The Most Effective Way to Win Your Family to Jesus

A five-step framework for sharing the gospel with family: present the truth openly, practice purity in your own life, pray for the lost, demonstrate the Holy Spirit's power, and show genuine love. After you've done these, give it to Jesus and trust God's sovereignty.
Chapters
You're not promised tomorrow. Your loved ones aren't promised tomorrow. We as believers have a responsibility to share the gospel with our loved ones. And so I want to show you how to effectively evangelize your lost loved ones. I want to show you how to do this. You're going to be equipped to share the gospel. You may have a loved one in your family who's very hard-hearted, stubborn, they're resisting the gospel. Well, this is gonna be something that you're gonna wanna hear, and I believe that you'll be given hope and you'll be given truth that will help you to become an effective evangelist. Number 1, we have to present the truth. Now, this is key. You've likely heard it said, preach the gospel, and if necessary, use words. But that is to misunderstand what the preaching of the gospel is. Yes, your life should align with the message that you declare, but the preaching of the gospel requires that you openly declare, that you speak forth the words of truth. In Isaiah chapter 58, verse 1, we read, cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Luke 5:32 says, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. So there was an outward calling, a pronouncement of truth. 1 Corinthians 9:16 says, Yet preaching the good news is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I don't preach the good news, or woe is me if I preach not the gospel. Now we declare the truth not for the sake of offending people, but for the sake of sharing truth. It just so happens that sometimes the sharing of truth will offend people. This doesn't mean that you be intentionally rude, you be intentionally mean or nasty, or you try to be combative, or you try to stir debates. That's all ego and pride. Rather, we are to share, to openly declare the truth in love, and in so doing, we may at times offend people. In fact, the gospel by itself is offensive enough to the nonbeliever. There's no need to add any more offense to it. But I would rather preach a truth that sets someone free than tell them a lie that leaves them in bondage. I would rather offend someone into heaven than comfort them into hell. The good news that we declare is simple. Jesus saves from the wrath of God, and that those who've sinned against God will receive judgment apart from receiving the free gift of salvation. All have sinned, and because all have sinned, all deserve God's judgment. But God made a way out, a way of escape. By placing your faith in Christ Jesus, and what He accomplished on the cross, you'll be saved. We are saved by grace through faith, not by works. By simply placing our faith in Jesus, we receive the miracle of salvation and therefore that new nature out of which we begin to live. And we have to declare this, but sometimes declaring the truth is going to first be offensive. At first it offends, and then it will set free. Number 2, practice purity. If what you say doesn't align with the way that you live, if how you live contradicts the message of the gospel that you're trying to convey, then what you're communicating to people is, not even I believe what I'm telling you. And if you don't believe what you're telling them, if you don't have the conviction about the truth of the gospel, Why would they? In Luke chapter 11, we read beginning at verse number 33. No one lights a lamp and then hides it or puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand where its light can be seen by all who enter the house. 34. Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when it is unhealthy, your body is filled with darkness. Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness. If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant. Let me read that again. Look at the conditions set in order for your life to be radiant. So if you do this, then your light shines. If you do this, then you become a testimony. If you do this, then you become that lamp that's set in the middle of the house so that everything can receive light. Verse 36, if you are filled with light, with no dark corners, no areas of hypocrisy, no areas of deception, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light. The effectiveness of your evangelism is directly proportionate to the purity of your life. The effectiveness of your evangelism is directly proportionate to the purity of your life. Now, I'm not saying that hypocrites can't preach the gospel. They do it all the time. And we read in Matthew 7, of course, of what happens to those individuals. But what I am saying is that those closest to you are gonna be most affected by your testimony. And if you're speaking about Jesus on one side of your mouth and then gossiping about others on the other side of your mouth, it's gonna be rather difficult for that loved one to receive the gospel from you. If you on one hand say that God is a God who keeps his word, but you don't keep your word, it's gonna be difficult for them to trust the message that you're declaring. If you say God is loving, God is patient, God is kind, but you're not loving, patient, or kind, then they're going to look at you and wonder if you've actually met the God that you're describing. Now, I'm not saying that you have to live a life of perfection. Of course, we all make mistakes. Nor am I saying that you are responsible for your lost loved ones should they reject the gospel, because ultimately everyone has to make the decision for themselves about what they're going to do with Jesus. What I am saying is that if you're not careful about your testimony, that you can become a stumbling block for your loved ones. You can become a hindrance for the truth that you're trying to declare. You can become a contradiction to the gospel that you claim to believe. So, if you want to win your loved ones to the Lord, you have to practice purity that you might become a light. Number three, make sure that you are praying for the lost. In Romans chapter ten, verse number one, we read: Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. Now here we see, biblically speaking, that it's possible and it's good and it's helpful. to pray for your lost loved ones. In 1 John 5:14, we read, and this is the confidence that we have in him. In other words, we can be sure of this, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. So there is the key qualifier. It has to be according to his will in order for that prayer to be effective. If I'm praying prayers that contradict the will of God, God is not going to perform in a way that backs a contradiction to his will. But when you pray prayers that are aligned with the will of God, you have the full backing of heaven. Well, isn't God willing that none should perish? Did not he send his Son so that whosoever believeth on him might be saved? Of course, we understand that the will of God is that souls might be saved. In fact, I believe that is the heartbeat of heaven. Souls, souls, souls being swept into the kingdom. That's what God desires. So if God wills it and desires it, if it's according to his nature, then when we pray it, there is power behind it. So by you declaring those prayers over your loved ones, you are effectively communicating with the heavenly realm in a way that's going to move them toward the gospel message, or move them toward Jesus, I think is a better way to put that. And so we as believers have to make sure that we are involving the help of the Holy Spirit. The gospel is not a product and you are not a salesperson. You're not going to necessarily be able to debate someone into receiving Jesus. It's not going to be an intellectual accomplishment. It's not going to be because of an argument or an ultimatum. Ultimately, it's going to be a work of the Holy Spirit. Our job is to present the gospel. That's the possible side. That's the practical. But while we do the practical, We must trust the Holy Spirit to do the supernatural. So, when we pray and ask the Lord to save our loved ones, we are involving the power of the Holy Spirit, and now we are moving beyond human power and stepping into God's divine ability. When we pray for our lost loved ones, we are, so to speak, watering the seeds of the Gospel. When you preach the Word to them, that's the planting of the seed. When you pray for your lost loved one, that's the watering of that same seed. You can pray for your lost loved one that God would bring them divine appointments, that God would cause them to be disconnected from bad influences. You can ask the Holy Spirit, according to God's will, to convict them, to convince them, to confront them, to expose them, to persuade them. And you ask the Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit— let's say you're praying for a lost loved one. Let's say you're praying for a parent or a child who is drug addicted or addicted to alcohol or who is on the streets. You can pray, Lord, remove their connections. Lord, remove evil influence. Father, don't even let them enjoy that high. Father, don't even let them enjoy being drunk. Maybe you have a loved one who's very stubborn. And every time you go to present the gospel, they mock you, or worse, they get angry and defensive, and it always becomes an argument. Well, you shouldn't be combative. You should be loving, of course, but you should also pray for them. Pray, Lord, soften their heart. Father, speak to them at night when they lay their head on their pillow. Begin to convict them as they lay there in bed. Holy Spirit, give them dreams. Holy Spirit, give them visions. Holy Spirit, Use their trials, use their blessings, use their connections, use whatever you have to use, but draw them to the cross. Holy Spirit, begin to work on their mind, begin to work on their heart, begin to work on their life. And Holy Spirit, I ask you to orchestrate it all so that they might come to Jesus. And you'll begin to see, maybe not in the natural at first, but in the spirit, there will be a shift. In the spirit, God will begin to do something. Now the temptation is that while praying for your loved ones, if you don't immediately see the results that you want to see, you may throw up your hands in defeat and say, well, it didn't work. But here's the thing about prayer. It's impossible to accomplish nothing through true prayer. If you are praying, change is happening, whether you see it or not, whether you believe it or not. When you pray for your lost loved ones, the Holy Spirit is definitely working on their heart and they will, in Jesus' name, be saved. Now, I wanna present to you here an overlooked key when it comes to evangelism. In fact, many believers are very hesitant in using this key. In fact, sadly, many believers mock the use of this key. I'm gonna share this with you in just a moment, but first, make sure you've left a like on this video if you're enjoying the content. and you're being equipped to win your loved ones to the Lord. Excuse me. By leaving a like on this stream, you're helping to spread it even further. So simply put, you never know who's gonna be encouraged or blessed or receive breakthrough simply because you interacted by leaving a like. And also make sure you don't miss any of the content. I want you to continue to receive encouraging messages like this. So let's stay connected, subscribe to my channel, And do click that notification bell when you subscribe so that you don't miss any of the content. Number 4, you have to present power. In 1 Corinthians 2:4, we read, and my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. Now, let me be very careful with the way I'm saying this. I am not saying that if you didn't cast out a devil or if you didn't heal the sick— well, of course, we know God heals the sick, but through you. If you didn't pray for the sick, if you didn't see some miraculous sign at the time of that person's conversion, I'm not saying that because you didn't see those signs that the conversion isn't sincere. And we understand that the Gospel by itself contains great power. In fact, the Scripture declares that the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. So, I'm not saying that the Gospel is incomplete without miracles, signs, and wonders. And I'm not saying that your sharing of the Gospel is immature or lacking if there are no miracles, signs, and wonders. But we can't ignore the fact that God can, at times, use miracles, signs, and wonders to draw people to at least listen with interest to the Gospel message. So, don't discount the reality of the supernatural. Don't discount the reality of the existence of God's ability through his demonstrations of the miraculous to touch lives and soften hearts. So it's not just necessarily power that we have to demonstrate. Of course, that has to come with a clear message. And in fact, miracles without the message create great danger. If all you're doing is praying for the sick and saying, well, God bless you, What good does that do? Now I'm gonna sound maybe a little bit harsh here, but I want you to receive what's being said because there needs to be some correction in this area. And this, by the way, is coming from someone who believes in miracles. I believe in speaking in tongues. I believe in casting out devils. I believe in prophecy. I believe the Holy Spirit still speaks, all of that. In fact, you already know that if you watch this channel, we like to see demonstrations of the Holy Spirit's power. Having said that, When somebody gets healed, eventually that body will still decay. You read the Old Testament, you read the New Testament, you see many of the miracles that God performed in terms of physical healing, and everyone who received their healing then is no longer here physically. Everything fades that is physical. So, what good does it do to see someone healed today if they're not in heaven tomorrow? That's right. What good does it do to prophesy about someone's future if that future doesn't include heaven? What good does it do to cast devils out of people if they're just gonna go to hell and spend time in eternity— excuse me, spend eternity with all of the devils in hell? Of course, we understand that there is a place for the demonstration of miracles, signs, and wonders, but we also understand that miracles, signs, and wonders in and of themselves are not the gospel message. What is the message I'm communicating here? It's simple: balance. Sometimes miracles, signs, and wonders can be an aid, and sometimes miracles, signs, and wonders can be too much of a focus. But in all of that, make sure that the gospel itself is being presented. I remember I was ministering in Tijuana, Mexico, and there was a family who had come to the service. They just so happened to attend this meeting. It was one of the evenings. And it was a mother, her son, and her husband. And apparently, the husband had been very resistant to the gospel. His heart was hard, he was cold toward the things of God, he never went to church with them, he didn't wanna hear about that, he didn't wanna hear anything from the Bible, he didn't even wanna talk about it. But somehow they convinced him to come to this meeting. Now, During the healing testimony portion of the service, as I began to pray for people and share their testimonies, a little boy approached. That little boy had an issue with his eye. He was vision impaired, and he had it for years, apparently. Well, the Lord healed him, and for the first time in a very long time, he was able to see with no complications out of that eye. We tested it. The boy is weeping, the mother's weeping. It turns out that little boy was the son of that man who was attending that meeting. That man came to the altar, received Jesus, and he was weeping as he surrendered his life to the Lord. What was that? It was a miracle of our wonderful Jesus softening the heart of an unbeliever. Sometimes that can be the case, but again, balance in all things. Number 5, We need to demonstrate love. In 1 Thessalonians 2:8, we read this, we loved you so much that we shared with you not only God's good news, but our own lives too. A couple of key thoughts here with this verse. We see that it was love that compelled them to share the gospel. Well, I know you know that. In fact, if you're still listening to this right now, it's because you have a heart for your loved ones. And you're hearing this and you're saying, yes, I understand that. My love has compelled me to share the gospel. That's why it's so heartbreaking when our loved ones don't seem to respond. That's why it's so heartbreaking when, instead of repenting, they mock, because you want them to know that love of God. You're driven by this great concern for their souls. We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God's good news, so there's love in that sense, but also look what they shared, but our own lives too. In other words, they had a commonality. They had a connection. They had a relationship. You know, there are various different forms of evangelism. There's confrontational evangelism, like you see on the street corner. There's corporate or public evangelism, like you see happening in churches and at public meetings like ours. But then there's relational evangelism. And relational evangelism, I believe, is one of the more effective ways to win the lost. Why? Because it's the children evangelizing the parents. It's the parents evangelizing the children. It's one friend evangelizing another friend. It's loved one sharing with loved one. That That is that community, that is that relationship, that connection out of which comes that love and that gospel shared in that context is very powerful. And so we as believers share out of this love, but not just sharing of the gospel, it's this connecting. It's that demonstration with your life. It's that love that confronts even the most stubborn of hearts. Listen to me now. The scripture says in Romans 5:5, and this hope will not lead to disappointment, for we know how dearly God loves us because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. In other words, the love that we have is supernatural. The Holy Spirit fills us with God's love, and that is out of which we love. we receive that expression of true evangelism. So, the Holy Spirit doesn't just help you to resist temptation effectively, or to pray sincerely, or to worship deeply. He also helps you to evangelize boldly and to love divinely. It is that divine love that has been given to us. It's an otherworldly love. Think of how those in the New Testament, the Gospel specifically, Think about how those who came into contact with Jesus stepped away from their connection with Jesus, stepped away from that interaction having been changed. They were left awed and breathless, life transformed forever. Why? Because they came into contact with something that was otherworldly. You see, the love that the Holy Spirit gives to us is a love that goes beyond our own ability to love. It's a love that makes even the most hard-hearted cynic, even the most stubborn skeptic scratch their head and say, what kind of love is that? That's what our love should do. Our love should make the cynic question his cynicism. Our love should make the doubter doubt his doubt. Our love should cause people to say, if God is love and this love they're showing me is anything like that, then maybe God does exist. Maybe that kind of love does exist. If they're sincere, if the way they love me is true, if the way they love me is really from where they claim it is, then that's gonna transform my life. That's what our love should do. It should be transformational. It should be a divine love in which we disappear. Amen. And it should soften even the most stubborn heart. It should bypass even the most complicated thought process. That love reaches to the depths of the human soul and causes them to come to be confronted with the gospel message in its purest form. That's what love can do. It's not just a matter of being kind and nice. There is this divine selflessness and care. And as you begin to interact with people, they'll sense it. So we are to present the truth, practice purity, pray for the lost, present power, and demonstrate love. After all these things is done, we have to make sure that we give it to Jesus. Because here's the temptation now. In presenting the gospel to our loved ones who are often very stubborn, We may become discouraged at their non-response. We may ask questions like, what am I doing wrong? How can I go about this more effectively? And really, we don't say it like this, but this is the reality. Many times what we want is to actually control them. What we want is to actually to be able to make the decision for them. But here's the thing, God has given to every individual the ability to exercise their own free will. And so in them exercising their own free will, sometimes they will reject Jesus. This is where you have to say, after this, I'm leaving them to the Lord. I'm giving them to Jesus. And it's not gonna be me. It's not gonna be my ability. It's not gonna be anything that I could do. Yes, I do these things that I might not become a stumbling block. I do these things that I might work according to the will of God. I do these things out of obedience to His Word, but ultimately I trust that the Lord Jesus will do as only He can do. Listen to me now because some of you need to hear this. This might be for you. Yes, you should have a burden for the lost in that you care, but the idea that you're becoming emotionally entangled and wound up because they have not decided according to what you know is the truth, that does not mean that you bear responsibility. That is not your burden to bear. After you've done these things, you can continue to love them. You can continue to pray for them. You can continue to share the gospel. But after a certain point, hear me now, please, you've got to give them to Jesus. And you have to say, Lord, I've done what I can do, and I will continue to do what I can do. But it's in your hands now, precious Lord. So Father, I pray for those now who are receiving this word. And first of all, Holy Spirit, I pray you would embolden and empower them. Give them the words to speak. Give them the love to speak it. And Father, we lift our loved ones to you now. In fact, as we pray, I want you to begin to type The first names of your loved ones in the comments section. And let's all— let's start a prayer wall here. I want everybody praying over those names. Lord Jesus, I thank you that you are bringing their loved ones into union with you. Draw them by your Spirit. Come on, let's pray for them. Draw them by your Spirit, I pray. In the mighty name of Jesus, we say it in faith. I want you to type it big in the comments. Type a big amen. Well, I want to encourage you, if you're being blessed by this ministry, you're being blessed by the teachings, the live streams, maybe you listen to the podcast, maybe you are a part of our Holy Spirit School, our online ministry, or maybe your life was impacted at one of our events that we hosted around the world. 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