It May Be Today

"In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. " - (Jesus in John 14:2-3, KJV). 

I remember reading a few years ago about a strange occurrence which I was informed took place in Haiti. A man reported to a gas
(petrol/fuel) station owner that he had picked up a hitchhiker who
was sitting in the back seat when, as they were driving along,
suddenly blurted out, "Jesus is coming! Jesus is coming!" Whereupon the man looked around and his passenger had disappeared.


Even more strange was the response from the gas station owner who
said, "You're the third person who has told me the exact same story."


Whether this incident was a strange coincidence, the figment of
someone's imagination, or something supernatural I cannot be certain.But of one thing we can be sure, Jesus is coming again. He himself promised he would.


Christ's first coming is an indisputable fact of history. His second
coming is just as certain. He said he would come when we least expect it. The important thing is to be ready by receiving him as our
personal Lord and Savior. He is coming again. It may be today. If so, are you ready? 


Remember, too, "Only one life, 'twill soon be past. Only what's done
for Jesus will last."


Prayer: "Gracious Loving Father God, Thank you for the wonderful hope you have given us that Jesus is coming again so we can all be together forever in heaven. I pray today for all who haven't received you as their Lord and Savior. Please use me to help share your gospel message of salvation to others around the world, which is now possible with e-mail and the Internet. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, In Jesus loving Name I Pray, Amen."

Amazing Opportunity Lost

"Then [King] Agrippa said to Paul, 'Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?' Paul replied, 'Short time or long—I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.'" - Acts 26:28-29 (NIV).


Governor Nash stepped out of his office and, for a moment, out of his role as Governor of Ohio. He tucked his large, black Bible under his arm and made his way down the hallway of the State Penitentiary, in Columbus, Ohio. As a Christian, his heart burned with desire to share Christ with a certain young man waiting on "death row." Guilty of first-degree murder of his girlfriend, the condemned one sat in his cell, just hours away from his appointment with the electric chair. Upon seeing the elderly man with a dark suit and Bible under his arm, he thought him to be a minister or the prison chaplain. His anger boiled over and he cursed as he sent the man away. A guard standing nearby could hardly believe his eyes. "You fool," he said, "don't you know who that was?"


"A preacher, I guess," was the reply. "No, that was the Governor, the only one who could set you free, and you sent him away." The young man died a few hours later, guilty not only of murder, but of sending away his only hope for freedom and life.


You and I may never have committed any major crime, but in God's sight we are all guilty sinners facing God's judgment which is eternal separation from God in the place the Bible calls hell—whatever and wherever that may be. Because Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on the cross to pay the penalty for all your sins and mine, he is the only one who can give us the hope of a full and free pardon with God's gift of eternal life in heaven forever. If you have never accepted Jesus Christ's pardon, whatever you do don't turn him away today and in so doing fail to accept his offer of a full and free pardon.


In the words of William Shakespeare: "There is a tide in the affairs of men / Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune / Omitted, all the voyage of their life / Is bound in shallows and in miseries."


Prayer: "Our Most Loving Father in Heaven, how can I ever thank you enough for giving your Son, Jesus, to die on the cross to pay the just penalty for all my sins. Please help me to be sure that I have accepted your free pardon and am a true Christian. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, In Jesus Loving Name I Pray, Amen."