"God Made Convertibles"
- Acts 3: 19-21 -
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
In the beginning, God created mankind without sin. In their disobedience to God, sin entered the human race. It was totally their choice to eat of the "forbidden". The power of choice is a wonderful gift from God. Yet there is one choice God never allowed man to exercise. No one can choose whether or not to be born with a sinful nature. The decision that affects our lives the most was made by the first man, Adam. We have absolutely no choice about the kind of nature we’ve got at birth. It is a sinful nature. If unchanged or converted, it will lead to eternal death. But even though we are born with a fallen nature, God gives us a choice about changing or converting that nature. It is the most important decision that any person faces during his lifetime. The choice is whether we yield to that sinful nature and die eternally, or receive a new nature through faith in Christ and live eternally. So friend, you and I are not excluded, get that settled first and foremost...got it??? Good. The good news is that an all knowing, ever present, all-powerful Creator, in His eternal plan provided a Savior to reunite man back to God. The Lord gave me the title for this message, and after studying, you and I will see why. Conformations from Him are absolutely a must when I do a message for His world...amen. Here we go.......
In the beginning, all cars were open, evolving (I hate that word) later into roofed vehicles. Weather protection wasn’t considered. God’s creation too was made open. Meaning we had nothing, no top to separate us from Him. Since the late 1800’s, car manufacturers around the world have produced the convertible. At first as I said, there wasn’t a roof on the cars. The more popular vehicles got, people wanted to ride in them all the time in any kind of weather. Just like when sin blood poisoned mankind, sin kept and keeps us from God. Pretty soon we are comfortable and we don’t need the openness, the relationship with our Father.
So, after a while there were hardly any convertibles being made. They just weren’t popular anymore. So, manufacturers quit building convertibles simply because the public stopped buying them. They were merely heeding to what the population told them. The separation between us and the Heavens was fine. I can get along just fine without it. Just like today, "the population", persuaded by the devil is convincing others that it’s all about fame, money, and position. We don’t need to be open, being guided, or loved by God.
Now, in the last twenty years, with greater technology in electronics and safety, the fun of having a convertible has returned. Motorists are again ready for convertibles. So, in comparison, as we are in; I believe the last of the last days before the rapture of the church and the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, people are coming back to God. Our opinions we’ve gotten from other people, or even from the non-Bible believing churches are changing because we are getting the truth from our own reading His uncompromising, unchanging Word. Our trying to do this; going through life’s journey on our own is getting us know where. Unhappy, no joy, no hope, no peace. Disappointment, no satisfaction in anything we try to accomplish. We have no idea what tomorrow "might" bring. Our plans always end up disasters. We are now consulting God in our life, seeing what He wants or what He thinks about it. We are now walking in the plan He has for us, we know our destiny, our future. By faith we walk, not by sight or feelings or others ways. What a concept...daaaaa. We are doing something about our sins, that we now realize is what is keeping us from heaven and relationship with the Heavenly Father. We are repenting, asking for a soul-cleansing miracle that will get us on the right road. We are getting converted. (Mark 4:12) That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them. Thank God he didn’t create us unconverterable...amen. We have a second chance.
Other Convertible Nuggets:
* Trust God to convert you...Let the wind of His spirit blow on and in you. Just like the convertible owners will tell you, they feel free, so when God controls and intervenes in your life you will be free. But you have to stay in the convertible...
* Just like the automakers, God makes convertibles in all colors.
* Let your T.O.P. down: T= Trying on your own, let God rule and reign in your life. O= Opinions, read, pray, go to a Bible believing church. P= Personal sins. Ask God’s forgiveness. Don’t buy the lie that evil is good and good is evil.
* Some convertibles don’t have a back seat, take no back seat to the enemy
* The sun/moon roof compromise: let God in a little, the wind of His Spirit sometimes, the Light of His Word once in a while when you "feel" like it, or nobody can see you’ve let God in (closet Christian).
* It’s important for convertibles to have an especially sound structure to make up for the lack of a roof. Your foundation must be in Christ. On Christ, the SOLID ROCK I stand. All others are SINKING SAND.
* Requires the driver to manually latch and unlatch it from the windshield. We have to have faith to allow God to work in our life. He is a gentleman and will not barge in. Remember, He gave us the power to decide. He stands at the door waiting for us to open it and let Him in.
* The mechanism folds down into itself when the roof is open, and expands to form the structure of the roof when the roof is closed (get rid of your self), get out of God’s way so He can work in our life.
* (Matt. 16: 3, 4) And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Don’t think you are so big, so mighty, or will be weak if you accept Jesus as your Savior. It takes a real man a real women to become Christians. One who will stand for what is right and won’t bow to the world’s ways.
* (Matt. 13:15) For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. This pretty much tells us our state without God. We are hearing what we want to hear. we are seeing things though our eyes, not through His. We just think as I said before can get through it own our own. "Waxed gross", hard hearted, nothing/no one can get in. You’ve shut out the One who loves you most. You’re a "hard top".
Unless you be converted is the word for you today friend. Unless you let the Lord into your life and have His way, you will be living lower, much lower than the "abundant life" God promises for you. Be one who allows Him to convert you. To convert you from.......you fill in the blank, to the man or woman of God He created you to be...amen.
In closing let us pray for you my friend, Father, I ask you to bless my friends reading c42day, right now. Lord, let this message penetrate their hearts and realize their need for you. Give them faith to believe and trust in Our Might God. It’s my and I know your desire Lord that they have been challenged to change their life. For sure they have been challenged2Bchanged. In Jesus Name...Amen
God Bless,
Mike & Carole
