One Opportunity; A Single Word Decision—YES!—or—NO!
There is a question every person must answer. This question, this decision, this choice cannot be missed, overlooked, underestimated, or denied because it (the question) determines everything!
Do you know Jesus as your personal Savior?
That is the question!
Do you know?
Do you know Jesus?
Do you know Jesus as your personal Savior?
With this question, all of humanity gives a single-word answer, one word that will determine eternity.
YES!
NO!
One word—determines forevermore!
One word—changes everything!
One word—makes all the difference!
Do you know Jesus as your personal Savior? YES!—or—NO!
In studying about the Passion of my Savior, I find my heart breaking, for one solitary reason—Jesus endured all that pain for me. Oftentimes, I have wondered:
“What would I have said if I had been Peter standing beside that fire pit, within sight of Jesus, on the night Jesus was crucified?
Quite possibly, if you are reading these words, you have wondered that about yourself too. Would we have denied Jesus too, ashamed and weeping afterwards, as Peter did? Would we have questioned Jesus with contempt as Pilate did, saying: “What is truth?” (John 18: 38).
What would JESUS daily think of us (God’s children) if we were to turn & across the courtyard see JESUS looking at us?
It’s really difficult to place ourselves within the position of these men, but we must ask ourselves these questions because we live within this world, a place where people ask daily: “What is truth?”
The children of GOD must daily decide:
Am I of the TRUTH as I listen, follow, and obey the TRUTH of GOD within my daily decisions?
A One Word Answer is the Summation of our Answer—YES!—or—NO!
Let’s pause right here, take up our copy of God’s Word, and be reminded of Peter’s decision and the outcome Peter realized at his decision.
“Now they arrested Him and led Him away, and brought Him to the house of the high priest;”
(Luke 22: 54-65 NASB)
[HIM—the Jewish official did all this to JESUS]
“but Peter was following at a distance.
After they kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter was sitting among them.
And a slave woman, seeing him as he sat in the firelight, and staring at him, said, “This man was with Him as well.”
But he denied it, saying, “I do not know Him, woman!”
And a little later, another person saw him and said, “You are one of them too!” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!”
And after about an hour had passed, some other man began to insist, saying, “Certainly this man also was with Him, for he, too, is a Galilean.”
But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about!” And immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed.
And then the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.”
And he went out and wept bitterly.”
[Peter bitterly wept because he realized he had just denied knowing JESUS as his SAVIOR!]
“The men who were holding Jesus in custody began mocking Him
and beating Him, and they blindfolded Him and repeatedly asked Him, saying, “Prophesy, who is the one who hit You?”
And they were saying many other things against Him, blaspheming.”
A few weeks ago, I read an article about missionaries in Africa, an article written to report about the International Missionaries serving alongside the “home missionaries,” alongside the Africans who had received Jesus as Savior; hence, “home missionaries.” These were the people who were born in Africa, who knew the territory, who ate the same food, who enjoyed the same culture, and who had friends and family living close beside them. Yet, these were also—now, the children of God, the ones who knew Jesus as their Savior.
- Do we know the narratives of the Bible, the ways Jesus healed those He encountered?
- Do we know the narratives from God’s Word that tells how God never left His children alone?
- Do we know the narratives from our Bible, how God parted the sea, making it possible for His children to walk through the midst of the sea?
- Do we know the narratives from our copy of God’s Holy Word that reveals exactly how a person comes to know Jesus as his personal Savior & Lord?
We know the “GOOD NEWS” we need to lead someone to see JESUS!
We know the “GOSPEL MESSAGE” if we have been touched by the SAVIOR!
We have a story to tell.
We may be standing in the courtyard, warming our hands by the fire, attempting to blend in with the world, thankful that JESUS MADE THE ONLY WAY POSSIBLE for us to know HIM as our SAVIOR & LORD, but are we denying that we know JESUS?
A One Word Answer is all we really need for our Answer—YES!—or—NO!
“This man was with Him as well.”
But he denied it, saying, “I do not know Him, woman!”
Have we stood in this world, even sat down by the fires, and denied to the woman sitting next to us at work that we do not associate with JESUS?
And a little later, another person saw him and said, “You are one of them too!” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!”
Have we ever found ourselves standing with the world, participating with others, even when we knew full-well ‘This is not what JESUS would want me to do;’ yet there we stood—participating, becoming one with the world and not standing as one “in the world but one not of the world.”
And after about an hour had passed, some other man began to insist, saying, “Certainly this man also was with Him, for he, too, is a Galilean.”
But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about!”
Have we ever received an opportunity to witness, to testify about the GOSPEL MESSAGE because someone recognized that we were a believer who attended ______________ church down the street, and when called to testify about JESUS, we found ourselves instead saying, ‘I don’t really want to share JESUS with these right now. Maybe later, LORD.’
I don’t know about you, but I know my answers to these questions.
There have been times during my life when I have been so much like Peter.
“And immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed.
(Luke 22: 60b-62 NASB)
And then the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.”
And he went out and wept bitterly.”
Right now, right this moment, the Holy Spirit of God is changing someone, preparing his heart, getting this person ready for an encounter he (or she) will have with us.
- Maybe this encounter will occur next year!
- Maybe this conversation will happen on a foreign land!
- Maybe this opportunity will be something we may experience when we go on vacation!
- Maybe this beautiful, divine encounter will occur today!
One thing is for sure: The Holy Spirit of God makes opportunities for us to witness!
One thing is for sure: GOD Sent HIS Only Son JESUS to this world to die & to raise to new life—to make the ONLY WAY FOR HUMANITY TO COME TO KNOW GOD!
- What are we waiting for?
- Why are we not seeking every opportunity to speak a word about Jesus?
- Why are we not loving others in Jesus’ name as we go throughout our everyday lives?
- Why are we standing silently, or openly denying we know Jesus with our words & through our actions?
- Why are we satisfied to remain silent, and allow someone we love to go to Hell, forevermore, totally separated forever from the presence of God?
- How can we attend our churches, praising our LORD each Sunday, and then go about our lives, content to live as if we don’t know the ONE WHO CHANGES EVERYTHING!
- Why are we waiting when—
We could, quite possibly, be their last chance to encounter JESUS!
- May we be the “home missionaries” of the Great Commission JESUS commanded His Disciples to do!
- May I take serious JESUS’ GREAT COMMISSION to “go and make disciples.”
- May we pray, asking God for opportunities, for His Divine Encounters to SHARE JESUS TODAY.
“Jesus Can” by Austen French is a melody that comes to mind today as I write.
- Our lives are living proof that every life can be changed!
- We have a story to tell—how JESUS changed our lives!
- We Know the TRUTH—ONLY JESUS CAN!