February 26, 2020 – Click here to listen
So today I’m in Atlanta. I will be speaking at a prayer breakfast this morning for a group originally put together by Dan Cathy of Chic-Fil-A. Though I understand he will not be able to personally attend, his part in founding this group lives on. Then tonight I speak to a rehab group of some 100 plus men. I’m told they have an outstanding program and have a remarkable success rate in getting people on the right road.
It seems strange to me when I speak in Atlanta. Right down the road is Luckie Street the very first place I went when I came to Atlanta. From what I understand it is no longer a haven for drug addicts and winos now, but back then it was nasty, dangerous, and vile. At the time I was addicted to meth and on the run from the police and had given up on life. I was homeless, penniless, broken down mentally and physically, bitter, and meaner than a snake.
I often imagine what God thought as He looked down on me. He already knew that I would turn my life over to him and He would forgive me my sins, and that soon I would make Him my Lord and Savior, but I didn’t have a clue. In fact, I wanted to just die and get it over with.
So today He is looking down on me again in the same city but under far different circumstance. He will see me tell others of the mighty works He did in my life and will watch as I invite them to do the same thing I did so many years ago now. He already knows the outcome, but I suspect it is enjoyable to Him just the same. (Not to see me as His redeemed prodigal child necessarily, but to see others giving their hearts to Him.)
It must be strange indeed to be able to see into the future. He sees you and me and He already knows how things will end up and for those who love Him it ends very well. There is always hope for the lost as long as someone can take a breath and make decisions. If only people could be convinced that God is on the throne and He is with us and wants us to succeed and spend time with Him forever throughout eternity.
A friend of mine has a wife who is an atheist. He became a devout follower of Christ a few years ago, but she will have none of it. They were non-believers when they got married and she prefers to stay that way. It is depressing to him and he prays for her often. He loves her and wants for her to go to heaven, but she refuses to listen.
As we talked about it the other day, he somberly told me that we all have a choice to make and her choice is apparently to reject God’s love. I say this might just be one of many chapters in her book of life. Don’t give up her just yet and just keep praying. No one is incorrigible and I’m living proof of it. God knows how it will end for her and all of us. I pray for her daily that she, like me, will make the right choice before it’s too late. Repentance to me means freedom and no that’s not an oxymoron. We can never be free in this life as long as we are shackled by sin. Make Jesus your LORD and Savior today and follow Him and not the world . . .
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.