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Made Alive in Christ

Lakshmi knew she could die at any moment. Doctors had given up hope. Not long ago, she was still living a normal life. But then she came down with an illness for which doctors had no cure. Her condition had only grown worse.

For so long, Lakshmi had faithfully followed the traditions of her religion, making sacrifices to appease her deities.Yet they had not answered her or offered any reassurance, and here she was on her deathbed. Surely she had to wonder what had gone wrong.

She could hear the hushed voices of family members, relatives, neighbors?”people who thought for sure she would die soon. Then one day everything changed. A GFA missionary, joined by other believers, visited the frail woman. Tenderly, they told her about the true and living God, and His power and love. They fervently prayed to God for her healing.

The Lord reached down and touched Lakshmi?™s body, saving her from certain death. With wonder and joy in her heart, Lakshmi received Jesus as Savior and Friend. Not only has she been healed physically, today she knows the comfort of Jesus and can "...come boldly to the throne of grace ... [to] obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16, NKJV).

Posted 12/8/2004 at 5:38 AM - add eprops - add comments

Rest for His Soul

At first Santhosh was angry when the missionary came to his home to tell him about the God of the Bible. What right did this man have to visit and tell him about this new God?

Years of despair had taken their toll on Santhosh. His village gods had done nothing to soothe the ache in his heart?”why should he believe in this God?

Yet as the faithful Gospel worker continued to visit and patiently share the hope of God?™s love shown through Jesus, Santhosh began to wonder. There was something to this God, he thought. Perhaps He could bring hope to his family and fill his aching heart.

Opening up to the missionary, Santhosh disclosed the despair he had felt for so long. ?œBelieve in the Lord Jesus,??the missionary told him, ?œand He will solve your problems.??Santhosh accepted his invitation to attend church. Drawn by the comforting presence of the Lord in the worship service, Santhosh gave his heart to Jesus. He began to grow as a Christian and publicly proclaimed his new faith.

Rejoice with us for a man who has found hope and comfort in Christ Jesus. Let us pray together that Santhosh will live his life is such a way that other weary souls will be drawn to Jesus, the Prince of Peace.

INSIGHTS from Bill Bright
Reflections from the late Founder and President/Chairman Emeritus of Campus Crusade for Christ International

Acts Of The Will

Yes, Lord, I will follow you (Luke 9:61, NLT).

Dear friends:

It is amazing how many times in the Bible that God indicates we are supposed to exercise our free wills in order to enter into an intimacy with Him.

An evangelist tells about a woman who came to him anxious about her salvation. He said to her, "Mrs. Franklin, how did you become Mrs. Franklin?" 

She replied, "When the minister said, 'Wilt thou have this man to be thy wedded husband?' I said, 'Yes.'"

The evangelist then asked her, "Did you say, 'I hope so,' or 'I'll try to'?"

The woman quickly replied, "No.  I said, 'I will.'"

Then pointing her to God's Word, the evangelist said, "God is asking you if you will receive His Son as your personal Savior. What will you say to that?

The woman's face lit up, and she exclaimed, "Why, how simple that is! Why didn't I say 'yes' a long time ago?"

Two little words, "I will," spoken by both the man and the woman result in marriage. So it is in becoming a Christian, who the Bible refers to as a bride, in marrying our heavenly Bridegroom, our Savior. One does not become a Christian until he exercises his "will" to receive Christ and says, in effect, "I do." Referring to our Lord's death on the cross for our sins, Jesus always stands ready and, in effect, says, "I did."

You have heard the old _expression that "whosoever will" may enter into eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "Whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it" (Matthew 16:25).

God's grace, foreknowledge and predestination are all great and wonderful mysteries, and we cannot understand it all. But one thing we do know is that our will is involved, not just in receiving Christ, but in receiving all His precious promises. Even our praise to God is an act of our wills: "I WILL praise the LORD all my life; I WILL sing praise to my God as long as I live" (Psalm 146:2, NIV).  Also, "I WILL bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth" (Psalm 34:1, KJV).

Yours for helping to fulfill the Great Commission each year until our Lord returns,

Bill Bright