I cannot make you…

There is nothing that I can do to make you do or think anything.

I would hope that the things I write would inspire you, or engage you, or help you come to a closer walk with the Lord. But I cannot make it happen.

I know the kind of walk with the Lord that I have and I would hope to lead you to have the same kind of walk, but I cannot make it happen. You are the only one that can accomplish that.

I cannot make you do anything.

I can’t force you into a relationship with Jesus.

I can talk about my relationship with Him and I can tell you about the things He’s done in my life and the things He’s shown me, but I can’t force you to accept Him.

He has…

Protected me
Guided me
Helped me
Saved me

My guess is that He has been doing the same for you, even if you haven’t been aware of it. When I look back on my life from where I am now, I can plainly see how God has done all those things for me.

He has protected me; mostly from myself I would guess. Oh sure, there have been times that I know His hand has kept something bad from happening, but most of those times, I have been the one who has put myself in a bad situation. Jesus just made sure that the worst didn’t happen, most of the time.

I know He has guided me through some pretty tough times in my life. When my wife Cara passed, and I didn’t know what to do or where to go, I gave it all up to Him and He guided me. He guided me not only to a place to live that was affordable, but that was prefect for my son and I. And then He guided me to a new love, a new partner, a new wife and a new life.

He helped me in so many ways over the years that I can’t begin to tell you. Mostly when I think about how He has helped me, I have to say, He helped open my eyes to His truth.

Once my eyes were open to that truth, I could clearly see how He has saved me. Not only from the dangers of this world, but from the hell I would have, should have gone to without Him.

I can tell you about the things that Jesus has done for me, but I cannot make you do anything about it.

I cannot make you think anything.

It doesn’t matter what I say or write, I can’t make you think anything that you are not open to.

It is my hope and my calling to wake Churches and people up to a real relationship with Jesus, to understand how much He loves them. But I can’t make anyone think the way I do. I can’t force you to believe what I believe.

I wish I could just grab some churches or people by the shoulders and shake them until they open their eyes to the truth, but I can’t do that. If someone is not open to God and what He is trying to teach them, then nothing I do or say or write is going to wake them up. The old saying is true it seems, “don’t confuse me with facts, my mind is made up.”

God says in the first book of the Bible, “My spirit with not always strive with man.” What God is telling us is that He is only going to try to reach a person so long, at some point He is going to give up and let them have our own way.

If a person refuses to see the truth of God and His word, there is only so much God will do to reach them. At some point He will walk away and let them alone.

It is this walking away that I think Jesus was talking about in Matthew 12:31-32;

31 And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

The main job of the Holy Spirit is to bring people to Christ, at some point if a person continues to reject the call and leading of the Spirit, the Father will give up on them and let them have their own way, sadly.

Many years ago I woke up to the reality of God, Jesus and the Bible. It flooded over me one night the summer after Cara passed. God, Jesus and the Bible were real. And if Jesus really did come and do what the Bible said He did and was who He said He was, then I knew I needed to be in His will if I was ever going to be happy again.

The reality of God washed over me that night and from that moment on I knew I had to follow Him and learn of Him. I have never regretted that night.

Stories of conversion are as different as people are different. Sometimes it happens like a thunderbolt, and sometimes it’s a quite thought that enters ones heart and you just know.

It’s sad to think about, but there are many Church goers who have never opened their hearts up to Jesus, never let Him in. They go to church most Sundays, sing the songs and listen to the messages, but it never seems to sink in much past the church steps.

I was that kind of Christian once, I sort of believed, but I didn’t believe rightly. God to me was out there somewhere, but not close to me. He was too big to worry or care about me. How wrong I was.

I tell you the truth, JESUS is ALIVE and He wants a real relationship with you. Not just a Sunday morning coffee and donut relationship but an everyday, every moment, every night relationship.

I can’t make you believe that, or make you come into that relationship. You have to decide you want it. To start, you have to believe that it is possible to have a relationship with the Living God. I can try and guide you, but I can’t make you believe.

Think about it this way:

God created you and this Universe.
God came to this earth as a man in the form of a man, Jesus to teach you and to save you.
Jesus went to the cross and died the death that should have been yours.
Jesus overcame the grave and is alive to this day.
Both time and space mean nothing to God because He created both time and space.
Through the Holy Spirit God can be with you and everyone else at the same time, because time for Him is not the same as time for us.

All you have to do is invite Him; ask Him to come into your heart and be with you.

As He said in the book of Revelation 3:20;

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

All you have to do is open the door to Him and invite Him in, but I can’t make you do it.

It’s up to you.

I know this, that if you do open you heart to Him and invite Him; slowly He will reveal His plan for your life and lead you on a path to accomplish that plan.

A pastor I listened to once said something like this, “Only you can change your mind, and if you do, God will change your heart.”

I cannot make you do or thinking anything.