Rafael and Elisabet were supposed to be here this morning at 8:00. I called at 8:30, but they didn’t answer. At 9:00, Rafael said they would be here in twenty minutes. At 10:30, they arrived. Such is life.
We fed them breakfast before getting into the Bible study. They had left their booklet behind but had their Bible. I’d asked them to study chapter 1 of John, but they had made it up to chapter 12. That was encouraging.
They apologized for being late. They said everything worked against them to get here, including Rafael refusing to get out of bed. Elisabet said last time she couldn’t get out of bed! Then there were other various troubles that delayed them. They say they feel like the demons are causing them all sorts of trouble the more they read the Bible.
We then walked through the first three chapters of John bit by bit and considered their questions. Our discussion ended with the question, “How can we have eternal life and the promise of heaven?”
Rafael is sure that if they keep trying harder and do more and more good things that God will let them into heaven. Elisabet says she’s afraid that there will only be punishment because they are living in sin together.
So we talked about what it means to believe in Jesus. If He is Savior and Lord and King, what effect will that have? What do those titles of Jesus imply? Of course, we were led to obedience. But we went over John 3 where Nicodemus learned that it is more than physically trying to do better.
They both said they want to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, but that it is too hard to give their whole life and make the whole change. Rafael said to have patience with them as they take little steps. “No es tan tarde, David. It’s not too late. We have time.”
I strongly encouraged them not to put off the call of the Lord. They said they both hear the call and feel the battle for their souls. And they both confessed to being afraid.
Keep praying for them. Rafael said he falls asleep most nights reading his Bible on his phone. He says he loves to read it now that he understands. Elisabet said he wakes her up to point out some new interesting thing, and they discuss it even though they are tired.
They are not far from the kingdom. They are counting the costs.
Juan David 