I HAVE LOVED YOU

Today, I heard the Lord say, “Curtis, it’s really more simple than you have made it”. I heard myself saying in response, “What’s more simple?”  As I contemplate His statement my mind is going in a dozen different directions.

                Then I am reminded of an event about ten years ago. I had gone to a prison with some friends to minister. About ten of us were singled out to minister at one of the units, which is called lockdown or solitary. As I remember there were three wings and each had about 22 individual cells about 6’ x 10’. In the back of the cell was a small window which allowed the sun in but did not offer much of a view other than walls of the other wings.

                We broke up into teams of 3, 3, and 4 and went to the door to the wing assigned. The guards told us to not get close to the door of the cells but stand close to the outer wall because these inmates were known to urinate on visitors or worse and would most certainly scream obscenities at us. It was very loud because the whole unit was mostly steel and concrete and the inmates were very loud.

                As soon as the doors to the units were opened (all three at once), a hush came across the whole unit. My team of three then split up taking about six cells each (all were not occupied). I only remember what happened at one particular cell.

                The inmate was standing on something and leaning against the wall in the rear of the cell looking out the small window. He did not turn around immediately or acknowledged my presence in any way. Suddenly I was impressed to stretch out my arms as if on a cross. He turned and came to the front door of bars and I began to speak something I had never said before.

                I said, “He died for you and removed every hindrance in order that you would be free to make a decision to believe and follow Him or to deny Him. It makes no difference which decision you make He will back it up for all eternity but know this, if you decide not to believe He is who He says He is and follow Him you will for all of eternity be separated from true love, peace, joy, happiness, kindness and gentleness and will experience for all eternity only the opposite.”

                He then said to me, “You don’t sound like any preacher I ever heard.” I responded with, “I am not a preacher, just someone who brings good news. I hope you will reflect on these things.” The guards called for us to come out of the wings because our time was up.

                When we reached the guards’ desk one of them said, “Who are you people? It has never been this quiet in here.” We told them that it was the presence of the Holy Spirit and we were men who simply believed and then led several of them to Jesus because they too could sense the anointing which was extremely thick and peace was over the entire unit.

                The thing that impressed me today is Jeremiah 31:3 – “…I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore have drawn you with loving kindness.” If that drawing is rejected and the love with it, the only thing that remains is the awful prospect of the agony of the soul’s separation of all that is good, acceptable and perfect and the eternal reminder of, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.”

                So you see it is not what we do but the grace we acknowledge moment to moment and the receiving of the free gift of eternal life which is found within Jesus Christ. Now isn’t that simple enough?