The following is a story of one of my loved ones who, if she could speak to you from heaven right now, would want to give you this message, because now she knows the truth. I believe she is now healed, free, forgiven, saved, and in heaven with Jesus because she finally said “Yes” to Jesus, and she let go and gave him her all. But this is her story.
Metaphorically speaking, she “walked a tightrope” over a ravine, probably most of her life. And to walk a tightrope means to be on a very precarious course dealing with a difficult situation, especially one involving making a decision between two opposing plans of action. Her life practice was a balancing act between two sides (God and the flesh) and one slip could mean a great fall. It's similar to "walking on thin ice,” i.e. things could go crashing down, if you make one wrong move. But walking a tightrope, in itself, is the wrong way to go in life.
This woman was an entertainer (unofficially) who loved to make people laugh, and she always had a joke to tell. She was friendly and funny, and a lot of people liked her. But she led a sinful lifestyle. She was an addict. And she was someone who took advantage of others and who manipulated others to get what she wanted from them. It was all part of her balancing act between good and evil, i.e. between what she believed was following Christ with her life and following after her own flesh.
But she continued to steal and to not repay, to lie, to cheat, and to charm her way out of doing what she knew was right, i.e. to manipulate and deceive in order to get what she wanted. She was, however, more concerned about people liking her than she was about leading them down the straight path. She was more concerned about her own kids being her friend than she was about disciplining them and discipling them to walk in the ways of the Lord. She even enabled some of her own children to follow in her footsteps.
My intention here, though, is not to talk bad about the deceased, for she is no longer with us. And I believe that, at the end of her life, she surrendered her life to Jesus Christ. I know the Lord Jesus has forgiven her, and that she is now in heaven with him singing his praises. I am holding on to that hope, and I look forward to the day when I get to see her again in glory. My intention here, though, is to make certain that we understand the hell that she went through most every day of her life so that none of us walks that same path as she did.
For my loved one, metaphorically speaking, walked this tightrope over a ravine which is a gorge, chasm, or abyss. And an abyss is another word for hell. For she was on a tightrope between following her own flesh and following Christ, and below was hell. I believe she knew that. She told me often how she had trouble trusting in Jesus Christ and how she knew she was supposed to give him her life but she was still holding on to her flesh. She knew she was walking that tightrope, and that she had not yet made a decision which side she wanted to be on.
And that is most of what caused her pain, I believe, because she could not let go and let God have full reign in her life. She still wanted to be in control. She didn’t want anyone telling her what to do, not even God. She continually resisted authority, and lived a life torn between doing what she knew was right and doing what she knew was wrong, even though it was destroying her life, both from without and from within; both physically and spiritually. And, to cover her pain, she joked. She made people laugh.
One day I heard someone describe her as someone who was like Jesus who “accepted everyone and didn’t judge people.” It was not the time then to correct that error, but it is now, lest we get the wrong idea about Jesus or about our Christian faith and practice.
Jesus loved everyone for sure. That is why he came to earth, took on human form, suffered as we suffer, was tempted as we are tempted, yet without sin, and it is why he willingly went to the cross to die for our sins so that we could be free from slavery to sin, and so we could be free to walk daily in his righteousness and holiness. Yet, it is not true that Jesus accepted everyone and that he didn’t judge people. He did! That is why they hung him on the cross to die, because he told them that what they were doing was evil.
I think sometimes we get this idea that saying “nice” things to people, even if they are lies, and just accepting people just as they are without concern over their sin, and not judging their sin, is being kind and like Jesus. Oh, how wrong!
How many people are walking that tightrope and are living daily in torment of soul? How many are not even on that tightrope but are just living for hell and self? If all we do is make them laugh and join in with them in making jokes about everything, and if we never confront them with their sin, and warn them of judgment, and if we never tell them that Jesus said that if we are to follow him that we must die to sin and self and follow him in surrender and obedience, then we could be “loving” them straight to hell.
This is not what Jesus did! He was kind to people, but his kindness also meant speaking the truth in love, because lies are never kind. Truth, if said in love, is what is kind. We get no picture of Jesus accepting people as they were if what they were doing was living in sin. He told them the truth about their sin, and he called them to repentance (to turn away from their sin) and to obedience to him. He said that his sheep know his voice, they listen, and they follow him (in obedience). He said that if we love him we will obey him.
This does not mean we will live in sinless perfection or that we will never falter, but what it does mean is that we, as his followers, should no longer be walking according to our flesh, but we should be walking according to the Spirit, by God’s grace, through faith, and all in the power and working of the Spirit within us. Jesus judged sin in sinful humans all the time. That is why they hated him. He was not everyone’s buddy. And he never covered up sin nor did he give people pats on the back and tell them they were “ok” even though they were dead in sin.
So don’t lie to people to make them feel good. Speak the truth in love to them, for it is the truth that sets people free, not the lies. My loved one knew the truth, and there was a part of her which wanted to follow the truth. But the other part of her which was drawn into sin resisted the truth that she knew she must obey if she was to spend eternity with Jesus in heaven. And she resisted probably very close to her death. I believe she surrendered her life to the Lord before she died. But we should never be people who gamble with eternity. So surrender your all to Jesus today!
Please read these Scriptures, believe them, and surrender to Jesus.
[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
As the Deer
By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1
As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70
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