She walked away...

There is hope! If you have had a loved one walk away from you, their friends, their neighbors and from God...

There is hope!

For the God of creation can see them and watch over them. Never cease to pray for them but in righteousness, lift up your prayers to God.

This isn't a Way of the Master video like I said I would present this week, but it is one that shows the importance of presenting the gospel biblically.

To the person who says he has been saved many times...
To the person who says he gave his life to Jesus when he was 12, 25, 32, 39 and 45...
and to the person who says he was promised peace, happiness and joy, but never received any of it...

There is hope.

The hope is found in Jesus Christ.

To that person who says he was saved many times, I offer to them, they were never saved, truly saved in the first place.

To that person who says he gave his life to Jesus at all of the different ages, I offer to them, they never truly gave their life to Jesus.

To that person who says that the promise of peace, happiness and joy was not real, I offer to them that it can be real. But it might be found through persecution, trials and tribulations.

I talked to a girl yesterday at the college. She said she was a Christian but had not been to church in the past three years.

She walked away from God. Maybe not mentally, but physically she did. Just like so many other youths of today. They go to their youth group outings and it ends up being nothing more than fun and games time. When they graduate from high school, they figure they are too old for those games. They need to be fed (not pizza's)but, with God's Word. They need to have a reason to cling to Jesus as their Lord and Savior. They don't cling to Him because they do not truly understand "why" they need to cling to Him. I offer to you that many of the youth pastor's themselves cannot give a reason to cling to Him. I offer that many pastor's cannot give a reason to cling to Him. If you have no reason to cling to Him, then walking away from church, from His Word and from family is no big deal. It is all about "what do I want to do?" It's all about "me" and the Rick Warren style of living. "Look how many books I have sold." "Look how large my church is." "Look at what I am doing now." All the while never proclaiming the true gospel of our Lord and Savior. Never telling people of the need to repent of their sins.

I asked this girl why she was not in church any more. She said she was too busy. I asked her if her family cared whether she was in church, and she said her mom went every sunday and was hoping she would go. I asked her if she thought she was a good person and of course she said yes. Everyone thinks they are a good person (and I know there are those people who think this is stupid and crazy and that it is nothing more than just repeating what someone else has said, but I would rather repeat what a godly person has said than to repeat the words of a heretic!). I asked her if she had ever lied. yes she had. She said she was a liar. I asked her if she had ever stolen anything. She laughed and said yes. She said she was a stealer, a thief. I asked her if she had ever looked with lust. She had. She said that made her an adulterer. I told her that by her own admission, she was a lying thief and an adulterer at heart and she was going to have to face God some day. Would she be found innocent or guilty of breaking God's Commands? She said guilty. I asked her would she go to heaven or hell. She said heaven. I asked why she said that. She said because she was a good person and believed in God and asked for forgiveness. I said that because she had broken God's Law's, she was not a good person in God's eyes. His ways are holy and He must punish us for our sins. So, based on that, would she go to heaven or hell. She said hell and then started to cry. I told her that she was right. I asked her if she knew what God did so she wouldn't have to go to hell. She said he sent His Son to die on the cross for us.

You see, it is not about just believing in Jesus and saying forgive me God. It is about putting your trust and faith in Him and repenting of your sins. Without repentance there is no salvation. The whole time she went to church, her pastor and her youth pastor both, never mentioned the need to repent. They just told her that God loved her. So as she went off to college, she went off knowing that God loved her, in spite of the fact that she was still living in her sins, with no desire to repent. Why walk with Christ if you don't have to repent of your sins?

She went away very thankful that we had talked. It was a wonderful witnessing opportunity. And the sad thing is, there are "christians" out there who will look at this and say that it is all about "me" doing the numbers game of witnessing. No, it is not about me. It is about this girl and people in general, just like this girl who need to hear the truth before it is too late.