Dare To Believe...

Dare to Believe

Illus. By John Raulerson

A guy sees a sign in front of a house: "Talking Dog for Sale." He rings the bell and the owner tells him the dog is in the backyard. The guy goes into the backyard and sees a black mutt just sitting there. "You talk?" he asks.

"Yep," the mutt replies.

"So, what’s your story?"

The mutt looks up and says, "Well, I discovered my gift of talking pretty young and I wanted to help the government, so I told the CIA about my gift, and in no time they had me jetting from country to country, sitting in rooms with spies and world leaders, because no one figured a dog would be eavesdropping. I was one of their most valuable spies eight years running. The jetting around really tired me out, and I knew I wasn’t getting any younger and I wanted to settle down. So I signed up for a job at the airport to do some undercover security work, mostly wandering near suspicious characters and listening in. I uncovered some incredible dealings there and was awarded a batch of medals. Had a wife, a mess of puppies, and now I’m just retired." The guy is amazed. He goes back in and asks the owner what he wants for the dog. The owner says, "Ten dollars." The guy says, "This dog is amazing. Why on earth are you selling him so cheap?"

The owner replies, "He’s a big liar. He didn’t do any of that stuff." You can’t believe a word he says.

(from Mikey’s Funnies)

Acts 16:30-31 NKJ

30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and Thou shall be saved...

When a person is willing to believe in Jesus and make him the Lord and Savior of their life… That is the first step to a life that is filled with the endless possibilities and promises of the kingdom of heaven.

We have been taught that in the natural when things sound

to good to be true..they usually are

But in the super natural realm of the kingdom of God

Every promise is true, because every promise runs straight

through the cross and is guaranteed by the blood of Jesus..

At first glance, we might think that this is just a chance encounter with this jailer… As with most all of us with our first encounter with JESUS...

But God with his Omni presence… Looks ahead in someone's life and I believe there are no chance encounters but only divine appointments,

Because when they are willing to believe in His Only Begotten Son...He is willing to go to great lengths when someone wants to become a part of His Family

I have a friend who has adopted a baby from China and I have heard many other times as well when someone does adopt a baby from Another country...

They travel halfway around the world and they go to great lengths, sometimes through many obstacles...never with the assurance that they will actually be able to adopt the child and have them to become a part of their family..

God is no different…and today I want to try and show you some of the lengths and things God is willing to do and to go to when someone is willing to dare to believe..

For you see the story of the jailers conversion did not begin with our text and the walls started to shake...as with all great stories and things that God does in the process of helping one person, almost always..countless others are helped in the process..

For the sake of time this morning our story begins in verse 1 of acts 16...because the truth be told, the plans for everyone's lives began at the beginning of creation..

because even in the beginning...God knew their would be an end one day and in His infinite knowledge, He already provided a plan for everyone who would believe so they could escape an eternity of death..and spend forever with Him in heaven.

Acts 16 1-3 Paul came first to Derbe, then Lystra. He found a disciple there by the name of Timothy, son of a devout Jewish mother and Greek father. Friends in Lystra and Iconium all said what a fine young man he was. Paul wanted to recruit him for their mission, but first took him aside and circumcised him so he wouldn’t offend the Jews who lived in those parts. They all knew that his father was Greek.

(Timothy became the first miracle on the road to the jailers miracle...and he became a great asset to the ministry and kingdom of God...and no doubt touched countless lives in the process…Paul went on to write first and second Timothy all because of this divine appointment that got set up on the way to the jailers encounter..)