It’s Personal – Friday Day 10 God’s Terms And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. Hebrews 11:6 Theresa had been a single mom for a number of years and it was not getting easier now that her daughter a teenager. Now that Melissa was fifteen, the lack of a father figure in her life was taking a toll on both of them. Rebellion, failure at school, boys, driver’s training, did I mention boys? All this was pushing them apart at a time when they really needed each other. So when Melissa was asked by one of her Christian friends to attend a neighborhood “church camp” mom quickly said yes. A Friday night and Saturday away from home might do their relationship some good, Theresa thought, “at least these girls were a better influence on her than some of her other friends.” Saturday night Melissa came home with the news that she had “accepted Christ as her savior.” She hugged her mom and cried when she told her the news. She said it was the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to her. She said that when she prayed to God and asked Jesus to be her personal savior it was as if a weight fell off of her. She said that God was inviting her to call Him “Heavenly Father” and she felt the love of God as she embraced Him as her dad. “Mom, my life has changed, you’ll see, it’s wonderful.” Melissa went off to bed but Theresa just sat there stunned. “We don’t go to church, we are not religious people, I don’t know anything about Jesus and I don’t understand what just happened.” Panic started to set in. Then Theresa noticed a “Teen Bible” sitting on the couch where Melissa had given her the news. She picked it up and began to search through it for clues about what just happened. There was an Old Testament and a New Testament, so she figured the New Testament must be the updated part so she started reading there. She read Matthew, in a very simple English version of an ancient manuscript the person of Jesus began to come alive to her. She read Mark and was startled by his willingness to serve people. She read Luke and began to understand her need for a savior and by the time she got to John it was four in the morning and she had fallen in love with this man Jesus Christ. Then she read John 1:11-13 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. Her heart was broken, she did not want to be one of those people who Jesus came to give his life for who rejected him and spat on him and put him to death. She knew it was her sin that put him on a cross and it was for her that Christ died. It was personal, it was real, it was emotional, she felt God speaking to her and in the early morning hours of the first day of the week she gave her heart to Jesus. She believed and she received Christ as her own personal savior. Can God change your heart simply by reading the gospels? He can…He does…He will. Simple childlike faith - Those are His terms.
Posted on: Fri, 27 Sep 2013 15:46:02 +0000
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