Christ is the ONLY Way - January 18th

Howdy folks; It is coming up on Wednesday and I am looking forward to going in to the house of the Lord tomorrow for Worship and Praise. It is such a joy to worship with friends in Christian fellowship. I love it and I love all of them. I have a bit of joyful news to share with y'all! My wife, Leona, has come to accept Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior! ALL praise and Glory to God!  We both have been praying about this for a long while. I had told her when we first got married, way back in 1971, that I would never pressure her or push Christianity on her, and I never did. We had divorced for a while, and it was back in 2007 the Lord brought us together again. The first day I saw her back in 1971 I knew that she was the woman I was going to marry. It took about a week before we were to meet in the cafeteria of the College we were both attending. I was sitting and playing a game of 9 -5 with some friends and she walked up to the table. My jaw almost hit the table. I thought she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, and I still think that! My opening line was a real doozie; I said; "Hi, my name is Tom, I am one of the photographers for the yearbook and I have to do some darkroom work. Do you want to go up to the darkroom with me and see what developes."  She burst out laughing and said; "With a line that corny I'll have to say yes." Well, the rest, they say, is history. We ended up baking whole grain bread for the first "Earth Day" celebration and we were married the following July! I was so much in love I don't think my feet hit the ground for years. We really hit it off and she was definately my best friend then and she is now. I just knew that the Lord had brought us together! We ended going in different directions in 1982, after our divorce in 1981, we just drifted apart. I went off to finish college and go to seminary, and to find out what the Lord had for me.  We kept in contact sporadically, on and off, through the years, and when I found myself single again in 2006 and found out she was too, I guess it was just inevitable that we would get together again! It has been beautiful. To be back together again with someone who was and is my soul mate, and know that God had brought into my life, is so awesome I cannot put it into words because no mere words could ever explain how it is. Only someone else who has that experience with another person could ever understand. It is like that line in the movie "Jerry Maguire" that says "You (she) complete me." She does "complete" me. When we are not together, for whatever reason, I feel like something is missing. I have been a born again Christian for many, many years and I have always wanted to be together with a spouse that was too, but with Leona, I was willing to "wait upon the Lord" for Him to make the difference in her life and open her eyes to the "truth of God" and the joy of knowing Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior. I told her that, once again I would NOT pressure her or push her toward Christ and believing in Him as God's only Son, sent to earth to save all mankind. We prayed together, studied the Word together and went to church and worshipped together. She always had a strong belief in God so that part was easy. Jesus was a choice that is hard for many folks to make, and it was for her as well. I kept her lifted up in prayer and so did all of my friends who are believers. When you pray for a person's soul you have to trust that the Holy Spirit will do the work inside the person you are praying for. And it was just so in Leona's case. She fervently studied and prayed by herself as well as with me, and praise God, this past Sunday January 15th 2011 God made a way and the Spirit of God moved her to stand up for Jesus and go to the altar for Jesus and the Holy Spirit to fill her up! I rejoiced, I cried for joy, I danced for joy and so did the rest of the congregation of our church! Praise God my wife, my help meet was saved. She was "Born Again". Later she told me she felt like a "great weight" was lifted off of her shoulders!    

 John 8:31-32(KJV)
Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.  
 
When a person makes that decision to follow Jesus Christ and accept Him as personal Lord and savior there comes a joy and a freedom that only comes from knowing Him, Jesus, as Lord. We are made brand new. ALL that was filth of sin is washed away.
       
Ephesians 2:3-10 (King James Version)

3Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
4But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them . . .

God's unfailing grace is sufficient for us. Once we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior we are entered into God's grace by that simple act. The act that is both so simple and so difficult; accepting Jesus! I think it is very difficult for all, who are believers in God, but maybe not believers in Jesus Christ. It may even be difficult for many who believe in the manifestation of God as Jesus Christ, but haven't come to the point of accepting Jesus as personal Lord and savior. Many people believe that by believing in God and believing in Jesus and going to church every time the door is open they are "saved" but, that is not so. It kind of fits with an old joke that some "Born Again" Christian's use that says; "Just because you go out and stand in the garage doesn't make you a car!" that kind of expresses what I mean. Many Christian believers feel that they are covered by God's grace because they do go to church and believe. That may be true, that is not for me to judge, but to be truly "Born Again" you MUST accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, and you do that by accepting Him and the Holy Spirit into your heart. By openly repenting of your sins and by ASKING Jesus to save you. That is scriptural.

John 3:2-4 (King James Version)

2The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
3Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
4Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
5Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

Jesus, when He continued to be questioned, continued with this:

8The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
14And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

15That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God

I suggest to you all that you should read the whole book of John if you are going to accept Jesus but especially this the 3rd chapter, because it has the answer to the question; "What must I do to be saved?"

 (John 3:36) 
36He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.


John 3:5 also points out that you MUST also be baptised for that salvation be assured.

5Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.


I praise God for Leona's salvation and this coming Sunday after the evening worship service Leona will be baptised and "born again" of the water as well as of the Spirit of God. I am so pleased that we will be together through out ALL of eternity as we have been here on earth. That fills me with such joy, you have no idea.
I must ask you now, even if you have been going to church every Sunday, and Wednesday, and every other day the doors were open, do you truly know Jesus Christ? Have you accepted Him as your personal Lord and Savior? If you haven't, do it now, right this minute. We are not guarenteed another second or breath of life and I don't want you to die without knowing that you are saved and that when you close your eyes in death on this Earth that the next time you open them, you will be looking at the face of Jesus Christ. And, the ONLY way you can be assured, is by accepting Jesus. DO it, take that giant step of faith and ask Him to send the Holy Spirit into your heart!  If you do not have a Bible, get one. The King James Version is the one I prefer but if you have any other version, (NIV) is also a good one, read it. If you don't undestand something, ask someone you know is Born Again to help you understand it. Ask your pastor, hopefully he is a Born Again believer. Or email me if you want to. I'll help, if I can, and if I don't know the answer to your question myself I know a lot of people and places for you to look for answers. God bless and be with you, now and always.