This is from Chapter Eleven of my older novel Sweet Release.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CM was so glad to see her mother standing outside the entrance to the church. She doubted at this stage of her God investigations she could’ve attended church by herself. It was just too uncomfortable walking into a place where she assumed everyone knew what to expect except her. Her mother smiled as she approached, and it dawned on CM how pretty she looked, dressed in a maroon skirt with a black silk blouse under her black wool jacket. She had on classy looking heels which added a couple inches to her normally 5’3” height. Her medium length brown hair had a generous blonde frost on it, and the breeze wisped it around her face allowing the sun to capture all the highlights.
“Wow, Mom, you look beautiful.”
Her mother blushed. “Oh, honey, thank you.”
As the two of them walked into the foyer of the church, Pastor Bill Chambers approached them with a welcoming smile and a sincere handshake for both of them. “I was praying I’d see you two today. I’m grateful you came.”
“Thank you, Bill,” Millie said, her voice quiet.
“Nice to see you again, Pastor,” CM said, realizing how genuine this man seemed every time she saw him.
“If you’re not busy after the service, I’d be honored if you’d be my guests for lunch,” he offered.
Millie looked inquisitively at CM.
“I’d appreciate a rain check, but you can go, Mom. I’m afraid I’ve got a feature to finish.”
“Millie?” he asked, his gaze direct.
“Well, I suppose I could, if you’re sure, Bill.”
“Oh, I’m positive, Millie. Great. Guess I better get my pastor hat on and get with it. Thank you both for coming.” He shook their hands again.
“Mom,” CM whispered.
“What?” Millie looked puzzled at her daughter’s stealth.
“He likes you, Mom,” her hushed tone excited.
“Oh, CM!” she responded louder than she intended and lowered her voice. “That’s ridiculous. He knows how I felt about your dad - he feels sorry for me.”
“Mom,” CM stifled a laugh. “I wasn’t born yesterday—I’m 28 years old now, remember? He’s interested in you. Seriously.”
“That’s absurd, CM. Now let’s go find a seat.”
The two ladies sat in the third row from the back on the right side near the far aisle of a nearly full sanctuary. The worship team sang several choruses and two hymns. Everyone stood and sang with them, many of them lifting their hands in the air as they sang. During the musical pauses several people said “Hallelujah!” or “Praise the Lord”. CM remarked to her mother as they sat down after the singing was over how beautiful everyone sounded. Millie’s eyes held tears.
“Usually I give you a summary of the information printed up in the bulletin. If you didn’t receive one, please feel free to ask an usher or pick one up out in the foyer. Today I have to tell you the Holy Spirit is urging me forward with this message before the beauty of His presence fades. So if you’ll join me in prayer, we’ll begin this part of the service.
“Heavenly Father, no one walked into your house this morning without being drawn here by your Spirit. That’s the way it happens. Whether you’ve known the Lord for years and years or if you’ve only known Him for a matter of days or even if you have yet to surrender to His magnificent love and forgiveness, you came here today because of the sweet invitation of our God through His Holy Spirit. That’s how it all begins, isn’t it? He sends out His invitation through a friend, an event, a trauma, a circumstance, or even a curiosity He put in your heart to find out who this Creator really is. Well, Lord, whatever the case may be, I ask this morning that you would make yourself known in a specific way to each heart that has come to celebrate who you are today. Thank you, in the name and authority of Jesus Christ.
“You may be seated.”
CM sat down quickly, feeling hot but wielding goosebumps. She slipped her coat off and draped it over the back of the chair.
“I have to tell you today’s message is one of urgency. So I hope you’ll listen to the cry of the Lord’s heart as I give you what He’s given me. Have you ever been promised something but failed to receive it from the one who promised it to you?” He paused and looked down for a moment. “Have you ever been lied to so cleverly that you never doubted it was the truth you were being told? Have you ever trusted someone with your whole self and been betrayed by that someone? Perhaps as I offered each one of these questions for your examination, somehow you were able to answer no to them. But I think if you really examine them further, you will inevitably have to answer yes to at least one of them.
“You see, there is a devil. He is the master of deception. He promises to deliver on any number of things, doesn’t he? C’mon, just one drink—it’ll be fun. Just one toke, just one snort, just one shot, just one . . . And you know what? It is fun . . . at first. C’mon, we love each other. It’ll be so beautiful if we sleep together—what could possibly be wrong with it? Now it may or may not seem beautiful to you the first time you cross that line with sex outside of marriage, but it won’t stay beautiful under the glare of the selfishness that preceded the act and demanded sexual fulfillment before the spiritual and emotional requirements were met. Selfishness is never ‘beautiful’, and it is never fulfilling, but it’s always demanding.
“He’s a great liar, isn’t he? Jesus called the devil the ‘father of lies’ and the ‘author of confusion’. Now tell me, have you ever been confused by your circumstances? So entangled in your situation that you couldn’t decide if there ever was a right and wrong decision to be made in that situation? You finally make a decision in desperation, and everything blows up in your face. Suddenly, you can see how wrong you were to go in that direction, and you can’t understand for the life of you how you made that decision. Ahh, the devil deceived and confused you, and you took the bait. Remember, the Bible tells us his objective is to ‘rob, kill, and destroy’ our life. Whatever works on you, he’ll figure out and apply.
“How can he possibly be defeated? He’s smarter than we are. He’s craftier than we are. He’s a supernatural being in that he was created a spectacular angel. How can we win against such an evil foe?”
The pastor stayed quiet as he paced back and forth on the platform. “We can’t,” he said succinctly. “Without the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior and our Lord, we are powerless to defeat the enemy of our souls. We are absolutely useless against him. He is able to drive us in multiple directions in our lives, all of them motivated by the desire to be fulfilled, loved, respected, and admired. Some of us would settle for just being loved because some of us have never felt the blessing of having someone love us for who we are. Others of us would settle for being fulfilled - you see, we’ve perfected our craft, our skills, our business, made ourselves an outstanding career - but we’re empty, and no matter how much acclaim we receive and how much more we achieve, it feels meaningless. I know some of you men would just once like to feel the respect of your wives, if not for what you look like, at least for what you do. But somehow your wives think it’s enough to wash your clothes and tell you they love you without really conveying their respect for who you are as a man. Ladies, you wonder what it’s going to take to make that man of your dreams show his love for you. You’re mystified because it seems so obvious to you. After all, all he needs to do is learn from some romantic movie, for crying out loud.”
Some nervous laughs flitted around the sanctuary.
“And all the time, through all of your thoughts and imaginations, the devil is there to prod you on with your fantasies of something, someone better. Isn’t that the way it is sometimes?
“I stand before you today having experienced every form of the devil’s trickery in my life. Most of you know I came out of the world and was a very despicable individual when I did. But one thing I learned from my experiences in that empty place without Jesus is that I was desperate for His saving grace. I was absolutely desperate for His rescue from my sinful ways.”
The pastor stopped mid-stride across the platform. He turned to the people and said “And you know what? I still am.”
He dabbed at his eyes with a handkerchief retrieved from inside his suit jacket.
“You see, you all know this life is hard. The pitfalls are always there before you. You always have to make decisions based on what you know to be right and what you have learned to be wrong. Always. Don’t you?”
Several shouted “Amen”.
“In the book of first John, the inspired writer tells us if we claim we are without sin, we lie. Couldn’t be more real than that, now could he? We fight our way through this world, and sometimes we fail. Some of those failures we’re able to take in stride, and others nip at our heels for the rest of our lives.
“By now, I’ve probably got you a little down in the mouth considering the state of our human condition, but this morning we’re not going to glorify the devil and all he’s capable of. No. Instead, we’re going to celebrate ‘Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.’ That’s the truth, folks.”
“Hallelujah!” and “Amen!” all over the sanctuary.
“The Creator of the universe has given us Jesus Christ to save us from our human stain, and He has allowed us to house the very Spirit of God within our own heart of hearts—the very place where He can establish His ways in our lives so that in spite of the trouble He warned we’d have in this sinful world, we could have His courage because He overcame the sorry condition of this evil place we call home. You know why? Because of a love so pure and so deep, we will never truly be able to experience it until we go to be with Him, but His love for us in spite of how we give in to our enemy’s tricks and travesties and chase after his tempting indulgences—in spite of all we’ve done and pursued: He loves us, folks!”
This time the pastor wiped his brow with his handkerchief and went to lean against his podium.
“I don’t often do this in my services—I try so hard to hear the voice of the Lord concerning this critical moment. Today, though, the Holy Spirit is telling me I need to remind anyone who has yet to receive Jesus into their lives, today is the day of salvation. You’ve tried it your way long enough. Be honest, it hasn’t worked, has it? Can you tell me without reservation from your gut you’re successful? That those dark days of confusion never pass your way and overwhelm and even frighten you sometimes? On the darkest day of my life, God came and rescued me. He’ll do the same for you, but you do have to ask Him to do it. He won’t overpower you and demand you serve Him. His love is given freely, but it’s not pushed upon you. It’s demonstrated to you by His Son on the cross, but it’s your choice whether or not to accept His sacrifice made just for you. Do you know that in the book of Isaiah it is written the names of His people are engraved in His hands? That really moves me.”
He paused and moved up beside his podium. “If you want to know Jesus today, all you have to do is ask. Tell Him you know you’ve sinned and you need a Savior to restore you to His Father and yours. The simplest act of submission grants you a beautiful eternity and a chance at peace in your heart on earth, regardless of the things that befall you while you’re here. You will be welcomed by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and it won’t take you long to figure out you really are different somehow. Believe it or not, this is the answer to life’s problems. And, no, for most people it won’t be easy, and it’ll take a lot of work, but what doesn’t on this earth? Choose this day who you will serve. God or the devil. Heaven or hell. Chaos or peace.”
The worship team assembled on the platform and sang an old chorus about deciding to follow Jesus. When they were finished, the pastor returned.
“Father in heaven, I worship you. Thank you for getting me through your message. I hope it was pleasing to you above all. I pray, Lord, that in the name of your Son Jesus Christ, you added people to your kingdom today because I know that’s your heart’s desire. Thank you, God, for loving me. I’m still ever desperate for you. In the name of Jesus, Amen.”
Father, thank you for words and stories and inspiration. Only you give the impetus and direction for us to do what you created us to do. Above all is to share the beauty of your sacrifice and the rescue of your redemption. Thank you, Jesus, and Holy Spirit for reaching me. Thank you is never enough. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
