Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Last night I had the privilege of sharing the plan of salvation with another inmate. He agreed right along with everything I said. The door just opened for me to explain to him what I believe, after he told me what he believed, which is basically living a good life. I told him that our goodness would not earn us salvation, because no matter how good we are, it is not good enough in God’s eyes because we are all sinners and deserving of punishment. But it is only Christ’s death on the cross, who took our punishments for each of our sin that merits our salvations, nothing we can do. We must accept the penalty he paid for us and commit our lives to Him, making Him Savior and Lord. I don’t remember his name, but pray the seed I planted takes root, or that we will talk again.
One thing I have learned – you always are able, at least with men in your unit, to bring the gospel and bits and pieces over time. For the most part, we’re all here together, day after day, month after month, and sometimes year after year. There is plenty of time to talk further. It’s best to make a friend first and build confidence and credibility with them, and eventually, you’ll get to share what you believe. I met this man right after I came to prison.
I did not sleep well last night as I went to bed very concerned that both Kathie and William may have mono, which was the initial probable diagnosis when William went to the doctor yesterday. Once again, I was awake most of the night pleading with the Lord to let this not be the case.
I believe Kathie and William both being sick at home, with dangerously high fevers, is nothing but an additional attack of Satan, and it was working very well to discourage me last night. I felt sort of like Job.
Kathie and I are in the midst of a concerted attack by Satan and there is a war in the heavenlies over our lives, witness, and whatever is God’s divine purpose He has for our remaining days on this earth. For I know this time in prison will be just a blip compared to eternity.
We are taught throughout the New Testament to expect this. Satan is our adversary (Ephesians 6:12). But God is our deliverer (I John 4:4; Deuteronomy 23:14; Psalm 50:12; II Timothy 4:18). God has in the past delivered Kathie and me from many trials and tribulations, including severe pain, a real fire, death on two occasions, sickness, false accusations and trials, a demon-possessed mob in the slums of Bombay, accidents, and more!
At times there has been no explanation as to why we were going through these trials, but God showed His miraculous power! Oftentimes we’ve recognized that God wanted to show His providential power by diverting us or taking us someplace unexpectedly – because He had a divine appointment for us. And there have been times when we’ve faced difficulties and have never known what God’s purpose was. Yet, according to Isaiah 55:8-9, we may never know until we reach eternity.
On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court meets to decide whether to hear my case or not. I am told it would take a miracle for them to decide to hear it. And so, I must expect a miracle! But I know and recognize that God may have a different plan and that He may providentially have something else in store for me. Or, perhaps we may never know this side of heaven His purposes for taking us through this fire and us being pawns in this spiritual battle between Satan’s demons and God’s angelic hosts. The greatest picture of this unseen warfare is seen in II Kings 6:15-19, where the heavenly hosts are suddenly visible to Elisha’s servant.
I do know we must recognize the battle for what it is, the schemes of the devil, and hence we must be shod with the full armor of God and be strong (stand firm) in the Lord and trust in the strength of His might, as Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:10-12. And God always delivers one way or another, whether it be miraculous, providential, or mysterious, we must trust and obey and have faith in God and not in ourselves or our own ability! God will deliver us in His own unique way!