Rescued through the Flames (#358 of 365+)

“God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation”
(Hebrews 2:10 NLT)

Joni still remembers the injured fireman she tried to witness to when she herself was new to being a quadriplegic and very young in the faith. Both of the fireman’s hands had been amputated because of severe burns. He would no longer be able to do the job that had been a source of income and very satisfying work: Rescuing people from the flames. He was a very bitter man.

Then he learned that God himself “became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14). He found out that Jesus Christ willingly yielded to the severest forms of physical brutality the Romans could think of—stretched out his arms for those nails to be hammered into his wrists—and died to save us from the flames of Hell. He was floored by the fact the Lord had endured such personal pain to save his soul from death and destruction. It made all the difference in the world that he could relate to the Lord’s heart and the Lord could relate to his pain.

Instead of thinking only of his debilitating injury, the fireman began to see how the Lord had allowed an awful experience to happen to him for the good of many others. Not only did it lead him to a place where he was finally ready to accept God’s gift of salvation, but it put him in a position to serve a greater purpose than he ever had before: Rescuing souls from the flames of Hell by telling them what Jesus Christ accomplished for us on the cross.

Lord, thank you for today’s message. Spirit, help me to understand the needs of people’s hearts and souls when I tell them about the gospel. Amen.