Let me ask you a very important question, “How did you come to faith in Jesus Christ?” Each of us have a “Spiritual Tree,” a heritage we can trace back and see how God used various people and events to get us to Christ.
As believers, the Apostle Paul taught that God wants to use each of us in building the spiritual trees of others. Paul said that some of us “plant the seeds” and some of us “water the seeds” but it is God using us to grow new Christians (1 Cor. 3:6).
I found this account of a spiritual tree very interesting and wanted to share it with you…
“It was July 1, 1885 when Edward Kimball felt the tugging of the Spirit to share his faith with a young shoe salesman. Kimball was nervous, but he finally mustered his courage and went into the shoe store. There Kimball found the salesman in the back room stocking shoes, and he began to share his faith with him. As a result, the young shoe salesman prayed and received Jesus Christ. That shoe salesman's name was Dwight L. Moody, and he became the greatest evangelist of his generation.
The story doesn't end there. Several years later a pastor and well-known author by the name of Frederick B. Meyer heard Moody preach. Meyer was so deeply stirred by Moody's preaching that he himself embarked on a far-reaching evangelistic ministry. Once when Meyer was preaching, a college student named Wilbur Chapman accepted Christ as a result of his presentation of the gospel. Chapman later employed a baseball player to help him prepare to conduct an evangelistic crusade. That ballplayer, who later became a powerful evangelist himself, was Billy Sunday.
In 1924 a group of businessmen invited Billy Sunday to hold an evangelistic campaign in Charlotte, North Carolina, which resulted in many people coming to Christ. Out of that revival meeting a group of men formed a men's prayer group to pray for the world. They prayed for Charlotte to have another great revival. God sent another evangelist named Mordecai Hamm. Hamm went to Charlotte in 1934 to hold a crusade. Ham's crusade went well, even though it did not have many converts. On one of the last nights under the big tent one tall, lanky young man walked up the aisle to receive Christ. That man's name was Billy Graham.
Talk about a chain of events! And it all started with an ordinary Christian named Edward Kimball, who reached D.L. Moody, who reached Wilbur Chapman, who reached Billy Sunday, who reached Mordecai Ham, who reached Billy Graham.
Billy Graham’s spiritual tree goes back to one man sharing Christ with a shoe salesman. My friend, you have no idea what God can do with your witness. When you are faithful to share Christ with your family, friends, co-workers, classmates, or even a stranger on the street, you may just be sharing Christ with the next Billy Graham.
As we come to the final months of 2009, I want to encourage you to finish the year strong for Christ. Keep your focus on Him and share your love for Him with others.
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