The Neighbors

He has loved us with an everlasting love

A Fictional Narrative

[written in the first person]

My next-door neighbors are a wonderful couple who had befriended me when I first moved into the neighborhood. I had moved to town for a job, and I had come alone. My wife of some thirty years had died just prior to my move. In fact, that was part of the reason for moving and taking the new job. The Lord had been so faithful and I felt blessed knowing that He was with me. His presence was my constant companion. I was thankful every day that I knew the Lord and that I had His Word to comfort me in my loss and in those times when sadness was an ever-present companion.

“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3).

My neighbors were much-needed friends in my time of grief. I wanted to tell them how the love of God had changed me and to let them know just how faithful the Lord is to His children. But they attended a church that did not follow the Bible and many false doctrines had made their way into their church down through the years. Sadly, their church had substituted man’s ways for God’s Word. I didn’t know how to approach them with the love that the Lord had for them. They said they felt that they were at the right church and were getting the truth because it was the original one started by Jesus.

I knew all about the teachings of this church because I grew up attending it. This church taught that they were the one true church and that the Apostle Peter was their first leader. How could I reach them with the truth about Christianity? I remembered as a youth how the church warned about listening to those of other denominations. In fact, at the time, I felt sorry for those outside the church because the church said that they were lost.

One day, while I was talking with my neighbors, I felt the Lord prompt me to speak to them about their souls. I knew that this church put little emphasis on what the Bible said. They would hear selective verses from it on Sunday, but it really was all about what the church teachings required. Also, the neighbors knew that I was not “one of them” and would be on their guard against anything not taught by their church which I was sure they had been warned about just as I had been those many years ago.

I followed the Lord’s leading and spoke with them about the love God has for us. How He left His home in glory and died on the Cross that we might be forgiven and saved. As I spoke with them I sensed the presence of the Holy Spirit. The neighbors listened intently to what I had to say. I could see by their reaction that nobody had ever spoken to them this way about the love God had for them. When I finished speaking, we wished each other a good night and they returned to their home. I prayed that the Lord’s great love for us all would draw them to Him.

“I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you” (Jeremiah 31:3).

I was very busy with my new job and did not see the neighbors for quite some time. One night, there was a knock at my front door and when I opened it I found the couple, my neighbors, standing there. I invited them in and we sat down in the living room. I felt that they had something on their mind that they wanted to discuss, but they didn’t bring up the real reason for their visit for a long period of time. Finally, the husband spoke up and said that they wanted to hear more about Jesus. They both said that they could see that I had something that they didn’t have. They had tears in their eyes as they told me how the words I spoke to them had stayed with them. In fact, they said that the love of God that I spoke about was all they could think about since that night. The Holy Spirit was drawing them and they both seemed overwhelmed by the fact that the Lord had reached down to them in His love. They said they wanted the joy and peace that they saw I had. Both the husband and wife wanted to know the Lord.

“We love Him, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

I led them in the Sinner’s Prayer that very evening, and this couple, my wonderful neighbors, became my brother and sister in Christ that night. The Lord blessed me with these great neighbors that were so good to me when I moved to my new home and job after losing my wife. And the Lord blessed this couple with the knowledge of the love the Lord has for them and the salvation he offers to whomsoever comes to Him in repentance and faith in Jesus and the price He paid at Calvary.

“Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (the Cross represents the ultimate sacrifice the Lord made because of his great love for us)” (John 15:13).

See The Sinner’s Prayer page on this website. Link below:

https://wordpress.com/page/tqministries.com/1752

Always Remember,

God Loves You!

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Here I Am, Lord – Tom Quinn Ministries – tqministries.com 2022