The Point of No Return

The other day I was approaching a traffic light that was green. I knew it was going to turn yellow soon but didn’t know when so I approached it with caution.  There came a point when approaching it that I knew even if the light turned yellow I was going to have to keep going.  It was what is commonly referred to as “the point of no return”.  Ever been faced with such a situation?

 

The other night my wife and I were with some friends and we were talking about different cultures reaching their “point of no return” regarding the direction they were going. We talked about how America is speedily reaching its point of no return as it is racing as far from God and the Judeo-Christian values it was founded and built upon.  Some may argue that there is no such point for a culture, a country, a family, or even an individual.  We like to hold out hope that the God of the impossible, the Judea-Christian God, can always reach and restore those who are far from Him, and He’s more than able to do so.  But the problem with this line of thought is that while they believe God is sovereign and there is nothing He can’t do, they forget that He’s given humanity a free will to choose whether or not to serve Him, and with that free will He will respect each person’s decision.

 

While there have been some who many thought would never change or give their lives to following and serving Jesus were reached, a testament of His abilities to reach people especially when prayer is involved, there are many more that won’t be reached because they’ve passed the point of no return. At some point in their life they made a conscious decision to have nothing to do with God, or to even allow Him to be a part of their lives, and God has honored that decision.  Does that mean we don’t need to pray for those who seem to be unreachable with the Gospel?  Absolutely not!  We need to keep praying for them because we don’t know what is ahead, and it could be Gods response to our prayers that afford them more time in this life to change their mind.

 

Only God, and I want to emphasize only God, knows when a person has gone past the “point of no return” and that they will not have any more opportunities to accept and follow Jesus as their Lord and Savior. With that in mind, we need to keep reaching out to and praying for people, especially loved ones that don’t truly have a saving relationship with Jesus, that God will in some way be able to capture their hearts for salvation.  Time is short and eternity lies in the balance.  Eternity in Hell is an eternity no one really wants, but sadly enough many won’t believe that statement until they are there and it’s too late.

 

There are people that are so adamant against the God of the Judeo-Christian faith that they will not hear the Gospel, and in some cases will even fervently oppose Him and anyone who represents Jesus one way or another. Some will even go so far as to keep their eyes out for any possible discrepancy in a Christian’s life, or to twist and misrepresent things spoken by them, thereby giving them more of an excuse to reject Jesus.  But, when it’s all said and done, when they stand before the God of all creation, the only thing they will be judged for is what they did with Jesus, and any excuses they have to offer now will not be allowed then.  God can reach these people, but we need to keep them in prayer and hope they haven’t gone past the point of no return, the point that ONLY God knows.

 

Let’s keep these people in prayer, asking God that they have an encounter with the risen Savior, Jesus.

 

 

John Johansson

What Will It Be For You?

I was recently reminded of an experience I had several years ago, in fact back when I was just a few years out of high school.  I’m not one to try and live in the past, but I believe that the past can often times teach us things and can be used to encourage others in this thing we call ‘life’.  So, as I relate this experience I ask that you will take it to heart and ask the Lord what He may want to teach you through this.

I was just out of high school working for a large vending company.  My job was one where I frequented several businesses on a regular basis maintaining the various machines and the product they contained.  Two of the locations I was responsible for were a part of one company and worked closely together as they were just a couple blocks from each other.  I had gained a level of report with the workers at both of these locations and had many opportunities to share the good news of the Gospel with them, as well as opportunities to speak into their lives in various ways.  It was exciting when I saw a mini-revival of sorts begin to take place at both locations and Christians began to come out of the “woodwork” so to speak and begin to make themselves known to those around of their faith in Jesus.  I was so excited seeing God at work and yet so humbled that He would use me as He was, but something was about to happen.

It wasn’t too long after this began to happen that my immediate supervisor met me at one of these two locations.  This wasn’t out of the ordinary as he would do this frequently just to check on things, but this time was different.  I remember that I was busy filling one of the machines when he walked up to me and handed me a bit of a bombshell.  He told me that they had been notified by the management of these two locations that they didn’t like me talking to the workers about Christ.  He then went on to tell me that I was to stop talking to others there about Jesus or risk losing my job.  He didn’t press me for a response at the time but he knew that was asking a lot of me.  He knew that my relationship to Christ was everything, and that I was compelled to share Him with others.

After he left me standing there by the machine I felt like the wind had just been kicked out of me.  What happened?  Why did this happen to me?  What was I going to do?  These were questions that just seemed to bombard me one right after the other.  One of the workers then came into the break room that I knew to be a vocal Christian and so I shared with him what had just happened.  He asked what I was going to do and I told him that I couldn’t stop talking about my Jesus especially if I felt led to do so, but at the same time I didn’t know.  He encouraged me not to make any rash decisions and to just take it to the Lord in prayer, which I did, and he was going to have some of the other Christians there begin to pray as well.

A couple days later this brother in the Lord came to me and asked me a simple question, had I been talking to this one particular person at the other location?  Well, I didn’t immediately recognize the name but when he described her I realized who he was talking about, and I then told him I had been talking to her.  I further shared with him that she had approached me and was asking me questions and asking for my advice on things.  He then, under the leading of the Holy Spirit, told me that the enemy was using her to lay a trap for me and began to share some things with me.

You see, during this time one of the warehouse workers began to ask my advice on some issues in his life and marriage, which I have to admit was surprising to me since I was a single guy barely out of high school.  He was telling me of some of the struggles he was having, and I just kept pointing him to Christ making sure he was seeking right relationship with Him.  At the same time I had someone else, among many, approach me at the other location asking my advice on issues in her life, issues that also involved her marriage and I also pointed her to Christ.  What I did not know was that these two people were married to each other.

Apparently, while this lady was asking me questions and my advice on things, professing herself to be a Christian, she was going to others and telling them that I was pushing my faith on her and had filed a complaint against me with her supervisors.  When the Lord revealed this brother in the Lord we began to pray and other Christians got involved, which included Christians in “high places” in the company.  I had already determined that I was going to continue sharing my faith with others as the Spirit led me to, even if it meant my job, but now I was more determined to do so.  I don’t know what ever happened to the complaint or to this woman, but God was with me and I never heard another thing from my supervisors as I continued as I already had been, sharing the good news of Jesus to those around.

I share the above experience to ask you a simple question.  What will it be for you?  Are you going to share the good news of Jesus to those around you, to those who need to know there is a comfort and a rest to be found with a life surrendered to Christ, or are you going to keep your mouth shut in the fear of public opinion or the loss of employment and career?  What will it be for you?  Are you willing to speak words of life, hope and peace through Jesus to others even if it offends others?  Or will you keep your mouth shut to maintain a false sense of peace and to avoid ‘rocking the boat’?  Only you can decide that, but before you do consider two things.  One, if you’re willing to keep the good news from others to avoid conflict now, how can you be so sure you would speak up later when the pressure is greater to stay silent, or worse yet, to renounce Jesus?  The second thing to consider is this, if we fail to share the good news of Jesus to others, whether or not others are talking to them about Jesus, if they find their eternal destination in hell then their blood is on your hands.  Is that something that you want for yourself?  I don’t, and I sometimes have to keep reminding myself of that.  I already deal with that though with someone from my past, and I don’t want others to be added to that list.  How about you?

So, what will it be for you?

John Johansson – www.resoundingshophar.com

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