Chapter 31
The Day God Ran
Piercing
nails,the betrayal of best friends. Beaten beyond all recognition by Roman
thugs. Whipped until his skin was torn. Denied by even his closest of
confidants. Hung upon a wooden cross at a place named 
pieced through my hands. Or having
someone whip me fifty or sixty times. Or have my best friend tell others that
he never met or knew me. I really do not believe I would handle that
all very well. But Jesus did. That is why He alone is the greatest. And you and
I, well, were just men. Most of us, if were honest, are ready to flee at a
moments notice when difficulties come are way. Just look at our generation. How
many men have run and left their families behind? The numbers well they
are staggering, and according to the
news only getting worse. Cannot bear to look at the following truth; Domestic
Relations offices needed to expand their waiting rooms because they couldn't
provide adequate seating while they were waiting to be called for their custody
or child support case. Sad isn't it? Breaks your heart when you think about
what we are becoming as a nation. Notice I said just "nation." When
we were in elementary school, we use to say a pledge every morning. We use to
put our tiny hands on our innocent and young hearts and say a pledge. We didn't
pledge our time, nor our money. We pledged our allegiance. And if my memory
serves me correctly we made this promise to our country and we did it under the
name of God. It meant something then, didn't it my friends? Breaks my aging
heart to see how far we are falling from the name and grace of God. But we keep
going. Thinking we know better than our Creator in Heaven. Heading to a place
of self. Heading to a place where we continually keep the Lord out of our
schools. And out of our marriages and businesses and lives. But God stays.
Looking to and fro upon the earth for those who hearts still seek him. Jesus
stays! Thank the Lord that he doesn't just see us where we are today, and that
he still sees us on the hope of what we can be in Him. In a world that has
spouses giving up on each other daily. In a world gone mad with war and hatred.
In a world whose banking and corporations, and businesses are filled to
overflowing with greed and corruption. God stays! He alone, when you come to
the truth, is still our only help-our only true refuge. And whether it is the
case while we are living here on earth or our eternal salvation, Jesus is the
only true hope any of us really has! I entitled this chapter "The Day God
Ran". You may ask after reading the first part of this chapter what can
this possibly mean? You might say after reading all that Jesus endured how
could there be a day when God ran? Well, I am here to tell you about that day.
Because I was there and I saw it with my own eyes and witnessed it with my own
heart. Let me explain about that moment in history. Let me share with you the
details of that day. Let me begin to tell you about this historic event. It was a cloudy
morning. The world, well it was doing its business as usual. I believe it was a
Friday, when a young man of 32 almost drove his car off the side of the
road. His life, well his life was a disaster. Years of bad decisions and bad
choices had finally caught up with him. Broken hearts, well they were all
around him. He had let so many people in his life down. It seemed that nothing
was going right. His strength and will to live were almost gone. He wanted to
die because he felt that he was a failure. And everyone it seemed had given up
on him. He had it with himself. And it seemed so did the world around him. A
fallen marriage, custody battles and child support cases. Bad business and
career decisions, a family that he disgraced. A life filled with humiliation
and no honor. You get my point here of what is going on? The picture painted
clearly here? And then he looked up. Two weeks before he saw God run a young girl
gave him a Promise Keepers book. On page one it asked him if he knew God.
And If he had wanted a new start and have a relationship with the one
true God, Jesus Christ. All this young man had to do is say the sinners prayer
and ask Jesus into his heart. And take what the Lord did on the cross as an
atonement for all his sin. And he would be forgiven for everything and
have hope and get a new start. And that he could become born again as the Bible
states.(John 3:3). And as he sat there behind the wheel of his car, the young
man remembered this. And he started to
pray for the first time. He said with tears in his eyes. "Lord I
have made a mess of my life. I am asking you for forgiveness of all my sins and
mistakes. I am asking you right now to come into my heart and be the Lord of my
heart and my life. I accept your death on the cross at
Written in Love,
Al