THE CONVICTING POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT October 30, 2009
Wow! That’s the only way I know how to describe it. I have seen God work in people before, but last night was pretty amazing.
I was witnessing to 4 young girls (ages 14 and 15). I spent quite a bit of time helping them to see how they stacked up in relation to God’s law and righteousness. They all readily saw that they were guilty before God and they immediately became concerned. I was witnessing the active, powerful work of the Holy Spirit.
Destiny, Kemara, Stephanie, and Esther were visiting the Inner Harbor of Baltimore from Charlotte, NC. Each of them, with precious sincerity, admitted that they thought they would go to hell if they died today. Kemara was the first to communicate here sense of guilt before God.
Then Destiny, visibly moved, said she felt like she was going to cry. Throughout the discussion, she must have repeated this 3 or 4 times. She said that she had tried to turn her life around with the Lord and it just didn’t work. Her solution? Just wait till she was older when she would be ready. I shared with her that there was absolutely no guarantee that she would wake up even tomorrow.
I looked at Stephanie and asked her what she was thinking. With her head down, she shook it and said, “I just keep seeing all the wrong things I’ve been doing.” She was very deep in thought and under conviction. Kemara, Stephanie, and Destiny all seemed to be fixated on the reality of their sin, God’s holiness and God’s immense love.
When I shared the glory of the love of God revealed in the gospel, the conviction seemed to increase all the more. I expressed how deeply God loved them, displayed by the supreme sacrifice of Jesus. At about that time, Destiny, began saying, “My heart is so heavy, my heart is so heavy.” She would walk around, unable to escape the pull of God on her life.
It was clear that these girls were at war on the inside. I pleaded with them for their souls. I shared my testimony of yielding my life to Jesus at age 17. Then, I begged them to do the same before their heads hit the pillow that night. They were all very thankful. Destiny said she was really going to be thinking about this for a long time. I prayed for them, gave them some excellent things to read, and they were on their way.
It is a glorious thing to think that we are laboring with the Holy Spirit. We, in our weakness, plant gospel seeds. And as we do, the Holy Spirit works on hearts. May God encourage your heart today to realize that, though you feel fearful and weak, God glories in using fearful and weak vessels to do His work. Please be bold to preach the gospel, and watch the Lord do His mighty work.