At my usual Monday morning stop, I was blessed to see God at work in my lost friends. It is a coffee shop and I just love to go and drink really good coffee and talk with these folks that I have gotten to know pretty well over the last 2 years. There is the farmer's wife, the trucker, the intellectual, and the socialite. They all come from various religious backgrounds. All of them claim to be Christian, but they have a problem. They have, on more than one occasion, said that there are many ways to get to heaven. I have repeatedly said that without the blood of Jesus and His work of atonement, no one will see heaven. I don't say it with anger or bitterness, but rather with conviction and a sincere desire to see my friends come to know Jesus in so much more than a "religious" way.
Yesterday, I was asked what made someone a Christian. Was it just reading the Bible and praying and going to the right church? My answer was something like the following:
No, there is nothing you can do to make yourself a Christian (see Ephesians 2:8-9). It is not in your works that Christianity is defined, but in the condition of your heart. When you can admit to God that you are a sinner and believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for your sin and confess Him as Lord of your life, then you are a Christian (see Rom 3:23; 6:23; 5:8; 10:9-10). Now, in God's infinite wisdom, this conversation was the last thing we said as we had to leave to pick up our children. We were able to also ask them to come to the harvest meetings at our church earlier in the conversation.
I am blessed to have been used by God to bring the message of the Gospel to these folks. The Lord provided the opportunity and I am pleased to say I was able to be obedient. Praise God for the opportunity and for the life-changing message of the cross.
Now, if only He will bless me to see them actually come to faith in Christ, but nevertheless, I will be obedient.
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