one more
Last Sunday night was quite literally one of the best nights of my life. Not in a flashy, dramatic way, but... well, just read on.
Destiny, Jasmine, and I were having dinner together (Mom in Ohio, Macaela in DC, and Dad on his way home), just chatting and having a grand old time. I asked, "Hey, if you guys could go anywhere, where would you want to go?" (My favorite ice-breaker question, by the way.) Destiny quickly pipes up, "Paris!" Then I look to Jasmine, she thinks for a second, then says, "I would want to go to Heaven."
I have to say, I kind of took me by surprise. But... she was right! I guess this is yet another example of why Jesus wants us to have faith like a child: we see things the way they truly should be.
Later that evening, I was thinking about it again. Suddenly, I realized (or, God showed me) what an opportunity He had placed in my lap. Though we read the Bible nearly every morning at breakfast and our lives revolve around our faith in Christ, we were still waiting for the day Jasmine would decide to make that faith our own. Now, here she is, telling me the place she most wants to go is Heaven. Well, gee! God can make that happen!
I told Dad about our conversation before he went up to tuck the girls into bed. Then I just prayed for a while. I couldn't hear what they were saying. But after forty-five minutes, I knew God was doing something. Dad came down and smiled.
AAAAH!!
He had gone up, and asked her about our conversation, talked about Heaven, how perfect it is, and how everything and everyone there is perfect. He'd helped her realize that she's not perfect, he's not perfect. So, we can't go to Heaven. That got her attention.
Then Dad explained what Jesus had done for us. How Jesus had willingly taken our punishment, so we wouldn't have to. Now all we needed to do is accept it by saying how wrong we've been, and how much we want His forgiveness and a relationship with Him. And... so she accepted it.
That's the gospel, folks. It seems so easy. For us, it is. We messed up, we've all sinned, all done wrong, all told God, "I'll do it my way." We would never have been able to withstand the judgement we called upon ourselves; it was death for us. But Jesus died instead. And when He rose again, He proved that God is powerful enough to defeat sin, and conquer death. And all that's left is for us to say, "I need it too. Thank You."
As of last Sunday, there is one more in the kingdom of Heaven. Have you joined us as well?
Destiny, Jasmine, and I were having dinner together (Mom in Ohio, Macaela in DC, and Dad on his way home), just chatting and having a grand old time. I asked, "Hey, if you guys could go anywhere, where would you want to go?" (My favorite ice-breaker question, by the way.) Destiny quickly pipes up, "Paris!" Then I look to Jasmine, she thinks for a second, then says, "I would want to go to Heaven."
I have to say, I kind of took me by surprise. But... she was right! I guess this is yet another example of why Jesus wants us to have faith like a child: we see things the way they truly should be.
Later that evening, I was thinking about it again. Suddenly, I realized (or, God showed me) what an opportunity He had placed in my lap. Though we read the Bible nearly every morning at breakfast and our lives revolve around our faith in Christ, we were still waiting for the day Jasmine would decide to make that faith our own. Now, here she is, telling me the place she most wants to go is Heaven. Well, gee! God can make that happen!
I told Dad about our conversation before he went up to tuck the girls into bed. Then I just prayed for a while. I couldn't hear what they were saying. But after forty-five minutes, I knew God was doing something. Dad came down and smiled.
AAAAH!!
He had gone up, and asked her about our conversation, talked about Heaven, how perfect it is, and how everything and everyone there is perfect. He'd helped her realize that she's not perfect, he's not perfect. So, we can't go to Heaven. That got her attention.
Then Dad explained what Jesus had done for us. How Jesus had willingly taken our punishment, so we wouldn't have to. Now all we needed to do is accept it by saying how wrong we've been, and how much we want His forgiveness and a relationship with Him. And... so she accepted it.
That's the gospel, folks. It seems so easy. For us, it is. We messed up, we've all sinned, all done wrong, all told God, "I'll do it my way." We would never have been able to withstand the judgement we called upon ourselves; it was death for us. But Jesus died instead. And when He rose again, He proved that God is powerful enough to defeat sin, and conquer death. And all that's left is for us to say, "I need it too. Thank You."
As of last Sunday, there is one more in the kingdom of Heaven. Have you joined us as well?
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Vertical lines with dots fail to express the smile on my face and how happy I am . . . another attraction has been added to Heaven!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI've no clue who Jasmine is and I just stumbled across your blog but that is such a beautiful story! My little sister Emily is 7 almost 8 years old and we've been praying for her to accept the gospel and make Jesus her own but it has yet to happen. This encourages me so much! Hallelujah! I can't wait to me you and Jasmine some day. :-)
ReplyDeleteJoanna, thank you for your comment! Jasmine is my 9-year-old sister that we adopted this year. We were so, so, so excited by her childlike faith. I will tell her about you, and I know she will start praying for Emily. And we will too. See you some day!
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