Dear Friend,
There are many people in this world who are atheists (One who disbelievesdor
denies the existence of God) and agnostics (One who is skeptical about the existence of God but does not
profess true atheism) and would rather trust in their intellect rather than
doing the wise thing and putting their faith and trust in the Lord. The Bible
is very clear concerning atheism.
We read in Psalm 53:1, "The fool hath said in his heart, There is
no God." Seeing such great majesty all around us can never be explained
away as happening all by chance. For there to be such perfect design, there
must be a designer.
As a responsible people, we will give an account one day to God Almighty. The righteous will receive a just
reward, but those who denied Christ will never experience the glories that are
promised to those who believe. The Bible declares in Proverbs 16:25,
"There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the
ways of death." I encourage you to never trust in your intellect, but rather
put your trust in the One who died for your sins to redeem you and make you
righteous in the eyes of The Father.
I hope this message ministers to your heart to trust the Lord as your Savior if
you have never done so before.
FOOT-AND-A-HALF FAITH
His father said he had a drug problem. This was said in jest because, while Bob
did not take drugs, he was drug to church whenever the doors were opened.
As Bob grew, he lived from one emotional high to another. He had even walked
the isle when he was nine. He seemed to enjoy the emotion, but failed to ever
truly accept the salvation offered by Jesus Christ. Bob's parents became
embarrassed by their son's need to be on an emotional high.
In time, Bob would graduate high school and attend college. One day, Bob picked
up a tract distributed by Billy Graham; it was called "Missing
Heaven by Eighteen Inches". The tract explained that eighteen inches is
the distance between your head and heart and sometimes what you think misses
the journey to the heart. It seemed to Bob as if Billy Graham had written the
tract just for him, "maybe you have grown up in church and been baptized,
taught Sunday School and may even be a preacher but you have never asked Christ
to come into your heart and forgive your sin!"
Bob looked at the tract with new eyes. For the first time he conducted an
honest soul search and found that he was empty, Jesus was not there and Bob was
not thrilled with what he did find.
In the quiet of his room he bowed his head and surrendered his life to Jesus
and invited the God of the universe to find a home in his heart.
For Bob the strangest sensation overcame him; peace and assurance. No bells, no
whistles, no fireworks, no explosions, just a new heart that
connected the eighteen inch gap with his head.
Because Bob had been a part of the church all of his life, it was hard for
those who had seen him grow up to believe that he hadn't actually accepted
Jesus. Bob asked his pastor to baptize him, "Why? You're a
Christian!" came the quick reply. Bob quietly replied, "I wasn't
before but now I am."
These days Bob and his parents also connect in a new way. The embarrassment of
a boy who looked only for an emotional high is replaced with spiritual
conversation that is edifying to all of them.
Bob's dad recently asked him, "Who will see God?" Bob thought and
replied, "The pure in heart."
Bob's dad reemphasized what his son already knew; God looks at the heart and
encourages us to do a self examination to see what we find in the depths of our
heart and then dispense with those things that we have conformed to in our
world and transform both our hearts and minds by the renewing of the Spirit.
God draws each of His children to Himself and we can only love Him when we
understand that He first loved us and gave Himself for us. This news is
humbling; it is often received with a sense of awe and incredible joy.
Bob had heard the stories, he had grown up in church and yet the message in his
heart did not match the message in his mind. He said yes to a journey of eighteen
inches and his life will never be the same.
Read and meditate on these scriptures:
John 3:16-17 Jesus declares, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have
everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world;
but that the world through Him might be saved."
Romans 10:9-11 "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,
and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou
shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with
the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever
believeth on Him shall not be ashamed."
2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men
count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any
should perish, but that all should come to repentance."
All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible.
In Christ’s Service,
Darrel