'I AM SO GLAD THEY DIDN'T SHUT UP'

This week, I have been called 'hater', judgmental and so much more. Why? Because I use Facebook as a method of sharing God's Word and guess what? Jesus was right when He said in Matthew 5:10-12 (ESV) "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

If I really was a hater, I would shut up and let people face whatever they face based upon their actions but that is not what we are told to do. Look what it says in Ezekiel... Ezekiel 33:2-6 (ESV) “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman, and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.

I hope you see the importance of sharing God's Word to those you come in contact with each day. Yes, we must speak it with love, but again, we must speak. What would happen if I did shut up? For that matter, what would have happened if everyone in my life had shut up instead of telling me what I needed to hear regardless of whether I wanted to or not?

I am very thankful today for everyone that God has used to speak truth to me. Though I may not have received it the right way then, I see now why I should have...

I am thankful for my mom and dad who raised in church. As far back as I can remember, I remember going to church.

I am thankful for Charlie Flenor who was the first pastor I remember and he was the one who was preaching at New Salem Baptist Church on Bethany Lane when I got saved by God. It was 'Bro. Charlie' who would sometimes call on me to pray in church even though I was just a little kid but he said he saw that God was working on me and that one day I would be a preacher.

I am thankful for all of the pastors that have taught me over the years, Bill Steeger, Gene Crowder, Greg Abercrombie, Drexel Rayford, Bob Gray, Jim Doyle and so many more.

I am thankful for the friends who warned me when I was about to mess up and for the ones who lovingly corrected me when I did mess up.

If all of those folks had been quiet, I would still be in the same sin I was back then. And so I continue to speak... praying that God will continue to use me as a voice of truth... praying thtat I will have the right motive and the right approach. What about you? Will you keep speaking?