Some are under the impression that once you become a follower of Christ that life is hunky dory! What I am about to write I hope will not dissuade you from making a decision for Christ. It is the absolutely MOST important decision you will EVER make. It is the ONLY decision you will make that is an eternal decision. Everything about your life is temporary – BUT the decision you choose to make in receiving God’s precious gift of salvation that cost Jesus EVERYTHING, and in hindsight, really in comparison cost us nothing – because God loves you THAT much.
I speak from my own 36 years of experience in Christ. Everyone’s testimony and walk is different. If I knew then what I know now would I have chosen to commit my life to Him?
ABSOLUTELY!
Accepting Jesus into your heart as your Savior, choosing to make Him LORD OVER your life does require a cost. Jesus paid the price with His life for you, but choosing Him over the world does come at a sacrifice… Galatians 2:20 tells us:
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
As I mentioned above, I accepted Jesus as my Savior 36 years ago… It’s hard to believe how quickly the time has gone by, life goes by in a blink of an eye. Our earthly life is temporal. Our eternal life is everlasting. What have I gone through in my life since becoming a Christian?
- I was ostracized for my faith by those I loved most. I was called a “Jesus Freak” I was told that “they hated my God” I became the “black sheep” of my family because of my new found faith and commitment to God. But the Bible tells us in 1 John 3:13:
“Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.”
John 15:8 tells us:
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.”
Matthew 10:22 says:
“You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
Luke 6:22 indicates:
“Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.”
It is not an easy thing to be rejected by those you love most… But Jesus was… He warned us in His Word that this would be the case. If you are someone who is going through persecution for your faith, I want you to know that God sees your pain. My hope for you is that you persevere, because if you are going through persecution from the world because of your faith – the light of Christ is shining like a beacon from you! You are a light house for the Holy Spirit to shine forth and testify to those who NEED to see the Light! I want this post to encourage you to continue walking in Christ, going forward! Trusting in Him! He TRULY is the Way, the Truth AND the Life! Don’t allow ANYONE to dim His light in you! For that is what the devil wants! He wants you to “throw in the towel” to wonder WHY you made a decision for Christ! Let me share this with you – there are people who treated me unkindly because of my faith. Turned their backs on me, gossiped about me! Ridiculed me because of my faith! Instead of retaliating, instead of cursing them – in my pain and determination to stay the course for Jesus and think about “what would Jesus do” – I prayed for them. Some of them for YEARS. Not knowing if I would see an answer to my prayers. But trusting God through His Holy Spirit to turn their hearts to Christ. And with three of those people after over 30 years of intercession, 30 years of them not understanding my walk in Christ – 30 years of being the “black sheep,” 30 years of allowing the Light of Christ to shine through, Holy Spirit through their lives circumstances, brought them to a place where the only one they could cry out to was Jesus. Money didn’t matter, prestige didn’t matter – couldn’t help them, people’s opinions didn’t matter – what mattered was they needed God and God in His infinite love, responded. Holy Spirit kept me from having a hardened heart. Holy Spirit used me to minister the love of God to them to the point where their hardened hearts had become softened and receptive to the love of Christ. Listen:
WE CANNOT SAVE ANYONE. THAT IS NOT OUR JOB. IT IS NOT OUR JOB TO JUDGE ANYONE. IT IS OUR JOB TO LOVE THEM. SIMPLY LOVE THEM.
THAT’S WHAT JESUS DID. THAT IS WHAT HE HAS CALLED US TO DO.
Some of you reading these words are in countries where you can actually be killed or imprisoned for your faith. God sees you! God knows! God is with you! Yet through it all, if you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, made Him LORD over your life, I know that Holy Spirit has filled you with the peace that passes ALL understanding. It is something that the world CANNOT give you! It is NOT something that money can buy! So, stand fast in your faith! As the Apostles endured, WE have to endure! We HAVE to allow the light of Christ to shine through in our lives NO MATTER the cost! The cost of enduring is NOTHING compared to the cost that Jesus paid for us to be redeemed, forgiven, in a RIGHT relationship with the Father. I cannot write those words without the joy of knowing Him filling my soul. He TRULY is the Way, the Truth AND the Life! He is the Messiah! He IS the Son of God! The 2nd Member of the Trinity! And HE IS ALIVE.
It is true that in accepting God’s gift of salvation we have made a powerful enemy of the devil. But the devil is NOT GOD.
GOD IS GREATER. GOD IS ALL SEEING, ALL KNOWING, ALL POWERFUL. HE IS THE BEGINNING AND THE END. HE IS IN CONTROL.
THE WORLD WOULD HAVE YOU BELIEVE THAT GOD IS DEAD! I TESTIFY TO YOU THAT HE IS VERY MUCH ALIVE AND REAL! AND HE IS COMING BACK SOON!
The devil WANTS you to give up praying for them! Why? Because he knows our powerful intercessory prayer is! He does NOT want you to believe in the power of prayer and that prayer is a powerful weapon! Those very people who are persecuting you and ostracizing you for your faith will one day give an account before God for their actions, for their words. Pray for them! I know it’s hard! I know it goes against EVERYTHING inside of you! I know the wounds of loved ones run deep! But YOU may be the ONLY ambassador for Christ that they will ever see! And let me assure you that they are watching your actions! They are listening to your words! Even if they don’t admit it to you, they are seeing a difference in you. They don’t understand what it is they are seeing, but there is something that is drawing them to think on you or be around you time and time again! Remember that it is NOT God’s will that ANY perish! And I attest to you – that there is NO sweeter music than seeing someone who spent years scoffing at God, ridiculing the Bible come to a sweet point of discovery and acceptance that GOD IS REAL. That God IS the Way, the Truth and the Life! That it is NOTHING but God’s grace, His forgiveness, His patience and His love that saves us! We don’t always get to see the results of our intercessory prayers, but that doesn’t mean that God isn’t working! It’s a trust thing! Remember, that as MUCH as YOU love someone – God loves them MORE. Truly I say to you – you CANNOT out-love God! I think of this often – especially when I am going through… Can you imagine coming to know on the other side of the grave all those who come up to you and say:
“Thank you for praying for me… Thank you for living for Christ… Thank you for putting up with me even when I was mean hearted to you. It is because of your faithfulness and commitment to God that I came to know Him, to accept Him as MY Lord and Savior.”
Could there possibly be sweeter words?
There is no greater joy than being used by God to bring someone TO God. The older I get, the more I realize how precious my relationship with Him is. How thankful I am that He used someone to open up my spiritual eyes (36 years ago) and learn of ALL that Jesus did for me – how He loves me, how He sacrificed His life for me… How EVEN NOW He is seated at the right-hand of the Father, interceding on my behalf… How could I NOT love Him???
- I endured cancer – TWICE. I do NOT believe in remission. In fact, I cringe when I hear survivors say, “I am in remission.” I AM NOT. Remission is waiting for the cancer to come back – I AM NOT. GOD HEALED ME. I AM HEALED. The Bible tells me in James 1:2-3:
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”
People have asked me time and time again how can I believe in a God that allows suffering?! My response to you with this is that God DID NOT GIVE ME CANCER. This world that we live in is NOT the environment that God created us to live! When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, this world became a FALLEN world! A world full of sickness, illness, disease, sin and death! If you read the book of Genesis, you will read the whole account! God in His infinite love and knowledge WARNED them what would happen! Sickness IS NOT OF GOD! So, why did He allow me to go through it? Honestly, I probably won’t know the full answer to that until I am on the other side of the grave, or until the rapture occurs (Jesus returns) – which ever one comes first. But I WILL tell you that in spite of what I have endured from experiencing a life-threatening, life-taking disease – in holding fast to my faith and my genuine belief that God IS greater than ANY disease, being a survivor has made me more appreciative of life. More thankful for the gift of salvation and more determined to life a life for Christ. I know that God WILL fulfill the number of my days and ONLY HE knows what that is. My trust has grown in Him. My appreciation for what Jesus endured because of His love for me – in knowing that our earthly lives are temporal – gone within the blink of an eye – but our spiritual lives are eternal! The physical body may die, but the spirit and soul DO NOT EVER DIE. You get to choose where you will reside eternally by the decisions you make with your physical life. If you choose to live an earthly life rejecting God. Rejecting His gift of redemption and salvation, He gives you what you want… What YOU choose. He doesn’t choose it for you YOU DO. If you want to live an earthly life without God, you are choosing to live an eternal life without Him as well.
YOUR CHOICE, NOT GOD’S. YOUR FREE-WILL WHICH A LOVING CREATOR CREATED YOU WITH… BECAUSE THAT IS LOVE. LOVE IS NOT FORCED. LOVE IS FREELY GIVEN, FREELY ACCEPTED – OR NOT…
Lamentation 3:22-26 tells us:
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”
God sees in full, we only see in part – and for that I am truly thankful. In giving my life to Him, it is not my own anymore, it is His. I trust Him with it. I have seen Him do some powerful things in my life, and I know that God is REAL. Realer than real! The Apostle Paul said it best in Philippians 1:21:
“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
I know God sees my life in full. I trust Him. To live IS Christ and to die IS to gain! When you trust in the Father you let go of fear, you let go of worry – and while I haven’t always been GOOD at doing that, He brings me back around to Him to show me I can trust Him… TRUST HIM. Man will ALWAYS fail you – but God NEVER will.
Now that doesn’t mean that life will always go the way YOU plan. (Boy do I know that one well! 🙂 ). There are somethings that happen in our lives that we may not know the “why of it” until we stand on the other side… Truly OUR plans are not always those of God’s. He doesn’t “owe” us an explanation. We simply have to believe, trust and pray through certain times in our lives that we don’t understand…
As I said before we have a powerful enemy, but if Jesus is your Savior, LORD OVER your life – you belong to a God who IS MORE powerful than anything that can come against you… All but one Disciple was martyred for their faith… But their eyes remained on Jesus. Can you imagine loving someone enough to give your life for them? Would you die for Christ? There are some ways that some of you who are reading these words are being called to die for Him. Maybe it is not a physical death, but the death of a lifestyle, the death of your thought-life… I don’t know what it is that Holy Spirit is saying to you, but you can BET that what Jesus is calling you to do is for a higher purpose. We may not always be given the answer as to why, but in trusting ourselves to Him, we don’t need to know the answer – for HE is OUR reason.
- I know what it is like to have plenty and to have lack… Our lives are ones that are dependent upon God. We weren’t created to trust in and of ourselves (as the world continues to make us believe we should). I may not always have had what I wanted, but God has always provided what I needed… Can you count it all joy when your life does not go the way YOU planned? Or will you have a temper-tantrum and be angry with God because your plans didn’t come to fruition? More often than not, God’s plans are better than the plans we have for ourselves. (I will be honest and let you know that is a life-lesson that I have to remind myself over and over. 😉 ). When you feel out of control remember that God is ALWAYS in control, even at our most out of control times. He reigns. Never has He NOT reigned.
I could go on and on, but the point I am making – is that the rewards in living for Christ are FAR MORE rewarding than ANYTHING you could be given by the world. The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 2:9:
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
I love and choose Jesus NOT for what He can do for me – but for what He has ALREADY done for me. If He never did another thing for me in my life – HE WOULD BE ENOUGH. I can’t find words adequate enough to write to express all He is for me. How much I love Him. But I hope and pray that YOU will experience His love for yourself. There IS no greater experience than accepting God’s gift of redemption and salvation for the One who endured SO much for you to be reunited with a God Who loves you enough that He left the glories of Heaven to put on human flesh and meet you RIGHT where YOU are at! His love is more abundant than ANY words I could write. HE LOVES YOU! He stands at the door of your life, knocking – hoping you will let Him in! Up until your VERY last breath, He knocks! Giving you the chance to experience His love! His desire is for you to have eternal life! God’s precious gift to you! I only write in part of what I know, what I have experienced! But I know the BEST is YET to come! Eternal life with a God Who loves me – Who loves YOU! It IS enough! May you experience His love! His forgiveness! His faithfulness! His plans for YOUR life – whatever they may be! God IS good. I pray these words fall on the GOOD soil of you! That He will bring someone into your life to confirm my words, to water them! And that He will cause them to grow. They are written in love – for you from God. <3
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