PAGE 2

HAS THIS HAPPENED TO YOU? HERE’S WHAT YOU DO!

ONCE UPON A TIME
when my son and daughters were very young and at school I received a phone call in the early afternoon. The caller sounded like an American Caucasian of about thirty years old…  He literally asked me if he could speak dirty to me! God is good! God is great and greatly to be praised; so instantaneously my Father gave me the perfect answer for this broken, but wicked man.  I told him: “No, I won’t let you do that: but, I tell you what I will do. I will pray for you.”

I did the exact thing God, my Father, told me to do: “I will pray for you.” Of course, I did; I am, after all an honest woman. You know, this young man (who sounded like a businessman) didn’t say another word. Do you know what he did do? He listened. He listened and I kept praying. I kept praying when he quietly hung up. And to this day, at least twenty-six years later, when I think of him I thank God for the opportunity to help a sinner turn from his sins. I faced the giant and I won. I did not return evil with evil or horror with horror. Why? Because I cared about this man’s eternal life…

You know what else I have come to believe? I believe he was someone from the church I was going to at the time.

THE LESSONS:
A: Do not join in with a sinner’s disgrace!
B. Care about the eternal life of anyone who tries to harm you and stand firm in your authority!

Colossians 4:2-6
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.  And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.  Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.