👨🏻‍💼👋That’s Wonderful Carl 🙇🏻‍♂️

Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.

—William James

2 Thessalonians 1:1 (KJV) Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

2 Thessalonians 1:2 (KJV) Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul begins his second letter to the Thessalonians as he did his first letter. With greetings, but this letter will be different. The first letter was about their faith, this second letter will be about encouragement during persecution because of their faith.

I remember the day I trusted in Christ Jesus as my savior. Oh what a day that was. I was so excited and I wanted others to have what I had just received myself. It was so simple just believe that Jesus Christ paid your sin debt. So I began telling my family, my friends and others I came in contact with. I remember standing in line at a drug story to pay for whatever I went there to get. I heard this lady tell the cashier about something and she said these words “I would sell my soul for that! I then told her about what the Lord had done for me and she too could be made free if she only trusted in Christ. Well that didn’t go over to good. She didn’t trust Christ at that time so my only hope is she thought about what was said and trusted Christ later. I was young in my faith and believed the whole world could be saved. My theology was right: the whole world can be saved, the Bible says so but one must believe and this is where the problem arises. It’s not in what Christ Jesus has done for us. It is where we as a people will believe and trust in what has already been done for everyone that has ever been born into this world. Many believed in their good behavior and their faithfulness in helping others. While all that is wonderful it’s just not enough. That’s what Carl at the ER in Monroe Georgia had placed his trust in. Carl was asked if he knew Christ as his personal savior to which he replied yes. Then Carl heard these words. That's great Carl, tell me about it. Carl said that he went to Church as much as his job would let him because he worked a lot of Sundays. He went on and said he was kind and helpful to others. He said that he gave money to organizations that were helping children and vets. He said he loved his wife and has been faithful to her. Then he said I consider myself to be a good person. Then he received a great smiling admiration, that’s wonderful Carl. Then Carl was asked if that was all it takes to go to heaven and your sin be forgiven then why do you think Jesus Christ died on the cross? I mean Carl, if you could do it yourself then why did Christ come into this world and then died? I don’t know said Carl. Then Carl was given this answer 

1 Timothy 1:15 (KJV) This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

To save who?  Sinners! The simple message is we were all born into a world full of sin and our nature is to sin and that makes us sinners. There is none good and the Bible tells us that.

Mark 10:18 (KJV) And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.

Carl, it didn’t say we didn’t do good things but it did say good things don’t make us good. Why?

Romans 3:23 (KJV) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

It wasn’t long before Carl bowed his head and asked Christ to come into his heart. Then the excitement flooded his face and he was grateful for what Christ had done for him. As life goes on the way our excitement is expressed is not the same. The day your son or daughter was born oh what a day of excitement for you and your wife. You are a proud dad, excitement is all over your face. Why you’re even passing out cigars; can you still do that any more? You know that may be taboo and you might be asked to leave the hospital. I’m not talking about cigars, I'm talking about the excitement. But as time goes on the excitement settles down but the memory of the moment doesn’t. You never forget the day that child was born and there will be many more days of excitement that will come. That’s the way it is about the day you were saved from your sins. It's a day you’ll never forget, that's for sure.  But just as the day your child was born, you still remember the excitement you felt but that same excitement isn’t an everyday event. The one thing you know is that you remember that day you were forgiven of your sins. Since that day there have been many more days of excitement you have enjoyed. Why? Because of the change.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV) Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. Just as that new born child will make mistakes and will disappoint you at times. The question is what will you do? Stop loving them? Throw them out? Course not you will correct them for their benefit you will keep loving them and working with them. That is what our Heavenly Father does with His children. You might think God does not care nor love you anymore because of the things you have done, places you have been or the things you have said. You are wrong! What would you do if your child came to you and said I’m sorry? Why don’t you do the same thing with your Heavenly Father? Father I’m sorry!