I just returned from a Joyce Meyer women's convention! It was AMAZING! Worship was led by HillSong. His Spirit FILLED the dome of 20,000 women. I wept as He completely washed me.
WOW! (and thank you, God!) is all I can say.
My computer went down the day before I left (Thursday), so I have been unable to blog.
But, I wanted to share what happened to me right after the event. It ended Sat. and I was alone waiting to fly out on Sun. This is an email I sent to my Speaking Thru Me Sisters.
I just got back from the Joyce Meyer women's convention. Glory! Oh, how what He did!!! Lisa Bevere, who is my fav. speaker- I feel such a connection to her- spoke about our generation- mothers, daughters, grandmothers..... How His Spirit worked! How I wept! Darlene from HillSong was the worship leader all week/end. Worship was amazing! Again, how the Spirit just fell on us. 20,000 women praising Him. God was so good the whole weekend. I was there with my spiritual "mama" and we had amazing time to worship together in the room, talk about Hebrews, Old/New covenant, take communion.... Then, I had an evening to myself!!!!! I had Sat. after the conference until Sunday alone. Praying in the Spirit, reading His Word, worshipping.
The most amazing thing though, was Sat. evening. I took a shower and was going to pray/ read the Word for awhile and then go to dinner. But, God said, "go now."
OK.
So, I walked next door to the only restaurant available. My hotel was near the airport, so this was it. I was debating about eating there because it tuned out to be a fancy, expensive restaurant. But, I hadn't eaten anything and was hungry.....so I went in. Being by myself, I was seated where the table of 1s were located. It was a long booth seat with 3 small tables. You sat on the booth couch.
I sat down and soon another lone diner was seated at the 3rd table. The table in between us was empty. It was Asian man watching an Iphone while he ate. I had my Bible and was taking a long, leisurely dinner while reading. It was very nice. The hostess tried to seat another loner in between us mid-meal, but this man asked for another table. (You will see why I am giving so many of these details!)
The Asian man and I had exchanged friendly "hellos" and polite smiles. When he got dessert, I asked him how it was and decided to order the same. He asked me what I was reading. So, this prompted a long conversation about China (where he was from originally, now lives in Detroit since 2001). I told him about my friend who adopted a daughter from China. When he asked why I was in St. Louis, I was able to tell him about Joyce Meyer. He looked her up on his iphone. We actually talked about an hour! (I had originally told the waiter I wasn't in hurry, so he took that literally and didn't come over!!!) On my side of the conversation, I was able to talk about how God is calling families to adopt from overseas orphanages, Joyce Meyer, a Christian speaker being able to draw 20, 000 women.....anyway, lots of "God" references. But, then, dessert was over, and we said our polite, "it was nice talking to you"s.
Oh, I was so mad at myself! I thought I had missed this opportunity to tell this man about Jesus!!!!!! yes, I had talked about God. yes, he could tell I was a Christian by the things I said. But, man, I had been challenged in this conference to make a difference! I wanted more! I had even written out a prayer request card that I wanted to make a difference in His Kingdom! I know, I am Christian speaker. I am a Christian writer. I am a Christian blogger.... Sunday School teacher.....VBS.... I know I have and continue to encourage, BUT
Lord, I want to do more! I don't want to be afraid of offending or putting people off....I want to be bold. I want to bring to others to Christ!!!!!!!
These were some of thoughts I was telling God. So, I had missed an opportunity.
I wrote his name (James) in my Bible. Said a prayer for him. Committed to pray for him. Was glad I told him about Joyce Meyer. It was in his iphone. Maybe he would go back to it.
THEN......................
When I walked into my hotel lobby, there was James walking out!!!!!!! He was staying at a different hotel, but had come over to check out mine. I had told him about the fantastic lobby with free Internet, popcorn, free soda, and wonderful breakfast. (BY the way, he told me he had originally made reservations at a hotel outside the city, but changed because he had a 6 AM flight and wanted to be near the airport. If he would have stayed at THAT hotel, we never would have met)
So, anyway, I asked if he wanted to sit down in the lobby and finish our talk. Now, just to let you know, this place was SAFE. Lots of people hanging out in the lobby- lots of women from the conference, a vitamin salesman giving a speal to 3 women, 2 TVs on..... Big place with lots of activity. Again, I felt God prompting me and knew I was safe.
He told me about his family- 2 children ages 10 and 2. Of course, the oldest a boy because when they had him they were in China. There is a one child law and girls are not wanted. So, when they came here, after time, they wanted another child. He told me how he wanted to escape China because of the Communism. He was a student who, with his other friends, wanted to change the country. And, then Tiananmen Square happened. So, he came here to escape.
During this time, my sweet family called and James excused himself while I talked. He went over to the free Internet computer. (I am sure that is why he came over to the hotel. He printed some things off while he was there.) While he was gone, I wrote on my notebook (can you believe I had my bible AND my notebook?????) all about the plan of salvation, that God loves him, that Jesus died for him.......2 sides explaining God's love and asking him if he believes it. I tucked it away when he returned.
He had made a comment earlier about "not studying religion" when I told him I was reading the Bible.
So, I opened with that. I told him that this was not about "religion" but about having a personal relationship with God.
And then, for TWO hours I shared the Gospel with him. I had boldness I never had before! Thoughts crept into my mind, like, "Tracy, he is going to think you are nuts." So what??????? I knew he was a student and interested in knowledge. I shared about Proverbs and that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. I told him about Abraham, David, Moses (which he was soooo interested in). I shared about the plight of the Jews and the Promised Land and waiting for Messiah. I told him the story of the birth of Christ. I shared about the apostles and how they wrote the New Testament. I showed him my bible, explaining about it. (One of the questions he has was how old it was and who wrote it.) Man, God gave me verse after verse in plain language to share. I read him Isaiah 61 telling him that Jesus came to set the prisoners free! I told him all about the miracles of Jesus. I told him about the woman who bled for 12 years and reached out to touch Jesus and was healed.
I asked him if his plane crashed in the morning did he know where he would go? He smiled and said no and then asked me if I knew where I would go.
Whoa!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did he open a can of worms! I told him all about my eternal inheritance as a Christian. I told him Jesus was coming back (this really freaked him out!) to make a new Heaven and new earth. I told him about John 3:16, but John 17:3 where Jesus says, "This is eternal life- to KNOW me!" I told him, "James, God loves you very much. James, Jesus became sin and died on a cross because he loves you and wants to spend eternity with you. He wants you to accept Him as your Savior."
I told him all about sin and how we all have sinful natures. I share about the trinity and that when we accept Jesus, God lives IN us through the Holy Spirit (this he was very interested in!). I talked about other religions being performance based and earning salvation. But, Jesus did everything.
I prayed with him (not a prayer of salvation- but God I am trusting you to complete the work you began through me!). I tried to give him my bible, but he wouldn't accept it. BUT I had the paper I had written, so I gave that to him. I told him God sent me to talk to him! I think he was so surprised by this totally crazy lady that he sat there for 2 hours!
I went back to my room praising God! How he had answered my prayer! I continued to pray for James, and oh, how I prayed for turbulence on James' plane!!!!!!! I so thanked God for this incredible opportunity!
This was the first time I have shared the Gospel with a stranger. I have never felt comfortable to do this! Sure, I can speak to women, help them come to Christ at a retreat, but ask a complete stranger where he was going if his plane crashed?????????????????? Wow, this was amazing! Lord, help me to always remember this and never forget all of the details!!!!!!!!
Please continue to pray for James!
Are you feeling nervous about this election? If you are like me, no matter what happens, you will probably be relieved when it is over! It has been a hard election with much strife, ugly words, bringing division in our country.
