Recently, I was invited to a new Facebook group LunchMeets (MOODY School Memories). For those that do not know, I attended Troy ISD from Kindergarten to the 6th grade, then when our house in Troy burned, we moved to the farm that was located in Moody ISD. I attended Moody ISD until I graduated in 1991.
As I scrolled through the postings in the group, I noticed many posting were remembrances of those that had passed away. From my class, I knew about Jamie Hargrove and Preston Newton, but I had not heard about John Barron (Slaughter). As I continued to scroll down the group postings, I wondered did those that are no longer here know Jesus? Then the Holy Spirit turned my thoughts inward. You know you considered yourself a Christian during your time at Troy, Moody, college, and most of your adult life, but if you had passed away before finding Jesus, what do you think you would have heard? Would it be, “I Never Knew You“?
Galatians 5:22-23 states, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” Many of the memories I have of the past are nothing more than acts of sin and disobedience. I try not to reflect on them much and focus on the present. I think this may be because when I look back through the lens of the Holy Spirit I see a different perspective. I see a young man that was all about himself. He lacked many of the fruits of the spirit. He did not appreciate the gifts God had given him. He hurt a lot of people along his journey. His fruits were sour, moldy, and rotten.
It is because of Christ, that person no longer exists. My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am sorry to those that tasted the sour, moldy, and rotten fruit of that young man. I can only offer a sincere apology and pray that if you do not know Jesus that you find him. Jesus provided a way out of my depravity and offered me a taste of the sweet fruit of the Spirit.
In Romans, Paul tells us that “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.” There are many today that believe Romans 1 is hate speech. They believe the sins listed throughout the Bible including those in Romans 1 are not sins. This leads them to conclude that no one has sinned, because they decide what is right or wrong, not God. As a young man that committed many sins, I can assure you those in Romans 1 are sins. God showed me the ones I committed when I challenged him. The GOOD NEWS is God offered his son, Jesus to pay for all sins. By believing in HIM, all my sins were washed away, I was born again, and through the Holy Spirit, I strive to grow ripe and tasty fruit every day.
I endeavor to love others. I aim to find joy in all circumstances. I aspire to find peace in God, even when things seem to be falling apart. I struggle with patience but trust God has a plan. I venture to be kind. I seek to be good. I work hard to be faithful in the commitments I make. I jostle with gentleness and expect the Holy Spirit will be working overtime with me on it. I am still working hard on self-control. Ultimately, I still find myself, a sinner, trying each day to be a follower of Jesus Christ and asking the Holy Spirit to help me along the way.
The good news for anyone reading this is if you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus, you still have time. Jesus wants to know you. He wants a personal relationship with you. You will die one day unless the rapture occurs before that day. Regardless, when that day comes, you will head to either Heaven or Hell; and contrary to what some say, there is only one way to Heaven, and that is through Jesus Christ.
If you do not know Jesus, what are you waiting for? The steps to salvation are right here. If you have questions reach out to me, a pastor, or another believer. We may not have the answers, but we can tell you what Jesus has done for us.
Mathew tells us that you will know people by their fruit. I heard from many after Melinda passed that they knew she followed Jesus just by the way she lived. I strive to live in a way today that demonstrates I follow Jesus. I fail miserably it seems most days and I know I will never glow like Melinda but I continue to pray for the Holy Spirit to help me shine in my own way. I continue to worry about the fruit of family and friends that call themselves Christian, when I see cursing, fornicating, cheating, stealing, brawling, drunkenness, dishonesty, divorce, envy, extortion, filthiness, greediness, hatred, hypocrisy, judging, lovers of self, lying, rioting, unthankfulness, etc. I think of the rotten fruit I produced. I pray they will experience the Holy Spirit in a way that they truly come to know Jesus and we will all see the wonderful fruits of the Spirit they can produce.
Dear Jesus,
I know You know this world is getting worse by the minute, but it gives me hope that it means Your time of return is soon. I pray that the Holy Spirit puts it on the hearts of all believers to boldly step up and proclaim the time is near, repent, turn to You, Jesus before it is too late. My heart aches at the thought of anyone spending eternity in Hell or being left behind when you gather up your bride. Jesus, I believe the Father has already abandoned those that are about to be to our leaders over to their foolish thinking and is going to let them do things that should never be done. Jesus, I ask that you help us to be brave when persecution comes. Give us the strength and courage to continue to spread the GOSPEL until the end.
Amen
