“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy”

Don’t call my God a thief or one who does things that are not right.  I think I have the grace to handle it, but I hope no one gets in my face anytime soon and tells me that sickness is a wonderful blessing from God.  You ought to live with it for a while before you call hand to hand combat with what comes from the very pit of the enemy a gift. 

We must have the foundational understanding that life, health, blessing, forgiveness and salvation are gifts of God.  Someone might imply to you that an automobile accident or incurable disease is a disguised blessing from God. Before you go down that road put yourself there and see how it feels when you can’t sleep or do anything that you did at one time and tell me that sickness is a blessing. 

Having preached this all of my life and ministry, today I am more solid in my belief than I have ever have been.  I do not accept the works of the devil as being the works of God.  You say, “But God brought good out of it.”  Sure, God can bring good out of anything but I have news for you, God was not the originator and God didn’t send it. It would go against the very nature of a loving Father to bring harm to his children. Our God is not a child abuser. 

I have spent countless hours with oppressed people, depressed people, abused men and women, people who have lived their entire lives with someone’s finger in their face saying you can’t do it, you are no good, you don’t measure up. Until one day, like a hunting dog that has lost what it takes to hunt, they loose hold of who they are in Christ and the truth that they are loved by a good God. I thank God for the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I thank God for the understanding that there are two forces at work in my life. Satan who comes to steal, kill and destroy. And God, whose very nature is to bless his children. Father God, who is the giver of all good things, the God who loves you and me.

John 3:6-7 (KJV) That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

Jesus said it best, “Ye must be born again”. This is the cornerstone of our faith and the hope of a new beginning to this lost generation. I would not attend, nor put my tithe in a church that would not tell people how to be born again and then give them the opportunity to come forward and accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. 

I have had people tell me, “Well Brother Nichols, at our church once a month we have a social gathering and then we kind of spring it on them.”  What these people don’t understand is that you don’t have to bootleg salvation or put Jesus in the back room. You don’t have to have a little social gathering and trick people into possibly getting saved.  You can just put it out there in front of God and everybody else and allow them to receive the precious gift of salvation.  I thank God for the altar calls we see in every service and I prophesy in the name of Jesus that the strongest altar calls and the greatest harvest of souls are yet to come. 

I thank God for every drug program and any incentive to keep people from doing those things that should not be done.  But there is only one thing that can break the habit of cocaine, marijuana and alcohol. It is the power of rebirth and the transformation that takes place as the Sprit of God dwells within us. Folks, the devil is after you, me, every child, and every grandchild. He is after our families. But thank God for churches like Calvary Cathedral International that will make sure that every person who comes into any of our meetings will hear the clarion call of the Gospel as spoken by Jesus himself, “Ye must be born again.”!