This is pretty deep and definitely worth reading! You just can’t keep it to yourself, you’ve got to tell somebody about the love of God! Be blessed!

—————————————————–

One day a woman named Louise fell asleep in her bed and dreamed a very fitful dream. She dreamed that someone in Hell wrote a letter to her, and it was to be delivered to her by a messenger.

The messenger passed between the lakes of burning fire and brimstone that occupies Hell and found his way to the door that would lead him to the outside world.

Louise dreamed that the messenger walked to her house, came inside, and gently but firmly woke Louise. He gave her the message, saying only that a friend had written it to her from Hell.

Louise, in her dream with trembling hands, took the letter and read:

My Friend,
I stand in Judgment now,
And feel that you’re to blame somehow.
Never did you point the way.
You knew the Lord in truth and glory,
But never did you tell the story.
My knowledge then was very dim;
You could have led me safe to Him.
Though we lived together on the earth,
You never told me of the second birth,
And now I stand this day condemned,
Because you failed to mention Him.
You taught me many things, that’s true.
I called you “friend” and trusted you,
But I learn now that it’s too late,
You could have kept me from this fate.
We walked by day and talked by night,
And yet you showed me not the Light.
You let me live, and love, and die,
You knew I’d never live on high.
Yes, I called you “friend” in life,
And trusted you through joy and strife.
And yet on coming to the end,
I cannot, now, call you “My Friend.”
Marsha

After reading the letter, Louise awoke. The dream was still so real in her mind and sweat dropped from her body in pools. She swore she could still smell the acrid smell of brimstone and smoke from her room.

As she contemplated the meaning of her dream, she realized that as a Christian, she had failed in her duty to “go out to all the world and preach the gospel.” As she thought of that, she promised herself that the next day, she would call Marsha and invite her to church with her.

The next morning she called Marsha, and this was the conversation:

“Hello Bill, is Marsha there?”

“Louise, you don’t know?”

“No, Bill, know what?”

“Marsha WAS KILLED LAST NIGHT IN A CAR ACCIDENT. I thought you knew.”

—————————————————–

Fellow Christian, is this your testimony? Are you witnessing to your friends that you are with everyday? Or will there be friends of yours in Hell, asking you why you did not tell them about JESUS?

As your friend. . .

If you don’t know Jesus, here’s how:

If you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus died on the cross for your sins and God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9 – 10)

If you have not done so, just pray this prayer:

“Dear God, I confess with my mouth and believe in my heart that Jesus is your son and that He died on the cross for my sins. Jesus, forgive me of my sins and come into my heart and become my personal Lord and Savior. In Jesus’s name, Amen.”

PS. If you are a believer – new or old, send this to others and let them know you are a true friend.

After 21 years of marriage, I discovered a new way of keeping alive the spark of love. A little while ago I started to go out with another woman. It was really my wife’s idea.

“I know you love her,” she said one day, taking me by surprise.

“But I love YOU!” I protested.

“I know, but you also love her.”

The other woman my wife wanted me to visit was my mother, who has been a widow for 19 years. The demands of my work and my three children had made it possible to visit her only occasionally. That night, I called to invite her to go out for dinner and a movie.

“What’s wrong, are you well,” she asked? My mother is the type of woman who suspects that a late night call or a surprise invitation is a sign of bad news.

“I thought it would be pleasant to pass some time with you,” I responded. “Just the two of us.”

She thought about it for a moment, then said, “I would like that very much.”

That Friday, after work, as I drove over to pick her up I was a bit nervous. When I arrived at her house, I noticed that she, too, seemed to be nervous about our date. She waited in the doorway with her coat on. She had curled her hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last wedding anniversary. She smiled from a face that was as radiant as an angel’s.

“I told my friends that I was going to go out with my son, and they were impressed,” she said, as she got into the car. “They can’t wait to hear about our meeting.”

We went to a restaurant that, although not elegant, was very nice and cozy. My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady.

After we sat down, I had to read the menu. Her eyes could only read large print. Halfway through the entree, I lifted my eyes and saw Mom sitting there staring at me. A nostalgic smile was on her lips.

“It was I who used to have to read the menu when you were small,” she said.

“Then it’s time you relaxed and let me return the favor,” I responded.

During the dinner, we had an agreeable conversation – nothing extraordinary – just catching up on recent events of each other’s lives. We talked so much that we missed the movie.

As we arrived at her house later, she said, “I’ll go out with you again, but only if you let me invite you.” I agreed and kissed her good night.

“How was your dinner date?” asked my wife when I got home.

“Very nice. Much nicer than I could have imagined,” I answered.

A few days later, my mother died of a massive heart attack. It happened so suddenly that I didn’t have a chance to do anything for her.

Sometime later, I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt from the same place mother and I had dined. An attached note said: “I paid this bill in advance. I was almost sure that I couldn’t be there, but, never-the-less, I paid for two plates –one for you and the other for you wife. You will never know what that night meant to me. I love you.”

At that moment, I understood the importance of saying, “I LOVE YOU” in time, and to give our loved ones the time that they deserve. Nothing in life is more important than God and your family. Give them the time they deserve, because these things cannot always be put off to “some other time.”

As my husband and I were working inside, we heard something hit the window. Looking out and seeing nothing, we stepped outside and there on the front porch was the still body of a woodpecker — a beautiful yellow-bellied sapsucker.

He had flown into the window, and, we presumed, broken his neck. My husband picked him up for a moment and stroked the red cap on his head and laid him back down.

Just then, I saw an eye blink. I was holding a utility cloth in my hand, and I picked him up and covered him, all but his head. His heart was racing wildly, and I felt just a twitch of his foot. I realized that this now helpless creature, if only knocked out, could revive at any moment and give me quite a pecking.

Instinctive caution urged me to leave the bird there and hope he would come around, and that was my plan, that is, until I saw the neighbor’s big black cat approaching in his most stealthy stalking mode.

I took the bird inside and found a box with a lid — if he revived and got loose in the house he probably would kill himself trying to get out.

I placed the bird-in-the- box in a quiet place and went about my work. About half an hour later, I walked close enough to the box to detect any activity, but there was none. Then my husband came in and spoke to me. Suddenly, there was scratching and a flurry inside the box that made me fear the lid would not remain closed.

We took the box outside, and carefully began to open the lid. As it opened an inch or so, the bird burst out and flew vigorously away to resume his place in God’s grand scheme of things.

——————————————————————

As I saw that cat approaching earlier, I remembered 1 Peter 5:8 – - “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour”

That little bird, in his natural healthy state, would never fall prey to the cat, but he was knocked out.

My thoughts went back 34 years to a time in my life when I was spiritually “knocked out,” I was dead in my sin and as helpless to ward off the attacks of the enemy of my soul as that little bird lying on my porch.

Then a wonderful, loving Savior reached down and picked me up. He sheltered me and let me know I was loved and protected — I only needed to trust Him. He didn’t put me in a box, but he gave me strength and the desire to “vigorously fly away” spiritually to take my place in His wonderful design for my life in His kingdom.

- – - contributed by Marie B. Corn