Good
News in Troubled Times
The news is full of wars, murders,
weather catastrophes and other bad
stuff, so I thought that I might give The Good News for a change, dear
reader.
The Good News which I have to give is
not what you might expect, nor
have I seen it published anywhere else (one would think that if it were
published it would go viral right away)!
The Good News is that God is in the
process of winning the hearts and
minds of as many of His creatures as He can during the probationary
period of time He has set aside for this endeavor, and as a result
every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord - to the glory of God the Father!
This may sound trite to you, but I
declare this out of personal
experience. On May 15, 1976, at about 3:30 p.m. Eastern Standard
Time I was desperate for a change in my life, was willing to do
something desperate, and had just been informed that my whole life was
'one big
sin' because we all live for ourselves rather than for God - and that
is the definition of sin.
So, I asked what I should do next,
and was told, "Get down on your
knees because you will be talking to the King of Kings and the Lord of
Lords!"
I was duly impressed that this was a
momentous decision, but I figured
that I had nothing to lose, so I knelt down on the carpet in the second
floor lounge of the Business Building at Bowling Green State
University, Bowling Green, Ohio, USA.
The moment my knees touched the floor
26 years of tears were released,
I was crying so hard that I could not hear the prayers that were being
prayed over me, but when I ran out of tears and stood to my feet I
realized that my whole life had changed. I read later in The
Bible, Prophet Jeremiah, that I had been given a spiritual heart
transplant! God had begun to set me free from myself so that I
could live for Him instead of for me!
When I had first heard about bowing
my knees before God I had a sinking
feeling that this could have bad results. I had no idea that this
act of submission to God would have immediate and dramatic POSITIVE
results!
Now, 38 years later, I can look back
on a new life with purpose and
satisfaction both now and, I trust, for eternity! My life
adventure began the moment I bowed my knees and heart to Jesus Christ!
God allows us to go astray from Him
after our own ways in the hope that
eventually we will realize that we are desperate for Him, and willing
to try life as God's slave instead of life as slave to ourselves or
someone else. He is waiting to hear from you, dear reader, and
may I suggest that the perfect beginning prayer is one recommended by
Jesus Himself:
Luke
18:9-14 And [Jesus] also told this parable to some who trusted in
themselves that they were righteous, and looked down on everyone
else: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a
Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed
these things with reference to himself: 'God, I give thanks to you that
I am not like other people—swindlers, unrighteous people, adulterers,
or even like this tax collector! I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of
all that I get.'
But the tax collector, standing far away, did not want even to raise
his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!'
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than that
one! For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who
humbles himself will be exalted."
In addition I have come to know that
God wants us to be totally
reconciled to Him and His Son Jesus to the extent that we can
fellowship with Father and Son and with each other freely and openly
and acceptably! This is accomplished not by Bible study and
prayer alone, but by abiding in Jesus as a branch abides in a
vine. If you want to know how this is done I suggest that you ask
Jesus for help!
And please let me know what happens!
-Rob