Throughout my life, I have been given things I haven’t
deserved. I was born into a free
country, to Christian parents who loved me along with a brother and sister that
I wouldn’t trade for the world. Many,
many people did not enter this world with the same circumstances.
I met and married a Christian man who loves the Lord and also
loves me with all my faults and failures.
I have seen his love in action towards me many times when my health hit
another low and I was unable to care for myself. He has stuck by me and loved me when I have
been unlovable. Many, many people have
had their spouse walk out on them in far less serious situations.
I was abundantly blessed with three children who grew up to love
and serve the Lord, despite my imperfect parenting. I then had my prayers answered when we
welcomed a Christian son-in-law and daughter-in-law into our family. Many, many people have had broken hearts when
they were not able to conceive or have had to watch their wayward children
choose a much different path than had hoped for them.
I have been given the unbelievable honor of being the grandma to
two most precious grandsons and look so forward to welcoming a granddaughter in
July. Words cannot express the joy in my
heart when the oldest grandson’s face lights up when he sees me and yells “Gammaw!”
and comes running. Or when he says “I
wuv you” when I say goodbye or put him to bed.
Many, many people yearn for having this treasured privilege.
I was blessed with a wonderful father-in-law and
mother-in-law. They accepted me as their
own from the first day we met and I immediately became their daughter. Many, many people share horror stories of
in-laws that have made their life miserable.
I have been beyond blessed with the most amazing friends in the
world. I have sisters in Christ who I
can share everything with…the good, the bad and yes, even the ugly. I know that at any time of the day or night,
if I need someone to pray or just to listen to me vent, they are there for me. At a recent precious time with some of them,
I shared a struggle with which I was dealing.
The next thing I knew, they were surrounding me, laying hands on me, and
praying for God to intervene and give me peace. I can be real with them and
they still love me. Many, many people
feel that they don’t have even one friend who will stand by them through thick
and thin.
I worship with my brothers and sisters in Christ in a church that
is prayer-driven. I have a pastor who
shares from the pulpit each Sunday words that don’t tickle my ears…but make me
want to live a more Spirit-filled life.
Being able to worship and serve beside these people, helps me in my
desire to look more like Christ because they have often been Jesus “with skin
on” to me. Many, many people have yet to
find a place where God is glorified and their soul is strengthened on a regular
basis.
I don’t know what your “story” is. I don’t know if you could also list a number
of things that you have been given that you don’t deserve, just like I
did. But no matter what has occurred in
my life or in yours, everything pales in comparison to the greatest opportunity
that we have all been given. Above all
else, all of us have been given the opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as our
personal Lord and Savior. He came to
this earth to die on a cross for you and for me, so that we can have eternal
life with Him. This, just like all the
other things we may list, is something we don’t deserve. There isn’t anything that we can do to “earn”
the blessings we have received, nor can we do a list of “works” to earn our
salvation. We don’t deserve it, plain
and simple. Yet He has given it to us
because He loves us that much. The only
thing we have to do is accept Him into our heart and let Him direct our paths.
I so appreciate my pastor because he doesn’t preach each Sunday just
to tell me things that will make me feel good.
He cares enough about his flock to share with us what the Bible says
about allowing Christ to be our Lord and what it looks like to walk with Him
every day. I feel the same way. Time is short and this world we live in seems
to be coming unhinged and it is important that I don’t shy away from telling
the truth to my readers.
No matter your past…no matter your present…nothing you have
done, good or bad, will get you into heaven or keep you from getting in. You can’t just be “good enough” to spend your
eternity with Jesus. The only way you
can go to heaven is to ask Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins and accept
Him as your Lord and Savior. I’ve heard
people say that a loving God would not send anyone to Hell and that is
right. He won’t send any of us to
Hell…it will be our own choice…whether we accept Him or not…that will send us
to either Heaven or Hell.
Today I want to urge you; in fact I want to plead with you to
accept Christ now if you haven’t already done so. I so want to spend eternity with you in
Heaven and none of us are promised tomorrow, so it is imperative that you make
this decision before it is too late. If
you have questions, or if I can help you in any way, please let me know. What Christ has to offer you and me is
totally underserved…but it is because He loves us so much. He died and rose again to give us what we
don’t deserve…let’s not turn our back on His precious gift of eternal life with
Him.
“This is how much God loved the world:
He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be
destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God
didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing
finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world
right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust
him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why?
Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God
when introduced to him.”
John 3:16-18 The Message
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