My Journey to the Son Part 7

NOTE: I have not included all the events and details in "My Journey" and will not in the remaining segments because I want to get on to other subjects. If you would like a free copy of the complete account please request one at: alexos78@suddenlink.net





I have no doubt who saved me. It was Jesus. Church membership couldn't; the preacher couldn't; the denomination couldn't; my parents couldn't; my bloodline couldn't; my good works couldn't and my (futile) attempts to obey the Ten Commandments couldn't. Only Jesus could and did. The idea that church membership and/or being a good person makes one a Christian is a deception of the Devil. "I am the way, the truth and the life," Jesus said, " no man comes unto the Father, but by me." John 14:6. That's it. Period. And it is plain enough. There's no back door; no wiggle room; no substitute; no detour around it and no alternate route. There is no other way to God.

It sounds nobly tolerant to say there are many ways to get to God and that one faith is as valid as another. But people who say such things are actually saying they don't believe in anything. Peter said, "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved" Acts 4:12. Nothing else and no one else but Jesus and only Jesus can make us right with God. If anyone disagrees, I would say to them: tell Jesus. Tell God. Tell the Holy Spirit. Just don't bother telling me because I will never change my mind. This n0t how I verbally witness to non-believers. Standing on this Rock is done inwardly in my spirit. My unshakable faith in Christ is not an excuse for me to back someone in a corner, get nose to nose and bludgeon them with scripture and threats of damnation. Nor do -I have the right to believe or to act like I am spiritually superior to anyone or to have a "holier than thou" attitude. One of the major characteristics of Jesus was his humility. Shouldn't it be one of ours?
It took me awhile to understand that if I was to witness effectively, my own enthusiasm and powers of persuasion were not enough; that people are not argued or frightened into the Kingdom; that there must be evidence of the fruit of the Spirit in my life and that the Holy Spirit is the one who convicts and convinces people of their need for Christ.

It was the Spirit's revelation of God's love for me that caused the Sonrise in my soul.
"The Lord came to us from far away, saying "I have loved you with a love that lasts forever. So I have helped you come to me with loving-kindness." Jeremaiah 31:3

My wife and I didn't know all this when we resumed our daily routines on the Monday morning after the Lay Witness weekend. We only knew we had been changed. Now it was time to show it in our lives, beginning with our three children all of whom were still at home. Before they left for school I said, "I want to pray for you." Their expressions seem to say, What happened to you, Dad?