According to Douglas Starr, “By the end of the Second World War, millions of servicemen would owe their lives to the new science—and industry—of blood and blood products. Just a few years earlier, none of this would have been imaginable. Had it not been for a nationwide mobilization of the medical, scientific and military communities at the start of the Second World War, such large-scale emergency transfusions would not have been possible.

“A key figure in the effort was a Harvard biochemist named Edwin Cohn. From 1940 till the end of the war, Cohn headed a project to deconstruct blood—to break it down into its most basic components to find those most useful for the battlefield. His work turned blood from a bodily fluid into a national commodity and launched an entire branch of the pharmaceutical industry.

“In 1953, at the age of 61, Edwin Cohn suffered a massive stroke and died of a cerebral hemorrhage. Shortly after the war, he had given away the patent rights to the process he developed. Blood, he thought, should be used for the good of all humanity. He never made a dime out of fractionation.”³

In Old Testament times God declared to the ancient Israelites that “the life is in the blood.” And when Jesus shed his blood on the cross at Calvary, he was pouring out his life for the remission (forgiveness) of your sins and mine. And he did this freely—without charge of any kind whatsoever. The wonderful news is that because Jesus lived a sinless life, death could not hold him in the grave. Yesterday, on Easter Sunday, we celebrated Christ’s resurrection and now, because he lives, all who have accepted Jesus as their Savior and received God’s forgiveness will also rise again and live forever with the Lord.

“What a day, Glorious day that will be!”

If you have never accepted God’s forgiveness, you can do that today by praying a simple prayer such as the following: “Dear God, I confess that I am a sinner and am sorry for all the wrongs that I have done. I believe that your Son, Jesus Christ, died on the cross for my sins. Please forgive me. I invite you, Jesus, to come into my heart and life as Lord and Savior. I commit and trust my life to you. Please give me the desire to be what you want me to be and to do what you want me to do. Thank you for dying for my sins, for your free pardon and gift of eternal life, and for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

If you genuinely prayed this prayer, please let us know by going to http://tinyurl.com/pgntm and we will send you without charge additional helpful articles to help you in your spiritual growth. (Note: We have a strict privacy policy and will not share your information with anyone.)

1. Leviticus 17:11 (NASB).
2. Matthew 26:27-28 (KJV).
3. Again and again in World War II, blood made the difference, by Douglas Starr, Smithsonian, March 1995, pp. 125-138.

Governor Nash stepped out of his office and, for a moment, out of his role as Governor of Ohio. He tucked his large, black Bible under his arm and made his way down the hallway of the State Penitentiary, in Columbus, Ohio. As a Christian, his heart burned with desire to share Christ with a certain young man waiting on “death row.” Guilty of first-degree murder of his girlfriend, the condemned one sat in his cell, just hours away from his appointment with the electric chair. Upon seeing the elderly man with a dark suit and Bible under his arm, he thought him to be a minister or the prison chaplain. His anger boiled over and he cursed as he sent the man away. A guard standing nearby could hardly believe his eyes. “You fool,” he said, “don’t you know who that was?”

“A preacher, I guess,” was the reply. “No, that was the Governor, the only one who could set you free, and you sent him away.” The young man died a few hours later, guilty not only of murder, but of sending away his only hope for freedom and life.²

You and I may never have committed any major crime, but in God’s sight we are all guilty sinners facing God’s judgment which is eternal separation from God in the place the Bible calls hell—whatever and wherever that may be. Because Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on the cross to pay the penalty for all your sins and mine, he is the only one who can give us the hope of a full and free pardon with God’s gift of eternal life in heaven forever. If you have never accepted Jesus Christ’s pardon, whatever you do don’t turn him away today and in so doing fail to accept his offer of a full and free pardon.

In the words of William Shakespeare: “There is a tide in the affairs of men / Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune / Omitted, all the voyage of their life / Is bound in shallows and in miseries.”

NOTE: To accept God’s Invitation for a full and free pardon go to: http://tinyurl.com/6k49w or for further help read, “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian” at: http://tinyurl.com/8glq9

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, how can I ever thank you enough for giving your Son, Jesus, to die on the cross to pay the just penalty for all my sins. Please help me to be sure that I have accepted your free pardon and am a true Christian. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Acts 26:28-29 (NIV).
2. Source: Roger A. Parsons, Light From The Word, Spring 1992. Cited on http://net153.com/illustrations.

“Leslie Weatherhead, in his book, Key Next Door, told about a benevolent ruler named Goho who, centuries ago, lived on the island of Taiwan. One ritual he desperately wanted stopped was the ancient custom of offering humans for sacrifices. He wanted them to substitute an ox or a pig for their annual offering.

For many years he succeeded. However, after one extremely poor harvest the tribal leaders complained that the animal sacrifices weren’t working and they needed a human sacrifice to appease the gods whom they believed to be angry at them.

Unfortunately, Goho failed to convince his tribe of the error of their way and finally gave in to them. He said. “Go into the forest tomorrow morning. There you will find a victim tied to a tree. He will be wearing a red robe of sacrifice and a red cloth over his face and head. Strike! For this is your next victim.”

The following morning the men went to the forest and found the victim just as Goho said. In a crazed frenzy they rushed in and decapitated him. When they uncovered his head they realized what they had done. They had killed Goho, their leader!

According to the story, Taiwan has never again had a human sacrifice. Goho accomplished through his death what his teaching failed to do.²

And on this day some 2000 years ago Jesus’ death on the cross at Calvary accomplished what all of man’s own efforts could never do. He died to pay the penalty for your sins and mine so we could be fully forgiven and given the gift of eternal life. If you have never accepted God’s full and free pardon, you can do that right now by praying the following prayer:

“Dear God, I confess that I am a sinner and am sorry for all the wrongs that I have done. I believe that your Son, Jesus Christ, died on the cross for my sins. Please forgive me. I invite you, Jesus, to come into my heart and life as Lord and Savior. I commit and trust my life to you. Please give me the desire to be what you want me to be and to do what you want me to do. Thank you for dying for my sins, for your free pardon, for your gift of eternal life, and for hearing and answering my prayer. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

If you prayed this prayer, please let us know by clicking on www.actsweb.org/decision.php and we will send you the web address for a free PDF copy of “How to Grow” to help you in your Christian life, plus the web site for additional helpful articles—all without charge.

For further help be sure to read, “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian” at: http://tinyurl.com/8glq9

1. Romans 5:7-8 (NKJV).
2. From the “Supreme Sacrifice” at http://tinyurl.com/38h6qn

“Prepare to meet your God…”¹

I have read how “in 1976, Indiana University’s basketball team won the NCAA National Championship, led by Bobby Knight. A short time later, Coach Knight was interviewed on the television show 60 Minutes. The commentator asked him, ‘Why is it, Bobby, that your basketball teams at Indiana are always so successful? Is it the will to succeed?’

“‘The will to succeed is important,’ replied Bobby Knight, ‘but I’ll tell you what’s more important, it’s the will to prepare. It’s the will to go out there EVERY day, training and building those muscles and sharpening those skills!’

“Whether we are talking about sports, or education or science or business or any worthwhile endeavor in life, success goes to the person who has the will to prepare.”

One thing I sought to teach my sons when they were growing up is that they can pretty much do anything they want to do with their life providing they are willing to prepare well enough and work hard enough. Unfortunately, this principle may not be true in some countries, but it was and still is where we live.

And never is this principle more applicable—no matter where we live—when it comes to being prepared for life after death. This is because “it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.”² How tragic it would be to go through life without preparing for eternity, when we have the opportunity today to receive Jesus as our Savior and accept God’s full and free pardon for all our sin and, in so doing, receive God’s gift of salvation and eternal life.

So whatever you do, don’t leave earth without doing this! Remember, too, that “opportunity comes to pass—not to pause.” And as God has said in his word, the Bible, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”³

NOTE: For further help, be sure to read, How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian at: http://tinyurl.com/8glq9.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you for your Word, the Bible, that shows how to prepare for eternity. And thank you for providing your great salvation by giving your Son, Jesus, to die on the cross to pay the penalty for all of my sins. Help me to know for certain that my sins are forgiven and that I am prepared for eternity. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Amos 4:12 (NKJV).
2. Hebrews 9:27 (NKJV).
3. 2 Corinthians 6:2 (NKJV).

Walter B. Knight reported how, “An hour after Queen Elizabeth’s third child was born, 128 cables were sent to all parts of the world! Lights in Buckingham Palace, the Home Office, Foreign Office, Colonial Office, and Commonwealth Relations Office had burned all night. The palace’s big switchboard was manned all night. And personnel on night duty were doubled in the ministries.”

How different was the birth of Jesus, “The Prince of Peace.” No earthly potentates proclaimed his coming. Atrocious, bloodthirsty Herod concerned himself with the event because he thought some rival rule had appeared.

God, however, signaled the birth of Jesus by dispatching angelic hosts to proclaim the good news and by placing in the heavens the guiding star to direct humble shepherds and seekers to the lowly place of Jesus’ birth.

How different will be the second coming of Jesus. The first time, he came as a babe to identify with lost mankind and to pay the price of our redemption through his death on the cross. The good news is that Jesus is coming again and, when he does, he will come in all his divine glory as King of kings and Lord of lords. To him every knee will bow. What a day this will be!

Jesus himself promised that he would come back to earth to get and take his true followers to be with him forever in Heaven. The important thing is to be sure that we are ready for his return and/or to meet God face to face should we pass from this life to the next before Jesus Christ comes back again.

1. John 14:1–3 (NIV).

We don’t have to be good for goodness sake!

In fact, being good may be our worst enemy. It was for the Pharisees! Their external goodness was a cover-up used to avoid facing what they were on the inside. Jesus did not approve of their external religiosity! In fact, he opposed it vehemently.

It can bring a great sense of freedom to realize that God isn’t into rules, but rather relationships. And his goal isn’t to make us good, but to make us whole; that is, to heal us from the inside out. The end result will be goodness but goodness that comes from a healed heart, and not from adhering to external rules and regulations dictated by legalism.

This is not an excuse to act out in sinful or destructive behaviors or to ignore God’s laws which are for our protection. Never! As the Apostle Paul said, “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means….”²

What it does mean is that I need to grow towards wholeness and maturity by recognizing my inner brokenness, my weaknesses, and my unresolved character issues and bring them not only to God, but also to a trusted friend and/or counselor for healing and recovery. As a general rule, we got damaged (emotionally) in damaging relationships and we get healed (emotionally) in healing relationships. As James said, “Therefore confess your sins [and faults] to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”³

Again, God’s goal is not to make us good, but to make us whole. It’s the heart that counts with him, not the externals. If all I have is external goodness, I am no better than the Pharisees. Realize too, that only to the degree that we are made whole will our lifestyle, our attitude, our actions, our behavior, and our relationships be “whole-some.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to see my broken parts so I can bring them to you for healing. Confront me with my reality, make me whole, and lead me to the help that I need to do this. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Colossians 1:28–29 (NASB).
2. Romans 6:1 (NIV).
3. James 5:16 (NIV).

A Daily Encounter reader writes, “I understand Jesus died for our sins. I believe it but I just can’t understand why he had to do it. Didn’t God have power over everything? I have looked for the answer to this question for a long time. Please help.”

I’m sure that many people struggle with this same issue so let me explain. Because God is a God of infinite justice, he cannot forgive sin without justice being served. Otherwise he wouldn’t be God. This means that all sin must be judged according to the moral law of God and the universe. We can no more defy this law and live than we can defy the law of gravity by jumping out of an airplane without a parachute. The end result will be death unless—unless we apply another law, the law of aerodynamics. This law makes it possible for an airplane to fly and a parachute to lower us to the earth gradually and thereby save us.

There is another universal law that we cannot defy and live. It is “the law of sin and death,” which means that the judgment and penalty of all sin is death and eternal separation from God. That is, unless we apply a higher law which is “the law of the Spirit of Life,” which is a God-given “spiritual parachute” to save us from eternal death. God provided this law through the death of Jesus who died in our place to pay the penalty for our sin.

Furthermore, because God is also a God of absolute holiness, no sin or unforgiven sinners can survive in his presence. As some bacteria are not able to survive in the light and die if they are exposed to it, so it is with us. In our sinful state if we were exposed to God and his incredible light, we would be destroyed instantaneously. And herein lies our dilemma.

However, God’s answer to our dilemma lies in the fact that God is not only a God of infinite justice and absolute holiness, but also a God of eternal love. Because of his love, God gave his very own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die on the cross in our place to pay the penalty for our sins to meet the automatic demands of his (God’s) justice and holiness. Christ’s death made possible God’s “law of the Spirit of Life”—our God-given “spiritual parachute”—to save us from eternal death.

Not to accept and use God’s “parachute” means certain death from which there is no other escape. In other words, anyone who doesn’t accept God’s pardon will automatically die for him/herself—which means eternal separation from God, the author of all love and life, in the place or condition the Bible calls hell. All we need to do is confess our sinfulness, believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that he died in our place for our sins, and ask God for, and accept, his forgiveness and pardon. If you have never done this, you can do so right now by praying the following prayer.

“Dear God, I confess that I am a sinner and am sorry for all the wrongs that I have done. I believe that your Son, Jesus Christ, died on the cross for my sins. Please forgive me. I invite you, Jesus, to come into my heart and life as Lord and Savior. I commit and trust my life to you. Please give me the desire to be what you want me to be and to do what you want me to do. Thank you for dying for my sins, for your free pardon, for your gift of eternal life, and for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

If you prayed this prayer and truly meant it, please let us know by clicking on the “My Decision” link at http://tinyurl.com/pgntm and we will send you a free copy of the e-leaflet, “How to Grow” to help you in your new spiritual life.

For further help, click on the “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian” link at http://tinyurl.com/8glq9

1. Romans 8:1–3(NIV).

I’m sure you’ve seen an insect such as a fly struggling desperately to escape to the outside world through a closed window. He never gives up. His frenzied effort would be almost funny if it weren’t a life and death struggle. He backs off. Flies into the glass head on. Crashes. Backs off. Flies into the glass head on again, and again, and again. Until he totally exhausts himself and drops dead on the windowsill. Little did it know it was doomed from the start.

The problem was that it didn’t see things the way they were, but the way it was.

And when it comes to eternal salvation or life after death, the instinctive knowledge of which is ingrained into the human soul from birth, neither do we see things the way they are (from Gods’ perspective), but the way we are.

And herein lies the tragedy. Man-made religions depend on an individual’s good works, best efforts, doing penance, trying harder, or even self-inflicted pain in a futile attempt to save himself. I don’t know where I learned it, but as a child I believed that if I did enough good things to outnumber or outweigh the bad things I did, that would find favor with God and I would be assured of a home in Heaven. Wrong.

Going back to the fly bashing its head against the window pane in a futile effort to save itself, had it only realized that across the room a few feet away was an open door, he could have escaped effortlessly to freedom.

And so it is with finding God and the gift of eternal life. Our good works will never get us into Heaven. Neither will trying harder or anything else we do. We simply cannot save ourselves. If we could, why would Jesus have died for us on the cross? The reason we can’t save ourselves is because we are sinners and are already spiritually dead; that is, eternally separated from a holy and just God. And dead people cannot save themselves!

All we need to do is to stop our own futile efforts to save ourselves and look to Jesus. As he said, “I am the gate [door]; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture.”² And again, “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that you have provided the way of salvation for lost mankind. Help me to see that there is nothing I can do to save myself, and all I need to do to receive your gift of forgiveness and eternal life is to confess my sins to you and ask Jesus to be my Savior. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

1. Proverbs 14:12 (NIV).
2. John 10:9 (NIV).
3. John 14:6 (NIV).

In their book, Living a Power-Filled Life, Bill Tucker with Pat Maxwell talk about a four-hundred-year-old tree that crashed to the forest floor Over the centuries it had been struck by lightning fourteen times, braved great windstorms, and even defied an earthquake. In the end, however, it was killed by little beetles. Boring under the bark, they chewed away its mighty fibers until the giant of the forest lay broken on the ground.

How true it is, it’s the little things in life, which at the time seem harmless, but when you put them all together, they can cause great devastation. As another has said, “Many a marital grave has been dug by a lot of little digs.” And as the ditty puts it:

It’s the little things that bother us
and put us on the rack,
you can sit upon a mountain
but you can’t sit on a tack!

But the biggest danger of all is found in our so-called “little sins.” Eventually they will catch up with us and inch by silent inch will drive us farther and farther away from God. And as Edmund Burke said, “By gnawing through a dike, even a rat may drown a nation.”

Sins—large or small—are a spiritual cancer and unless we get the cancer, the cancer will get us. As God’s word says, “Be sure your sin will find you out.”² The good news is that God also says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”³

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, your Word warns us about the dangers of sin. Please help me to see and admit to my sins, confess them to you, and receive your forgiveness. And help me to resolve and overcome any habitual sin I may have in my life. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

1. Song of Solomon 2:15 (NIV).
2. Numbers 32:23.
3. 1 John 1:9.

“While sitting on the bank of a river one day, I picked up a solid round stone from the water and broke it open. It was perfectly dry in spite of the fact that it had been immersed in water for centuries. The same is true of many people in the Western world. For centuries they have been surrounded by Christianity; they live immersed in the waters of its benefits. And yet it has not penetrated their hearts; they do not love it. The fault is not in Christianity, but in men’s hearts, which have been hardened by materialism and intellectualism.”²

Some 4,000 years ago, when God called Moses to deliver the ancient people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt, Pharaoh refused to let the people go. God kept sending plagues on the Egyptians so Pharaoh would agree to let the Israelites go, which he did. But as soon as there was relief from the plague, Pharaoh changed his mind, hardened his heart and refused to let the people go. After continual resistance, eventually God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.

When we continually fail to adhere to God’s Word and his message of obedience and salvation we end up hardening our hearts. Eventually God may harden our hearts too—a dangerous course to follow.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please give me a heart that is open to your Word, that accepts your free offer of salvation, and the desire to always live in harmony with your will. And please soften any areas of my heart that I may already have hardened. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

1. Exodus 8:15 (NIV).
2. Sadhu Sundar Singh (1889–1929)