Day of Praise

Fri, 09/08/17, "Day of Praise"

"So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, 'Do you understand what you are reading?' And he said, 'How can I, unless someone guides me?' And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him." - Acts 8:30-31

We could have just thought that the Harley guy had stopped to take pictures of the beautiful, active volcano, which at 14,179 feet dominates the northern California landscape and which is covered by seven, global-warming-defying, growing glaciers and which is also known as Mount Shasta
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/Sunrise_on_Mount_Shasta.jpg/220px-Sunrise_on_Mount_Shasta.jpg).

And as we walked the clearly brand-new, Mount Shasta trivia-covered, 50-yard sidewalk and neared him, we could have just thought that the Harley guy had stopped to read his Bible and, therefore, we should have just let him have his peace.

But the Holy Spirit of the living God wasn't going to just let us walk past the ZZ Top look-alike (http://www.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRb1s2Pja_R6E4sq-oyjvEzyex9Cn4FM8_0JMy9LxF-YPLBpkU1jr9AzQ) without us noticing that, at this beautiful, awe-inspiring vista, the motorcycle man was not just reading his Bible. He was reading the Book of Job.

So the Holy Spirit gave us an Acts 8:30-31 kind of exchange. We said, "Do you understand what you're reading?" And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited us to come and sit with him.

To make a not-too-long story short, we discovered that his Harley had broken down at the only place in this stretch of road where 1) he could safely pull his bike off the road and 2) his phone could pick up a signal so he could call a distant relative who lived a few hours away. We also discovered that he had self-admittedly lived a shameful life, and he had just been convicted by the Holy Spirit to open and read the Bible that he'd been given years ago but had toted around without cracking it open until about 30 minutes before. Then we discovered that he thought you get into heaven by hoping that you get things turned around just enough in just the nick of time so that God will consider letting you in. And then we discovered his name was K__ A_______.

And then we discovered that God was again true to his promise and worked through all that K.A. had just shared to bring our lives together at just the right moment so we could tell him that God knows his shame and ours, which is why God sent His Son, Jesus, to bear and wipe away our shame on the cross and to give us a new life through the forgiveness of sins and the indwelling of the risen Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit.

And then we prayed for K.A. to receive Christ and to live a new life in the strength and love of Jesus Christ. 

And then we got back in our car and finished our drive to beautiful JH Ranch (http://m.jhranch.com/AboutUs.asp?rewrite=Y) for our father/daughter camp and more Mount Shasta height highs of sharing Jesus and seeing others, like a 14-year old previously-atheistic boy, come to saving faith in God's love through Jesus. 

Please pray for K.A. and that 14-yr old boy and all the poor souls on the road of life who don't know, or who have just discovered, what to do with the poverty of shame in their souls. 

And while you're at it, don't forget to give yours to Jesus too!

Praise God!

Chris DeGreen