April 18, 2008 - Friday evening - 9:30PM
Why was I born? What am I doing here? What is my purpose?
Romans 8:29 - 30...
..."For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren."
..."Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them he also glorified."
...Many of us at some point in our journey, arrive at that place... Where we ponder these age old questions!
...Some, more than others, ask ourselves, or ask someone, ...whom we think knows the answer;
... Why was I chosen to come to this planet?
....Why am I here at this time in history?
......Why was I born into this family???
...Why Me?
...Hopefully, one of the benefits that come with age, is, we gain a certain measure of wisdom along the way.
... Now wisdom, is somewhat of an elusive commodity...
..But apparently, it is something we should easily attain through a multitude of life's experiences,... as well as, the knowledge that one gains through education and study.
...Now the Bible is a book, oftentimes referred to as a book of wisdom.
.. There are also, many other books where wisdom can be gained,... but it is common knowledge, and almost always, universally recognized,... even amongst unbelievers, that The Bible contains much wisdom...
...Because I am a man of faith, and I have had my own, fair share of traumatic experiences in life,...
...Especially when I was just a wee lad.
.. The Bible, has been a great source of information...for the many questions, I have pondered, whilst on this planet.
...One of the things, I've come to believe Is,...
We were born for a purpose...
.... All of us have a destiny to fulfill...Now, whether we do this, or not, is mostly up to us!
...It depends largely upon the choices we make, especially since we are all free moral agents!..
... That is, God does not impose his will on us with force.
..Now there are many times, that certain choices are predictable...
...Largely in part, due to the environment we're in, or the circumstances that confront us,.. at any given point in time .
...Now, I know what you're thinking...Possibly thinking!
... That what I've said so far...is, just about, as clear as mud!
..OK?
...Let me try and explain, by using my own life to illustrate what I'm talking about...
...Most of my young life, I didn't have a whole lot of control over my circumstances.
.. Most of those circumstances, were determined by my parents, or other adults that had charge over me...
... for supervision and oversight over my young life.
Modern Psychiatry declares, that I mostly, am going to be a product of my environment...
...In looking back over my life, I have come to believe... .....God created me for a reason!
.. .I have a destiny to fulfill...And now, as a matter of wisdom, I can see how...quite possibly...and even highly probable,..
... God gave angels charge over me...In other words, I had a guardian angel, or maybe... even a whole army of them...
Especially when you take into consideration,.. the many dangers I faced because of my poor choices...
...Or the poor choices of those, that were supposedly... responsible for my well being.
...Amazing it is... how God brings to remembrance... some of those times in your life... when by His love, He was actively involved...
... In directing, and steering us towards, that destiny and purpose for which we were created!
..And yes...Even many times, He protects us, from being destroyed before our time...
... I feel very much, that this is true for me!
Especially, as I look back at all the perils I've faced.
...I have a couple of memories of 2 crucial events that took place when I was young that either I had forgotten up to this point or I just failed to realize their significance in my survival in this Dog Eat Dog world we live in...
...The first one Happened during that time We were living with Mamaw & Papaw Hudson after being abandoned by my mother for about 6 months...
...All of the details are not real clear, such as the names of the people involved, but the significance of what happened is crystal clear, now that I think about it...
...I was invited to church by someone that lived fairly close to my grandparents.
and I'm not even sure if they knew that I had gone to Church...
...But I'll get to that part in a minute...
....Anyways, I went to church with one of my friends, and I remember it now... as clear as day!
..There was an altar call given after the preacher got done, and for some inexplicable reason, I went forward at that altar call..
...I remember now, that I went.... entirely of my own volition, None of my buddies went with, nor any of their family members went forward
...I wasn't prompted... or pulled, or encouraged by anyone there, to do it, but in looking back???
...I was compelled somehow... to take that walk down that aisle...
...In a church, that I had never been in before...as a matter of fact, I don't hardly ever... remember even going to church much before that time...
...Anyways, with child like faith, I went forward at the altar call... and somebody there, maybe it was the preacher,
.. or maybe it was a lay person that had responsibility over the young children!
...I couldn't have been much older than 9 at the time, if my memories are correct...
...But I remember praying with someone... and asking Jesus to come into my heart,..
.. and I do remember, that whoever was ministering to me... ...Told me, that it was important... that I told God... that I was sorry for the bad things that I had done!
..And it was important, that I asked God to forgive me for my sins...
...The thing that really sticks out in my mind... is how all of a sudden.... I began to cry.... and I mean, I was bawling my eyes out!
..But the strange thing was, that all the time I was crying, ...it wasn't because I was sad, or scared,..
... It was because I was happy!...I remember how all of these people in the Church began to come up to me and hug me and shake my hand and just shower me with love!
...And all I could do, was cry,..
..... and at the same time, I felt like the weight of the world had been lifted up off of me...
...Now I don't remember much else, about who the people were, or even if I ever again, had any contact with them after that day...
...But the weird thing was, how my Papaw reacted... when I told him what happened... at that Church service...
...What seems to be real weird to me now is... that in light of my Papaw being an Old Regular Baptist Preacher Himself, I didn't understand why His reaction to what had happened to me
was so negative and even hostile???
...I think that what prompted it... was that someone at the Church that day... told me, that I should be Baptised now!
...I had gotten Saved, and that's what people did after they got saved,... they got baptised...
...Now that I think about it?.. That was exactly what caused the crap to hit the fan at my grandparents house that day!
..And I was forbidden, to ever go back to that church, ever again...And I didn't..
...I don't remember anything else about it... and had really forgotten about IT... until the other day when I was thinking back to my childhood, and all of the different things that had happened to me.
...I had another experience...that has a few similarities, ...About a year after we moved to Michigan...I think I was around 11 or maybe 12 years old!
...And one of the things...I had to do, all of the time for my folks, was go to the little grocery store... about 4 blocks around the corner from our house.
... The Store was called Miller's Market...
...Anyways, I had been sent to the store... and it seems like I had a letter that my mom wanted mailed, so I was supposed to drop it in the big mailbox on the corner on my way to the store...
...The mailman was there with his little mail jeep picking up the mail, and he began to talk to me...The guy was real friendly and seemed like a nice guy, so we struck up a conversation and somehow or another, after what seemed like a lot of questions that he had asked me,...
...He began to tell me about God, and how Jesus was his Son, and about how much he loved me...
...He asked me if I wanted to come sit in the truck with him? and I did...
...He had these different Children's Bible Story books, and a Bible...The one thing that I remember most about it, he asked me, If I wanted to be saved?...
...I remember now, how I knelt down on my knees, and clasped my hands together, and that nice young mailman led me in a simple prayer; whereby I asked Jesus to come into my heart and save me...Again I remember the tears that flowed from my eyes as I was praying, and again, they were tears of happiness, even though I didn't quite understand why I was crying so much from feeling happy...
...I do remember that before I left, he gave me some papers, some children's books, and a Bible... He asked me where I lived, my address, phone number, and then asked me...
...If he could write a letter to my parents so he could ask them about me going to church, and maybe being Baptised?
He said, I had been saved, and I needed to go and tell somebody right away, especially my Mom & Dad...
...Again, I got an unexpected reaction to the news when My Mother asked, What took me so long??...Of course I told her What happened, and that I had prayed with the mailman and gotten saved, and he wanted me to go to church and be baptised!...
...He was going to write them a letter, and explain it all to them...
...Again, they weren't very happy about what I thought was good news, and I don't have any other memories about anything else ever coming from the day that I prayed with the mailman in his little mail truck...
...In looking back now, as an adult...Trying to understand what is the significance of these 2 childhood experiences???
...I really believe now...that I understand exactly what happened, and God seen, and heard my childish prayers...
...He honored my childlike faith...I now also believe, That God saved and sealed my soul as a result of that boyhood experience...I now understand the negative reactions of the adults in my life at the time. You can read about a parallel experience in the Bible.
Matthew 19: 13 - 15...
..."Then were there brought unto Him little children, that He should put His hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them."
..."But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven."
..."And He laid is hands on them, and departed thence."
...As I reflect back on my childhood now, the answers to those age old questions are so apparent to me...Easily I can see, How God had a destiny planned out for my life...And even though our Adversary tried, time after time, to frustrate that plan, and destroy me...God was watching...
...Not only was God watching, but he was protecting me, time and time again, He sent people into my life, to demonstrate His remarkable love for me...Over and over again, God was revealing Himself and His love for me...
I suspect, those of you, that read these words that I write, ...If you would be honest, you would also come to see, and understand, how many times God has protected you from total destruction...
...And no matter how many times you failed to recognize the hand of God at work in your life, or, even outright rejected his overtures of care and love, you now have to admit...
...that God has been, and even now...still, is watching over you.
...Even, the very fact that you... are even reading this, has to say to you,..that God loves you, and you are important to Him!.. He has a worthwhile plan/destiny for your life...
...That is why you were born!...There are people in your life right now...and there will be others in your future,
...that only "YOU" can reach...And the sad part is...If you don't reach, or even attempt to reach out to them for God's sake...They may never ever be able to be reached at all...
...It is an awesome thing to lead someone to Christ...To win their souls...
"HE THAT WINNETH SOULS IS WISE!"
...It is also, an awesome responsibility, to consider that if you don't...then...Their eternal destination...could be determined one way or the other...
...They may happily go to Heaven...or...Tragically go to Hell...all because you did, or did not, fulfill your destiny...
...Here is another though for us to consider?
...The things that we do, or don't do, could have an impact on, not only that person...That God has placed directly in your life, or in your path...but just like the old "Back To The Future" movies...or...That new Disney cartoon..."The Robinson's"...
...Remember the story line? and the paradox caused by the time continuim theory?..
...Do you get it?
...Do You understand what is at stake here...???
...Our life, Right here...and...now!
...Is going to have an affect, on future generations of people!..
People not even born yet...
...Let me illustrate this for us, one last time...
...And then I'll let you off the hook...I said, I'll let you off the hook...
...That doesn't mean that God's going to let you off the hook!...No way!...
...Do you remember the story I told you about my Father-In-Law? Dad Edmonds???
...Do you remember how I told you about him being a war Hero in WWII?...
...He was a Combat Medic...He was responsible for saving the lives of God only Knows...How many people,he Provided emergency first aid treament for, on the battlefields he served on...
...How many people's live's were saved as a result of him risking his life...To go out, in the heat of the battle, in the midst of fierce combat...He dodged bullets and rocket, mortar fire, to save his fellow warriors lives...
...Now, Extrapolate those numbers out into the future, and try and figure out...How many generations of people are alive today...And some of them, even still yet, to be born in the future...as a result of Clyde Enos Edmonds...
... Rushing out onto a hot battlefield to save someones life... It really is... that paradoxical time line continuim...Just like the back to the future movies , we love so much...
...Do you get it now???
...Did you learn what the answer is?.. To the questions we asked earlier???
...Those same questions?... That mankind has been wrestling with for years?...
...Maybe even you?... Have pondered this for yourself?...
...What an awesome thing it is!.. Once you've wrapped your mind around the concept... That you!..
...Really do, make a difference!..
...If you, so choose, to do so...
...And even more importantly!
...What if you choose wrong...?
...LET ME LEAVE YOU WITH THAT THOUGHT!!!
YOUR FELLOW TRAVELER
MICHAEL
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