Have you thanked Him?
Have you praised Him?
Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?
Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?
1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)
1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.
He is a good friend.
He has been through a lot.
To see him now and know him from back in the day you would completely agree with my assessment.
He is a Hall of Famer. I am serious. We traveled quite a bit together for years. We played lots of games I mean a lot of games. I would venture to say we played more than 2000 softball games together.
Now many of you who know me now probably find that hard to believe. But it is true. We won a lot of games together a few notable titles in fact.
But some questionable choices for me and some real misfortune for him have left our “softball” days as just ever improving memories. What do I mean by that?Pretty soon we will have both hit over .800, rarely made and error and always came through in the clutch.
And while it is fun to relive the old days without a doubt we made our most important memory on Saturday in the ICU of Soin Medical Center.
My buddy is suffering from serious kidney issues. He has had a transplant but his body doesn’t like it. He is in pretty tough shape. In fact he made the lament as he laid there connected with tubes and drips, “Lonie (he calls me Lonie) what has happened to us. No one believes what we used to be.”
We continued to reminisce and walk down memory lane until the tone of the visit turned serious. My wife was finalizing some important paperwork for my friend and then whispered in my ear, “We need to talk about his future.” I looked up at the clock and agreed. The “time” was now.
Until around 3:00pm on this Saturday, the topic of Jesus and salvation was taboo with my buddy. It wasn't that he was adverse to the idea, it just he was so concerned that he needed to “clean things up” before Jesus would consider taking him and that is when the discussions would always stall. This time it was different. GOD reminded me what Lucado says about that…
“Grace is God’s best idea. Rather than tell us to change, he creates the change. Do we clean up so he can accept us? No, he accepts us and begins cleaning us up. What a difference this makes.”
…so we pressed on. And in spite of several attempts by the enemy to stall this discussion again, we continued to talk.
For years my friend thought there was no place for him with the Lord; too many wild times in college, bad decisions, and sin. But grace changes ALL of that. Not just for my friend but for all of us. GOD wants all of us to experience it. He is waiting.
2 Peter 3:9 (LB)
…he is waiting, for the good reason that he is not willing that any should perish, and he is giving more time for sinners to repent.
Now here is why I tell you the story of my softball buddy a trip to the ICU and a little grace. The clock was on or around 3:40pm and then grace happened. Change was accepted. The cleaning done. My buddy was given the time to repent and accept Christ!
The door of salvation was swung wide open as for the first time ever as Jesus knocked, my friend answered and then opened the door.
Revelation 3:20
The Voice (VOICE)
20 Now pay attention; I am standing at the door and knocking. If any of you hear My voice and open the door, then I will come in to visit with you and to share a meal at your table, and you will be with Me.
It was a remarkable moment. He looked me dead in the eye accepted the grace of the Lord and accepted his future in heaven; "just as he was" without another plea or question.
Grace took center stage and one who was once lost was immediately found! Top 10 moment. Brings me to this today.
Is there someone in your life who has been ignoring the knock, waiting to get things cleaned up? The clock is ticking. Step out in faith and grace and help them open the door. Lean on Max if you need to.
It will make a memory that has no room for improvement!
HAVE A BLESSED Day…
I love you all!
Freedom Church
Pastor GDelaney
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