PERSONAL WITNESSING MADE SIMPLE!
--Just Give'm the Solution: Jesus!       9/91
--By Maria       Maria #162 DO 2788

1. When you are out witnessing, instead of getting so wrapped up in every little personal problem that you may encounter, why not just keep it simple? Instead of trying to give them some big complicated answer or long list of scriptures to counter or resolve each of the individual personal problems that the person you're witnessing to brings up, I want to suggest that we go with a more general approach: "Okay, this is your problem?--Jesus has the answer for it, and here's His answer. His Word says, `If you'll cast all your care upon Him, He'll care for you!'" (1Pet.5:7).
         2. We can simply tell people, "If you'll just put your life in His hands, then He'll take care of and help you to deal with any problem that you have! He can help you through it and make it easier for you and be the kind of support and comfort and friend that you need." When you take that kind of a more general approach, you don't have to get so into trying to counsel people on each of their individual problems; what to do, for example, if someone says they have an alcoholic mother and they don't want to bring their friends home, or maybe they say their father beats them.
         3. Instead of trying to give them all kinds of specific counsel, it would be better to start out more generally, with showing them that Jesus is the one who can give them the solutions to their problems, and that if they'll just receive Him, He'll take care of them and their problems. After they've received the Lord would be the time to go into things in a little more detail, with more specific verses, if you feel so led. But I don't believe that any of us need to think that personal witnessing has to be a big drawn-out and complicated counseling session that requires a very wise and experienced counselor with a vast knowledge of the Word. Just try John 3:16!
         4. That's what scared me when I was a System Christian! I thought, "I'd better wait and first learn how to really counsel people about all these different potential problems that might come up before I attempt to witness to them." But no matter how difficult their problem is, you can just tell them, "I may not know the specific answer, but the Lord knows the answer, and if you'll just give your life to Him and look to Him for His answers, He'll work it out for you in the way that He knows is best, that will be best for you. He'll give you all the help you need."
         5. Witnessing is actually very simple. The first step is getting them to turn to the Lord and look to Him for His help.
         6. However, if you're witnessing to somebody and they happen to ask you, "What do you think about abortion?" Or, "What do you think about homosexuality?"--That's something different from them telling you they have a big personal problem with something of this nature, and asking you what to do about it. If they're just asking you a question about what you believe or think about something, you should try to lovingly answer them from the Word.
         7. But deep questions about their personal problems are different. For example, someone may say to you, "I got pregnant and I'm not married and my mother is trying to force me to have an abortion. What do I do?" Or, "My father beats me and I don't know who to turn to." Or, "My boyfriend just told me he has another girlfriend and I don't know how to handle it." Can you tell me what I should do?"--These are deep personal problems, and if you get all involved in people's personal lives and attempt to counsel them in such matters before you've even brought them to the Lord and given them the spiritual solutions that they so desperately need, you're liable to find yourself all entangled in a complicated mess!
         8. But no matter what the problem, the answer is always the same, Jesus! And after they've received the Lord and are willing to turn their lives over to Him, if they still want more specific direction in order to find God's will in their lives, and to find out how to specifically put Jesus to work for them, then you and others can pray with them and counsel with them and share the appropriate verses from the Word with them. But unless you're in very unusual circumstances and are definitely so led of the Lord, don't attempt to delve deeply into others' personal problems on your own. These kinds of problems can be very involved and you may get yourself in a lot of trouble if you start telling people what to do without fully understanding their situation.
         9. The main thing is getting them to turn to the Lord, and you can often do that pretty quickly. You just ask them, "Oh, that's your problem?--Jesus can take care of it!--Or He can give you the solutions you need or the strength to deal with it. Just open your heart to Him!" And then afterwards, if you feel the need to, you can perhaps get into some more detailed answers at greater length.

We Need to Relate to People and Their Problems!

         10. But we don't want any of you to witness in a way that doesn't relate to the problems of the person you're witnessing to. For example, if somebody says, "My husband just died, and now I feel like dying too, what can I do?" or, "I just got raped," you shouldn't right away rattle off, "Well, you're a sinner and you need to receive Jesus! `All have sinned and come short of the glory of God!'" We should sympathize with them in some way, try to relate to the problem that they have first, and lead them into Salvation through that problem.
         11. Relating to someone doesn't necessarily take a lot of time. To relate to them you simply need to realize that everyone has problems for which they need help, and that whatever their problem is, Jesus can help them with it. Jesus can be the help they need. Tell'm how He solved your problems! If you understand this and can show them this, it will turn their key and help them to be much more receptive than if you're just telling them that they're a sinner who is lost without Jesus!

Connecting People's Problems to Jesus' Solutions!

         12. You have to start where the person is at. If the person has admitted to having a difficult personal problem, you can say, "Jesus cares about you and He loves you very much, and He sees and understands the suffering you're going through. His Word says that He cares for you, and that you can cast your cares upon Him. And if you give your problems to Jesus, then He'll take care of you, and He'll give you the comfort and solutions you need."
         13. Sometimes it's a matter of wording or presentation. You've just got to try to relate to them where they're at. If they say, "Oh, I'm going through this terrible problem right now," and you witness like a lot of the church people do and you say, "Well, you're a sinner and you need Jesus," that's not the right way to go about it!
         14. You have to first of all connect their problem to what Jesus can do for them. What they want to know is, "What's in it for me? Where can I get the help I want?" That's what they're looking for: Help for their problem, comfort in their time of sorrow. So you should tell them, "Jesus can and will help you! He said He'll never leave you nor forsake you. He'll supply all your need! He'll do this and that!"
         15. Then their next question may be, "How can I get Him to do that?"--To which you can reply, "Put your life in His hands and give your life to Him, and then He'll take care of you. He'll take care of everything that has to do with you, all of your problems. He'll help you and He'll be the comfort and the Friend that you need." And if they don't ask the right question, you can ask it for them. Say something like, "You're probably wondering how all of these wonderful things can happen for you."
         16. It's a matter of approach I'm talking about. It's not changing the basic way we present Salvation, it's just fine-tuning our approach to make sure we're relating to people, to where they're at right there and then. It's sort of connecting their problem or whatever their need is more directly to, "Here's what the Bible says about problems, that Jesus will take your problem if you give it to Him."--And starting out on that basis. We should be telling them all the wonderful things that Jesus will do for them!
         17. Give them the bait first. Show them, "Wow, look at all you can have and what Jesus will do for you!" Then they'll want to know, "How do I get this? How do I start this process in my life of Jesus helping me with all my problems?" Then you can tell them, "You just ask Him to come into your heart and you receive Him." It's much better to present the positive side first and tell them all the wonderful things Jesus will do for them.
         18. You can tell'm, "If you'll just turn your life over to Jesus--all your fears and tears, your disappointments and broken dreams, as well as all of your problems--He will give you a brand-new life!--One of happiness and joy and hope. And not only will you get a wonderful new life, but you'll get a Best Friend, forgiveness of sins, release from guilt, freedom from fear, knowledge of the future, healing if you're sick, power and grace whenever you need it, protection, supply and provision, as well as a wonderful eternal Home in Heaven! What more could you want? What could be better than that?"

Although Jesus Solves Problems, We've Got to Do Our Part!

         19. Of course, we don't want to make people think that the Lord is going to instantly and automatically dissolve every single one of their problems as soon as they get saved, and that they'll never have any problems again. The Lord definitely helps us with our problems and makes them easier to solve, easier to bear, and He does dissolve some of them entirely and completely delivers us from them.
         20. However, there are other problems that He knows are good for us for one reason or another, and He helps us to handle these problems, and gives us the grace and the patience and the love to bear them. So instead of telling people that Jesus will absolutely take away all their problems, we should tell them, "Jesus will help you with your problems, help you to carry them, help you to bear them, help you to solve them. And the ones He doesn't take away completely, you'll find He will make them so much easier to bear."--Or even a blessing!
         21. We can definitely say, "Jesus will help you with all of your problems. He's the great Solution-giver! He has a solution for your problems!" This is just as good as saying that He's the Problem-solver, but in a way it puts a little more of the responsibility on the individual. If we tell them that Jesus will give them the solution, it might help them to see that they might have to help carry out that solution, instead of just sitting back and being passive and not having anything to do with or about their problem.

How the Lord Helps People with Their Problems!

         22. It might sound like I'm "straining at a gnat" here in trying to bring out the difference between telling people that Jesus is the Problem-solver, and that Jesus will give them the solutions to their problems. But I've seen that become an issue before when Christians tell others that Jesus will take away all their problems, and the people get saved and they then find out that they still have a lot of their previous problems to deal with, which can cause them to wonder and question and even doubt. So I just want to be sure that we present this correctly so that the people we witness to won't be surprised when they still have some problems after they've received the Lord. Actually, problems and obstacles and challenges in life are what make us strong.
         23. But instead of being bowled over by their problems and being burdened and crushed by them and being underneath them, they can be on top of them! Jesus can help them be on top of their problems and in control of their problems, and help them know how to handle their problems.--Instead of just sinking under them and being drowned by them with no hope in sight, or feeling that there isn't anything that they can do about them. You can show them that Jesus will lighten their loads and help bear their burdens and resolve the problems.
         24. Of course, there are many times when Jesus does completely eradicate the problem and take it away, but then you usually get another problem that's another challenge, so you can realize that you still need the Lord and have areas in your life in which He needs to work. But sometimes He does completely eradicate the problem, as He often does with illness or disease.--He can miraculously cure a physical ailment so that it's absolutely gone and never comes back again! He often completely solves other problems as well, and gives deliverances that are complete once and for all, and you never have any recurrence of those problems again.
         25. But then there are problems that stay with us for much longer, that we have to battle with and get victories over daily--"thorns in the flesh" (2Cor.12:1-10). But these are the problems that the Lord knows are good for us, that will make us strong and will help us to look to Him and be desperate with Him and close to Him.
         26. So please remember to try to relate to people where they're at right now, and give them the main answer they desperately need: Jesus! "What can I do about my problems?" That's what people everywhere are crying out, "I've got all these problems! How am I going to solve them?" Just say, "We've got the Answer!--The Answer Man, Jesus! He is the great Solution-giver!--And if you receive Him into your heart you'll be amazed at the help He will give you and the comfort He will bring to you!" Amen? Praise the Lord! GBY as you keep lifting up Jesus and sharing His love and truth and solutions with all whom you can! ILY!



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