Faith Filled Family Magazine March 2017 | Page 32

you pray that God considers us all to be His creations , of which He hates to lose any . He wants to call us all His friends , even those that we may not consider a friend . John 15:12-14 says : “ This is my commandment that ye love one another , as I have loved you . Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friend . Ye are my friends , if ye do whatsoever I command you .” If you have a true love for Jesus , and you long to make Him happy , then realize how important it is to Him that we would all be His friend . Let that become your burden to pray for those in your realm that need Him . Make their souls as important to you as the souls of your own children . Pray with forgiveness in your heart toward them and the sin in their life that has affected you , and ask the Father to forgive you as well for failing to see the importance of their souls .
WHEN SOMEONE DOESN ’ T WANT TO REPENT
As human beings , we will all have the opportunity to come to Christ , but we must realize that everyone who is given invitation will not accept . With opportunity , we are all given the choice to make . God will never force one to accept His gift of salvation . The choice will always be with the individual . As friends or foes , the only thing that we can do is to be as truthful as possible to what we know of God and witness to them from our own life experiences with Jesus . We simply share Jesus with everyone and pray that they will accept . It is essential that through all of this , we continue to love .
Romans 5:6-10 says : “ For when we were yet without strength , in due time , Christ died for the ungodly . For scarcely for a righteous man will one die : yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die . But God commendeth his love toward us in that , while we were yet sinner , Christ died for us . Much more then , being now justified by his blood , we shall be saved from wrath through him . For if , when we were enemies , we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son , much more , being reconciled , we shall be saved by his life .”
It is good for us to always remember that we were in the same place as the sinner , yet because of the mercy and grace of the Lord and the prayers of those who loved us , we are reconciled . Teach these and other scriptures to those whom you are trying to reach for the Lord and do not be dismayed when their conversation is not what you want to hear .
Planting the seed is your responsibility , and others will come along and water it , and prayerfully they will accept before it is everlasting too late . Remember , too , that the only way that you can have the heart to follow through with a sinner is to have the love for them that Jesus has commanded . Love them like He did .
Jesus told Peter of how he would deny Him three times , and when that time came to pass ; Jesus still loved Peter . In the same night , Judas betrayed Jesus and turned him in and as he went with the men to gather Jesus ; Jesus still loved Judas . A love that convicted Judas so much that he not only gave the money back , but he hanged himself out of grief . We , too , must love one another in the same manner ; that their souls mean as much to us as the souls of the disciples did to Jesus , as our souls mean to Jesus . Make a true commitment to love everyone including those who are your enemies .