I went to the youth retreat at Whitewater State Park because I had fun hanging out with my youth group buddies. Who doesn't? God had me there to change my life.
There is a lot to be said about being blind, I suppose. If you're blind you can deny it, but it doesn't change much, now, does it? I know because I was blind...blind to God and heavenly things...and, therefore, blind to what was most important on earth. The crazy thing was that I wasn't denying it because I didn't think I was blind. Maybe your life resembles half-opened eyelids...only letting half of the light in. One of my favorite songwriters, Ben Glover, writes about that. The light to which I refer is Jesus and to truth.
So, for those of us who have bruised our lives by bumping into one bad decision after another, we can be grateful that God can still reach us through our ears. If you're blind, you have to be more dependent on your ears. Should it come as any surprise, then, that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ (Romans 10:17). God did make us. As always, He knows what He's doing.
What I heard on July 24, 1986 was nothing new to me...it's just that I listened that night. The talk was taken from John 10 (the "Good Shepherd" passage in the Gospel of John). I vividly can remember verses 27-28. "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me". I wasn't following God. Oh I went through religious motions every week, like going to church and what not. But in reality, I was not a "following sheep" and God's Spirit made it clear why I was not following. I wasn't one of His sheep...that is until I finally surrendered my will and admitted that I was a sinner that needed the Great Shepherd, Jesus, as my Savior. I asked God to save me from my sin and make me one of His children.
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." (Matthew 7:7-8)
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (Matthew 7:13-14)
"So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep." (John 10:7)
A kind youth pastor named Brad prayed with me as I entered through the narrow gate. My eyes were opened. Exactly how and why is impossible for a mortal to explain. All I can say is what one blind man said when he was questioned regarding his encounter with Jesus:
"One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." (John 9:25)
Not only is July 24 a memorable day for me spiritually (the day Christ united me with my heavenly Father), it happens to be the date of my wedding anniversary (the day I was united with my greatest earthly blessing, Heather).
There is a lot to be said about being blind, I suppose. If you're blind you can deny it, but it doesn't change much, now, does it? I know because I was blind...blind to God and heavenly things...and, therefore, blind to what was most important on earth. The crazy thing was that I wasn't denying it because I didn't think I was blind. Maybe your life resembles half-opened eyelids...only letting half of the light in. One of my favorite songwriters, Ben Glover, writes about that. The light to which I refer is Jesus and to truth.
So, for those of us who have bruised our lives by bumping into one bad decision after another, we can be grateful that God can still reach us through our ears. If you're blind, you have to be more dependent on your ears. Should it come as any surprise, then, that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ (Romans 10:17). God did make us. As always, He knows what He's doing.
What I heard on July 24, 1986 was nothing new to me...it's just that I listened that night. The talk was taken from John 10 (the "Good Shepherd" passage in the Gospel of John). I vividly can remember verses 27-28. "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me". I wasn't following God. Oh I went through religious motions every week, like going to church and what not. But in reality, I was not a "following sheep" and God's Spirit made it clear why I was not following. I wasn't one of His sheep...that is until I finally surrendered my will and admitted that I was a sinner that needed the Great Shepherd, Jesus, as my Savior. I asked God to save me from my sin and make me one of His children.
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." (Matthew 7:7-8)
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (Matthew 7:13-14)
"So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep." (John 10:7)
A kind youth pastor named Brad prayed with me as I entered through the narrow gate. My eyes were opened. Exactly how and why is impossible for a mortal to explain. All I can say is what one blind man said when he was questioned regarding his encounter with Jesus:
"One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." (John 9:25)
Not only is July 24 a memorable day for me spiritually (the day Christ united me with my heavenly Father), it happens to be the date of my wedding anniversary (the day I was united with my greatest earthly blessing, Heather).
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