest. We need spiritual fathers and mothers. We need those dedicated to seeing the lost to be found, and recreated in Christ. One way to win others over is to demonstrate the power of God, His presence and His glory, and the only way to do that is to spend time in His presence in your prayer closet, creating friendship with the Holy Spirit. Manifestations of the Spirit are first birthed in your intimate time spent with the Lord.

 The church often talks about evangelizing on skid row, the gang ridden streets, drug houses or foreign oppressed villages, however, do not forget about those in your immediate sphere of influence that don't know Jesus. Not all of us have the ability to go out to the nations, but we all have the ability to save our neighbors, co-workers, family members or even those who seems to have it all together. There are people all around you that aren't necessarily "broken" but are in need of soul saving. Someone who doesn't cheat on their spouse, no dug or alcohol problem, no porn addiction and doesn't have a filthy mouth, sounds like a good person who is hard to find in today's society (even within the church!), but that person needs Jesus just as bad as anyone else, and they are often times forgotten by churches simply because they aren't what we envision as "broken." Remember, ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

 If you aren't changing your world for Jesus, you need to start now. If your church isn't seeing people saved then something needs to shift. If your community is growing and your church isn't, something has to change, and you can be that change (although you might want to find a church that pursues and prioritizes soul winning). Go out and reap the harvest, people are created to have relationship with God, whether they realize it or not, and they are often trying to fill that void with things other than God. That's when you, the Spirit filled believer, should step in and begin to show them the love of our Father.

Proverbs 11 says that whoever captures souls is wise, in Mark 16 Jesus says to proclaim the gospel to all creation, and in Matthew 4 He says that if you follow Him, He will make you fishers of men. It is our greatest responsibility to go out and bring the joy of salvation to the world.

Reunion with our Father, that is the entire reason for everything that we do. Learn to love people, share Jesus and tend to those in need. This is the will of God, and we obtain His favor when we are in His will. Life is so much better when you have His favor upon you.