Our Creator placed the “lesser light to rule the night” in the sky many years ago and today there have been celebrations and re-broadcasts of Apollo 11 landing on the moon. Fifty years ago. I was seven years old at the time and I remember hearing those words, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. I never thought about being alive fifty years later to re-live those moments. I do remember how much we all hoped that mankind would get better at being mankind and better at agreeing about things.
Our problem has persisted for much longer than fifty years though. Most of our so-called “racial” problems and religious problems won’t be solved until Jesus is ruling the world one day. We don’t have the fortitude and wisdom needed to get along. So, regardless of the songs that are written or the poems which are written about peace on Earth and the fictional stories about mankind putting war aside one day, it is not going to happen until Jesus comes back!
He is the only Person capable of bringing lasting peace to our world. No ruler or any man will be able to bring peace to the whole world. He is also very good at bringing peace into your life too, if you will give Him a chance. God loves each of us so much that He gave His only Son for our sins. Jesus took all of the punishment and the separation from God the Father just so we could be forgiven. Isn’t that amazing enough to warrant giving Him your life so you can tell others about Him too?
Please seek Jesus out while you have a chance in this life because there isn’t a second chance after this one is done.
Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
Ephesians 5:1-2 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/eph.5.1-2.KJV
A missionary by the name of Jim Elliot said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” He was killed taking the gospel to the Amazon Indians but later those who killed him came to know Jesus Christ as their Savior. Jesus said that we were to go and tell all of the world about Him and the salvation offered to them by belief in Him. When you are free from the burden and the heavy toll of a sinful life through the power of Jesus the best thing that you can do is to tell others about it. Give it away!
Because once you have that freedom you can’t lose it so the best thing to do is to give it to someone who needs it. Jesus came to tell the Jewish people about God’s enduring love for them and through His disciples work after He went back to be at the Father’s side they heard it and much of the world, at the time, heard it as well. Many people down through history have tried to stop Christianity from being preached and spreading but it can’t be done.
Remember, we are chosen by God and we were chosen even before the foundation of the world itself. “You did not choose me but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit” ( John 15:16). God has known each of us because He knows who will choose to follow Jesus and who will not. It is because He knows your heart (soul) and because He is our Creator, we are never forced to choose Jesus as our Savior but He knows each person who will choose to be a follower of Him. It is still our choice, but regardless of how long it takes, even the most stubborn of us will choose to follow Jesus even if it is on our death bed.
God wants us to know how much He loves us and by the sacrifice of Jesus to pay our debt from sins He did show everyone just how deep that love goes. So when we become Christians and repent of our sinful lives, following His example from His Word, the best gift that we can give anyone is to give away our best gift which is our Salvation through Jesus Christ! It is worth more than all of the gold and silver in the world and we should give it away, one person at a time.
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Galatians 5:1 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/gal.5.1.KJV
Do you just sit there and ask God for stuff or is it an actual, heartfelt prayer? Is your prayer mostly for yourself or for others? Praying for others deals with selfishness because its not really about you, because nothing in this life is. Your Christian life should be about caring for others, whether it is family or not.
Jesus did not say at any time “if you pray…”, He said “when you pray…“. Prayer is a part of your life as a Christian. It is your lifeline to God and your emergency contact point with Him. Prayer can accomplish more in your life and in the lives of those you pray for than any number of doctors or lawyers or anyone else. Just as you enjoy being able to contact your parents or your children, God is our Heavenly Father, our Creator and He enjoys it when His children contact Him for our needs as well as the needs of others.
Prayer is your Spirit crying out to the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, Who can do all things in your life in His will for your life. He doesn’t fulfill your list of things that you want like a grandfather or like Santa. God takes care of our needs when we are living and working in His will for our lives. Asking for a Corvette or a million dollars is not the way to pray! Prayer for yourself should be according to the will of God to strengthen and enable you to work more effectively for His Kingdom and His glory. Would a million dollars do that? Maybe but not likely. Would a Corvette? No.
Prayer is necessary for our life and for our work which God has called us to do, even if you only have one day left to live. If you have more days ahead that is wonderful because you can do more for God each and every day! It doesn’t matter how much pain you are in or how much money you have or don’t have, God can use you in His Kingdom. God’s Word is the most useful and valuable possession that you can own. It is more valuable than a mountain of gold because the words contained within it came from the mind of our Creator and our Father. No amount of human wisdom can match the wisdom contained within its pages.
I truly pray that anyone reading this will search the Bible for the needs in their life because if they don’t have a relationship with Jesus…that is the greatest need that they will ever have. Why? Because without Him, eternity will be lonely, miserable and painful in hell. Why? Because it is a decision that you make when you know that you need Him and if you don’t accept Jesus as your Savior then that is where you will be.
