People who do not have God’s Spirit do not accept the things that come from his Spirit. They think these things are foolish. They cannot understand them, because they can only be understood with the Spirit’s help. 1 Corinthians 2:14 (ERV) I once was blind, but now I see. There was certainly a time in my life where I would have simply scoffed at anyone who tried to tell me about Jesus. Thats because, without the Holy Spirit living in me, all that religious talk was just that, talk. It made no sense to me at all. I did not hate Christians, but the hypocrites really turned me off. In fact, because of the places I hung out, the only Christians I knew were the ones out partying with me. I remember one night we were out on the dance floor and this girl, obviously drunk, yelled out, Ive got to go home, Ive got to get up early and go to Church. To me, a non-believer at the time, thought that was so hypocritical. How was she any different than me? Was she any better just because she went to Church? She was not someone who was EVER going to point me to Christ, even if she tried. One thing you cannot argue with is a persons testimony. I have always been drawn to people who dared to be bold with their faith. Someone who, in a crowd of unbelievers, can stand firm in their faith. The world is full of closet Christians, those who talk Jesus on Sundays at Church, but wouldnt dare to ever mention Jesus in a public setting. But when we meet a true Follower of Christ, there is no doubt about what they believe, or who they are living for. This is why I included the memory of Beverly Sermons (Beverly Boyd Skinner) to my book. As God was revealing things to me, He reminded me of that young lady, probably 15 years old at the time, who was not ashamed to be known as a Christian. We obviously did not hang out, we certainly ran with different crowds, but the one thing I remember about her, more than 40 years later, was that she loved Jesus, and was not ashamed to let others know. I was as far away from Jesus as humanly possible at the time, but I admired her greatly for her bold stance. The key to being like Beverly is simple, and so easily explained in 1 Corinthians 2:14 above. She was not some bold personality. In fact, I remember her as being kinda shy. She was simply not ashamed of Jesus and allowed the Holy Spirit bear witness in her life. I too learned this truth some years later. Once I gave my life to Christ, my life was flipped upside down. It was like, in an instant I saw things differently. All of a sudden, I saw sin for what it was, and immediately started making changes in my life. Not because someone quilted me into it, but because the Holy Spirit, now ever-present in my life, was teaching me, and showing me how to become the man Christ wanted me to be. Now those who know me know this did not happen overnight. In fact, 26 years later I am still an ongoing work in progress. I am not sure i will ever be all God wants me to be, but I do know that the Spirit that dwells in me has that desire. I believe that we ALL have the ability to have an amazing life; and I agree with Carrie Underwood here, there must be something in the water. Because, when we are buried with Him in Baptism, and raised to walk a new life, that new life is full of hope and purpose. I have lived this new life for over 26 years now and can bare witness to just how amazing it is to be considered a child of God. No, this life is not perfect, and just like the non-believer, we go through our fair share of trials. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:57
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 16:13:15 +0000
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