Morning Moments

As we continue our consideration of 1 Kings 10 regarding the Queen of Sheba and Solomon we discover that after having heard so much about Solomon:

She Came - She heard of his fame concerning the Name of the Lord.
She came to him with "hard questions". However just coming was not enough. She didn't have to come, yet she came so far and with so much.

He was an atheist, but he began to open up to my wife and me as to how he became one. Remember Mrs. O'Haire said she became one by what she read. He had been educated in Catholic schools but could find answers to his hard questions. As we talked, God gave just the answers he had been looking for, but would the answers be enough to bring my new friend to Jesus?

She Communed - She communes with him of all that was in her heart. Wow! See came because she heard and she saw more than she could ever haved imagined. Now she opens her heart to him. Here was a man whose father was a man after God's own heart and whose mother was an absolute "knock out". God had graced him with so much materially, but also with more wisdom than any human being had ever known except for Jesus. By the way, Jesus wants us to commune with Him - no pretense, no facade, no veil.

He opened his heart to my wife and me as we sat drinking a cup of coffee after our lunch. He was a busy man and I knew he had patients waiting in his office; he was a medical doctor with a very successful practice ... But he was an abortionist. How I hated what he did, but I loved him with a love that only God could give.

Over the next couple of years we had many such conversations, but although he confessed that he was no longer an atheist, he would not surrender to Christ. God gave me the answer to each question and one day with Leonard Ravenhill on one phone praying and Peter Lord on the other praying, and me on my knees beside his chair, he made his final decision and it was "NO" to Jesus.

It wasn't long afterward that he called me to his office one Saturday morning. As I sat across the desk from him, he pulled out a loaded and cocked 45 calibar pistol, put it to his head and asked if I would watch him blow his brains out. I began to weep and answered, "if after all our time together as friends you would so little love and respect for me, yes I will watch you. Thank God I took the pistol.

She Commended - It was a true report I heard.

The Queen of Sheba was so overwhelmed at Solomon's wisdom and wealth that there was no spirit left in her. In other words, she was speechless, as in a daze. This man did not make this impact on this woman because he was a powerful man but because He honored the Powerful God. Remember the Fame because of the NAME of the Lord.

She Confessed - I did not believe...but when she had see..there was no more spirit left within her.

My friend always showed the greatest respect for my wife and me and for our love for the Lord. He said to me once, "I have never been able to talk to anyone like I talk to you. Priests and ministers talk down to me." He was so full of hurt and so helpless. I told him many times how much I appreciated his friendship, but I would love to see him surrender his life to Jesus. Please understand that this was not a man with whom you could whip out your little booklet, nod your head, and ask him to repeat after you. BUT He saw the reality of the presence of God in our lives and could not deny what he saw.

He confessed his emptiness, but would not yield to God's fullness. Being sorry doesn't make one saved. A mere prayer doesn't being one pardon. More to come.

PRAYER: O my gracious God, I do not belittle any effort to bring others to Jesus, you know that, but PLEASE help us to understand and to explain that salvation is a life for a life: our life for His Life. Please precious Savior, helps us to stop cheapening the gospel by leading people to think just because they give a nod, they get your Name. Help us to remember the words of our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ, who said, "Whoever holds on to his LIFE with loss it, but whoever loses his life for MY sake and the GOSPEL'S shall find it.