A Desolate Place

A Desolate Place 　 Jeremiah 17:5-7 New King James Version (NKJV) 5 Thus says the LORD: " Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the LORD. 6 For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, And shall not see when good comes, But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, In a salt land which isnot inhabited. 7 " Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, And whose hope is the LORD. I've been watching a couple of favorite movies this evening at home. Both movies are set in desolate places, during desperate times. Both movies also use the scriptures in their storylines. I've been attracted to movies like this for as long as I can remember. Many Christians wouldn't like these films because of the language and the violence in them. The thing is though, the world we live in and the world we are to minister the gospel to is violent and harsh. Jesus told us that He came not to call the righteous into repentence, but the lost. He also said in the same scipture that those who are well have no need of a physician. The people He ministered to would have spoken 'crudely' and probably didn't have the 'nicest' of dispositions, but he didn't walk away from them in disgust or walk by them, ignoring them. He stopped, talked to them, befriended them, ministered to them, and saved them. So, what does all of this have to do with anything? Well, I've always tried to minister to people who many ministers would not minister to. People who may use rough language, who don't look like 'churchgoers', who listen to music church people wouldn't approve of, people who are tattooed, the pierced, those in desperation, the forgotten. I can't stand hearing people say G--d--- anymore than any other that's walking with Christ, but I don't let a few foul words turn me away from ministering to people. I won't let the way they dress or the music they listen to push me away either. I won't let the first sign of reluctance keep me from witnessing to them either. That's part of what I'm talking about tonight. The reason I was referring to the desolation the movies were set in this evening is because they remind me of myself. The films are set in arrid, barren, rundown, and deserted locations. They're set in a harsh environment that all the 'good people' have left for dead. Places where there is very little good left, but there's that one anti-hero who fights the forces of evil and stops them from spreading darkness. You see, that was what I was like on the inside for a long, long, time. I was dried up inside. All the compassion and spirituality that was me had been torn apart by the world. I was not walking in the Lord's ways. I was far from God. I felt like there wasn't any good left in me and at times, that I wasn't even worth saving, but the Lord saw something in me that I couldn't see myself. He saw through that desolate soul and found the good still fighting inside. Not because of anything I ever did, but because of that spark that He saw in me, He gave me the gift of His grace so that I may be a witness to His people who were in desolate places like I was. I'll never forget the place that God plucked me from or why He did it. I will always try to minster to those who others won't. I will always pursue the lost. Why? Because, I want others to know what our Lord has done for me and that He can do it for them as well, if they will just honestly, take Him into their hearts and begin to walk in His ways. Colossians 3:17 New King James Version (NKJV) 17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. May you go forth and work in the Lord's name to further the kingdom of God, your brother in Christ, Pete.