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LOVING LIFE IS POSSIBLE IN JESUS CHRIST
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“For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” 1 Peter 3:10-12
Almost two years ago, my dear father, became “absent from the body and … present with the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 5:8 He had reached 91 years and 17 days in our earth time. He has been present with the Lord Jesus Christ in Heaven ever since. Why? How? Because he turned from his sinfulness and turned to Jesus Christ alone by faith alone for his complete salvation over 57 years ago. When one goes to Jesus Christ for forgiveness of their sin and the “already paid for by Jesus blood – gift of everlasting life”, they receive exactly what He promised – an eternal salvation! SAVED FOREVER – because of what Jesus did FOR them in His death, burial, and resurrection! When my dad finally understood this he simply turned his whole case over to the Lord Jesus. He came to realize, like Jonah, “Salvation is of the LORD.”
There was an awakening time for my dad. He was attending the funeral of a nephew. The rabbi said “The LORD gave and the LORD hath taken away, blessed be the name of the LORD.” This enraged my father. He said to himself, “I’d rather have a man cuss me out than say that to me about my dead child.” As he thought on the power of life and death that the living and true God held in His hands, he vowed, “Lord, if you let me keep my little girl, I’ll do my best to please You and raise her right.”
This understanding of the power of God and the conviction of his sinfulness led him to truly seek the Lord. Proverbs 9:10 tells us, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.” There was a time as he sought the Lord for help; so he attended a Church where some truly saved Bible believing men saw his condition and said, “Lonnie, you look like you are seeking the Lord.” My dad responded in tears, “I am; but I don’t know how to find him.” These men took him aside and prayed for him concerning the salvation of his soul through the merits of Jesus Christ.
It was soon after this encounter with the truth of Jesus Christ as Saviour that he trusted the Lord Jesus as his own God and Saviour. The LORD gave Lonnie a personal spiritual song at this time. “This my Love, my Love of fancy, this my God in Heaven above. He’s the One Who shows us mercy; He’s the One Who cares for my soul. The only One Whose heart is tender; the only One Whose heart’s not cold. This my Love, my Love of fancy, He’s my Jesus Who died for my soul.”
The opening passage of Bible verses in this article really depict how Lonnie Edwin Spence Sr. lived. There was a beginning. It started with the new life God gave to my dad when he trusted Jesus Christ as His personal Saviour! You too can have brand new life, a new start, the new nature of Jesus Christ in the heart; and a salvation that lasts forever! Place your faith in Jesus alone as your God and Saviour. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17