Ephesians 5:16 "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil."
No one who has been saved by the grace of God and has any knowledge of the Word of God would argue that we are indeed in the last days.
That has a double effect on us. First of all, we look forward to the coming of our Savior. What a joy to know there is going to be no more death...sin...sickness or separation. We say "Come quickly Lord Jesus".
On the other hand we must also realize and be grieved in our heart that many that we know and love are still lost without God. If we are to reach them for Christ we must hurry!! We cannot just sit by and watch as the days go on and eternity gets closer. The call is to action!!
Have you done all you can do to try to win your loved ones? I have said all I can say to my family to be saved. They don't want to hear it anymore. They have told me if I mention church or God to them that they will never speak to me again. They did it once before for over nine years and I know they will do it again. So all I can do is live the godly Christian life and show them in my converstaion as best I can with the Lord's help to show them I have something that they might desire to have for themselves. But loved ones don't just include our families. That includes our friends and neighbors. We have an obligation and privilege to show them the love of Christ through word and in deed. Jesus' return is near and we need to be busy for the Lord trying to win those we love. Afterall...they are the only "things" in this world we can take with us when we leave here.
14 comments:
Sis Julie,
We are in the last days and peoples hearts seem to be growing colder. I will pray for your family; God can break even the hardest of hearts, he did it with Saul and what a testimony Paul has.
My husbands mom has thrown us out of her house(kids and all) just for talking about the bible but again i say the Lord can work on them.We do need to pray for them and be instant in season and out of season. Thanks for the post.
Mrs Julie good post, even so Lord Jesus come quickly. I too have lost loved ones that need to be saved but they continually say that is for you not for me. It breaks and saddens my heart that there are a lot of family members that need Jesus. I remember preaching dad's funeral and most would not even look at me while I was preaching. I am torn between his coming and my family members to be saved. The Lord knows if they will get saved or not. I am still waiting for the day that we hear your mom and dad call you and say they got saved. I guarantee that will be a shouting day. We just have to hold out faith for those that are lost.
Bro Tim
sis. karen...sounds to me like you know what I've gone through and continue to go through with my family. Although the doors of communication are now open between me and them I am still not able to speak of the Lord or those doors will be closed again. I can be a better witness through my conversations and the way I talk with them on the phone than I could be if there were no communication. Thank you for your prayers for them. I'll also be praying for your husband's mom as well. God can get ahold of their hearts!!
bro. tim....you are so right about holding out hope and keeping our faith strong where our family members are concerned. Thank you for your prayers for my family. I pray for yours every time I pray for mine. I too am torn about the coming of the Lord. I don't want my family to be left behind to believe the lie and spend eternity in the Lake of Fire but I have peace in knowing I've done all I can and that it is now left up to God to do the work. It will definitely take someone else saying something to them for them to be saved. I've done all I am allowed to do with them. I'll just continue to love them and honor them as I should have all those years that I didn't. I know they hear and see a change...I can only pray it is enough to remind them of what I told them Jesus did in my life.
Sadly I know I have not said enough. What little I have said already has them pulling away from me.
Pray for me as I witness to my lost family.
Great Post and reminder. Our families are so precious to us and yet it seems we find it harder to talk to them than we do to stangers. I still have one brother who is not living for the Lord, whether saved or not, I cannot say but I know he doesn't show the fruit I would like to see in his life. I pray that as I live before him, he will see how much I love the Lord and in some way he will be convinced that it can be that way for him also. I have talked to him many times but he doesn't want to talk so I will live so loudly that he can't help but hear. connie from Texas
I hear you. I consider my extended family to be my greatest area of ministry. The Lord has put us amongst the lost, and there are many different kinds of bait, for many different kinds of fish. I pray that you and I throw out very tasty bait, that we might be successful "fishers of men." Hugs!
My family and my husband's family do not like to hear what we have to say. We are a constant sore to them. But we keep on going knowing that our time is short. Even so come quickly Lord Jesus! Good post, Sis!
sis. stephanie...I'm sorry to hear that your family is pulling away from you because of your witnessing to them. Just do as the Lord leads you to do. I can tell you that God's grace is sufficient when family forsakes a person for being a witness of God's love to them. I'll be praying for your family.
sis. connie....that is the way to be about it...just live your life LOUDLY before him. I love how you put that!! I pray your brother will see his need before it is everlasting too late.
e-mom....I know that I sincerely desire to see my family saved. All we can do is keep fishing (in my case the bait is prayer). It is obviously going to take someone else to say something to open their blinded eyes. But then...I've been wrong about things before...it might end up being my testimony and respect of my parents that will win them.
sis. kate....yes indeed time is short. I only would to God that those around us that are rejecting Christ and His love knew how short. But like I said...I have peace that I've said all I can say to my family...now it is up to my testimony and my just loving them that will have to do.
Thanks for keeping us in your prayers. we still need them!
jungle mom....you're very welcome.
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