Ron Hutchcraft Ministries - The Light in Your Night - #5491

Monday, January 28, 2008

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We had rented a cabin in the mountains, and we didn't want to leave it much. The view across the valley was like a majestic painting. It would change as the sun and the weather changed - all the kind of moods you have in the mountains. I had looked at the mountain across the valley from us many times, but finally I took a good look that direction at night. That's when I saw it - the cross. There was a lighted cross on top of the mountain, glowing in the night from a vantage point where it could be seen all around. Actually, that cross is there all the time but you don't really see it until it's dark.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Light in Your Night."

For many of us, the greatest discovery of our lives came when it was night; one of those dark times we all go through in our life. A lot of people have learned that when it's night, you can see the cross, often for the first time in your life.

The cross - that awful place where Jesus was brutally crucified - turns out to be the ultimate proof of how much God loves you and me. If it's sacrifice that proves love, then we don't ever have to wonder how God feels about us. God the Father gave up God the Son to absorb the guilt and hell for every wrong thing you and I have ever done. There has never been a greater sacrifice. There's never been a greater love.

But we can know about what happened at that cross. We can be around it for years and still miss the forgiveness, the love, and the heaven that Jesus died to give us. Maybe you've been avoiding dealing with Jesus personally. Maybe you feel someone's been pressuring you about Jesus, and that's just made you resist it even more. Maybe it's pride that's kept you from your life-changing encounter at the cross, or even your Christianity, because you've thought having Christianity meant having Christ.

It's easy to go busily about the routines of your life and never really see that cross - until it's suddenly night time. Something happens to your health, to your family, to your job, or to whatever you've counted on for security. And none of your answers, none of your fixes are enough. That's when a lot of people look up and finally see the cross, shining in their night, showing them where hope is.

In John 12:32-33 , our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus said, "'When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to Myself.' He said this to show the kind of death He was going to die.'" That was it - lifted up to die on a cross. But there would be a magnet in that old hunk of wood; a magnet that would draw the people He died for to His side.

Which is exactly why you may be feeling that tug in your heart right now. He's drawing you to come to the cross, to give yourself to Him, and to find what you've spent your whole life looking for. All those religious hang-ups, all those lame arguments, all the proud resistance, all the spiritual pride drops to the ground at the foot of His cross - and you finally belong to the One you were made for.

If you've been doing it without Jesus all these years, for whatever reason, and you want this to be the day you finally experience Him for yourself, would you tell Him that right where you are, "Lord, I turn from the running of my own life, and I'm pinning all my hopes on You because You died for me." If that is what you want, and you want to be sure you have that relationship, I think I could give you some encouragement and some help if you'll just visit our website. And I hope you'll go there right away today. It's yoursforlife.net. And it's really there to help you at a moment like this. Or you can call and ask for my little booklet Yours For Life. And you can call toll free and ask for it at 877-741-1200.

Maybe it's night right now, not because God doesn't love you, but because He does. He doesn't want to lose you. His cross shines very brightly in your night. Once you meet Him there, it will never be night in your soul again.