Not Everyone Will Get In (a vision & a word)

YOU DO MATTER (a short story)

Delbert started on his daily walk to school like he always had. He was now a Junior at Harriet Tubman High School and had made this 1 mile trek every day for the last 2 years and always looked forward to stopping at the gas station on the corner of 5th Avenue & Franklin Street to get his daily order of suckers and BBQ potato chips. Every day for the last 2 years as he left the house he would put on his headphones so he could listen to his favorite gospel album. Delbert accepted Jesus at a very early age of only 10 years old and every morning for the last 6 years he would get up and pray and read a scripture or two from the Bible. It may sound strange but even at an early age he just loved the Lord and every morning he looked forward to opportunities to share Jesus with someone.

Well today was an exceptionally beautiful day. The sun was shining and their was a slight breeze blowing out of the south, which caused it to feel just absolutely amazing. It was such a great day that Delbert decided to leave 15 minutes early so he had more time to enjoy this amazing day. As he approached the gas station he noticed something different today. Usually he would see Susie outside cleaning up the garbage from the night before but this morning the station was eerily quiet, with no outside activity what so ever. As he got closer he noticed there was a car parked in front of the station that he had never seen before. It was sitting there idling and he could see there was someone nervously fidgeting in the driver’s seat. His whole body grew cold with fear as he got closer and could see Susie in a desperate struggle with two men inside.

Everything in him said “run away” but a single voice said “go in”. He ignored the voices of fear and obeyed the bold voice that told him to go in. When he entered the station he startled the guy who was beating Susie and he immediately turned the gun on Delbert. He then put his hands up and asked the guy why he was beating Susie. He said, “Mind your own business bro and get out now”.

“I can’t leave now”, said Delbert.

Perplexed, the gunman asked him, “What? Why not?”

“My God doesn’t want me to leave. He wants to talk to you”, Delbert replied.

“What are you talking about?”, the gunman angrily responded.

Delbert calmly repeated what he said a few seconds ago, “He wants to talk to you”.

“Well... what does He want to say?”, the gunman shouted, his patience wearing thin.

Delbert continued, “He wants to say that even as you are doing this horrible thing, He loves you. He wants to hold you in His arms and let you know your mom will be just fine”.

The gunman was extremely confused now. “What do you know about my mom little boy? And you better not be messing with me.”
Delbert boldly replied, “He knows your mom has been sick with throat cancer and that you are robbing this store to help pay for her operation. He said your mom is already healed and is ready to go home now. She no longer needs the operation because He already healed her. If you go home right now there is a message on the phone for you to come and get her.”

The gunman started sobbing, immediately dropped the gun, approached Delbert and fell on his knees before him as he grabbing his arms as he went to his knees. Delbert reached out and embraced him and whispered in the gunman’s ear, “Jesus loves you Tony. And He has been calling you back to him for a long time now. It’s time to go back to Jesus.”

The gunman collapsed the rest of the way to the floor and cried out, “How did you know my na...? Never mind. “Jesus I’m so sorry for getting angry with you when my mom got sick. I didn’t know what else to do but I should’ve come to You instead of pushing you away. I’m so sorry Jesus! Please take me back!”

When he saw this amazing display the other guy in the store with the gunman fell to his knees and asked Jesus to come to Him as well. Delbert was so excited that these lost souls were now back where they belong that he didn’t notice Susie weeping uncontrollably by the counter. But it was now for a different reason. She had visible bruising from the beating she took but she began asking Jesus to forgive the men who came in the store to rob them. So moved by what she saw, while she was on her knees she asked Jesus to come into her heart as well. The other guy in the car was so angry and freaked out that he just pulled off and left everyone there in the station. That day, 3 people were brought to Christ. And Delbert continued on to school, praising God!

What happened to those people:

The guy that took off in the car never repented and was eventually shot and killed in a hail of bullets in a gang fight a month after the event at the gas station.

Tony and the other guy who came in the store with him started a ministry to reach out to gang members and was solely responsible for leading 1500 souls to Christ who were once gang members. He now has a prison ministry that leads thousands of young men to Christ every year.
Susie started a homeless shelter that ministers to women who have been victims of domestic violence. She no longer works at the gas station but now speaks all around the country to groups of women who were once victims, showing them the importance of forgiving their abusers, leading tens of thousands of women to Christ all around the United States.

Delbert is the senior pastor of “In Faith Ministries”, a local church that now has over 3500 members with 7 satellite locations around the state. He travels around the world talking to young people to let them know that it’s okay to accept their call to Christ at a young age. His ministry is now responsible directly and indirectly for over 500,000 young people giving their lives to Christ!

~Robert T. Sells~

The moral of the story: Don’t be afraid to move when God tells you to move. He has already given you the victory! I pray this story blesses you. All glory to God!!

BIBLICAL WISDOM: "THE DAY OF THE LORD WHO'S SIDE ARE YOU ON?"

IF YOU THINK THEY HATE YOU, YOU'RE RIGHT

"If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." ~ (John 15:18-19 NKJV) During these last days, evil is increasing exponentially and more and more people feel that they don't need Jesus anymore. This is what was foretold by Jesus Himself in Matthew 24. During His few years in ministry, Jesus did AMAZING miracles. He healed people instantly, He cast out demons, He taught like no one else during His time. He fed thousands of people in one day with just a few pieces of bread and fish. He calmed a torrid sea. He re-attached a soldier's ear without surgery. He made the blind see, opened dear ears, etc... I could go on and on with everything that the Lord has done. But even though they personally experienced all of those miracles, when it came down to a moment when they could set Jesus free, all of the people turned their backs on Him and asked Pontius Pilate to release to them a brutal killer named Barabbas. It amazed me when I read this scripture that they actually wanted to release a common criminal and send Jesus off to be brutally beat and crucified. In this day and age it is no different. We can see time and time again how many people are turning their backs on Jesus and casting Him out of their lives. Some cheerleaders at a high school in Texas were told they can no longer run through a poster of a scripture to start the games like they had for so long. A group of college boys were asked to NOT pray in the locker room anymore before a game. A Christian bakery was attacked because they refused to make a cake for a homosexual wedding. The mother of a young man killed in a car accident in Oklahoma was asked to remove the crosses from the scene where her son had died and they weren't even put there by her. In the same state, the devil worshippers tried to erect a statue of the devil, which was eventually built in Michigan. In DC, the Ten Commandments were removed from the steps and put in the basement out of site because they offended people. I'm going to say this: in order to be an atheist you HAVE TO believe in God. After all, how can you possibly hate someone who YOU SAY doesn't exist? Family, we are in a very challenging time as Christians because no one likes us. We will be challenged every time we speak what know to be true according the Word of God. Why is this? Because Jesus said that we will be hated because of Him. (John 15:18) It is during this time that we have to decide who we will serve, God or man. Joshua 24:15 says, "And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Jesus gives us a choice as to who we will believe. But if we believe the Word of God is 100% true, then we shouldn't have a choice. Our ONLY choice should be to believe in Jesus! That belief cannot falter because we want to be accepted by the world. We may gain the acceptance of the world (Matthew 16:26) by being lukewarm Christians but we will lose our ETERNAL LIFE (Luke 17:33) because of our refusal to acknowledge Jesus. Jesus said if we reject Him before man He will reject us before the Father (Matthew 10:33). During these difficult and challenging times, we MUST choose Jesus. We must stand strong and put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18) so we can stand the flaming arrows of the enemy. We must move forward in boldness with no fear because God didn't give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind (1 Timothy 1:7). Let's stand for Jesus! If we truly believe that Jesus is Lord and Savior then we MUST stand for JESUS. We must stand in the face of great aggression and even persecution. We must stand even though the world hates us. We must stand because it's the right thing to do. And we must stand because we love God... PERIOD! God bless you!! Robert T Sells *************************************** About the author: Robert T. Sells (aka The Anointed Poet) is the co-owner, with his wife Marlas, of Words of Inspiration Ministries in Nashville, Tennessee. He is an award-winning writer and poet who is known for his gift of prose and has been spreading the message of the Gospel through poetry and song around the country. Sells is also the author of several books in the Words of Inspiration poetry series and a Christian spoken word CD. For more information about his ministry or to purchase products and/or services, visit his website at www.wordsofinspirationministries.com.

"Because You Loved Me" (a poem about domestic violence)

BIBLICAL WISDOM: "THEY DON'T SEE WHAT YOU THINK THEY SEE"

BIBLICAL WISDOM: "DON'T HIDE YOUR SINS FROM GOD"