Statistics

I seldom look at the stats on Blogger, but Friday morning I was curious, then stunned.  In twenty-four hours (10am 6/9-10am 6/10), 18 hits from Iran.  Yep, it brought to mind a verse:

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts 1:8 KJV)

The internet has allowed a rural great-grandmother to reach into a country half a world away with a message that would be considered forbidden should she attempt to speak it in person. How she would get there is anybody’s guess.

As the stat shows, my blog is not one with a large following.  Some of the blogs I follow have hundreds of readers a day, some thriving on advertising revenue from their hits.  Mine exists simply to share what reading God’s word daily means to me.

The blog  has provided me some very dear friends, not all of whom are Christian.  I’m not trying to make changes in their lives, really.  I do pray they consider the source of my readings and that there be something applicable to their lives.  I leave it in the hands of the Holy Spirit as to what speaks to another soul – nothing I write is pointed to a single individual.

Oh, I’m tempted to do so.  You know, how one verse just leaps out and the mind says “Wow, if (insert name) would only take that to heart!!  How their live would be changed!”  Nope.  I do not feel called in any way to pinpoint a message.

What I read is for me.  There is always a thought there, often a question, that I must apply in my own life or that I must study in greater depth.  So, I write it down.  That helps me put into words what I really feel about what I read.  Does it make sense?  Is it biblically supported?  Would I want the world to know?  If another finds it of interest, they’ll do their own study, find their own reason for an application in their life.

That doesn’t mean I’m not interested in my reader’s souls.  It doesn’t mean I’m not interested in where they will spend eternity. I do pray for specific individuals!  It just means my calling is to share, leaving any change strictly between them and God.

Oh, yes, I believe the Bible to be true, that it is God inspired and is the manual for those who love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul and mind.  It is my responsibility to read, learn and share from it – not to make another think the same way, but to prayerfully open their heart and mind to possibilities.  To think seriously about such philosophical reasoning as Pascal’s wager.  I like the way Osil put it on her page (her own emphasis): 

I WOULD RATHER LIVE THINKING THERE IS A GOD AND DIE TO FIND OUT THERE ISN'T THAN TO LIVE THINKING THERE ISN'T A GOD AND DIE TO FIND OUT THERE IS.

These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. (1 John 5:13 KJV)


P.S.:  Thanks, every reader in Iran!!