One For Many
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The headline on MSN website read:
“Man Was Executed on Murder Conviction in 2017, But New DNA Evidence Points to Someone Else: Lawyer.”
The story said Ledell Lee was executed in Lincoln County, Ark., on April 20, 2017 for the 1993 murder of Debra Reese. He maintained his innocence from the day he was arrested until the day he died. Now, four years later, an attorney with the Innocence Project, a nonprofit organization that works to exonerate the wrongfully convicted, says DNA testing from the murder weapon points to someone other than Lee!
But the part of the story that got me really, really sad was this:
“The courts refused to hear any new evidence or allow DNA testing before executing Lee, who was one of eight people scheduled for execution in rapid succession because of the state’s expiring supply of execution drugs,” the release stated.
You fast -track someone’s murder because execution drugs are expiring? This is what I call “Reduced to clear murder!”
I believe in justice and I believe in fairness. But I don’t believe justice is served when someone is murdered. More so in a hurried manner because supply of execution drugs are about to expire. This is because we cannot bring them back when we realize we are wrong, and God knows we can be wrong. I believe it was the reason God explicitly forbids it in Exodus 20:13.
I have often heard people say capital punishment brings closure to the family. I beg to differ, because what it truly brings to families is vengeance! The transient semblance of satisfaction that people get when they finally take vengeance is what they get. It does not last, and they still feel empty because it is not of God!
What God prescribes is what Jesus, in that famous interaction with Nicodemus, said. He said,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
John 3:16-17
Jesus died for even the murderer! He did not come to condemn him/her but to save him/her. We need to give people the chance to be saved, and to reform, especially since we are limited in what we know.
Some of the most satisfied people I know are those who suffered from crime; but the criminal later got converted and became an ambassador for Christ!
Killing the criminal only destroys one criminal; converting the criminal however destroys many criminals and produces even more good people!
God’s way is always the best.
MEMORY VERSE
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
(John 3:17)
QUESTIONS
How deep is the offense someone has committed against you?
Do you know that bitterness can lead to murder; but forgiveness leads to saving your brother or sister?
PRAYER TIP
Father, however deep
the offense, please give me
the heart to forgive; because
it is only then I begin to
exhibit Your grace to others
for people to desire to
know You more.
URGENT CALL
Every soul is valuable to God, far more than the entire world! But by nature, we are all sinful, and alienated from God, and we ultimately face his wrath!
God in His mercy and love made a way for us to remedy this. He gives us a chance to reverse this downward spiral to destruction, join His family, be part of His household, and become His children.
The first step to becoming a member of God’s household is for us to be saved.
Salvation comes through accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Personal Savior.
It is a very personal decision. No one can make that decision for you.
If you make that decision today, there will be great singing and rejoicing in heaven; because one new member has joined the family and household of God! A soul, much, much more valuable than the world, has been saved from destruction!
Do you want to make that decision today?
Please visit “The Believer’s Prayer”
for guidance if you want
to make that decision.
Then develop your new relationship
with God through your Quiet Time.
Then find a Bible-Believing Church
where you can Fellowship with like
minded people.
We will be happy to hear from you through the contact information on that page, or the ones at the top of this page. Don’t delay. Make this very personal decision today!
God richly bless you
SPECIAL GRATITUDE
Thank you for visiting the Testimony Devotional Website.
We would not have gotten here without your prayers, goodwill and overall support. We are grateful, and humbled.
We thank God for counting us worthy to share in His Great Commission; and we thank you for sticking with us through this journey.
God richly bless you.
The Testimony Devotional website addresses are:
Reagan
sin is by nature