Have you ever known something, a fact of some sort, but never really understood it? Has something happened to finally make you fully understand that fact, have you been told something that makes you see it in a new light, and it turned on the proverbial light over your head? That happened to me today. I had something I call a DUH! moment.
I've always known that Jesus Christ died for my sins and at a young age, 12, I decided to become saved. A year later, I was baptized, and I've tried to lead a pretty good life. However, I always felt something was missing. Maybe it was because I became saved out of fear. God was someone to be feared, who watched our every step and knew our every thought
and if we did something wrong, we would be judged and sent burn in hell for all eternity...not a future I wanted!
As I got older, I recognized what was missing. Joy. I saw other Christians and the joy they had and I wondered what I was doing wrong. I wanted to know the Lord and be as joyful as some of the others I saw who believed in him, so I went exploring spiritually.
I know some Christians have a dim view of the Roman Catholic Church, but I say praise the Lord for it! I knew about salvation, I knew about hell, and the judgment of the Lord, but I didn't know about the love God has for all of us. The Catholic Church introduced me to that love, a foreign concept to me, taught me how much Jesus Christ loves us all. I will always be eternally
grateful for the help they gave me. Still, I had not found joy.
I've spent years in bible studies, I've listened to ministers on the radio and on television, and I knew the facts. However, today, the pieces of the puzzle finally came together. Today, I discovered the joy in being a believer of Christ!
Today, Jan. 3, 2007, I can say without a doubt, that I am saved! I am a true child of the most high God!
I am not a child of God because I am good-looking ( I'm really rather plain ), it isn't because I am smart (definately not that!), it isn't because of where I was born, how I dress, where I live, who I know, or what I do. I am a child of the most high God because He loved me so much that He sent His own son to the cross to die for my sins, centuries before I was born! Isn't that awesome?! Even before we take our first step, say our first word, or take our first breath, our sins are forgiven! All we have to do is accept that simple, yet awesome, fact. Acceptance is the key to Christianity.
God doesn't have to accept us, we have to accept Him in our lives! He has already thrown down the gauntlet to us by making the ultimate sacrifice, His son's life. God has already said to us through Christ's sacrifice, I accept you, I love you, come to me. It is up to us to accept that love and accept
Jesus as the son of God, as God, and allow Him in our hearts and in our lives.
Where I go to church won't save me, what I read won't save me, nor will the way I dress, how I treat people, or the color of my eyes. Nothing will save me but the simple truth. God loves me so much that He came to earth as Christ and died for my sins. He has found me worthy, not for my own efforts, but through His sacrifice. It is as simple as that. Isn't that truly amazing?!
I've always known that Jesus Christ died for my sins and at a young age, 12, I decided to become saved. A year later, I was baptized, and I've tried to lead a pretty good life. However, I always felt something was missing. Maybe it was because I became saved out of fear. God was someone to be feared, who watched our every step and knew our every thought
and if we did something wrong, we would be judged and sent burn in hell for all eternity...not a future I wanted!
As I got older, I recognized what was missing. Joy. I saw other Christians and the joy they had and I wondered what I was doing wrong. I wanted to know the Lord and be as joyful as some of the others I saw who believed in him, so I went exploring spiritually.
I know some Christians have a dim view of the Roman Catholic Church, but I say praise the Lord for it! I knew about salvation, I knew about hell, and the judgment of the Lord, but I didn't know about the love God has for all of us. The Catholic Church introduced me to that love, a foreign concept to me, taught me how much Jesus Christ loves us all. I will always be eternally
grateful for the help they gave me. Still, I had not found joy.
I've spent years in bible studies, I've listened to ministers on the radio and on television, and I knew the facts. However, today, the pieces of the puzzle finally came together. Today, I discovered the joy in being a believer of Christ!
Today, Jan. 3, 2007, I can say without a doubt, that I am saved! I am a true child of the most high God!
I am not a child of God because I am good-looking ( I'm really rather plain ), it isn't because I am smart (definately not that!), it isn't because of where I was born, how I dress, where I live, who I know, or what I do. I am a child of the most high God because He loved me so much that He sent His own son to the cross to die for my sins, centuries before I was born! Isn't that awesome?! Even before we take our first step, say our first word, or take our first breath, our sins are forgiven! All we have to do is accept that simple, yet awesome, fact. Acceptance is the key to Christianity.
God doesn't have to accept us, we have to accept Him in our lives! He has already thrown down the gauntlet to us by making the ultimate sacrifice, His son's life. God has already said to us through Christ's sacrifice, I accept you, I love you, come to me. It is up to us to accept that love and accept
Jesus as the son of God, as God, and allow Him in our hearts and in our lives.
Where I go to church won't save me, what I read won't save me, nor will the way I dress, how I treat people, or the color of my eyes. Nothing will save me but the simple truth. God loves me so much that He came to earth as Christ and died for my sins. He has found me worthy, not for my own efforts, but through His sacrifice. It is as simple as that. Isn't that truly amazing?!
