Elvis Sighting

My friend Ruth said she saw Elvis at the post office last week. When she dropped that tidbit during Bible study this week, we couldn't leave it alone. In fact, my friends dared me to blog about it so...here we are!

Ruth detailed what he was wearing, that he was getting out of a car and going in to the post office. In the midst of her hilarious retelling, we asked if he broke out into song or if he struck a pose. We had quite the tease fest. Especially when we found out this was her first foray into public after a long bout of bronchitis...we insisted that maybe he was a figment brought on by the residual effects of codeine. Admittedly, we were pretty silly.

We could tell through the giggles and hee haws that by her account and her demeanor that she had not truly been in the presence of the King of Rock n' Roll...just a faded imitation.

So, as I lingered in that study group with the giggles drifting in my mind, the Lord brought to memory another woman who had seen a king. She was like Ruth, going about her daily business. But post offices weren't invented yet, and neither was running water. She was at the town well, getting her daily jar full of water. It was midday, because she was avoiding the morning crowd. She had a bad reputation in town and didn't want to give the gossips anything to talk about. Little did she know she was keeping a divine appointment--because there sat a man, asking for a drink. He had nothing to draw water with. (John 4:1-54)

After conversing with the man, she was convinced she was in the presence of someone special, someone who knew scripture like a rabbi, but more than that. She sensed he was the someone her forefathers had told her about: the Messiah.

Can you imagine meeting Jesus at the post office? What would you ask him to be sure it was truly Him? Do you think you'd even recognize Him? What would you say to your family and friends about the experience? How do you think they'd receive you?

Pay close attention to what the woman at the well told the people in her town, "Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?" (John 4:29)

This is an example of the purest form of evangelism: tell people what Jesus did for you and ask them, "Could this be your king?"

They could tell by her account and her demeanor that she had indeed been in the presence of The King. See verse 39: Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me all that I ever did."

There is no lofty speech or complicated scripture equation to share with people. You are uniquely prepared with life experiences, doubts and failures. Speak to others about what you know. It's when we try to be another Billy Graham that we fall on our face. How can you begin to be a witness to someone else's walk?

It's not about proving He lived by using a microscope or archeology. It's about proving He is alive in your life, by how you met Him and what He did and continues to do for you!

Now put on those blue suede shoes and walk the talk!

GPS

I went to the door to welcome hubby home the other evening. The dog was barking frantically and when I opened the front door and looked outside I could see why. There was a strange car just closing it's doors and quickly pulling out of our driveway. My hubby came walking up the sidewalk with lunchbox, papers, and a puzzled look on his face.

He said, "That was weird."
I said, "Why, who was that?"
"I dunno," he said.
"So some strangers drove into our yard and then left?"
"Yeah, that's it in a nutshell."

Then he told me the part I missed. He said when he drove into the yard, the car followed him, turned around and an older lady got out of the car smiling. He greeted her.

Then the driver, a younger lady, got out of the car, took one look at my hubby and said, "Omigosh! We followed the wrong van!!"

They apologized and promptly got back in their car to drive away.

I can only imagine the panic that ensued inside that car. We had no idea how long they had followed him. He commutes home from work about 30 minutes every evening. He didn't notice when they started following him, just when they turned on to our street.

I hope they had a cell phone and could call a friend for help. I hope they made it to their final destination with no problem. I bet this was the last straw and that driver buys a GPS soon.

In January you can't land on a tv channel without hearing someone and their Top 10 of 2009 or a synopsis of the last decade. There were a lot of rough spots and calamities. You could say that a lot of people might've been lost and didn't know it until they arrived at where they thought they were supposed to be.

Are you one of those people?

Did you find yourself with a fancy hybrid car that had payments that could've been mortgage payments in the 80's? Or has that college degree not really prepared you for the job you dreamed of and you need a few more years of study? Or maybe you are getting ready to downsize to a smaller home because the mortgage was too costly for a family that suddenly has one income... Or did a phone call change your life suddenly one dark night?

Do you feel like the guy who got lost in on a country backroad, stopped to ask for directions and listened with dread as the local guy scratched his head and said, "Sorry bub, you can't get there from here."

Now what do you do?

Can I make a suggestion? Yeah, you can see that pitch coming...you need a GPS. And I don't mean a Garmin or Magellan. GPS stands for Global Positioning System. It's a device in your car that talks to a satellite up in space, and the satellite beams back an answer of where you are, where you could go and how to get where you want to go.

What do you think God's GPS is? His Word, the Bible! If you take the time to really read the Bible, it has a ton of wisdom learned from people who have "been there, done that, got the t-shirt and don't ever want to travel that road again!" It also has directions on how to get where you want to be.

How much better it is to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver. Proverbs 16:16

But most of all the Bible has the thing that people need the most: GPS, or God's Plan for Salvation.

Dear readers, in this world you will have trouble. (John 16:33) There's no way around it. But when you have accepted God's plan for salvation, you have something better than any Garmin or Magellan on a dashboard. You have the Holy Spirit who will counsel and be your "driver".

When you confess your need for Jesus, pray for His forgiveness and turn your life over to Him, you will have a new life, you are "reborn". And He deposits within you the Holy Spirit who is your link, your satellite connection to God, for an eternity.

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world at large cannot receive him, because it isn't looking for him and doesn't recognize him. But you do, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. John 14:16-17

So how about it? Are you ready for the trip of your life? Do you want to be sure of your final destination? Just remember: Jesus is The Way.

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. John 14:6