A lot of people who are Christians tend to stray away from God. I have had several people tell me that they have been saved before, but they feel like God has left them. I searched and searched for something to tell them, and one day I got on email from Mark Lowry, I am on his mailing list, and the newsletter he sent out that day was exactly what I feel like people in this situation need to hear, so now I will share with you what Mark Lowry said in the newsletter I got:
I got an email from someone on the list. He said he used to be a
Christian, but it "sorta fell through." I wanted to write this reMarks
for
him, and thought you might have friends in the same situation, so I'm
passing it on to you, too.
When you believe on Christ and it seems like it's sorta fallen
through, hold on, God isn't finished yet. If you're still breathing, God
isn't done with you. Salvation is of God. After King David had committed
adultery AND murder he repented in Psalm 51. In that Psalm he did not ask
for his salvation to be restored. He asked for his fellowship to be
restored. He said, "Restore unto me the JOY of THY salvation." The old
boy lost his joy. Isn't that the way sin is? "No Jesus...no joy. Know
Jesus...know joy" (Please excuse that blatant cliche') The only thing
more
miserable than someone who doesn't know Jesus at all is someone who knows
Jesus but isn't trying to walk with Him.
This life is a picture of the life to come. Here we have streets,
mansions, cities, gates (of pearl...I'd love to fry that oyster), walls
(of
jasper...I'm not real sure what jasper is, but if it's edible, let's fry
it,) chairs, dinner tables, food. Those things will also be in Heaven.
We
have fathers, brothers, sisters, mamas. In Heaven we'll have our Heavenly
Father, our big brother Jesus, and the rest of the family of God. We'll
even have angels to clean up after the marriage supper.
Let me ask you a question. If you are a parent, is there anything
your children could do that would make you stop loving them? Is there
anything that could make you disown your child? If you're a normal,
loving
parent (and haven't made an appearance on The Rickie Lake Show) you would
say, "NO!" Well, whoever gave you the idea that God would give up on you?
Is your love for your children stronger than God's for His? God IS Love.
Do you actually think you could do anything to make Him stop loving you,
or
disown you? He promised that what HE started in us HE will finish. His
death will not be in vain.
HE'S PAID TOO MUCH FOR YOU TO GIVE UP ON YOU NOW!
He may take you out to the woodshed and beat the tar out of you...I
think the Bible calls it "chastisement." The Bible does say He chastises
all of his children. But, the good thing about God, He never spanks you
one lick too many. It's always out of love and for our protection.
Are we saying salvation is a free gift, but if you keep it, it's up
to you? The GVB sang a song several years ago, "We Shall Wear A Robe And
Crown." It's a nice song. But, it had a line in it that said, "When I
get
to heaven I'll tell King Jesus how I made it over." I told Bill I'm not
singing that line. When I get to Heaven I'm not gonna TELL King Jesus HOW
I MADE IT OVER! He's gonna tell me how He brought me over. I can't make
it to Heaven if He doesn't bring me. I don't know where Heaven is. The
smartest minds on the earth just recently sent a toy car to Mars...how are
we gonna find Heaven? He's got to save us, He's got to keep us saved,
He's
got to take us home...or we're NOT going.
We say we believe salvation is a free gift, unmerited favor, it
can't be earned to receive it...but then we act like we have to earn it to
keep it. You can't earn it to get it, and you can't be good enough to
keep
it.
Remember the Pharisees? They kept all the law, (they thought.)
They were better than the "scum-of-the-earth normal people" they had to
deal with everyday, (they thought.) But, Jesus said,
I have a friend who doesn't believe in God. I told her, when I
first met her, that I wouldn't believe in God either, if I had enough
faith. It takes a lot more faith to not believe in God, than it does to
believe in Him. To believe all this order in the universe evolved from
some gaseous, cosmic-belch? I don't think so. I have just enough faith
to
believe Someone bigger, wiser, smarter and more powerful than me put it
all
together. I told her with her kind of faith, if she ever did become a
Christian, she would be able to throw mountains into the ocean right and
left!
Believing on Christ is more than an experience to me, it's a
choice. You know, we Baptists don't get many "signs and wonders." (We
allow the Holy Spirit to work as long as He fits in with the Sunday
morning
bulletin.) I've had enough "signs and wonders" to get my attention. But,
let me tell you, I believe because I HAVE CHOSEN TO BELIEVE! I'll believe
if I never see another sign or wonder. I believe Jesus was born of a
virgin, lived a sinless life (by making right choices for 33 years), then
drank the cup and BECAME all my sin, and then died on a cross to pay for
all my sin. And three days later He kicked the lid off that tomb, to
prove He knew what He was doing! And, to top it all off, He said He'd
take
my sin and I could have His righteousness...for FREE! I have believed
because I know a good deal when I see one.
The bottom line is this...God wants a relationship with us. He
wants to be our friend. He is the friend that sticks closer than a
brother. And, if there's a problem with the frindship, it's us not Him.
We may not be spending enough time with Him, talking to Him, reading His
letter to us...basically just hanging with Him. How do you build a strong
relationship with anyone if you don't spend time with them?
So, my disheartened friend who wrote me, you may give up on God,
but He hasn't given up on YOU. And, if one of us has to give up it'd be
better you than Him. He made this promise, "I will never leave YOU nor
forsake YOU." Now either He meant it, or He's a liar. And, I've chosen
to
believe He meant it.
Thanks,
Mark
P.S. Here's a book suggestion, if you haven't already read it, "The
Grace Awakening" by Chuck Swindoll. You can get it at any Christian
bookstore. It's incredible.
Well, there you have it. That is what I got from Mark Lowry. If you need any help in this area, feel free to contact me at my email address: tking@emeraldis.com, and I will help you in any way I can. :o)