Let's be reasonable with one another, shall we?

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

A Subject I know Something About

(This is my favorite verse in the Bible, Isaiah 1:18) … Come now, and let us REASON together, says the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
(I want to use that verse as a backdrop to this post.)

I know something about me. Not that I am important. The Supreme Being as revealed in history and in His Word through the Lord Jesus Christ is the important One. I am a sinner saved by Grace. He saved my life and here’s how:

I was working as a waitress in a Big Boy restaurant. My twenty years of life had brought me to blatant sin and complete agnosticism. Two guys came there every day for coffee. They talked about the Bible all the time and were very friendly and interested in talking to me. One of them told me that Jesus Christ loved me. (They talked like He was a real person, not just an abstraction.) I laughed. “I know all about that…I went to Catholic school and have learned about religion since I was in diapers … and I don’t believe any of it. You don’t have to waste your time on me. In fact, I think believing anything is foolish because it is saying you know something that you can’t prove.”

These two men kept reading things to me from His Word in-between coffee refills. They went back to Genesis and convinced me that it was obvious there was a God who created us. (This was not hard, which is why I now think that it is such a shame so many young people are not exposed to creation/Genesis. Also, the rest of the story was built upon this foundation and it all fit together and made SENSE). I had not been receptive at first. However, as that summer moved on, mingled with the Old Testament, I heard words from Jesus that I had never before heard. This was not the meek and mild …let people walk all over you … person that I had grown up believing was Jesus. This was not the … make you feel guilty and obligate you to live a way that doesn’t match what is inside you … religion that I rejected. More importantly, it was explained to me that Christ had paid for all of my sins and He wanted me to come to Him just as I was … not AFTER I stopped sinning … not when I was ready to be a good little girl. The message was: turn to him to escape condemnation!

The REASONING was clear … what did I have to lose if I turned to Him as I heard Him clearly calling to me from the pages of Scripture? It was a free gift. I would probably die from some alcohol related accident soon anyways. (I truly thought this).

He came into my life and I changed from the inside out. I have never been the same! I know there are lots of different theological positions on “the point of contact” and how God saves a person … how their freewill is involved etc ... But I just want to, on this post, give Him such praise and glory for saving me with his wonderful Grace: I deserved death and hell and I really thought my life would end soon, but he cleansed me and predestined me for heaven. He created a new heart from that lump of stone in my chest. He also redeemed my life that was laid waste by sin. REASONABLE in God's universe! Thank you Jesus!

29 Comments:

  • Rose- who can argue when sound reasoning and sound doctrine meet? Its good to see the honest life testimony that you have shared with me before. May others be blessed and encouraged too.

    Cheerfully in our Saviour

    By Blogger J. Wendell, at 9/27/2005 11:34 PM  

  • I get such a charge out of Testimonies. Thanks for sharing yours.

    By Blogger Bhedr, at 9/27/2005 11:50 PM  

  • Thanks for commenting, Brian. I just started my blog and I figured it was good by way of introduction ... to emphasize what is the most important happening in my life.

    By Blogger Rose~, at 9/28/2005 12:01 AM  

  • Hi Rose,

    What a good way to start a blog, giving God the praise for your salvation!

    I noticed that telling your story also offers a good model for your listeners. In telling them what you heard and beieved, you can basically give them the same information so they can respond with the same decision.

    By Blogger loren, at 9/28/2005 2:25 AM  

  • Loren,
    In this venue, I wasn't really thinking of it as evengelistic, but may God use His work for His glory. Once I heard a preacher speak Mark 5:19 and how the guy with the Legion of demons was told, simply, "tell them what the Lord has done for you and how He had mercy on you". That seems like a simple and reasonable thing for a Christian always and everywhere to do - tell what He has done for you!

    By Blogger Rose~, at 9/28/2005 9:13 AM  

  • Rose,

    I am so glad to see that you have decided to share your insights as you have opportunity. You are very wise and have much to share. I also found that, as I "blogged" I leanred and was encouraged even mor than I taught or encouraged others. I look forward to reading yur "reasonings." I will, at some point, reenter the Blogosphee. No idea when as of this point!
    Dave Mullins

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9/28/2005 10:48 AM  

  • Hi Dave! It is so good to see you type. (I would like to see you stand or hear your voice, but hey, we'll take what we can get.) May God direct you clearly in the near future...that is my prayer for you and your family. I want you to know this: I am honored that you have commented on my blog. :~)

    By Blogger Rose~, at 9/28/2005 10:59 AM  

  • Hi Rose, thank you for the story. Praise God that he takes these hardened hearts to hearts that turn and follow Him.

    All By God's Grace,
    Shawn Lynes

    By Blogger Shawn, at 9/29/2005 9:39 PM  

  • Shawn,
    I really have enjoyed reading your posts - you are so honest and easy to read...and so it is with great satisfaction that I see you commenting here. Hopefully I can give you some edification, enjoyment or maybe just a chuckle with what is to come. I am encouraged by those all of those who have entered a comment. Thanks for welcoming me to the blogosphere, I really appreciate it.

    By Blogger Rose~, at 9/29/2005 10:55 PM  

  • Rose, welcome to the blogosphere and thanks for dropping by my site.

    I am not the most visited blog, but I have the best visitors.

    Wanna see lots of comments? Check out "The Pyromaniac."

    We look forward to reading your posts.

    By Blogger Joe, at 9/30/2005 7:05 AM  

  • Good job.
    I kinda figured.
    Bye.

    By Blogger Jeremy Weaver, at 9/30/2005 8:01 AM  

  • Joe, thanks for coming over. I will check out the blogs on your sidebar.

    Jeremy,
    thanks.

    Jenrie,
    Are you someone I know? Usually only people I know well call me "Rosie" - not that I mind. Either way, welcome! I don't think there are any rules!

    By Blogger Rose~, at 9/30/2005 2:20 PM  

  • Now I figured out who you are, Jen! (after I got home and looked at your email). Come back again! Rosie~

    By Blogger Rose~, at 9/30/2005 4:13 PM  

  • I LOVE MY LITTLE SISTER!!! This is very cool! Keep it going! Love ya, Mary

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10/17/2005 7:32 PM  

  • Wonderful testimony Rose!

    Love to you.

    By Blogger bluhaze, at 1/06/2006 6:45 PM  

  • Ambiance,
    Thank you for reading and commenting. He is wonderful.

    By Blogger Rose~, at 1/06/2006 9:33 PM  

  • Rose,

    That is the first time that I have read your testimony. Surely you have gone on to tell what good things the Lord has done for you.

    What a blessing that you have gone on to become in blogdom!

    Mark

    By Blogger mark pierson, at 4/19/2006 12:28 PM  

  • Thank you, Mark! I am so glad you read that. I am surprised - being such a "fan" - that you haven't read it before. ;~)

    The Lord truly plucked me from the fire. I am so thankful.

    (You see now why it is so important to me that I can tell anyone that Jesus Christ loves them and died for them? This is what was done for me when I was a lost sinner.)

    By Blogger Rose~, at 4/19/2006 11:07 PM  

  • "I am surprised - being such a "fan" - that you haven't read it before. ;~)"
    ------------------------
    So now I am just a fan with a broken blade. :-)

    By Blogger mark pierson, at 4/20/2006 12:07 AM  

  • You mean a broken wing?

    By Blogger Rose~, at 4/20/2006 10:37 AM  

  • Sister Rose,

    I along with Bhedr, love to read & hear testimonies of God's wondrous Grace to us undeserving sinners! Sometime I'd like to start a blog & share some of the awesome things God is doing in my life, though they certainly would not seem awesome to most, I have seen them from the underside, & they most definitely are awesome! Check out BBN's web site (www.bbnradio.org) sometime. That's where my wonderful wife & I work. We have a totally free online Bible Institute with 80 courses offered so far. Check it out! (www.bbnbi.org). Your blog is a blessing. God Bless you.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2/10/2007 7:33 PM  

  • David,
    Thanks for reading my testimony. That was just great to get notification that you had commented on it, being such an old post. I also think born-again Christians should tell of all the things God has done for them. I wish we had more testimony time at church, the church I go to. I think it is the best way to get to know one another.

    I will look for your future blog and I will check out your website.

    Thanks again!

    By Blogger Rose~, at 2/10/2007 8:52 PM  

  • Thank you Rose! Sometime I will tell you how the Lord used a 1965 Impala SS to show me my need of HIM!! God Bless.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2/10/2007 9:04 PM  

  • The time has come, Rose!

    In 1978 I was a 17 year old lost churchmember. I cared little for spiritual things. I had aquired my first car the year before, a cream colored 1965 Impala SS! It quickly became my idol! I ate, slept & dreamt that car. But, the next year I had a minor fender bender & the feeling overwhelmed me, "Is this all there is to life?" 6 years earlier, I had desired a certain "thing" & received it for Christmas of my 11th year. I enjoyed it for awhile, & then an empty feeling engulfed me of "Is this all there is to life?" That same sense filled my empty heart again when my idol became dented! Also, I had developed a huge fear of death sometime along the way. But, from somewhere in the back of my mind a portion of Matthew 7:23 gripped my mind. I had no idea at the time where the verse was found, but it was Jesus' Words, "Depart from Me, I never knew you". The Lord used that portion of HIs Word to grip my heart with the fact that I would hear those solemn words from Jesus one Day if I kept going as I was. I cried out to the Lord then & there to forgive me of my sins, but I did not receive assurance of salvation exactly at that time. I can't say exactly when I did trust in Christ alone, but I can surely say with assurance now that I am saved because I am trusting in Christ alone to save me! He used that old Impala to get me to begin thinking of spiritual things!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2/16/2007 5:04 PM  

  • David,
    Thanks for posting that! You are my husband's age. You say you were a 17 year old lost churchmember. Do you mind if I ask what church? I am always curious about these things. Were you raised in a Bible-believing environment?

    "Is this all there is to life?"

    That question also plagued me when I was young. There is just not a lot for us without the understanding of our maker. Life seems to mean nothing. He brings such purpose to us.

    I am glad that you are trusting in Christ alone to save [you]!

    Who else can save? No one.

    God bless you, brother.

    By Blogger Rose~, at 2/25/2007 7:26 AM  

  • Rose,

    I apologize a million times over! I just now saw your post of 5 months ago! I will be glad to answer your questions. I was raised, & am still a member of a Southern Baptist church, though I am often at odds with their theology & especially methods. Yes, I was raised in a Bible-believing atmosphere. My Dad was & is the greatest Christian I've ever known, next to my wife. She put up with me as a carnal believer when we met & helped me back to a more healthy faith.
    Yes, Rose, without Christ, life means nothing. I remember when I was first saved, I sensed His presence & basked in it! But, in His grace, He began to withdraw that feeling litle by little, & I can remember actually crying out to have it back, not realizing that He was strengthening my faith! Oh, well, time is short, but eternity is long! How wonderful to one day be able to spend all the time we want talking about the glories of our wonderful Savior! Thanks for this blog, Rose.

    By Blogger David Wyatt, at 7/14/2007 10:47 PM  

  • Rose I just read this again. It really blesses my heart. One thing I appreciated about your testimony is that you mentioned that you were so positive about the fact that our wonderful savior just entered your life when you trusted in Him! I just wanted to thank you again for sharing your story of God's grace with us. May the Lord bless you.

    By Blogger David Wyatt, at 9/21/2008 9:22 PM  

  • David,
    You are such a fine guy. Thank you for leaving another comment here. This post has a history, doesn't it? I appreciate the fact that what I said in this post about the Lord blesses your heart. He is good and His love is so awesome. What amazes me is that now that I know better - sometimes I am still bad and rebellious - and He never casts me out. He is so merciful.

    David, you and I are a lot alike. I believe we both really love the brethren and just want everybody to get along. The world is where we are supposed to have enemies, not amongst the believers. I think you and I are birds of a feather. There are a lot like us out here, but in blogdom we aren't the noisiest.

    God bless you and you bless others.

    By Blogger Rose~, at 9/21/2008 10:10 PM  

  • Rose,

    Well, I've gone & done it again! I apologize for missing your very kind words for these3 or so months. I appreciate your kindness. When I see what I am really like & yet realize Christ's loyal love & grace to me, it strengthens my faith in Him & love for Him! I still must admit, though, that some of the "mechanics" of bro. Antonio's version of Free Grace still have me scratching my ever-balding head sometimes! But, maybe that's why I'm balding & I oughtta just leave it to the Lord! God Bless.

    By Blogger David Wyatt, at 1/10/2009 10:43 PM  

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