Non-Believers

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Ezekiel 11:20     And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them.  I will take away their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart so they will obey my decrees and regulations.  

Ezekiel 36:26-27     And I will give you a new spirit in you.  I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.   

Matthew 6:10     May your Kingdom come soon, May your will be done on earth, as it is heaven.

Luke 23:34     Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” . . .

John 6:44     “For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up. . . “

John 14:6     Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one can come to the Father except through me.  . . .”

Romans 10:1     Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved.

2 Corinthians 4:4     Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe.  They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News.  They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

Ephesians 6:19     And pray for me, too, Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike.

Colossians 4:2-3     Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.  Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerting Christ.

1 Timothy 2:1     I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people.  Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.   

2 Peter 3:9     The Lord is not slow. . .  but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

 

Believers need to pray for all to have an open heart, to listen to the gratitude, peace, and encouragement that believers have, and how they want that same peace, joy, and grace  for others.   We pray that they will see spiritual enlightenment from us.  Many, not all the close non-believers I know in my life, tend to roll their eyes, clearly believing they are solely responsible for the accomplishments, pleasures, and rewards they see and have in their lives.  Most of these people are some of the kindest, most generous and welcoming people I know.  And I wonder how they can be so giving in all manner and yet their generosity is not from following the Lord, it is just intrinsic to who they are as people.  

My kindness has been a growing process since Jesus chose me to follow Him, to learn more about who and what He is and who He lived.  To seek the Holy Spirit, and allow his guidance, his ability to increase my knowledge, to encourage my growth, and to convict me when I am stubbornly not following the directives given.   My benefits are so much heightened since God chose me.  Initially, I did not follow fully.  Mostly as I did not have a mentor, was not attending a biblical, active, and many class available facility.  It took years before I found a church that fulfilled those needs.  As a nurse I worked at least every other weekend, sometimes, more than two a month so attendance was sporadic, and I therefore was not joining classes and so forth.  

My second husband was a Catholic; and although I was raised Catholic, I had left the church when I was 16, as it did not fill me with any special insight as to who God was/is, and who Jesus is. We o[ted to raise our combined family Catholic.  And I must admit, my attitude was never good then.  I felt like nothing connected to anything with the reading, with life and living, and you could attend and let your mind dwell into being a robot.   ‘Stand up, kneel down, stand and sit.’

That was NOT my idea of religion, learning God’s word, what He wanted for our lives, so I began to delve further.  I found a bible teaching church, and volunteered there is a couple positions.  I began reading the bible, and listening to many TV preachers–not all of whom I liked, but there were several I did, and was able to learn and begin growing.  I attended that church until 2014, but continued to volunteer every Monday, to count and input the funds, then take the money to the bank and deposit it.   One Monday when I arrived, it was obvious the church was not open.  I called one of my other volunteers; and he was so apologetic that no one had called to inform me and I had made the trip from North Topsail Beach to New Bern for nothing.

As I left the church, my cell phone rang, and I saw it was the Pastor of New Song.  I pulled over and he explained what had happened.  There had been a meeting of the different Methodist churches, and 6 years previous one of the things voted on was whether to marry gay folks.  At the initial vote, it was 80-20 against, two years later, it was 60-40, and as of the meeting which had occurred the previous week, it was now 50-50.  The pastor did not want to be told he had to go against the bible teaching of marrying same sex couples, and chose to put in his resignation, giving the hierarchy 2 months to find a new pastor.  He also informed his staff–a worship pastor, a youth pastor, and a children’s pastor.  They too put in their resignations.  

They received a phone call to pack their offices, leave their keys on the desk as they were all without a job.  As he relayed this, I was shocked.  How are you insisting on something that God has strictly forbidden?  

Obviously, for a coupe weeks, the church was in flux.  But another bible-teaching, believing church stepped forward, fronted some money so it could be started to build another facility, and the Social Service Dept in town let them have office space, while the high school stepped forward to offer a meeting place each Sunday.  God stepped up and in a way “rewarded” those pastors who said no to what the higher ups were beginning to push for.

During this time, I was attending the Gathering.  Sigh of relief.  I had two pastors who preached God’s Word without compromise or smoothing over sin.  They called sin, sin, and taught in a manner I silently cheered.   

But, still I wondered about those in my life who are non-believers.  I do not want them to perish–especially since they are good, kind, generous, and loving people.  They are in my daily prayers, and I pray believing God change the Irish hard-heads of some of them, and I thank Him that I believe He will save them, even if I don’t live to see it.  I believe it will be done.  I believe it for several reasons–God’s word promises to answer our prayers,  God’s will is done if we pray for what He wants, God wants none to perish, and if we thank Him and believe it will come to be, it will.

But I am so thankful, I can suck up more biblical knowledge NOW because I believe, attend a couple of bible studies, have a majority of friendships with believers, and am motivated enough to indulge my questions and learning through my own reading, exploring, seeking the Holy Spirit’s guidance and enlightenment.   Pastor Jordan said in a message a couple weeks ago about sometimes feeling as though he would give up his salvation.  Paul said the same.  I have said it in regards to these wonderful family members and friends who do not believe.  But it is too great a gift and the penalty is too great to push it away.  I will continue to pray, seek this resolution, that my loved ones will be saved.

Thank you, God for leading me and keeping a lamp lighting my feet to keep me on the path You have designated.  Thank You for saving me and reassuring that many others in my life will also come to know You as Savior and the blessing You are to me and ‘mybellaviews.’