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- Written by: Don Goulding
Since all these things are to melt away in this manner, what sort of people must we be, conducting our lives in holiness and godliness, while waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God? (2 Peter 3:11, 12a)
God created me to live in paradise, to see his face, and to dance with angels. Instead, the Garden of Eden is torn from my hands, and I’m trapped in a corrupted land.
I can’t direct my outrage at God. He’s not the one who infects the world with evil. Fellow humans aren’t my targets either, because I, too, choose sin. Satan might bear the guilt, but he only abetted what my nature already wanted. Mostly, I’m mad at me, at my own darkness.
I can’t accept the world’s dysfunction for eternity. In its current state, this earth isn’t any kind of permanent home. I’m ready to slap away the sticky paws of temptation and run out the gate. Jesus is the only way out of this abominable curse.
Our fallen existence is proof enough, and I don’t need hell to convert me further. I’m fully convinced that self-rule is disastrous. Bring on the fire of God’s wrath against everyone who refuses to submit to Christ’s authority. The rebellion in my own heart needs to be the first to burn.
I can’t take life sitting down. I’m up, shaking off my corruption, and running through the gate.
Prayer: Saving Lord Jesus, may my life hasten your return.
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- Written by: Don Goulding
I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, but has crossed over from death to life. (John 5:24)
If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. (Luke 9:23)
“If you were to die tonight and God were to say to you, ‘Why should I let you into heaven,’ how would you answer him?” I asked a homemaker standing between the columns of her porch in Iowa. I entered her answer on the survey form and droned through my spiel. As I headed up the street, I checked the box indicating another convert had recited the sinner’s prayer. I thought I heard a deposit go into my heavenly account.
I’m repenting from that naively formulaic approach to evangelism. It degrades people into conquests and ignores the reality that salvation is as much a process as it is an event. I must shun easy open, microwaveable pitches. Instead, like Jesus, I need to love others as unique creations.
When he asked about salvation, Nicodemus was told to be born again. The rich young ruler was encouraged to sell everything, and the crowd at Pentecost was charged with repentance and baptism. Each response met the converts on their journey, then moved them closer to Jesus.
Hallelujah, I’ve crossed over to salvation. All the work for my pardon is completed by Jesus on the cross. However, I’m also being saved as I carry my own cross of self-denial. Thus salvation lives where the roads of evangelism and discipleship intersect.
Prayer: Jesus, use me to help others on this same journey I myself am on.
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- Written by: Don Goulding
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:13)
Just outside Chennai, India, a throng of curious villagers followed us hut to hut. White people were a novelty, and everybody wanted a greeting or handshake. In the press around us it was impossible to engage the full beauty of each soul.
A ten-year-old boy in rags cradled a leaf over an O shape made with his finger and thumb. He slapped the leaf and it burst apart with a loud pop. I motioned for him to teach me his art, and he adopted me as his disciple of popping. A bond was forged in that simple moment.
Later, I saw a man, presumably the boy’s Hindu father, pull the lad out of the crowd listening to my gospel presentation. I prayed the small, wordless interaction between us had been enough for the Holy Spirit to move the boy toward Christ.
The wonder of the fellowship of God’s love is that it is so individualized. It’s like I’m the singular child in the wide universe. Only an unimaginably big God whose name is Love can accomplish this feat for the sixty billion souls who have trod this earth.
I was only able to share a taste of fellowship with the Indian boy, and, in the same way, I’ve only had trickles of God’s love slip down my throat. Yet, his Spirit is so potent it spreads inside me until I’m changed into a new kind of person—one touched by his personal friendship.
Prayer: Beautiful triune God, may your fellowship be with me today.