I
am frequently asked about my Christian faith. I became a Christian
on February 28, 1993 and I still thank God everyday for revealing
Himself to me. He filled a spiritual void in my life, making my life
complete.
The most important
thing in my life is my relationship with God. He created me, as
well as everything else in the universe, and my soul longs to be
with Him, both now, and for eternity. As a Christian, I know that
my relationship with God begins with my faith in Jesus Christ.
The Bible says
that God loves all people with a love so great that we can't even
understand its magnitude. Then God proves this love for us by making
a new covenant with us through His Son Jesus Christ.
SALVATION
How does this
work? Well, the Bible says that because of our sins and imperfections,
all people are eternally separated from God. Makes sense to me. Why
should a pure, righteous and perfect God accept a dirty, rotten sinner
like me into His Kingdom for eternity? The Bible says that there hasn't
been one person in mankinds' history that has been righteous or "good
enough" to make it to Heaven on his own merit. All people have fallen
short of the Glory of God. No matter how many "good" deeds we do,
we still won't be good enough for God on our own.
God can see
our sinful nature. He understands our human condition, and He has
Mercy on us. Most importantly, He loves us more than we can imagine.
And Halleluia, due to His Grace, He has made a Way for us to spend
eternity with Him!
"Jesus
is the way" : Read Romans 10:9
God himself
became manifest in the flesh in His Son Jesus Christ. He lived a
perfect sinless life, was crucified on a cross, died, and buried.
After three days, He rose from the dead, ascended into Heaven, and
is alive today.
Why did God
do this? He humbled Himself to the point of being hung on a cross
by a bunch of scumbags for one reason: He loves you so much that
He wanted to provide you a way to come spend eternity with Him!
His promise
is a simple one: If we will wholeheartedly repent of all our sins,
and believe by faith that Jesus Christ is Gods' Son, then He will
forgive us all our sins and will welcome us into an eternal relationship
with Him.
The Bible also
says that if we fail to repent and receive Christ by faith, we will
spend eternity in separation from God.
Sometimes it
almost seems too easy. He did make it easy for us to spend eternity
with Him. We don't have to do anything. There is no long list of
good things we must do, or of bad things we must abstain from. We
are simply asked to repent and believe by faith that Jesus is who
He says He is in the Bible.
RELATIONSHIP
When we take
this leap of faith, God lifts a spiritual veil from our eyes, and
He begins the process of building a relationship with us. He longs
for a relationship with us here on earth. He wants to spend time
with us. He loves us.
I was amazed
at how God changed my heart once I humbly prayed to receive Christ
as my Savior. He doesn't demand that we conform to some list of
good and bad things we must or must not do, but rather changes our
hearts. He makes us want to do the right thing. He changes us from
the inside out. This inner transformation is what many Christians
refer to as being "born again".
Spending eternity
with Him doesn't mean we must wait until we die to be in relationship
with God. Eternity begins here on earth the moment we receive Christ
as our Lord and Savior. I must say that experiencing God here in
this life has been the highlight of my existence on earth thus far.
And to think that it only gets better!
I am by no
means perfect now that I am in an eternal relationship with God.
Far from it! I still mess up and do unrighteous things everyday.
I always will. That is the human condition.
But here is
the key: my heart is right. I will to do good, to be a Godly man.
I put my relationship with God first in my life. I long to be a
wonderful husband, to make sure my wife's cup is always running
over. I long to be a great dad to my two daughters, to make sure
they are raised in the love and admonition of the Lord. Finally,
I long to be used by God, to share His love and spread His gospel
all over this land. These are my priorities. They are what I live
for.
God has
changed my heart, and given me the desire to live in this manner, with these priorities. Am I perfect? Far from it. But my hearts desire is to be a Godly man. When I fall short, He forgives me, and lifts me back up, and encourages me to try again. What a Plan! What a God! What a life!
"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is Good. Blessed is the man that
trusts in Him" .... Psalm 34:8.
