Good Story

Matthew 14:26–29 (NIV84)

When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”  “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”  “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

 

Good morning Zebras,

Once upon a time there was a Christian lady who was tired of having a useless faith and she prayed earnestly to God to allow her to get out of the “boat” and walk out on the water with Jesus.

And He did.

He started off small. Opening doors for her to go and speak at different events, first it was an event in Santa Rosa, the next year He added Sacramento and then He told her to go over the mountain to Nevada and speak there.  Even though she cried all the way over the mountain, she had never left California to speak before, she went because she knew God was telling her to go and because He had opened the door

Time passed and God kept teaching the woman new things.

First, He taught her He was a good God.  That His goodness was not measured by her life experiences but by what He had written in His Word.  He taught her that He really loved her, and that He was Holy and Perfect and in-charge.  He helped her to learn that sometimes when you work to please God, it makes men unhappy.

And she went around telling people what she had learned.

Then He taught her more, for although she had spent a lot of time learning about God the Father, she had forgotten about the Son.  So she spent year learning about Jesus.  She learned that Jesus was not only God’s Son, he was also God and that following Him meant more than just a life of free grace, it meant living a life of obedience to God as modeled by Christ.

And once again He opened doors for her to go and tell people what she had learned.

 

But God is a triune God and although she had learned about the Father and the Son, God showed her she was ignoring His Spirit.  It is God’s Spirit which allows His people to do all that God has called them to do.  And it was the final piece to the puzzle.

So now when she went places, she didn’t just talk about one aspect of God, she talked about four, God’s Word which reveals God, who sent His Son, who gave His life so that we could not only eternal life, but also the Spirit. 

And God blessed her efforts.

So she started praying God would open a door in her hometown where she could give this wonderful message of hope to the people she loved and knew. But because she thought it would be scary, she prayed God would do it in a miraculous way so she would know without a shadow of a doubt that it was Him opening the door.

And He did.

This Saturday, with only four days’ notice God has opened the doors at the Benicia Clock Tower for His message of hope.  And although the story is way too long to tell here, the following excerpt from an e-mail I received should give you an idea of what God did to make this happen.

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Feb 26 (2 days ago)

From: Benicia Grad night

To: the board

 I'm sure you've seen by now that we cancelled the poker tournament due to lack of interest.

Luckily, Jill will be using the Clock Tower for an "Evening of Hope and Encouragement" …From her description of it, it sounds like a lovely evening... I know, from poker and drinking to something much more spiritual and soul-satisfying!  Ha!

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And I thought “Only God…”

So the only thing left is to get the word out.  Everyone is invited, men, women and youth, saved and unsaved because it is God’s event and only He knows who is supposed to be there.

Love

Jill

An Evening of Hope

This Saturday, March 2
6:30-9 pm
Benicia Clock Tower
Free admission