Let me say something highly offensive to you, but please do
not run away angry. Why not? Because I too am guilty of this charge! How? I too
had been a liar. I had known the truth but denied it.
When I was six years old, there had still been prayers recited
in school. I therefore memorized the Psalm 23 and the Lord’s Prayer.
I took them to heart, and after I climbed into bed at night, I recited them. I
then made my requests to the Lord.
I had heard the adults talking that Uncle Jack would soon
die. However, I loved Uncle Jack. At family get-togethers, he would show us
magic tricks. I therefore prayed for him, and he lived for another 15 years. I
also saw other requests turn into reality. Nevertheless, when I was eight, I
came to realize that Jews did not pray “in Jesus’ name.” So, I quit praying
entirely. I had placed my ethnicity above what I had learned from God. I,
therefore, became a liar. Consequently, any consciousness I might have had
about God disappeared. Years later, I came to hate anything connected with
Christ. I now saw Christians as the oppressors of my people. Consequently, I
became a Zionist and moved to Israel.
The Bible warns us that anyone who rejects Jesus becomes a
liar. They know the truth but deny it, as I had, even though I had lost
awareness of what I had once known:
·
Whoever believes in the Son of God has the
testimony [of God] in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a
liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne
concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life,
and this life is in his Son. (1 John 5:10–11; John 3:22-23)
However, like me, you may no longer be aware that you are a
liar. This is natural. We never like to think of ourselves in a negative way.
Therefore, we suppress this awareness. Consequently, you may not be amenable to
the many proofs for the Christian faith. However, there is an easier and more
direct way to find out the truth. Try it out:
·
Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed
is the man who takes refuge in him! (Psalm 34:8)
Jesus put it this way:
·
“If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will
know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own
authority.” (John 7:17)
If you really want proof, Jesus offers it:
·
“Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he
it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will
love him and manifest myself to him.” (John 14:21)
If you are not willing to try out the Lord, you are not
being reasonable. I am not asking you to try out every gimmick or therapy, but
instead what is most important for our lives – to possibly connect to the only
Source of hope, peace, joy, love, meaning, and purpose for our otherwise meaningless
lives. Therefore, if you refuse to try out this eternal hope, it means that you
are not open-minded but instead are dominated by demonic influences:
·
We know that we are from God, and the whole
world lies in the power of the evil one. (1 John 5:19; John 3:19-20)
I hope that this possibility will shock you into finding out
the Truth. According to the Bible, it is available to all who will seek it:
·
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you
will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives,
and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”
(Matthew 7:7–8; Proverbs 1:20-33)
If you think, “I just cannot believe in this Christian
nonsense,” you need to ask yourself, “Why am I unwilling to explore this
all-important question about Jesus?”
Do these “insensitive” words offend you? Jesus had uttered
many offensive things, but these were spoken in love to shake people out of
their rut. I hope that you will regard these words as a message of love, as
they are intended.
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