If the people I love
were all walking down a road
I knew ended in a one-hundred foot
drop to their death,
do you think I would
stop and question
the validity of the risk?
of course not.
do you think I would stop them?
of course I would.
And if I was standing safely
off to the side,
waving my hands back and forth,
do you think they would find
strength within themselves
to veer off the path they were on
to travel down such a narrow path?
I don't know...
If everything inside of me
believes that Jesus died for my sins
in order to bring me everlasting life,
and left an individual purpose for me to fufill
on this Earth while awaiting my
time in heaven,
why do I hesitate so much
when I go to share it with others?
If I truly believe that those who do not
confess Jesus as their Lord and Savior
will perish and be forever damned to hell,
why am I just standing on the side,
watching them walk to their death?
Doesn't it say something
for the Christian who stands out in faith,
to confess what they believe
down to every fiber of their being
whether they are accepted or rejected by people?
Given the fact of what they believe,
doesn't it say something
that they care for you that much,
to want you to know,
experience and be able to share
what they have as well?
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The little boy loved going
to work with his father
at the train station.
He was nine now, and
big enough to pull the big brake
to stop the train.
One day the father took
the ticket stubs of several different people:
a drug dealer, a thief, a prostitute,
a child molester.
They all boarded in the train,
awaiting their destination.
The train took off and
without the father realizing it,
the track just ahead of the train
was twisted and mangeled,
it had been accidentally switched
to a part of the track that was not finished,
creating great danger for all
who were aboard the train.
The little boy saw the
life-threatening situation
before his father did.
Knowing there wasn't much time,
he took it upon himself
to try and stop the train.
He heaved and pulled
with all of his might,
and to his horror,
his foot slipped and he fell
deep into the gear shaft
of the break below
the deck.
When the father realized
what had happend,
he ran to his son
to save him.
When he looked up to the train
again, time was not on his side.
He could choose only one thing:To save his son from the brake chamber,
or to pull the break to save a train car full
of people and crush his nine year old
son's little body.
He pulled the break.
And redirected the track.
His son died.
For a train full of broken people.
That day the people got off the train
not knowing the sacrifice that
had just been given. (--Story inspired by the 99)
So many people do not understand that this is exactly what God did for us.
He sacrificed His son
for people who will either choose to love Him or reject Him.
So many people think that by living a 'good' life, that you will get into Heaven.
It's difficult to tell the people that I love that they are so, so wrong.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
I recently saw the movie Courageous.
One of the scenes has stuck closely with me.
The man I consider the "spiritual leader" [Nathan Hayes] of the
group has a talk with the "least spiritual" {David Thompson] of the friends.
He explains salvation in a way I've never even considered.
Nathan: "David, who in your life are you closest with?"
David: "My mom, I guess."
Nathan: "Okay, well assume that someone came into your mother's house one night, brutally beat and murdered her."
David: **cringes**
Nathan: "Now, let's say that judgement day comes and the man that killed your mother comes face to face with God."
Now the murderer begins telling God that yes, he did indeed kill a woman, but he's done so many other good things in his life and clearly his good outweighs the bad. Let's say that God decides that he's right, let's him go and the man is welcomed into Heaven.
Would you say that God was a good judge? Or a bad one?"
David: "A bad one..."
There has to be a standard.
Good has no measurement
other than what we've created in ourselves.
God will not fill Heaven with good people.
God will fill Heaven with forgiven people who have humbly admitted that they are sinners. That they are broken and are in need of a Savior.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. -Romans 3:23
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. - Romans 10:9
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. -Romans 8:38-39
Dear God,
I admit I am a sinner and need your forgiveness; I believe that Jesus Christ died in my place paying the penalty for my sins. I am willing right now to turn from my sin and accept Jesus Christ as my personal Savior and Lord. I commit myself to you and ask you to send the Holy Spirit into my life, to fill me and take control, and to help me become the kind of person you want me to be. Thank you Father for loving me. In Jesus' name.
Amen.
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