One d=
ay Joseph, who was walking along one of these hot, dirty, African roads, me=
t someone who shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with him. Then and th=
ere he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior.
The power of th=
e Spirit began transforming his life; he was filled with such excitement an=
d joy that the first thing he wanted to do was return to his own village an=
d share the same Good News with the members of his local tribe.
Joseph began going door-to-door, telling everyone h=
e met about the Cross of Jesus and the salvation it offered, expecting to s=
ee their faces light up the way he had. To his amazement the villager=
s not only didn’t care, they became violent.
 =
;
The men of the village seized him and held him to the ground whi=
le the women beat him with strands of barbed wire. He was dragged to =
the village and left to die alone in the bush.
Joseph somehow managed to crawl to a waterhole, and there, after day=
s of passing in and out of consciousness, found the strength to get up.&nbs=
p; He wondered about the hostile reception he had received from the people =
he had known all his life. He decided he must have left something out=
or told the story of Jesus incorrectly. After rehearsing the message=
he had first heard, he decided to go back and share his faith once more.
Joseph limped into the circle of huts a=
nd began to proclaim Jesus. “He died for you, so that you might=
find forgiveness and come to know the living God” he pleaded.
Again, he was grabbed by the men of the villag=
e and held while the women beat him, reopening wounds that had just begun t=
o heal. Once more they dragged him unconscious from the village and left hi=
m to die.
To have survived the first bea=
ting was truly remarkable. To live through the second was a miracle.&=
nbsp; Again, days later, Joseph awoke in the wilderness, bruised, scarred &=
#8212; and determined to go back.
He ret=
urned to the small village and this time they attacked him before he had a =
chance to open his mouth. As they beat him for the third and probably=
the last time, he again spoke to them of Jesus Christ, the Lord. Bef=
ore he passed out, the last thing he saw was that the women who were beatin=
g him began to weep.
This time he awoke=
in his own bed. The ones who had so severely beaten him were now try=
ing to save his life and nurse him back to health. The entire village=
had come to Christ.
from “=
Let the Nations Be Glad”, by John Piper
&nb=
sp;
[Joseph was saved when he met someone on a dirt road who share=
d the real Gospel with him. We don’t need a prior relationship =
to share the Gospel; we only need humble faith and genuine love. Ever=
yone we meet needs the Gospel, so share with them.]
~~
Dr Bob Griffin
[email protected] www.gr=
if.net
“Pray also for us, that God may open to =
us a door for the Word,
to declare the mystery of Christ.” (Col. 4=
:3)=
=2Eavast.com