True Security
Although having a TracFone in the
glove box gives me a great sense of security, nothing in life gives me as much
security and peace as my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I know that my
website is supposed to be about cell phones, but my faith has been such a
positive influence in my life that I just have to talk about it!
Although many people have truly
amazing testimonies of how their faith in Jesus dramatically changed their life,
my story is actually kind of boring. I was never a very rebellious person,
thus there wasn't a big external change in the way I lived my life once I became
a Christian at the age of 13.
The biggest change in my life was
on the inside. I used to have doubts about what would happen to me if I
died, but I know now that no matter what happens to me in this life, my eternity
lies in heaven with Jesus. That fact is where the great sense of peace and
security comes from that I talked about above. I just have to praise the
Lord for this awesome gift of salvation!
Do words like "security", "peace",
or "joy" describe your life, or do you find yourself worrying a lot about the
future? Is there a feeling of discontentment in your life? Do you
feel like something is missing in your life? Do you ever wonder if this
life is all there is?
If so, then God's Holy Spirit is
gently tugging at your soul to bring you into a relationship with Jesus.
You can fight that tug and continue to have internal battles, or you can yield
to it and come closer to Jesus. Here are some questions to help lead you
in the right direction.
1) Do you have any kind of
spiritual belief? This question will help to get your mind onto spiritual
matters. Most of us are so busy that we push spiritual matters to the back
of our minds and never really think about what we believe.
2) To you, who is Jesus?
To me, He is my Lord and Savior. Take a moment to think about who Jesus is
to you.
3) Do you believe there is a
heaven and a hell? We've all seen cartoons with the angels in heaven or
the devils in hell, but do you personally believe that these places exist?
4) If you died right now,
where would you go? Have you ever taken the time to seriously think about
this? If you answered "heaven", why do you think that God would let you
in?
5) If what you believe were
not true, would you want to know it? The Bible says in 2 Peter 3:9 that
"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.
He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to
repentance." God is lovingly patient, not wanting anyone to be lost, but
He will never take from you the freedom to choose to be saved or choose to
reject Him.
If you answered yes to question 5
above, then let's look at a few verses from the Bible and see what God's Word
says. Although I sometimes feel a little silly doing this, I find that
when I read out loud from the Bible, it helps me to understand it better.
Try it as we go through the verses below.
Let's start with Romans 3:23 which
says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." What does
this verse say to you? To me it means that all of us - me, you, everybody
- have failed to live up to the perfection of God.
What does that sin mean for us?
Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal
life in Christ Jesus our Lord" What does this say to you? I find it
interesting how "sin" is singular here. Just one sin is enough to separate
me from God and send me to hell (death).
Since the payment for our sins is
death, and we have all sinned, what is our hope? John 3:3 says "No one can see the kingdom of God
unless he is born again." Why did Jesus come to die? He came to die
for my sin and for your sin! When we accept Jesus and the sacrifice he
made for us, we are "born again" spiritually and become children of God.
In John 14:6 Jesus says, "I am the
way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through
me." What does this verse say to you? This verse in particular seems
very clear to me.
So how exactly do we get this new
life Jesus promised? Romans 10:9-11 says, "If you confess with your mouth,
'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are
justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As
the Scripture says, 'Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.' "
What does this say to you? This passage is a little longer than the
others, so please read it again if you're not quite sure what it is saying.
If you think that your sin is so
bad that God can never forgive you, read the above passage again carefully.
The truth of that scripture applies to you!
In 2 Corinthians 5:15 the Bible
says, "He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves
but for him who died for them and was raised again." What does this verse
say to you? The salvation promised through Jesus' death comes to ALL who
surrender their lives to Him in faith.
Jesus also says in Revelation 3:20
"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice
and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." What
does this say to you? To me it is interesting how Jesus points out that is
my responsibility to open the door of my heart to Him. Be sure to read
this verse carefully. Jesus will not force His way into a person's heart,
and will not come into a life uninvited.
After reading all of the verses
above, here are some yes-or-no questions to consider:
Are you a sinner?
Do you want forgiveness for your
sins?
Do you believe that Jesus died on
the cross for your and rose again?
Are you willing to surrender your
life to Christ?
Are you ready to invite Jesus into
your life and into your heart?
This is the most important
question you will ever be asked in your entire life, so take your time to
consider it. None of us know when our own death will come, and you may
never have another opportunity to make this decision, so don't put it off until
later!
If you sincerely want to invite
Jesus into your heart and life, you can pray a prayer like the following:
"Heavenly Father, I have sinned
against You. I want forgiveness for all my sins. I believe that
Jesus died on the cross for me and rose again. Father, I give You my life
to do with as You wish. I want Jesus Christ to come into my life and into
my heart. This I ask in Jesus' name. Amen"
Again, I find that it helps to
pray out loud. Also, don't be fooled into thinking that simply reciting a
prayer is what saves you. You have to sincerely want to invite Jesus into
your life. The prayer above is just to help you put into words what you
should already feel in your heart.
If you have just invited Jesus
into your heart, then all of heaven is celebrating for you! As a new
believer, you will need to seek out some guidance on where to go from here.
The first thing to to do would be
to find a local church to attend. If you already know someone that attends
church, I'm sure they would be thrilled to bring you along with them. That
way you would at least know one person at the church!
Otherwise, my suggestion would be
to find a church that is active in your community. Instead of just showing
up on Sunday morning, which can be a little intimidating if you don't know
anyone there, call the church and make an appointment to meet with the pastor.
I guarantee you that the pastor
will be friendly and willing to talk to you more about what it means to be a
Christian. The pastor will also tell you more about what ministries and
activities are available at the church to help you decide if it's a good fit for
you.
It is important that you get
plugged-in to a local church as soon as possible. Jesus tells us why in
The Parable of the Sower, which is found in Matthew 13 in the Bible:
"'A farmer went out to sow his
seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the
birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have
much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But
when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they
had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the
plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop - a
hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.'"
A few verses later, Jesus explains
the parable:
"'Listen then to what the parable
of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and
does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in
his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The one who received the
seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once
receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short
time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly
falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is
that man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness
of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. But the one who received the
seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it.
He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.'"
Since you have stuck with me this
far, I know that God's Word has been planted in your heart. You need to
tend it to make it grow, and becoming active in a local church is one of the
first ways you can do that. Don't put it off, or you will be like the one
who received the seed on that fell on rocky places! Get out your phone
book and call a couple of active churches and make that appointment to meet with
the pastor.
Another good group to get involved
with is Bible Study Fellowship (BSF). BSF has a structured and systematic
Bible study, which I have found very useful in helping me to understand God and
His Word better. BSF is a non-denominational organization, and their Bible
study groups meet once per week in cities all over the world. You can find
out more about them at:
www.bsfinternational.org
Josh McDowell has written several
books that I have found to be interesting and informative. Two of my
favorites are More Than a Carpenter and The New Evidence That Demands
a Verdict. I highly suggest that you reads these books, because they
will help give "roots" to your faith. These, and other, books are
available at a very reasonable price on Josh's website at:
www.josh.org
The decision to accept or reject
Jesus Christ is the most important decision that any of us will ever make.
I hope that I have given you some good food for thought, but I'm sure you still
have more questions. If so, feel free to contact
me and I will do my best to answer your question or point you to someone who
can.
May God Bless You!
Keith
