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© 1997 Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc.
Last Update: 03/09/1997
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A beard really changes people - especially men. You can make a man look older, scruffier, wiser, or more suspicious. A beard does amazing things. Now some wives and girlfriends can t wait for the man to grow it; and others can t wait for him to shave it. My friend Lou spent much of his life clean-shaven. He also spent many of those same years as an alcoholic. They were terrible years for his wife and his daughters. Now you don t need all the details, but they were terrible years. One day, Lou became so desperate that he surrendered the control of his out-of-control life to Jesus Christ. From that moment on, the Savior beat the bottle that had always beaten Lou, and right about then, he started to grow a beard. He's had it for several years, but a couple of years ago, he decided to shave it one morning. He walked out to his family, and he says, Hey what do you think? His little daughter began to cry, and begged her Dad to grow his beard back. See, the old face made her think of her old Dad. She was afraid the old Dad was back.
Well, I m Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about The Old Guy's Gone For Good.
Our word for today from the Word of God - 2 Corinthians, Chapter 5, Verse 17. It is a promise from God to do something we can never do for ourselves. It is a miracle only He can do. Listen to this: If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come. Boy what words - New Creation - not from the outside in - that's what happened to Lou - it was from the inside out. And it could happen to you. See you've got to come to the point where you're tired of not being a man or a woman you really want to be . . . who those you love really need you to be. OK, here's my right hand on the right side of this table. This is the man I want to be - that people need for me to be. Now here's my left hand over here on the other side of the table - this is what I am. And I can't close this gap between those two hands. See that admission is the first step to a new you. Behind our mask of having it together, is a man or woman who addicted to selfishness . . . or to unfaithfulness . . . or depression, or maybe we're addicted to a temper that is out of control . . . to a sexual appetite . . . to a habit. We have tried reforming - it hasn't worked!
We get ready for Jesus. You're ready as this verse says "In Christ." See without Him, we're in trouble. The ultimate diagnosis of our inner darkness is called sin. We've got the wrong person running things. And the Bible says, "Sin, when it is full grown gives birth to death." Sin separates us from the people we love . . . from the person we want to be . . . we need to be. It separates us from our Creator - Forever - unless we are "In Christ."
How do you get in Christ? John 3:16, God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not die, but will have eternal life. All the faith that you've put in yourself and your religion and in other people - put it all in Jesus now, and say, "I'm Yours."
Then there's a new beginning . . . a new Dad . . . a new Mom . . . a new son . . . a new daughter . . . a new mate . . . a new friend. Someone much stronger will be in the driver's seat. He will take your life places you never dreamed it could go, and daily recreate you into someone who is becoming like Jesus Himself.
As my friend's daughter found out, a new Dad is more than just a new face. It is a transformed heart. It is a miracle only Jesus can do. And it is a miracle that Jesus is waiting to do for you.
If you would like to know more about what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, or if you want to know for sure that you belong to Him...
Read YOURS FOR LIFE!.
OR, you can return to more LIFE ISSUES.
© 1997 Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc.
Last Update: 03/09/1997