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Chapter Two
Obstacles to the Timing of God
Chapter Three
What Time is It?
Chapter Four
The Eternity of Time
Chapter Five
Walking in His Timing
Conclusion
Contacting Mercy Street Ministries
Chapter OneIn His Time A word spoken at the right time will produce spiritual life to those who need Christ. I remember one night as I walked the downtown streets of Fort Smith, Arkansas and passed by a bar called Twisters. I sensed something unusual, and that was the Holy Spirit leading me to go into the bar. I was not comfortable with the thought of what He wanted me to do. However, I was so driven to follow His will that I knew I must go. I did not know what to expect on the other side of the door, but I followed what I felt and entered the bar. As I walked in, I noticed that the bar was practically empty. At first, I noticed how dark the bar was and how lonely one man looked sitting at a table. I walked over to him, introduced myself, and sat down at his table. I looked at his glass, and noticed it was still full. He just seemed to sit there, stirring his glass and staring down toward the table. I began to share with him why I was there and how the Lord led me to him. Tears began to flow from his eyes as he said, "I cannot believe that you are here. Tonight I just wanted to throw it all away. I am a preacher and I have been hurt by my church." I now know it was the Holy Spirit who had chosen the exact time to minister to this man. Even before he could walk away from God, I saw God was ready to forgive. He took my hand and we prayed together as he asked forgiveness for his sin and came back to Christ. He had come so close to falling away and God had mercy on his soul. What a powerful act of God's grace and love! God was just in time to restore another life. Proverbs 3 As I have witnessed in the streets of the night, I have noticed that only a few seconds in time may make the difference between someone coming to Christ or not. I have observed the Holy Spirit convict and touch hearts on so many occasions that I have seen that spiritual timing is so important. I have seen my life spared in the streets by only a few moments in time as someone hesitated before pulling a trigger on a gun. When I return home at night from the streets, I often replay the experiences in my mind by seeing the faces and hearing the conversations we had with the people we witnessed to in the street. So often I think, "What if I had not turned down that alley, gone into the bus station, or spoken to a stranger? What if I had not gone out to witness; would the one I prayed with still have found Christ?" So much of our life is not an accident but the timing of God. He is searching for ways and opportunities to bless His people. 2 Chronicles 16 God is looking for someone who He can reach out and touch. He needs someone who He can use as an extension of His hand and His voice. The scriptures are so clear that God wants to minister to His people. I remember one night in the streets a man had a knife and we were just in time to see God do a work. As we stepped in the streets, we knew it was going to be a wonderful night. We had already sensed the anointing as we walked along the sidewalks. We were greeted with smiles and kindness as we talked to the people. I remember one house we visited had three men on the front porch. One was sitting with sunglasses on and bent over a beer in a paper sack, one was the father of the other two, and another had recently graduated from school and was thinking about his future. We shared Christ with them and did our best to bring the witness of Christ. However, we just were not as effective as we had hoped. This happens so often in our witness. It seems there is a delay before the conviction of the Holy Spirit is with us in the streets. Without His conviction we can do nothing. Even the drunken young man that was bent over his bottle seemed to think his life was in order. We prayed and asked for the conviction of the Holy Spirit in the streets as we walked on. We walked about a block and saw two men walking toward us. I heard them say, "I guess that they are going to rob us too." I told them that we are Christians and not to be afraid. They said, "Leave us alone. We're too mad to talk and got to go." As they stood in reach, I placed my arms around both of them and said "Let's pray." They told me that they had been robbed and were upset. I began to pray and immediately the Holy Sprit convicted these men and they both began to cry. The presence of the Holy Spirit was so wonderful as we all stood in the street surrounded by the love of God. We had church right in the middle of the street. I led the men through a prayer to receive Christ into their hearts. They became saved and immediately God did a work in their lives. As we stood there and shared how much God loved them, they cried and cried and began to confess what they were about to do before we met them. One man took a ten inch kitchen knife from his pants pocket and showed us the weapon which they intended to use to kill the man who had robbed them the previous night. I asked them what they were now going to do with the knife and their response was to break the knife and give it to us. All of us were so excited to see that we were in the presence of God. We went from disappointment to excitement in a matter of minutes as we saw God work with these men. If we had been a minute earlier or a minute later these men may have not found Christ and the man whom the knife was intended for could have been killed. The timing of God was so precious that we stood back and were amazed how God had arranged all of this. Psalms 16 We walked another block and saw God move again in the hearts of others. We walked to an apartment complex that we had visited many months earlier. We saw several people gathered outside and sitting on cars and in chairs. Although it was dark, we saw young men that were wearing sunglasses and seemed uninterested in what we had to say. Others were standing around watching us to see why we were there. We shared what we were doing there and handed out some WWJD bracelets and Jesus stickers. I extended my hands for prayer, the young men took my hands, and we stood in a circle and prayed for them. I do this often in the streets. Prayer creates an opportunity for lives to change. Most people believe in God and will respect what you do in the streets. Also, I sensed that they knew we cared for them. We then asked the most important question anyone will ever hear. I asked them, "If you died tonight, would you go to heaven?" Several responded that they would not. When we gave them an invitation to pray to receive Christ, they prayed with us. I noticed the chairs they were sitting on came down from two legs to four and the sunglasses came off. All prayed together to come to Christ at the same time. Something had happened and we could see the expressions of their hearts on their faces. We talked to the young men and discovered that we had just led three sons of a pastor to Christ. It is even more interesting that we had a local pastor in the streets with us. These young men were the sons of a retired pastor who attended his church. I was amazed that with all of the people in the city, we had just ministered to three sons of a pastor. What a joy to follow the leading of the Lord! John 4 The Lord is waiting for us to prepare our hearts and to evangelize the world around us. Too much time has passed by already and too many people have perished without a relationship with Christ. We have a choice to participate in the harvest or not. However, God has made His choice and that is to use you to lead others to Christ. It's time to respond to His call and share your faith with others.
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