Easter always gets me thinking about what matters in life. What about you? Of course, the Corona Virus has just heightened our awareness of what matters. For starters, I wanted to review our best messages since we started this blog.
The last few years have been crazy full for our family. Each week, our main goal is to create messages that bless you, dear friend. How can we best convey all the love we feel for you? Plus, I’m spending time with my beloved grandchildren.
All the while, amazing guests share their most sacred stories on Fireside Talk Radio just for you. Plus, we’re focused on best messages for you in our books this year. (Credit here goes to hard-working editors prodding me to examine every idea with excruciating, gut-wrenching integrity. For more about Elk Lake Publishing or CrossRiver Media, click here.)
Then, I also had the huge treat of getting to meet Josh McDowell for the second time in my life. All this spurred me to wonder. What is my favorite best message in all the things we’ve put out there for you in the last few years?
My Favorite Message
Below is the link to my personal favorite so far. The wisdom from amazing guests makes this pick harder than you might guess. The secret to what makes this best message so special is in the life of one good man.
When a Good Man Dies: One Man’s Impact
My husband and I think of David Stiles almost daily. Some sweet thing will happen and we’ll wish we could call our dear friend. Instead, we call someone else we love. We try to cherish the relationships we enjoy this minute, knowing he would love that. (For why an analytical, doubtful, cynical person like me became a Christian, click here.)
David Stiles took a special message to all his neighbors when he found out he had cancer. In his honor, I’m reprinting David’s message. Please think of it as our dear friend reaching out to you. God has a special message for you, too. David sought each neighbor out. Just so, God is seeking you out, too. For how to RSVP yes to God, keep reading.
Don’t ever forget, dear one, you have a special place in God’s heart. He seeks a relationship with you, with the same love motivating David Stiles when he went door to door to talk to each and every one of his neighbors.
David Stiles’s Letter
My name is David Stiles. I am your neighbor! I have just been diagnosed with lung cancer and God has impressed on my heart to share with you the love of Christ, the way to receive forgiveness for your sins and salvation through Him.
Please earnestly read the verses below on how to become a Christian. I would love to talk to you in more detail if you have more questions or if you would like to pray together. If you are a Christian, please pass this on to someone else who needs to know about the saving grace of our heavenly Father.
May God Bless You,
David Stiles
GOD LOVES YOU
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16
ALL ARE SINNERS
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. – Romans 3:23
As it is written, “none is righteous, no, not one.” – Romans 3:10
GOD”S REMEDY FOR SIN
For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 6:23
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. – John 1:12
ALL MAY BE SAVED
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. – Revelation 3:20
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” – Romans 10:13
But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the son of God and believing you may have life in his name. – John 20:31
PRAY
As a Christian you can talk to God through prayer and share your heart with Him. No matter where you are in your spiritual journey, He is faithfully listening for you to call on Him. To begin your new life in faith, pray this simple prayer:
“God, I confess that I am a sinner and need salvation. I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sins and rose again to bring me new life. I ask to receive your forgiveness and grace and choose to follow you as my Lord and Savior. Amen.”
(This is the spot in David’s Letter where you get to RSVP yes, if you want to receive the invitation God offers to have a relationship with him. I hope you do! For more about redemption and the art of messing up, click here. )
SEEK
The church is the body of Christ, designed to bring Him glory through worship, to teach Biblical doctrine, and to equip its members for evangelism. After making your decision to receive Christ, we encourage you to prayerfully seek a healthy Christian community in your local church that will help you continue to grow in your walk.
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. – 2 Peter 3:18
FIND
Assurance for the believer comes directly from God’s Word. The Gospel tells us that because Christ died for us, anyone who trusts Him may know that their sins have been forgiven, once and for all.
Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is the Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgement, but has passed from death to life. – John 5:24
May we pray together?
Father, you are seeking us out. Help our hearts know You better each day. If this dear reader needs You, I pray You would help this beloved person. We know You enter our lives and hearts if we but ask. Let this reader invite You into their life now. So simple! Thank you for loving us and seeking us out. Bless us now because it’s Your heart’s desire to bless us, especially with Your presence in our lives. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
We LOVE to hear from you!
How has someone else searched for you? When did you seek a friendship and what happened as a result? In what way could we help you find God as he seeks you?
Cathy Krafve, Columnist, Speaker, Blogger, Podcaster, and Christian Writer, invites your stories, ideas, and questions at CathyKrafve.com. Truth with a Texas Twang.
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