Having grown up Catholic, I was aware of Billy Graham, but I always thought it was one of those “born again” people and it wasn’t for me. How wrong I was!
It took his death on Feb. 21, 2018, for me to really get to know him. I’ve watched several of his biographical movies and even watched the movie that Kathie Lee Gifford watched that led her to Jesus. (It’s embedded below).
I can’t claim that I came to Jesus through a Billy Graham Crusade, but I know someone who did. For me, it was reading “Left Behind(ad)”.
However, in recent years, with the outbreak of social media in the world, I use the medium to help spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (Follow me on Twitter). I know there’s only one way into Heaven and that’s through believing in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.
I can’t imagine what it’s like for a believer and a servant like Billy Graham the moment he died, he entered Heaven and was greeted by Jesus himself as well as his wife Ruth, his parents and many of the people that he helped lead to Christ. He used to say that,
“Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don’t believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God.”
I love how his children spoke of him and especially the vow of Anne Graham Lotz to keep preaching the Gospel.
I guess watching all this has inspired me to come back to blogging here. It’s been a while. I’ve thought about it, but then good intentions are fine, but if action doesn’t happen, then nothing gets done.
I was blown away by Kathie Lee Gifford’s amazing response to Billy Graham’s death.
I pray that I and all Born Again Christians will be so bold and have the courage to proclaim the Good News of the salvation that only comes through Jesus Christ. That when it’s our turn to meet Jesus in person, that He will say,
Welldone, goodandfaithfulservant! (Matthew 25:21)
This is the movie, The Restless Ones, that Kathie Lee Gifford watched that convinced her to turn to Jesus.
If we had asked ourselves this question “what would Jesus do”, then many of us wouldn’t be in the situation we are today. If we hadn’t taken prayer out of schools, separated church and state, married the man or woman that God told us not to marry, had pre-marital sex that lead to a STD or unplanned pregnancy, and the list could go on, then we would be in a much better place emotionally, physically, spiritually, and financially than we are right now. We should not only ask ourselves “what would Jesus do”, but also “what Jesus won’t do” (WJWD), so we can fully understand the ramifications of our actions.
I wonder what happened to the “wwjd” bracelets, t-shirts, hats, etc. that we all wore as a sign and symbol of hope and faith in God. Once upon a time, the slogan was so popular that even those who didn’t know Jesus wanted to get the paraphernalia because everyone was saying the slogan and buying the symbolic meanings behind what it stood for. For many of us, life happened and we got distracted with our problems and circumstances surrounding us, so we no longer asked ourselves “wwjd”. We had a situation and we responded or reacted to it the best we knew how and we just didn’t consider what Jesus would do. If we were to be honest, we simply did what we wanted to do without thinking twice about consulting God. I know I am guilty of reacting out of my flesh many times instead of first going to the source, which is Jesus Christ.
I know some of us reading this are like the bible character named Job found in the Book of Job who didn’t do anything wrong. We played by the rules and lived a righteous life and now we are going through a lot of tough situations. We shouldn’t act like Job’s friends and pre judge anyone for all the bad things going on in his/her life right now and say that it had to be his fault for all the bad things happening in their lives right now. No, that’s not right. Scripture tells us that tribulation and trials come to make us stronger, so they happen to all of us at one time in our lives. We will all face some difficulty just like our perfect savior, Jesus Christ, did. God rewarded Job for his faithfulness and he gave him double for his trouble and I know that if we continue the good fight of faith and remain steadfast, unmovable and unshakably in Jesus Christ, he will reward us.
The bible record that Jesus is a rewarder of those who diligently seek after Him so our living righteous for God is not in vain. Let’s not do it for our own selfish gain to get the blessings of God, but let’s do it so that others may know that Jesus Christ is real by looking at the way we live and conduct ourselves. Others are watching us whether we know it or not, so let’s really give them something to see. So, let’s go back to consistently asking ourselves “what would Jesus do” and “what Jesus wouldn’t do” when we are faced with dark and gloomy situations and I bet that He’ll meet us right where we are and not only tell us what it is He will do, but He will also guide us to help us do what it is He is calling us to do. So, if you don’t know what Jesus would do or want us to do, then here it is.
Matthew 22: 37 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all our mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it” you shall love our neighbor as yourself.”
Finally, I want to leave you with a scripture I always end with in my books.
“The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.” Phillippians 4:9.
God bless.
Love your sis in Christ,
Quiniece Sheppard
Quiniece Sheppard is the founder of I am the Chase Ministries, LLC: a single women’s ministry whose mission is to promote abstinence and celibacy, and founder of Chasing Books Christian Book Club. Quiniece is also the author of “The Seven Deadly Sexual Sins” and “Before the Lights Go Out:11 Keys to Achieve Real Physical Intimacy”. For more information about Quiniece’s ministry and books, please visit her website at www.iamthechase.com. WWJD?
In the prior post, The Jewish Jesus: Prophecies Fulfilled, I started to list some of the various Old Testament prophecies the speak of Jesus, the Messiah.
The Prophet Isaiah may be the best known of the Messianic Prophets. The book of Isaiah was written 700 years before the birth of Christ.
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. ~Isaiah 7:14
See Luke’s account of Mary’s conception: Luke 1:26-37
(Note that Matthew 1:25 says Joseph, Mary’s husband had no union with her until after she gave birth. Thus what the Catholics say that Mary was always a virgin, is untrue.)
Some of his prophecies were put to song by Handel in his magnificent work “The Messiah”.
…but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan…Isaiah 61:1
The Romans had a custom of naming roads by where it led. They named the road to the Sea of Galilee, “Via Maris” or “The Way of the Sea”. It goes through Capernaum on the north shore.
In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel.~Isaiah 4:2
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.~ Isaiah 11:1
Jesse was King David’s Father. King David’s descendants left Jerusalem and settled in the north founding the town of Nazareth. Therefore, Mary was also from David’s lineage, thus Jesus is a blood descendent of King David.
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy… Isaiah 35:5-6
This prophecy was put to song in the lovely modern Christmas carol, Mary Did You Know?
“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins. A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” ~Isaiah 40:1-5
The voice in the wilderness – John the Baptist Matthew 3:1-3
“I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness…” ~Isaiah 42:6-7
Jesus said:
“…This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”~John 3:19-21
For this is what the LORD says:
“…I will give them an everlasting name that will endure forever. And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants … Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” ~Isaiah 56:5,7
When Jesus cleared the temple of the money changers he declared,
“It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’” Matthew 21:13
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion-to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. ~Isaiah 61:1-3
In Nazareth, where he grew up, on the Sabbath, Jesus went to the synagogue and read the above passage, after he read it, he said,
“Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Luke 4:21
It’s not in the bible. Who started this tradition anyway?
It wasn’t until the 4th century when Constantine converted the whole Roman Empire to Christianity that Dec. 25th became the day when Jesus’ birthday was celebrated. The Romans still wanted to keep their party-hardy pagan holiday of Saturnalia (celebrating Saturn the god of agriculture and harvest) and the winter solstice (celebrating the sun god) so, the Christian Church decided to use that date to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
Jesus was probably not born in the winter. The shepherds tend their flocks in the fields between April and October.
However, it is rumored that the wise men (astrologers from the East) saw the star and arrived in Bethlehem when Jesus was a few months old to a year old and that conjunction of planets and a star that led their way happened on Dec. 25 in the 2nd or 3rd Centuries.
But it seems that today’s society is tending to go back to the pagan origins. They still want to party-hardy and they forget that we’re supposed to celebrate the birth of God’s greatest gift to us – Jesus our Savior.
There are Christians who won’t celebrate Christmas because of its pagan origins and it’s not in the bible. But why not?
There’s nothing wrong with giving gifts as long as they are given in the spirit of love.
There shouldn’t be anxiety to get everyone the right gift or to give someone who gave you something and you didn’t have anything for them.
Personally, I think Jesus’ birthday should be celebrated in August. He may have been born then and August has no major holidays!
But who’s going to fight traditions that are over 1600 years old? As long as we remember that “Jesus is the reason for the season” there’s no harm in celebrating it on Dec. 25th.
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ~ 1 John 4:9-10
