Miracles

 

Liam stood and listened as the atheist he was speaking with was telling him that to believe in God was to believe in nothing. This atheist, whose name was Harry, continued his attack on Liam’s belief in God. “How can you believe in a god who doesn’t even exist? You haven’t seen him and no one else has ever seen him. So, how can you say he is God when you’ve never seen him? How can you say he created all of this if he doesn’t even exist? You have no proof whatso ever he created this. It’s all a fairy tale; it’s just a story you people tell to make yourselves feel good. So, how do you explain it?”

Liam thought for a second and then he asked Harry, “OK, so you don’t believe God exists and He didn’t create all of this. The earth is placed on an axis of 23 ½ degrees and its rotation results in a 24 hour day and revolves around the sun at a rate which results in a 12 month period and provides the four different seasons due to its position in relation to the sun. Every planet in the universe was placed in a position which allows only planet earth to support life. Now, you believe the Big Bang created all of this? I believe only a God, or what you might refer to as a super being, could have created something so complex and intricate. How do you explain creation, as you know it, being the result of some big bang?”

Liam knew he had not described God’s creation in exact scientific terms but Harry understood and stood silent. Liam told Harry, “If you can’t explain it, how can you believe it?” Again, Harry stood silent for a while and then blurted out, “Well, you can’t explain how a God you can’t see created all of this.” Liam smiled and looked at Harry for what seemed like hours and then said, “Jesus Christ walked this planet in the first century. There are proven historical records which prove His existence to be true. This same Jesus is God and He is the creator of all of this. Anything which exists was created by Him.” (Col 1:16-17

Harry shot back at Liam, “You can’t prove that!” Liam responded, “If you believe in history then you can do your own research and discover there are extremely reliable sources which have written about the man Jesus. He was 100% man and 100% God and He is the creator of all things. I believe this because I know He died for my sin on a cross and on the third day following, He rose from the grave and now lives.” Now, Harry was even more irritated and said, “How can you believe that nonsense? How can you live your life in such delusion? You can’t prove any of this and don’t start throwing Bible verses at me either. That book is nothing but a bunch of fairy tales written by men. So, how can you prove God exists?”

Liam smiled at Harry and gave his response. “Five years ago, I was given six months to live by an oncologist. I had pancreatic cancer and there is no coming back from that type of cancer. At the time, I didn’t really believe in a God or heaven or hell. I wouldn’t say I was an atheist; I just wasn’t anything and didn’t want bothered with a bunch of religious stuff. My mother is a Christian woman and immediately began to tell me I needed to go with her to see her pastor so he could pray for me. That made no sense to me since he was just another person and didn’t possess any super powers. I never gave my mom a hard time about her faith and she kept after me about accepting Jesus as my savior and giving my life to Him and I simply ignored her. I was bitter about all of it and couldn’t understand why I had to die so young.”

Harry was just staring at Liam like he was waiting for a punch line to a joke. Liam continued, “My dad wasn’t a Christian at the time and he simply stayed on the sidelines during these discussions. He was mad at a God who would take away his 23-year-old son. Finally, at my mother’s insistence, I went with her to see this pastor. I did it so she would let me alone and stop nagging me about it and a part of me wanted to prove her wrong.”                                                                                          

Now, Harry appeared more interested in what Liam was telling him. Liam went on, “I had about five months left, according to the doctor, when I went to see this pastor. When we walked into his office, I had expected to see an old guy with a suit and tie who was going to start spouting off some King James English to me. But I couldn’t have been farther from the truth. This guy was about 35 and had jeans and a T shirt on and sneakers. At first, I thought he was the janitor who was cleaning the pastor’s office but I sure was wrong. We all sat down and this pastor, whose name was Jerry, told me he was aware of my situation and simply wanted to pray for me. But first he wanted to tell me why my mother was so insistent on bringing me to his office that night. He explained to me that heaven and hell are real and people who don’t know Jesus and don’t believe in Him send themselves to hell and it is God’s desire that none should go there. He had my attention and was being as blunt as he could be. He explained that I could simply believe, understand and know that Jesus died on a cross to save me from the wrath of God and my sin; sin, which would take me to hell without Jesus in my life.

Harry had a look on his face that said he wasn’t buying any of that. Liam saw that look and said, “Yeah, I felt the same way when he told me that stuff but he reassured me he wasn’t telling me a fairy tale or trying to get me to join his church. He expressed to me how much love God has for me and how He wanted to save me from my desperate situation which he explained was death without knowing Jesus. He never mentioned anything about God being able to heal me from the cancer. He was super serious about me knowing Jesus and being saved from His wrath and judgement. He explained how my life, or what was left of it, would be so much better. I began to have the weirdest feeling; it was like someone had thrown a warm blanket over me and I began to feel calmer and more relaxed than I had since the diagnosis.”

Harry interrupted him and said, “Wait a minute; you’re not going to tell me God healed you right then, are you?” Liam smiled and said, “Hold that thought Harry. It was like someone had turned on a light in a dark room and I could see. After all this time of my mother trying to tell me about Jesus, it all made perfect sense. It was like, boom! And then, I was able to understand what this pastor was telling me and it all made perfect sense. Then the pastor shared some Bible verses with me and I stopped him and asked him what I needed to do to get saved. He told me it was simple; I just needed to ask Jesus to forgive me for my sin and acknowledge Him as my Lord and savior and give my life over to Him. Harry, has anyone told you about what Jesus did for us? Has anyone told you who He really is? Did anyone ever explain the sin we are born with and that only Jesus could pay the price for that sin?”

Harry was silent and just shook his head back and forth indicating no. Then he said, “So, then what happened? If you only had six months to live, what happened? How are you still alive today?” Liam told Harry, “Well, that’s the part a lot of people don’t believe. That night, I accepted Jesus as my savior and it was like blinders had been lifted away from my eyes and I began to see the world through different lenses. Two days later, I had an appointment with the doctor who was treating me, or rather preparing me for death. They did some lab work and drew some blood. The next day, the doctor himself called with the results and told me the cancer was gone or there was nothing showing in the lab work that said there was cancer present. He scheduled an MRI and when the results of that came back, there was no evidence of cancer. Now, I have to tell you, when I was diagnosed, I got a second opinion from another oncologist and there was cancer present. There was no misdiagnosis; I did the same thing when there was no cancer present. I wasn’t taking any chances with that stuff and between these two top notch oncologists, the cancer was gone.”

Harry’s appearance had changed; he no longer had that look of disbelief on his face. Liam then added, “Also, the doctor who had diagnosed me just couldn’t understand how this could happen and my mother explained to him all about Jesus and how I had been saved two days before coming back to see him. Now, most doctors are hard core believers in evolution but this guy heard the gospel and was saved right there in his exam room. You see Harry, it’s contagious and when we explain to others who Jesus is and what He has done for us, people get saved. So, that’s why I believe He is real and that He exists and how I know He created everything. It’s all in His word and I believe by faith and seeing what He has done in people’s lives. Not everyone will experience what I did but just the simple matter of being rescued out of our miserable life of sin is a big enough miracle for anyone.”

Harry had been listening closely as Liam was talking and in the course of time it took Liam to tell Harry what happened to him, Harry’s heart was melted by the Holy Spirit and he fully understood what Liam meant by the sensation of being covered by a warm blanket. He looked at Liam and said, “I want Jesus in my life. I believe what you’re telling me Liam. Will you pray for me?” Liam told Harry, “You simply need to ask Jesus to forgive you for your sin and ask Him to come into your life as your Lord and savior. And do it with a sincere heart; not because you liked the testimony I told you. You pray and ask Jesus to be your savior because you want Him to come in and change your life and give you a new and eternal life with Him. Can you do that and really mean it?”

Harry told Liam, “Oh, I really mean it. I never had anyone tell me about God the way you did. I have always thought religion was just something people did to make them feel better about themselves. Now, I understand that it is more than that and not even that. I’m ready.” Liam prayed for Harry and then told Harry to pray and ask Jesus to forgive him and save him. When they were finished, Liam asked, “Well, now how do you feel about the Big Bang and creation?” Harry said, “Well, now that I know God and know that He has saved me from my nasty sinful life, I guess He could make all of this.” Liam laughed and said, “Well, there’s a little more to it than that but you’ll get it eventually.”

As Christians, we don’t have to have a testimony like Liam’s. And, although there are many powerful testimonies like Liam’s, just simply telling how Jesus saved us is powerful. We don’t need to be able to share some crazy miraculous story about how God healed us from cancer or some other deadly disease to get people to believe. If that’s the case then by all means share it but just the simple fact that Jesus saved us from our life of sinful misery is a powerful testimony. Simply explaining what He has done in our lives is powerful. Just tell your story about you and Jesus and the Holy Spirit will do the rest.

 

 Bill Petite

The Downward Spiral of Sinful Man

 

The book of Judges depicts the downward spiral of the nation of Israel. They went from declaring to Joshua that the God of Israel is the only God they would worship. But by the time you work your way through the book, you discover they have fallen so far away from God that they almost wiped out one of their own tribes.

It doesn't end there; sinful man has continued his downward slide. Thinking in terms of morality, just look around at society today. (In the title of this post, I used the phrase, sinful man. I use the word man in representation of the human race and since the Bible tells us we are all born with a sin nature, thus the phrase, sinful man.) This culture is extremely vile and anti God. One passage of scripture caught my eye this morning concerning marriage.

 But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’  ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”                   MK 10:6-9  NKJV

The phrase that caught my eye in this passage is, for this reason, in verse seven. Preceding that phrase, Jesus tells us that God created them male and female and then goes on to say for this reason the man will leave his mother and father and be joined with his wife. There are so many directions we can go from here but I want to refrain from tripping down a rabbit hole and consider two items concerning marriage. The first is a man and a woman who simply decide to live together claiming that a marriage license is nothing more than a piece of paper.  Well, it is a piece of paper but it is really what the piece of paper represents.  We see in the scripture passage above that marriage was ordained by God Himself. It is an institution which He created and ordained. But I also understand that people who are not Christians will not understand this. When I would meet with a couple who wanted me to perform their wedding ceremony, the first this I would ask is who  Jesus is in their lives or simply, "Do you know Jesus as your savior?" If the answer was no, it provided me with the opportunity to tell them about Jesus and why He should be in their lives. I never push and demand they accept Jesus; I don't do that with anyone I tell about Jesus.

The second example is Gay marriage. Now, this is not a post with the agenda to beat up on Gays and bash them. From the point of what the above scripture tells us, God created them male and female. They would become one flesh; think of it as gluing two pieces of wood together. It becomes one piece of wood. It's the same with a man and a woman when they are joined in marriage. And, if you think about it physically, the two fit together perfectly. It doesn't work that way for two women or two men.

Today, we hear people saying, "Follow the science." It all seems to be about following the science in relation to the pandemic. But how many realize it was God who invented science and the Bible tells us about science. So, let's look at the science; take two magnets and attempt to get the same poles to attach.  You can try as long as you want but it will never happen. The only way two magnets will attract is by opposite poles. Two negatives or positive will not attract. It must be by opposite poles. So there's the science; it must be a male and a female in the way God created us and ordained marriage. 

It was God's intention for the man, Adam, and his wife, Eve, to populate the earth. In the way they were created, male and female, this was a natural means of reproduction. Two men or women would have never been able to do this. Some might say, "Why didn't God just create millions of people in the beginning?" The answer is this: He could have but that was not His will or plan for the human race. People have the idea that they assume God thinks like we do and that is not the case at all. Isaiah 55:8 tells us this, “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.  “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. But those who are not saved will not understand or accept this. I would suggest that they follow the science and think about the two magnets. But their favorite rebuttal is the Bible is old and outdated and society needs to come into the 21st century. But the truth is that the Bible, God's word, will never be outdated. It is as relevant today as it was when it was written. Jesus never changes. (Heb 13:8-9)

So, how did the human race get here? The answer is simple; the sin nature we were born with has enabled everything in this downward spiral. Gay lifestyle activities is nothing new. It's been around forever but has within the last twenty to thirty years been accepted, slowly, into the culture and society. Gay marriage is an act supported by the United Sates Supreme Court. It's a legal act in all fifty states in this country. Does it glorify God? By no means and it has led to many other anti God lifestyles which I will refrain from noting in this post. 

The downward spiral of mankind is also described in Romans chapter one. 

 So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.                 Rom 1:24-25  NLT

God turned humans over to their sinful desires and it is so obvious today as we look around at this world. We are not to cast judgement on these people. God will take care of that when He judges all humans in the end. But they must be told they are on their way to eternal destruction and that's our responsibility. Consider how terrible that will be but remember it is not God's desire that anyone should endure this. When a person rejects God, in much the way many in this society have, they place themselves there. This is what God has turned them over to if they refuse to repent of their sin and sinful lifestyle.

One final reference from Romans chapter one.

Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done.  Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.  Rom 1:28-32  NLT

The history of man is seen as a long downward spiral away from God. From  the creation of Adam and Eve in the Garden to our current world society. Adam and Eve were created in a perfect state until they disobeyed God's command and allowed sin to enter the world. Every person ever born or who will be born, is or will be born with a sin nature. It's this sin nature that causes people to commit heinous crimes. It caused a Hitler to murder six million Jews, it caused Stalin to kill millions and so many other types of terrible crimes and lifestyles. What would bring a pregnant woman to a place where she would kill her own baby in the womb? The sinful nature we are all born with.

But God, the Father, sent His only Son, Jesus, to die on a cross for all of us to provide a way to be saved from His wrath and our sin. Only Jesus could do this because the Father required a perfect, sinless sacrifice and Jesus is the only human to ever be born without sin. Now, this may sound like a fairy tale to some who don't know Jesus but it is all true. I know it is true because Jesus rescued me from a life of alcoholism. I was a very heavy drinker but when I accepted Jesus as my Lord and savior, the desire for alcohol was gone and for the last 37 years, I have not had any desire to drink any type of alcohol. Only Jesus could do that; AA didn't work, counseling didn't work; nothing worked until I allowed Jesus in my life.  He stands waiting for all who will come to Him. His arms are wide open waiting for the next person who would accept Him and His forgiveness. For every individual who has done this, for them the downward spiral has stopped. Come to Jesus today and He will stop your descent. 

Bill Petite