A Reflection of Faith

Recently, I had the privilege of sharing at a ladies event about a reflection of faith in the life of Billy Graham and I am excited to share a bit of that story with you here.

I find his story to be very remarkable and humbling. I loved being able to research his life and story and am glad to be passing it on.

Fitting almost 100 years into this short of a document was no small task.

I would like to start off by sharing one of my favorite verses that I recently found sketched in the Bible that I had as a child.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Billy Graham was born in 1918 to a devout Christian family but never understood the fuss about church and just wanted to spend his days being a boy.

Defining Moments

When Billy was a teenager, his mom took him to see traveling evangelist, Mordecai Ham and in what would become Billy’s defining moment, He gave his life to Christ.

In his personal testimony, Billy shares how even though he was hesitant, he loved knowing he came to the Lord just as he was.

Even though Billy came from a farm family, He wanted to go to a Christian University and become a preacher.

Billy wrestled with God about whether or not this was His calling. He recalls the full moon that shined the night He laid it all out on the line. Down on his knees, Billy committed to God.

If this is what God wanted, Billy said, “I will be what you want me to be. I will go where you want me to go and I will not change.”
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He made the commitment to serve God. While at Wheaton College, he met Ruth Bell, the daughter of missionaries. They later married and had five children.

Their daughter said there wouldn’t be a Billy Graham without a Ruth. Their children shared admirably about the great love the two of them shared.

Credible Faith

Mr. Graham lived his life by the faith that we see in Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 continues on with what many call the heroes of faith and the stories about how God credited each of them by their faith in Him.

In this lineup, we see greats like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses.

They were by no means perfect but had a faith that God credited to them as right.

I believe Billy Graham had this same faith. The substance of his life was a direct measurement of the evidence of God showing up and proving to be faithful.

We have the benefit of being on this side of the cross unlike the faith heroes in Hebrews 11. We, too, however, have to live by faith in a similar way.

Never having directly seen Jesus we put our hope and trust in the evidence of things we have not seen.

What we have are Christ’s assurances and faithfulness through the evidence of hope, peace, and love that He gives to us when we put our faith and trust in Him.
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Billy Graham loved Jesus and he took the verse from Mark 16:5 literally when it said: “Go, into all the world and preach the gospel to every living creature.”

Billy Graham’s life is a direct reflection of his obedience to take the Good News of Jesus’ love, life, death, and resurrection into the world.

Launched into International Prominence

Mr. Graham started with his team in 1949 at the Los Angeles crusades. At first, not many people attended but after two weeks a radio host announced his crusade and Billy Graham’s career as an evangelist took off into international prominence lending to a national revival.

Throughout his career, Billy Graham preached live to more than 215 million people in over 185 countries and territories.

Through television, video, film, and webcasts he has also reached hundreds of millions of people around the globe.

He was often coined as America’s Pastor serving as personal confidant and pastor to American Presidents from Harry S. Truman to George W. Bush.

He had met with world leaders, talk show hosts, and even the bushman of Australia for more than 60 years and never departed from the story of God’s love which is evident in the cross and resurrection of Jesus.

No matter the topic, it was said that he always brought the conversation back to Jesus.

Awards and Recognitions

He received a multitude of Awards and honors including the

• Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Freedom Award
• The Congressional Gold Medal
• Templeton Foundation Prize for Progress in Religion
• The Big Brother Award for his work on behalf of the welfare of children
• He received the Speaker of the Year Award and was cited by the George Washington Carver Memorial Institute for his contributions to race relations.
• He was presented with an honorary knighthood, Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE), for his international contribution to civic and religious life over 60 years.
• And He was listed by the Gallup organization as one of the “Ten Most Admired Men in the World” for over 60 years.
• He has appeared on the Covers of Time, Newsweek, Life, U.S. News and World Report, and Parade magazines.

Humility

While his accomplishments for religion, freedom, and civil injustices throughout the world are vast, I believe the thing that stands out most to me about the life of Mr. Graham was his humility.

One of my favorite stories comes from his oldest daughter, Gigi. She said she would occasionally be with her daddy at the crusades that had sometimes hundreds of thousands of people and when he would meet someone, he would shake their hand and say, “Hi, I’m Billy Graham.” She said he never assumed anyone knew him.

Billy Graham was a servant of God. He served in humility knowing that his salvation came from God and not his own accolades.

I’ve heard him preach on this very subject. He said if we could contribute in any way to our salvation, heaven would be full of boastful people talking about how they got themselves into heaven.

I Am The Way, The Truth, and The Life

When Mr. Graham spoke, he had a sign that hung behind him that quoted scripture from John 14:6. It read, “I Am the way, the truth, and the life.”

His message was clear. Jesus is the only way to the Father in Heaven and it only comes through the repentance of our sins and forgiveness from the Father.

Christ wants a personal relationship with each one of us. His gift of salvation has been individually wrapped just for you.
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The “My Hope Series” was Billy’s Grahams final message to America. Recorded when he was 95 years old.

After all his years of being a servant to God, he ran his race to the end. His message lies in the hope that he shared with millions of people worldwide.  The awesome thing is, the message of Jesus will never change.

Hope In Jesus

The hope that we have in this life can only be found in the cross and resurrection of Jesus.

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Someday you will hear that Billy Graham died but don’t you believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God. ~Billy Graham
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Rev. Billy Graham went to be in the presence of God on February 21, 2018, just months shy of his 100^th birthday.

He ran with endurance the race set out before him.

His death spoke volumes of his life as a humble servant and it, too, was not without honor.

An Honored Life

Rev. Billy Graham was in rest in the Capitol Building Rotunda for the public to give their final respects. That honor has been given to three other civilians in history.

Leaders from around the world spoke at both his public viewing and funeral. Including President of the United States, Donald Trump who shared this wonderful story.

In 1934, when Billy Graham was 15 years old, Billy’s father allowed a group of Charlotte businessmen to use a portion of his dairy farm to gather for a day of prayer.

That day those men prayed for the city and they prayed that out of Charlotte the Lord would raise up someone to preach the gospel to the ends of the earth. Several months later Billy Graham accepted the Lord and his personal Savior, and the rest is history.

I want to conclude with Hebrews 12:1-2 to encourage you with the confidence that we can have knowing that Christ is alive and seated on the throne.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2

This information was gathered from many resources including the ones below. You can find more information on Billy Graham, his family, and their ministries in the links below.

Peace with God

Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

My Hope

Ann Graham Lotz

I love this beautiful video. I hope you enjoy it as well!

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