Two Very Different Moves

When I had just turned 13, I went through what proved to be a very difficult time. My parents moved my family from the city of Harrisburg to a rural area of northern York County near the town of Lewisberry. Since I had grown up in Harrisburg, it was, to that point, all I had known. I loved my neighborhood, my school...but most of all I loved my friends. In fact, I had many, many friends. In my new home I had very few friends. Everything was different. And I had great difficulty adjusting. Going from hero to zero was not easy.

Fast forward the calendar just over three years. In late summer of 1972, I found myself at a weekend church retreat at Camp Penn, a United Methodist retreat center near Gettysburg, PA. There I found Jesus Christ (or better said, there Jesus Christ found me!). And just as what happened to me three years earlier - I experienced a major change in my life. God took me and "rescued us (me) from the dominion of darkness and brought us (me) into the kingdom of the Son he loves," (Colossians 1:13). God moved me from the dominion of darkness (which is under the authority of Satan, the Evil One) and transplanted me into the kingdom of Jesus Christ, His Beloved Son! Wow! So unlike my earlier move, as here I went from being blind and enslaved and heading for hell - to being a child of the glorious King of kings and Lord of lords and on my way to a glorious eternal home in heaven! I am still not over this - and I hope I never will!!!

All this to say - what a motivation to share the good news of Jesus Christ. The people we rub shoulders with day in and day out do not realize the reality of their condition. They may think they are living in light and power and freedom, but they are living in the kingdom of darkness, the domain of Satan. All too often we forget this when we see people basking in worldly success. But don't be misled. People are in either one of two kingdoms in the spiritual realm: the kingdom of Jesus Christ or the kingdom of Satan. There are no other kingdoms! And the only hope for any one is the forgiveness of sins found in Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ alone. Praise God that because of the costly sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf - anyone who comes to him can experience what I and many others have experienced - a wonderful transfer from the domain of darkness to the kingdom of the Son!

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj