Jesus got to the point. “Who do you say that I am?”
81 people said "Elvis Presley"
7 people said "God or Jesus"
3 people said "Martin Luther King, Jr."
2 people said "The Burger King"
For the 15th time this month, and the 228th time this year you welcome me
into your life with my devotions. Letters to God written every day, inspired by
him, to make me reflect, think, and thank him for what he has done in me through
Christ Jesus. And I hope they have been a blessing to you, and maybe even
shared with others. They have been read on 6 continents, and available through
emails, distributed to the troops in Iraq, and even been a blessing to a little
old lady in Oregon who I hold dear. They are sent daily to friends in many
prisons weekly, where I have made many friends whom I have never met. Who from
the letters have found hope in Jesus, and found that even though they are alone
on the inside, at least one person on the outside loves and hasn’t forgotten
them. It is to them that I have found the most inspiration, and have saved
every letter they have ever sent. My paycheck as you may say is those letters,
for this is done at income to me, the rewards and blessings come from God,
through those who respond. So let me take the time to thank you all now. But
today, the 19th of December finds me tired, and needing rest, more than a good
night’s sleep, the rest only found through Jesus, so this will be my last
mailing this year. Theresa has two weeks off, and I plan to spend it with her.
Also my mother is very sick, maybe near death, and I am 3000 miles away from
her, the plans still not set as to what I will be doing, so keep us in prayer.
I want to leave you with some thoughts, and a wish for a very Merry Christmas,
and a Happy New Year. Every day we are closer to that day when see Jesus face
to face, I look forward to that day, but for now until he returns we must be
about his business, spreading the gospel, showing love and compassion, and
helping the poor and needy, and those in jail. So let’s take a look at the day
in the life of a man, whose name we don’t know, but of which much has been
said.
He has always been referred to as the thief on the cross. Only Jesus and
his family and friends knew his name. We don’t know his past, his age, or
profession, he was called the thief, and to all that day on Golgotha that is all
he was. But to Jesus he was, and is more than that. In a brief, maybe two
sentence conversation, his life changed when he met Jesus. Hanging on the
cross, close to death, God kept him alive long enough to meet Jesus. We don’t
know if any family was present, maybe not as he was a thief, and they may have
disowned him, or feared retribution. He may have brought embarrassment, or
maybe they were in jail themselves, nothing is ever spoken about them. We know
he had an accomplice, as his fellow thief denied Jesus face to face. But
something magical happened that day on the cross to him. He was born again, the
same born again Nicodemus didn’t understand, the thief was. His name written in
the book of life, heaven assured for him on that chance meeting on Calvary. But
not a chance meeting, but one the prophets spoke of, for Jesus was there, and
God was being patient with both thieves, so that neither would perish. Yet only
one recognized who Jesus was, and is, and is in heaven today. Which ought to
give us hope, for God never gives up on us. To the end the spirit is telling us
we need Jesus, and many today face death without him, or without us knowing what
their final conversation was with God. We know the words the thief spoke with
Jesus, but no one else may have. To his family and friends he may have died a
thief, but to God he died and entered into heaven, forgiven. To those who knew
him a loser, to God a winner. They didn’t hear the words, or see the
conversation, and missed out on the last miracle of Jesus before he uttered his
last words, “it is finished.” Maybe that is why we tell people that it is
personal with Jesus, and not a religion. to his last breath he was about
salvation, a day earlier a thief was going to hell, now he will share heaven
with the likes of Peter, James, and John. His story, his testimony reaching
millions, only in heaven will he see those that heard it and were inspired by
his final words. To some that was just another day in the life, to him it was
the day of salvation, his first day of eternity. It took his whole life to
reach that point, don’t wait like he did. Jesus is alive and calling out to you
and for you today. He has made room for murderers, thieves, scammers, homos,
and other sinners, even church folk, who turn to him and repent. Funny how the
best neighborhood in heaven will be filed with those who lived in the poorest
ones on earth. All because of the cross. And what Jesus did on it.
He asks us to pick up our cross and follow him, to let him into our lives
and let him change us from the inside. A personal visit that no one else will
ever hear, just like no one else heard all the words between the thief and
Jesus. To some today you might just be a number, a cell mate, or a biker who
cut you off. You might be a single mom wondering how you will make it through
the day. You might be dying and not know it, and not know Jesus. You may be
selling your body for money, or buying someone else’s for money. A hooker or
homeless. A junkie. A student who cannot go on any more. A businessman whose
life is all about money. You might be rich, and have want for nothing. You may
ride a Harley or a Honda, or an SUV. You may go to church, or be afraid to
attend. There will come a day in your life when you will be asked “who is
Jesus?” Your answer will gain you entrance to heaven, or damn you to hell. It
is your choice. For one thief, meeting Jesus meant everything, for another it
meant nothing. What does Jesus mean to you?
So I leave you until next year with a simple request. The last song on
side 2, for all of you of the vinyl generation, of Sgt. Pepper is “A Day in the
Life.” With many meanings, courtesy of the Beatles. The last chord, where each
Beatle, plus their producer Sir George Martin, each hit the same chord on a
piano, and held it for 42 seconds. Take 42 seconds now and consider Jesus, and
what he has done for you. Maybe the total time that the two spoke on the cross,
but a very special time. A time recorded for posterity, for teaching and
instruction, for reproof and blessing in the Bible. A thief, a nobody condemned
to die, but now in heaven. Just 42 seconds....that changed his life. Happy
New Year in Christ....because of Jesus you all mean so much to me.
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com