I recently got a bicycle from my friend Mike.

It feels like these two wheels have revolutionized my journey to class. I put “to” in italics to emphasize the major hill I get to glide down all the way to class. It takes me less than two minutes to get from my door to the door of my classroom. The trip home isn’t quite as spectacular, it’s actually quite laborious to get my bike up the hill! I can usually make it about a third of the way up the hill by riding and walk it up the rest of the way.

Yesterday I was forcing the pedals up the hill as dozens of moto-scooters zipped past me. As I was laboring and sweating my way home they were cruising effortlessly. And as I stepped down to walk I felt God show me a simple picture:

Doing kingdom work without the Holy Spirit is like riding a bike up a steep hill – just about impossible and a tremendous waste of energy.

Even after my last post about prayer I still felt convicted about unnecessarily bearing the brunt of the labor. This morning I was reading in Acts 9 about Peter and Cornelius – when Peter showed up at Cornelius’s house all Peter had to do was share the gospel message. Cornelius was ready – the Holy Spirit had done 99% of the work!

So today at lunch I brought this encouragement to my team meeting. I challenged them to cover their friends and ministries in excessive prayer, letting the Holy Spirit do the bulk of the work. We each shared a few names of friends we want to see Christ and prayed that the Holy Spirit would go to work in their hearts.

I had to duck out early for class, but I quick asked them to pray for an opportunity to share the gospel with my teacher who is not a Christian.

When I arrived at class my teacher wanted to review a few things from the chapter I just finished. To be honest, I was a bit frustrated because I wanted to move on to the next chapter – not look at the last one! She asked me to read aloud the story on page 183.

(Keep in mind this is the official textbook of several universities in Taiwan, it is not a Christian textbook!).

The story was about an old man traveling on a journey who encounters a stranger. The stranger asks him if he’d like a letter of introduction – in Chinese a “介紹信”. The stranger tells him he can take the letter and go to “一個最好的地方” – which directly translates to “the best place” or to “one of the best places.” He takes the letter and begins his journey to “the best place.” Along the way he is met by a robber who steals all of his possessions, which the man freely gives. He explains that he cannot surrender the letter however because he needs it where he is going. The robber demands he give him a piece of the letter because he wants to go there as well.

When they arrive at their destination, the same stranger who gave the letter to the old man is waiting at the entrance to the beautiful place. The old man hands him his letter of introduction and is allowed in, but the robber is not accepted because he did not have a letter of his own.

As I finish reading the story I realize what it’s about! It was Jesus who gave the letter to the old man and Jesus who was receiving him at the gate! This letter of introduction came from the only One who could ever give it! My teacher started to ask me a few questions and let me tell you the Holy Spirit breathed Chinese into my mouth. I was able to share in CHINESE about Jesus and how we all need a introduction letter from Him to enter heaven. It was the most simple but powerful picture and it went straight to her heart.

I finally asked her: “你有介紹信嗎?” Do you have a letter of introduction?

She said: I don’t know, I know who Jesus is but I don’t have assurance.

Do you want one today? You can have one, Jesus is ready to give you one – all you need to do is ask.

Yes, today I will ask Jesus for my letter of introduction.

And then she prayed the most beautiful prayer in Chinese and received Jesus in her heart.

It was like zipping up a hill on a moto-scooter. The Holy Spirit did all the preparation, I just delivered the message to a ready recipient.

PRAISE GOD! And Holy Spirit may you come alive in this nation!