The Word of the Lord

The Word of the Lord

"Can God Love Just Anyone" by Barbara Maddox

Can God love just anyone? Lets go to 2 Peter 3:9, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." Now lets use the most common Scripture, John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Yes, God loves the entire world.The problem is the entire world does not love God nor His Son, Jesus Christ, the Savior.

A beautiful illustration of God’s love and grace toward man can be found in Acts the ninth chapter. Its the story of a great Jewish religious leader by the name of Saul, who later would be called Paul. A Pharisee, well educated, respected by his peers, zealous for the Jewish faith. Everything the world would call a godly man. He was on his way to Damascus to take prisoners of the Christians for he sincerely thought they were wrong in their faith toward Jesus Christ. You know, we can be sincere and be sincerely wrong. On his way there a light from heaven fell about him and he heard a voice from heaven saying, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me"? Then a beautiful dialogue between God and man took place on a dusty road. The others with Saul heard the voice but saw no man. God allowed Saul to be temporarily blinded so that He might provide Saul with a miracle of healing that would be a great comfort when Saul would think back on his conversion experience and remember the confirmation of who God is. Saul was led into Damascus, went to the house God told him to go to and God took care of the rest. The Lord spoke to the heart of a disciple in a vision and told him to go to Paul. The message he would give to Paul would be a hard one as well as a blessed one. Paul was a chosen vessel and would preach Jesus to kings, the Gentiles, and the Jews. Also he would suffer much for the sake of Jesus Christ. Wow! The very one Paul had killed and persecuted people for believing in he would now be a witness for. When Paul received his sight he was also filled with the Holy Spirit and was baptized. He wanted everything God had for him. Verse 21 says he preached Christ was the Son of God. Yes, my friends, God does love all people, they just have to receive Him, not the other way around.

Now lets go to a poor woman, uneducated, living a life that the world would say was trash. You will find her story in John 4:1-42; you really need to read it for yourself. In verse 4 we read "He must go through Samaria.," speaking of Jesus. Her life so desperate that He needed to go to her to bring her salvation. Where is our burden to take salvation to those who need it? He meets her at the public water well at noon. Normally the women went early in the morning to get their water while it was cool and usually it was a time when the ladies had a social time together; but she was not accepted and had to go at noon. Thus a conversation between the Savior of the world and a lowly woman living in sin, for you will read that she was living with a man that she was not married to and there had been five husbands in her life. Jesus throws no condemning statements, He just converses with the knowledge of her life. In the beginning of their conversation she refers to Him as a Jew, then calls Him Sir, after He leads her into recognition of who He is she goes to the city and tells the people that she has met the Christ.

Verse 39 says that many Samaritans believed on Him for her testimony. Then later they believed on Him because of hearing Him themselves.

Paul went on to write most of the New Testament and led many thousands to the Lord and we are still being saved through the writings that were a result of his conversion. That woman who was so much in sin that day led many to the Lord and only God knows how many afterwards. One thing common to both of these converts is they went forth to tell others about Jesus Christ and what He did for them. I will ask you now, are you telling others what Jesus has done for you? MARANATHA!

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