My entire blog is dedicated to giving God glory for His work in my life and the unspeakable joy I have found in Him. To accomplish this and for it to make sense, I must start at the beginning. So here we go, In a universe far, far away in the not too distant past (1967), a little boy (me) rode a church bus to summer Vacation Bible School and for the first time heard that Jesus Christ died for my sin and would give me eternal life if I would accept His offer as a gift. I’ve never been the sharpest crayon in the box, but I knew a good deal when I heard it and asked Jesus to come inside me and give me eternal life.
My young conversion was my first encounter with unspeakable joy. For the next couple of days, I told everyone that would listen about being “saved.” When I told the boy on my school bus about my “being saved,” he asked me, “what does being saved mean?” In my childish understanding, I replied, I don’t know, but “I’m not going to hell anymore!”
It is a beautiful first memory of a personal encounter with God. It also started my lifelong experience of my Father’s love. An amazing fact I have since learned is my Father knew what my life would be BEFORE He gave me the gift of His Holy Spirit. He knew all the times I would disappoint Him, sin, or even in anger and disappointment forsaking Him, and yet He gave me the gift of eternal life with no regard to my future choices or actions. This is not an excuse for unrighteousness but emphasizes we cannot EARN the love of God. God’s love and grace are true gifts. He was with me when; I was set on fire as a child, intubated for twenty-one days with COVID-19, and experienced a “massive” COVID-related stroke. The doctors said I would not survive in each instance, yet my Father has left me here to tell YOU of his goodness and love.
- God desires a personal relationship with us (Revelation 3:20).
- The first step in developing this intimate relationship is to accept the gift of God “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” – Romans 6:23 (KJV)
- If the Holy Spirit is working inside you right now, accept His gift now “For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:2 (KJV)
- Right now, turn from your efforts (repent); church denomination, good work, charity, baptism, rituals, etc. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 (KJV)
- Talk to God and tell Him you want Him to give you the gift of eternal life. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:9-10 (KJV)
- Upon your conversion, the Holy Spirit enters your soul and begins the work of drawing you close to God. Your closeness to God will now only depend on how much you will allow yourself to allow God to change you. Our blog will focus on helping you understand how to let the joy from the Holy Spirit, which lives in every believer, bloom in your life. (Galatians 5:22)
- If you ask God to save “come into your life), let me know. I will send you free material on the following steps to fulfillment in your new life with Jesus.