June 10, 2020
Dear Praying Believer,
Thank you for your commitment and continuance in prayer each Wednesday for the prodigals and for revival among us. Rachel and I really appreciate it. One of Ravi Zacharias’ great quotes is, “The purpose of prayer and of God’s call on your life isn’t to make you number one in the world’s eyes but to make Him number one in your life.”
The death of Ravi Zacharias on May 19, 2020, was a great loss to our world. A true man of God has been taken home. He was saved in Delhi, India at age seventeen after a failed suicide attempt. A Bible was left in his hospital room by a concerned believer and the passage that he read were the words of Jesus, “Because I live, you also will live” (Jn 14:19). His actual words, spoken in an interview with 100 Huntley Street were these, “Jesus, if you are who you claimed to be, take control of my life, I don’t know how to live. I don’t even know if I want to live, but I want life. I don’t have it now. If you will take charge of my life and give me what I need I will leave no stone unturned in my pursuit of truth.” And that promise he fulfilled with God’s help from that day until his home call.
Vice President Pence in his memorial speech said that Billy Graham was the greatest evangelist of the twentieth century, and Ravi Zacharias was the greatest Christian apologist of our time. But what was it that made him great? His daughter provided some insight when she said, “He could dine with kings, and he could make a taxi driver feel like a king. If you were in front of him, he saw you.” What did she mean? She meant that he focused and gave his attention to the person speaking with him. Louie Giglio, at the same memorial, later said, “Ravi never sought to win arguments, but to always win people.” He was a Christian apologist and he did debate issues of great importance, but he never lost sight of the person he was conversing with. Many of his lectures with question-and-answer-sessions were on university campuses, and his love for each student was evident.
Our Lord Jesus fully exemplified this quality of giving your full attention to others, whether they be someone of high standing, a child, a homeless person, or an abused woman. This exemplifies care for the individual. It is compassion and mercy in action. Even more, it is what gives expression to the worth and significance of every single person. Isaiah the prophet described Jesus this way, “He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle” (Isa 42:3). Lives that mean nothing to some, meant everything to Him. The gospel writers filled their pages with the beautiful life of the One who intentionally intersected with the lowest of this earth, in order to raise them to their God-given value and potential.
Let me focus on you for a moment. I have two questions: One, have you felt the eyes of your divine Savior upon you today? Are you aware that you stand before Him each and every day? Wherever you are, whatever you are experiencing, however you feel, know that He has you in His focus. Hagar learned this when alone and desperate in the wilderness, she encountered God. She called Him, El Roi, the God who sees. She learned, “You are the God who sees me” (Genesis 16:13). Hagar’s God is our God and His eyes are always upon us.
Secondly, are you seeking to emulate this truly beautiful characteristic in your relationships today? Some of those people in your life may be difficult, annoying, or even unbearable at times. Or maybe they are just lonely, or hurting, or discouraged. There is a good possibility that someone needs your attention today. They need to see your eyes focusing on them and your ears listening to them. Whoever it is, seek them out, search them down, and be to them what Jesus is to you.
Thanks again,
Love in Christ,
Bryan and Rachel