IDOK DEVOTION FOR TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2008
November 18, 1975 – 33 years. The day of my re-birth. I remember it well. Oh, how AWESOME is Jesus, My Saviour!
That night, I thanked Him for saving a wretched, hell-deserving sinner like me. And many, many times since that night, I have marveled that He has not killed me!
I am not sinless (as you well know), but I do sin less than I used to. Does anybody know what I’m talking about?
Children growing up in Christian homes often make ‘professions of faith’ at a young age.
And I think when they begin to ask questions, even if they are only 5, we should not discourage them. They just may have heard the voice of HOLY SPIRIT and have understood what He said.
They just may understand that those ‘bad’ things they do mean they need the forgiveness of Almighty GOD.
In the cases of my ‘Little Girl’ and my ‘Baby Girl’, those confessions proved to be real; but for me, at 9, my first profession resulted only in getting me ‘wet’ in the baptistery.
Real conversion came years later – 14 to be exact; I was 23 by then.
We come to salvation only through crises. And the older the sinner, the greater the crises, I think.
Let me explain what I mean by crises.
For a 5-year-old, the crisis was ‘I do bad things, and I need to be saved.’
And so she prayed for Jesus to save her.
Simple as that.
I have no way of knowing what all ‘I do bad things, and I need to be saved’ meant to her.
But for sure, it was crises enough in her little heart and mind that something had to be done, and JESUS was the ONE who could do it.
(Luke 18) 16 But Jesus called them to Him and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. 17 Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.”) source
For me, my crises meant FINALLY acknowledging I was a hell-deserving sinner and God would be perfectly just if, when I died, I went to hell; BUT because of His Great Love for me, I did not have to.
The BLOOD of JESUS was enough to clean even me.
Do I believe that every saved soul HAS come to this point of crisis?
Yes. I do.
(If you do not KNOW today that you are a hell-deserving sinner and that if it were not for the Blood of JESUS CHRIST having been applied to you, at death you would split hell wide open; then, yes, I urge You to pray immediately for HOLY SPIRIT to reveal HIS truth to you.)
The turmoil and sense of filth (the crises in the soul), naturally, would not be as intense within the heart of a 5-year-old as in the heart of a 23-year-old, maybe simply because the 5-year-old has not sinned against GOD to the same degree as a 23-year-old has.
But, even so, the 5-year-old knew she had.
How did she know?
Because HOLY SPIRIT gently and lovingly told her so.
How did this 23-year-old know? The same way.
HOLY SPIRIT gently and lovingly told me so.
I think varied excuses keep a soul from Christ’s Salvation, but it all boils down to this: the soul has refused to admit: ‘GOD, You are justified in letting me go to hell. I deserve it. But I know You do not want me to go there, and I know the Blood of Your Son JESUS CHRIST ALONE is enough to keep me from going there. And right now I agree with You. I accept Your Gift of Salvation.’
It is as simple as that.
As I said, the depths of sin are different for a 5-year-old and a 23-year-old, but both of us KNEW we had displeased God by our deeds, and we KNEW He and He alone could save us.
Oh, What a GOD HE IS!!
So in summary.
Do you have children?
Do you have grandchildren?
You cannot start too early praying for those babies, even in the womb.
Luke 1:40 And she went to the house of Zachariah and, entering it, saluted Elizabeth. 41 And it occurred that when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit. 42 And she cried out with a loud cry, and then exclaimed, Blessed (favored of God) above all other women are you! And blessed (favored of God) is the Fruit of your womb!) source
From inside the womb to the grave, they need to hear us telling them about JESUS.
And we need to faithfully pray that the first time JESUS says to their little hearts: ‘those bad things you do, mean you need to let me save you’ they will say YES, immediately.
HOLY SPIRIT knows the moment each child is ready – we don’t.
It is up to us to fervently pray and live before them in holy wholeness,
(Psalm 40:2 He drew me up out of a horrible pit [a pit of tumult and of destruction], out of the miry clay (froth and slime), and set my feet upon a rock, steadying my steps and establishing my goings. 3 And He has put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many shall see and fear (revere and worship) and put their trust and confident reliance in the Lord.) source
ABBA, thank You. Thank You for reminding me of what day it is. You have been so faithful to me even when I was so unfaithful to You. You indeed have drawn me out of more than one pit of sin. I don’t want to ever be in one again. I know You are guarding me. My prayer is that I will determine moment by moment, day by day, to listen to You and move away from those pits immediately. And if by no fault of my own, I am thrown into a pit I will immediately work with You and let You remove me from it. I pray, Father, that each Reader’s pit-dwelling days are over or soon will be. And we pray now for our Readers’ children and grandchildren, those in the womb, and those we surely know are old enough to come to that crisis; we pray they will come to that crisis and that they will acknowledge to You that hell is for sinners but that You do not want them there and You have done all that is needed to keep them from it – they only need to agree with You and You will save them. We especially pray for the little ones to whom You have not even spoken yet that when You do, they will say Yes the first time. Oh, how glorious that would be, to say yes the first time. I can think of nothing more wonderful, Lord. There are some people on our lists who it seems may not have said yes to You yet, and we pray they will. If we can minister to them, please bring it to be.
We have loved ones who are ill, desperately ill, and we know You have not forgotten and neither are You indifferent to the deterioration, the pain, the fears, the longings they have, and the longings of their families. In our humanness, we want You to heal them all here and now and we even believe that if that is best in the eternal plan of it all, You will. Otherwise, we pray to understand what we can and what we cannot understand, to trust You in it. We pray for peace and joy to be upon us and in us, whatever comes. Mrs. Perry is placing the frame of her beloved husband to rest. I can only imagine how hard that is, but I know You are with her and You are her Rock and Stay.
Thank You. ABBA You are good in all You do and all You allow. Please call Americans to repentance from the White House to every house. Thank You for what You have for us to do today, and we pray for the will to be faithful. It is because of and in Jesus’ merits and righteousness, we pray. Amen and amen.
As I post this it is 47°F and partly cloudy in Al Asad, IQ & the time there is 7:34 AM AST – on November 18, 2008
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