I have watched your progress through the 34 years of your life.

I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. (Jeremiah 1:5) 

Today I am with your mother as the bus pulls up to the Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles.

She came from 9th and Pacific in San Pedro to bring you home.

She prayed I would be here for you.

None of your friends came on the day you were released from jail.

“Antonio!” your Mom yells out, smiling at you, reaching up on her toes to kiss your cheek. “I have been praying for you.”

For a moment, your tough-guy exterior softens.

She is old. She is tired. She walks with difficulty. But her love for you has never faded.

You see the same gleam in her eyes, and the joy she’s had for you all her life.

You look into your mother’s eyes, but not deep enough because you still don’t see Me, no matter how often I have tried to get your attention.

“Vamos a casa … let’s go and get you something to eat,” she says in her broken English.

The next day, you look at the list of employers that will hire ex-cons.

You can hear your mother talking to you from another room:

“Antonio, I pray for you every day. I pray that Jesus will help you find a job. I pray that He will comfort you. I pray that you will ask Him for guidance in your life.”

You don’t even notice that I’m there as you look in the mirror.

Your eyes only see what you want them to see.

If you looked deeper you’d see Me.

You’d see Hope.

Instead, you see failure.

You look at your gang tattoos.

You have to wear long-sleeve shirts and cover your neck to try and get a job.

You’re at the bottom of the work pool.

The ex-con that few want to take a chance on … and even fewer want to talk with.

The anger you have battled for most of your life begins to stir inside.

Do You Want A Life At The Bottom…Or At The Top?

But I can help you if you only wanted My help. (Psalm 145:18)

I could give you perfect peace if you’d only asked for it. (Isaiah 26:3)

I could give you living water so that you would thirst no more if you only desired it. (John 4:10)

But you still don’t see Me, or hear Me, or feel Me. No matter how much I call out to you.

I remain a stranger to you.

But I know the good that is in you.

I know exactly how many strands of hair you have on your head. (Luke 12:7)

So, I will keep trying to get your attention.

I won’t give up on you.

Why would I? My Son died for you.

I would like to remind you that the Lord is patient, not wanting anyone to perish, but for everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

But you won’t listen. You won’t seek Me. You won’t trust Me.

A Day Without God Is A Wasted Day

It’s been weeks since your release.

You come home from yet another fruitless job search.

Some employers were polite, others told you to get out and not come back.

“Antonio, I am not feeling well,” says your mother, leaning back on the sofa.

You sit next to her and look into her eyes. You see the same warmth and love she has always had for you.

She has that twinkle in her eye when a mother looks at her son.

It is one of love, not of condemnation, one of forgiveness, not of reproach.

As you hold your mother in your arms, you gaze into her eyes.

The twinkle has begun to fade, her breathing is shallower.

She squeezes your hand for the last time. She is motionless, but you see a peace in her eyes.

“No, God, No, not my mother!” you cry out.

That is the first time you called to Me.

That is the first time you have acknowledged Me.

That is the first time you have seen Me in your mother’s eyes.

And I was there all along.

I want to tell you that your mother is with Me now, but you cannot hear Me.

Have You Had Your “Come to Jesus” Moment?

How true are the words, “They have eyes but do not see, ears but do not hear?” (Jeremiah 5:21)

Like our friend, Antonio, it often takes a catastrophic turn in life to have a “Come to Jesus” moment.

Jesus came to give us life that we may have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)

As Jesus said countless times, “Have faith and believe!”

God Knows All Things And Is All Places

There is not one language or tribal tongue that I am not in.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” (Rev. 22:13)

All things were made through Me, and without Me nothing was made that was made. (John 1:3)

• I am the eyes and heart of a mother.
• I am the strength of a father.
• I am the smile of a child.
• I am the innocence of a baby.
• I am the laugh of a grandfather.
• I am the love of a grandmother.
• I am the suffering of the poor.
• I am the vengeance of justice.
• I am the flow of the river and the waves of an ocean.
• I am the wind you cannot see, yet you can feel.
• I am the sunshine that touches your face and the cold that nips at your hands.
• I am every breath that you breathe.
• I Am who I Am (Exodus 3:14)

I am everywhere.

I am high above all nations and the heavens cannot contain Me. (Psalms 113: 4-6)

The whole Earth is filled with My glory. (Isaiah 6:3)

The heavens declare My glory, and the firmament shows My handiwork. (Psalm 19:1)

And I am in the shackles of the prisoners, ready to break those chains and forge new life-affirming ones.

If you would only ask Me.

Will You Choose to Accept the Father Through His Son Jesus?

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)

Jesus sacrificed Himself on the cross as payment for our sins. (1Peter 2:24)

He rose three days later and sits at the right hand of the Father. (Romans 8:34)

It is Jesus who reconciles a forgiven man with a new relationship with the Father. (2 Cor. 5:18)

If you want to meet our Father, you need to repent of your sins and sincerely ask Jesus into your heart.

What is stopping you from asking Him today to help you?

Open your heart to the God of the universe and pray this simple prayer:

Jesus, I acknowledge that You are Lord, that you died for my sins and I believe in my heart You were raised three days later. I sincerely want to repent of my sins.

Jesus, I ask You to be the Lord of my life. Please send the Holy Spirit to dwell within me, to guide my path from this day forward. In Jesus name I pray. – Amen.

If you prayed with a sincere heart, welcome to the family of God!

Not only do you have a Father who will listen to you, but you also have the promise of eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord!