Dear Lighthouse Trails:
Greetings in the Name that is above all names! I received the literature you sent to me [donated by a LT reader]! I am so very thankful for all the books, booklets, and tracts that you have sent to me over the years. Your ministry has been a blessing to many of us doing time behind prison walls in here. I always make sure I share with the guys in the Bible study group I lead what you sent to me. Believe me: I can absolutely guarantee you that everything you send will always be put to good use! It will be for the glory of God and the edification of the Body of Christ. And for that, I thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Again, I must tell you how some of us have been touched by the grace of God. There was a guy here who thought he was very tough. He loved to fight, worked out all the time, and had all kinds of tattoos all over his body. One day, he came to my room. We were talking about God and Christianity. He was trying to equate Christianity with so many “great and outstanding religions in the world.” (What a huge mistake!) He was actually trying to engage me in an argument. I told him that I did not (and do not) argue about the Scriptures or God. I have too much respect for Him to bring Him down to the level of a carnal argument. Then, I proceeded to say to him: “You can argue until you are blue in the face . . . but there is one thing you cannot do.”
He said, “And what is that!?”
I said to him: “The fact that Jesus Christ loved you enough to die for you on the cross! You cannot argue that fact! No other religion or religious leader ever did that! Deal with that!!” He looked at me for what seemed an eternity . . . and then left.
The next morning, as soon as they unlocked our doors, he rushed to my room, and with a big, fat tear running freely on his face, said to me: “You messed me up!! I could not sleep at all last night! I stayed up all night long weeping like a child.”
Needless to say that everyone took notice that the big, muscular, macho, tough guy was still weeping . . . Only the Love of Jesus Christ can do that to a hard heart and “tough” guy in this life! He gave his life to the Lord, and it was my privilege to disciple him, as he became my best friend! I could tell many more testimonies like this. God has not changed HIS agenda just because we have!!! He is still in the business of saving human souls from an eternity in the bowels of hell. The Holy Spirit still uses us (and who are we for the God of the universe to see fit to use us? Who am I???) to bring people to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ! I say all of this for the Glory of His Name.
And remember: You all have a part in the ministry behind locked doors in prisons all over the world! For that, I say, “Thank you . . . from the bottom of my heart.” God bless you all!
Always and only because of His Grace!
Ralph
Related Information:
Heart-Felt Letter From a Prisoner
Christian Prisoners in U.S. Reach Out to Lighthouse Trails for Encouragement
(photo from bigstockphoto.com; used with permission)
Beautiful. Thanks for this. God is still working through His saints. Even in the evil times and rough places, His light scatters the darkness. As we wait “patiently” for His return, moments like this help ease the vexed heart.
These verses come to mind:
Isaiah 55:11 — “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
1 Cor. 15:58 — “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil in the Lord is not in vain.“
Yes, one of the Holy Spirit’s roles is to convict every person; to show every person that his/her unbelief and the consequent absence of a savior is the problem in his/her life. Because God is fair, it’s up to the person to accept or reject the evidence the Holy Spirit will present. Remember, the Holy Spirit testifies and points to Jesus Christ only, as it was Jesus who died on our behalf, not the holy Spirit, not God (yes, Jesus is God too 100%, but the Son died on the cross).
One can turn from every sin (even murder, mass killings, abortion, etc) imaginable and not be saved/born-again. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and what He has accomplished once (and for all), who He is, and you will be saved. That is the Gospel.
Many believers say that the Holy Spirit does not deal with unbelievers. That is a huge contradiction and error. If that statement were true, how were these believers convicted? By whom? A stone? Feng Shui? A witch’s spell?
God is fair so that no one can one day have a “legal case” against Him when in front of Him; as sich, He does not force His will on any of us, and He will not override our decision to either accept or reject His Son. Instead, He wants no one to perish.
Of course, people can resist the Holy Spirit’s conviction and evidence; it happens all the time. God has given us free will, and that free will is not a threat to his position as an omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent God as Calvinists and the like to lie.