“Listening to God’s voice through His word”
But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.
Dean C. writes:
Although I was raised in an outwardly Christian family, I was at best a Christian in name only. I had doubts about my family’s belief that I should enlist in the military, so for the first time in my life I began to seek God’s guidance for a decision I needed to make.
One day, after several months of prayer, the words “sermon on the mount” kept coming into my mind. Since I had no idea what the words meant, I kept ignoring them but they kept coming back to me. It soon became obvious that I couldn’t keep the words out of my mind. Finally I decided to see if I could find out what the words meant by looking in a Bible. I found an extremely old Bible that was published many years before study aids started to be inserted into Bibles. However this one had an alphabetical index in the back of it with page numbers listed for its various topics which was essential for me because I had no idea how to look up chapters and verses. Sure enough it gave me the page to go to for the “Sermon on the Mount”.
As I read this portion of the Bible for the first time in my life I became stunned, shocked and speechless. As I read Matthew 5:44 I was shocked into a state of mental numbness because the teachings were completely the opposite to those I had been taught, believed, and followed up until that time. I stumbled around in this state of ideological shock for two more days until for the first time in my life, God spoke to me and explained why I should not join the military. The next day, praise God, I became a Christian.
This has been the most life-changing experience in my life.Instead of joining the armed forces, I decided to work for world peace. Oh and one more thing; several months later when I went back to look up something else in that old Bible I discovered that it didn’t have an alphabetical index. It only had one the day God wanted me to read it.
Please note that the views expressed in this story are not necessarily the views of the American Bible Society. Story posted on February 26th, 2007 and filed under Your Stories, Struggles.
February 28th, 2007 at 9:52 am
Hi, I saw your foot prints on my site, I have no idea what this place is, but awesome post. ^^
February 28th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
Thanks for subscribing… and the verse from Matthew, well, it pretty much sums up my day! Thanks for a better perspective.
March 30th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
Thank God that He leads His children by His Word.
There will never be “world peace” until The LORD and ONLY Savior Jesus Christ gets back and sets up rule in the eternal city of Jerusalem according to God’s inerrant and infallible Word. Set your heart upon leading souls to The Savior. It is in Him that His children find HIS peace.
May The LORD Jesus ever bless you in the knowledge of Himself.
April 1st, 2007 at 12:46 pm
Thanks for sharing, very encouraging to me! Glad you are experiencing God’s loving guidance, peace and joy through His word!
April 3rd, 2007 at 9:01 am
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” I apologize if the quote is not exact, my memory is failing. “When I consider the heavens, the work of Your fingers… What is man that You are mindful of him and the son of man that You visit him?”
Blessed are you, Dean. The Lord has visited you. May you abide in Him forever, may His words always abide in your heart!
April 11th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
Sounds like you picked a better way! It does say that there is a place for a “good policeman”, but soilders are to do violence to no man.
Are there any “good World Policeman”, that are doing violence to no one, in our world today?
Wars and Rumors of Wars are certainly increasing.