Jesus

My Approach to Worship Shifted As I Got Older—And Not For the Better

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

I’ve recently realized that my approach to worshipping God has changed over the years since I became a Christian. 

When I was first saved, it was all about God and what Jesus had done for me on the cross. I was so grateful that I had been redeemed that I was happy just to give God the praise that He deserves. I read the Bible faithfully, soaking in its truths and learning more about God every time I read. 

I don’t believe I had any real thoughts about what my worship or Bible reading would do for me. Maybe I did think about it, but if so, these thoughts weren’t very profound. I just wanted to worship and serve God. I wasn’t really concerned about my own welfare. 

Part of this may be from the fact that I was only 15 when I accepted Christ, and didn’t have any real concerns about money or my livelihood. At any rate, I remember those early years of my Christian walk as pure and innocent. 

There were times when I strayed away and didn’t follow God closely, but I don’t remember my approach to Him ever being, “What can You do for me?”

All that changed, however, as I graduated college and became an adult. My focus gradually shifted from serving God to being served by God. I viewed my relationship with Him as a means to better my life. 

I began reading the Bible in search of verses and passages that promised how God would take care of my needs. While there is certainly nothing wrong with standing on the promises of God, my approach to Bible reading became a search for truths that would help me get what I wanted. 

I looked for passages that told me in essence, “If you do this, then God will bless you.” Or, “This is what you need to do to earn God’s favor.”

And without realizing it, that has been my focus for the better part of the last three decades. Although I’ve worshipped God over the years, it hasn’t always been with a pure heart. 

Sometimes consciously, sometimes not, I’ve had an ulterior motive. In the back of my mind, I’ve thought, “Well, if I can worship God in the right way and please Him, He’ll bless me, and my life will be better. I’ll have more money, more happiness, and a better quality of life.”

I regret that I’ve lived my life like this for so long. I’ve missed out on being able to worship God purely and simply, without the thought of “How is this going to help me?” For far too long, I’ve thought of God in terms of a genie who, if I rubbed the right way, would give me blessings and a more enjoyable life. 

While it’s true that God wants to bless His children, His desire is that we worship Him for who He is—not for what He can do for us. 

Even though I realize that type of worship is wrong and sinful, it’s hard to break out of that habit. Too many times over the years, I’ve heard that “God is waiting to bless you,” and “You deserve all that God has for you.” 

I long to have the pure approach to worship I had when I first accepted Christ. The cares of life have largely choked out my desire to simply serve God and bring Him glory through worship. There’s so much in the way now—concerns about money, health, relationships, career. The list goes on and on. 

Even though the few concerns I had as a teenager may have seemed significant at the time, I didn’t have the weight of decades of life hanging on me.

Maybe that’s all too philosophical and just an excuse for not putting God first in my life. I need to get back to basics and take inventory of what God has already done for me—and not just focus on what I want Him to do. 

Worshipping God should be in response to His glory and greatness, not about His potential to fulfill my wishes. The sooner I can come to terms with that, the better off I’ll be.

Pray More Effectively With These 10 Verses

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

Prayer is how we communicate with our Creator. It is our lifeline to God. Without it, we human beings would be lost in our own little world, with no connection to the only One who can help us. 

We all want our prayers answered. That leads us to the question: Is there a way to make sure our prayers are answered in the way we want them?

Let me be very clear—the answer to that question is NO. There is no way to ensure that we will get everything we ask of God. 

Nowhere in the Bible does it tell us the “secret” to having our prayers answered. That would be counterintuitive and make God into some sort of magical genie.

Instead, He lays out several principles for us to follow to ensure our prayers are in accordance with His will. Following them will help us pray the way He wants us to so that we ask for the things that are best for us and and for His kingdom.

With that in mind, here are several verses that show us how to pray and what to do to make sure our prayers are effective.

John 14:13

Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

Our prayers should be crafted so that we bring glory to Jesus in our lives. After all, that’s what being a Christian is all about—recognizing Christ as our Savior and leading others to Him.

Matthew 7:7-8

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

In the original Greek, these verses convey the idea that we should keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking—never giving up on our quest to connect with God and receive His blessings. If we do, our prayers will begin to come in line with God, and we’ll see positive results from them.

Psalm 37:4

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

When our true joy is found in worshipping God and giving Him the glory He deserves, He draws nearer to us. He loves to give us good things, and it brings Him joy to bless us.

Mark 11:24-25

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

There is quite a bit to unpack in these verses, so I encourage you to take time to read the entire passage for context. 

Here, Jesus tells us to believe, and not doubt, that God will give us what we ask for—provided that it is in line with His will.

We must also be sure to forgive others for anything we may have been holding against them. Otherwise, we risk God himself not forgiving us.

Matthew 18:19

Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.

Heed these important words from Jesus. Find a prayer partner to agree with you, whether it’s your spouse, another family member, or a friend. 

Doing so not only puts you in line with God, you’ll also feel better knowing that your burden is shared by someone else.

James 1:6-7

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord.

Along with having faith, we must be sure not to doubt that God will give us good things. As mentioned earlier, He wants to bless us and will not hold His blessings back if we place our trust in Him. His word promises us that.

John 15:7

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

Abide means to remain, reside, or dwell in a place. If we remain in Jesus, seek to know Him better, and keep His words in our heart—our thoughts and desires will line up with His. Then we’ll get the things we ask God for.

Matthew 21:22

And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.

This is yet another important verse that shows us the importance of faith in our prayer life. Faith forms the foundation of our Christian walk. Without it, our prayer life will be fruitless and empty.

Psalm 66:18

If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

Repent of your sin and confess it to God. Continued sinning maintains a stronghold on us and blocks God from hearing us. 

To ensure that our prayers don’t bounce off the ceiling, we have to renounce sin and ask the Holy Spirit to help us live sin-free. Keep the channel open between you and God to make sure He responds to your prayers.

1 Peter 3:7

Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

Men, God commands us to honor our wives. She is our equal, and we are called not only to protect her, but to take time to listen to her needs and concerns. If we don’t, we risk missing out on the blessing of answered prayer. 

You’ll find many nuggets of wisdom in the Bible regarding prayer. If you spend some time searching them out, you’ll discover that God gives us abundant information on how we should use prayer to connect with Him and enrich our lives. 

How Should a Christian Respond to a “Woke” Person?

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

If you watch the news or read popular news sites or blogs, it’s evident that the Christian viewpoint is in the minority these days. 

Everywhere you turn, we see alternative and “woke” lifestyles prevailing. Most certainly, there are many more people involved in these behaviors than there were in previous years.

I believe many faith-filled believers in Christ are simply silent on the social issues facing us today. They would rather not speak up and face ridicule from others who are perhaps more vocal and adamant in their beliefs. I hate to admit it, but I often fall into this category myself. 

It is more important now than ever for Christians to make our beliefs and feelings known, as many of the individuals caught up in alternative (and often sinful) lifestyles are doing nothing more than experimenting because it is the popular thing to do. 

They may not have made a definitive choice to fully embrace the lifestyle they’re “trying out.”

If these people were to hear the truth from a believer who is armed with biblical knowledge, they could very well accept Christ into their lives and make positive life changes in the right direction.

So, how do we go about relating to others who are living a lifestyle that is perhaps so radically different from our own? These people could be our acquaintances, coworkers, or even our own family members.

First of all, we should pray for them. Ask God to show them the truth that’s only found in the Bible. Pray that God would bring others (including yourself) into their path who can lead them to repentance and a relationship with Christ.

Then, when we encounter someone who is obviously living a sinful lifestyle and who needs the love and acceptance of Jesus, the first thing we need to do is approach them with love. 

We’re all sinners and have all fallen short in God’s eyes. They haven’t committed sin that is any worse in His eyes than we haven’t also committed. 

The only difference is that we, as Christians, have accepted Jesus into our lives, repented of our sins, and asked for forgiveness.

Without showing the lost genuine love and care, it is doubtful that your words will have any meaningful impact on them.

If you have a more-than-passing relationship with someone, and if the circumstances are right, you might ask them how their relationship with God is. 

You may get any of several types of answers to your question. 

They may answer that they don’t believe in God, or that God is our Creator but isn’t involved in our everyday lives. Or, they may give you the new-age answer that God is a part of everything, including us human beings and even inanimate objects. 

It’s then up to you to explain how God created us, but that the human race fell to sin and now lives in a broken world. 

The most important part is to convey that Jesus died and was raised from the dead to bring us into a right relationship with God again. His suffering, death, and resurrection were necessary to pay the penalty for our sin.

Depending on your relationship with the person and how the conversation proceeds, you may be able to ask them if they’re ready to turn from their sins and make Jesus Lord of their life.

Or, you may sense that that’s as far as you’re getting with them during this interaction and just accept the fact that you’ve planted a seed that will hopefully come up later on.

Pray that God will put someone else in their lives to water the seed and watch it begin to sprout.

I believe that it is of the utmost importance that when you talk to people about the gospel that they understand that Jesus (as well as you) accepts them just the way they are. 

Tell them that they don’t have to be perfect for Jesus to be Lord of their life. They just have to turn everything over to Him and let Him take the reins of their life.

Once they do, he will prompt them to make changes in their lives as they surrender their will to His. Sometimes that happens immediately, and sometimes it takes a while.

As Christians, it is our responsibility to show the world the love of Jesus. 

We may not see immediate fruit from our efforts, but rest assured, planting seeds of love and hope in a lost person’s life is the first step toward their eventual acceptance of Christ.

What We Learn About Jesus From the Adulterous Woman

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

The story about Jesus and the woman who was caught in adultery is the perfect example of how He saves those who trust in Him.

In John 8:3, the story begins with Jesus teaching in the temple as He often did. The scribes and Pharisees, the Jewish leaders of the day, brought a woman to him who had been found in the very act of adultery. Their plan was to catch Jesus caught in a trap to lessen His impact and influence with the people.

With the woman in front of them, the religious leaders referenced the law, which states that she was to be stoned for her sin. They then asked Jesus what He had to say about the matter.

After a pause and their continued questioning, during which Jesus wrote on the ground with His finger, He stood up and said simply, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her (verse 7).”

Upon hearing Jesus’s statement, the leaders slowly began to walk away.

When He was left alone with the woman, Jesus asked her, “Has no one condemned you? (verse 10)”. The woman replies that no one has. 

He then delivers these words to her, a dagger in the heart of religion: “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

This story has been told and retold for 2000 years. Besides His obvious forgiveness of the woman, is there anything else we should take away from the story?

We can also see John’s account as a living example of exactly what Jesus does for the sinner when they accept Him as Savior.

Under the guidelines of the Mosaic law, this woman would have died for her act, as no doubt many surely had over the centuries.

If you notice carefully, Jesus didn’t tell the religious leaders not to stone her—that would have been contrary to the law. 

What he did say made them stop and think. Whoever was without sin should throw the first stone. Of course, no one has ever not sinned, so none of the men were so bold as to step up first and cast a stone at her. In defeat, they merely walked away. 

The woman was left standing there in shock and gratitude. Then Jesus tells her that He doesn’t condemn her—the same thing He tells us when we come to Him in our sin. He simply forgives us and tells us to stop sinning. 

That’s how He perfectly fulfills the law, defeats death, and saves us from our sin. Jesus gives us a second chance. Rather than our lives ending in death and separation when we mess up, He offers us a new life and a new beginning. 

The woman in the story surely felt relieved and hopeful at Jesus’s words. She had the opportunity at a fresh start, just like we do when we put our trust and hope in Jesus. 

We don’t have to fear the law’s penalty because of our actions. We have the assurance that we can spend an eternity with God because Jesus lived, died, and was resurrected.

Take Him up on the offer of a new life today, and put sin and death behind you.

The Art of Practicing Forgiveness

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

As human beings, perhaps one of the hardest things for us to do is forgive those we perceive as having wronged us. 

We naturally want to hold onto a grudge, wrongfully thinking that somehow that we are “getting back” at that person.

In reality, this does nothing but create a bitter core within us and keep us from experiencing true joy and freedom from those negative feelings. 

Author Marianne Williamson is quoted as saying:

Unforgiveness is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.

When we hold on to that root of bitterness, it festers in our hearts, and we relive the offending event over and over, sometimes multiple times every day. 

It eats at us, and we can’t get the negative feelings off our hearts and out of our minds.

We should listen to God when He tells us to forgive. Ephesians 4:32 instructs us to:

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Mark 11:25 tells us that we should forgive others so that God can forgive us:

And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

God doesn’t want us to forgive others so that we can just sweep all our feelings under the rug. He knows that harboring unforgiveness will only hurt us and keep us from experiencing true joy in our lives. 

When we forgive others and let go of all those negative feelings, we can begin to experience the life that God has intended for us. 

We can’t have true joy and peace in our hearts when we’re focusing on the hurts that others have inflicted on us. 

Even if we forgive someone for how they mistreated or wronged us, we may still bring that thought to mind from time to time.

However, if we have forgiven that person,  we won’t dwell on those thoughts. When they do come to mind, they can be quickly dismissed because we are no longer holding onto hard-hearted feelings toward that individual.

We let all that go when we forgive them, realizing that God has forgiven us of our many sins.

Jesus even says that we should forgive others multiple times. When Peter asks Him how many times we should forgive someone—even as many as seven times—Jesus replies:

I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

Matt. 18:22 (ESV)

Following Jesus’s example will help us experience more joy and have a more God-focused spirit to love others, understanding that we all make mistakes.

Realizing that we’re forgiven ourselves, and that we should offer this same grace toward the people in our lives, should motivate us to forgive and live in peace and harmony with others.

How to Cultivate a Prayer Life in a Busy World

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

I used to have a peculiar belief about prayer. I thought that every prayer had to begin with, “Dear God/Lord,” and end in “In Jesus’s name…Amen.”

To me, it just wasn’t a prayer if it didn’t contain these necessary components.

It was as if the prayer was null and void without them—it wasn’t a real prayer with an opening, middle, and closing.

This belief has lasted well into my adult years. Even though in recent years I have come to realize that a prayer can be as simple as, “Help me Lord!”, there is still part of me that wants to hang on to that type of structured prayer.

I mention this to say that prayer doesn’t have to be a rigid practice that we can only do on in private.

Of course, there is a time and place for those prayers. Matthew 6:6 tells us:

But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

We should all make time to be still before God, speaking to Him and listening quietly for His response.

But during the day, when we’re at work, school, or taking care of other responsibilities, we don’t always have access to a private place where we can fall on our knees before God.

In these instances, it’s perfectly fine to pray right where you are in the midst of your day. That may be while driving down the road, sitting in a meeting, or preparing dinner for your family.

God is a big God, with a big, loving heart. And He understands our needs as well as our limitations. 

If all we can do is utter a few words to God asking for help and thanking Him for His answer, I believe He’s OK with that.

I’m sure that back in biblical times, many prayers were uttered during the workday while trying to wrangle a team of oxen in the field.

I bet even Jesus prayed to His father while crafting furniture in His workshop.

The point is that God wants us to have a relationship with Him.  We are encouraged to:

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. 

James 4:8a

There are two fantastic ways to draw closer to God. One is by reading the Word every day. The other is by talking to Him on a regular basis.

Even though we live a much faster, busier, and more hectic life than our ancestors did, we can still make time to commune with God.

We just have to be intentional about it. Make it a priority to talk to God during your day. 

When you get a break at work, thank Him for the sunshine (or the rain, if you like rainy days). 

Thank Him for the job that He has provided you with to pay your bills. Ask him for inspiration and guidance to get you through the rest of your day.

Say a quick prayer for your family, friends, or coworkers. Ask God to bless them and show them His love. 

Soon, you’ll find yourself interacting more and more with God throughout each day. You’ll feel closer to Him and more in tune with His leading in your life.

Plus, you’re likely to experience more of His peace and contentment, and we could all use more of that.

Do You Have Idols in Your Life?

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

Idolatry. We run up against this sin every day because we are tempted to worship at the altar of things and famous people rather than the God who created everything in the world.

Idolatry can go by another name that’s more common to us—materialism.

You probably don’t think of yourself as an idol worshiper, but you very well could be. 

No, you most likely don’t have small wooden or stone figurines sitting around your house that you bow down to and offer up prayers to.

But there may very well be other things in your life that play a similar role. It could be money, your career, your car, your house, your status in the community, or even something else.

You may give these things prime space in your life while knocking God out of the top spot of importance.

Even if you don’t realize it, these idols can influence your daily behavior, causing you to pursue them while putting your reverence and service to God on the back burner.

For example, if you spend 60 or 70 hours a week working, and you don’t feel like doing anything else when you’re not at work, then your career may be your idol. 

If you’re so hung up on getting ahead in life because of the status that will bring, you most likely have put God in second place (or lower) in your life.

If you put in extra hours at work just so you can drive a car with a fancy name plate, your career may be your idol (not that there’s anything wrong with driving a nice car).

To be able to wear designer clothes just for the sale of the label is a form of idolatry (once again, not that there’s inherently wrong with designer clothes.

Sports could be your idol. If you never miss playing golf on the weekend and something just feels off if you don’t get to hit the links, you may have misplaced priorities.

In short, if there’s anything in your life that’s more important to you than God and the opportunities you have to spend quiet time alone with Him, it’s most likely an idol.

If you have teenagers, you may have noticed that the walls of their rooms are covered with posters of famous teen-age heartthrobs or musicians. 

It is these images that your kids are looking at first thing in the morning and are the last thing they see at night.

I should know. When I was 14 or 15, almost every square inch of my bedroom wall was covered with pictures of heavy metal bands I had cut out of Circus or Hit Parader magazine. 

Even though my mom probably cringed every time she went in my room, I don’t remember her ever saying anything to me about it. 

After I accepted Jesus into my life, I gradually realized that these weren’t images I wanted on my walls anymore. They slowly came down as my relationship with God grew.

However, we as parents may need to say something to our kids about the icons they look up to. 

Whether it’s sports figures, musicians, or actors, these famous people may be making it hard to place God at the front and center of their lives. 

Let’s face it, if there’s a scantily clad woman on your son’s wall, that’s what his attention is going to be on—not God. 

How often have you ever seen a teenager’s room with a rendering of Jesus hanging on the wall? I’d say these instances are few and far between.

Yet, Jesus is who we (and our kids) need to idolize. He died a horrible, painful death by one the worst methods of torture and execution that has ever come out of the evil heart of man. 

He did that so that we could stand spotless before the Father, washed clean of our sin, as He took all our sin upon Himself. 

His resurrection and conquering of the grave was the final straw, so to speak, as He was the firstfruits of us believers who will live eternally with Him.

Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing personal against LeBron James, Bradley Cooper, or Justin Bieber—but have they ever done anything personal for you or your children? 

They’re idolized because of what they have accomplished in their chosen fields, not necessarily what they have done to help humanity.

I believe that we as parents need to set the proper examples for our children by placing our priorities in the right places. 

We need to honor God and put Him first place in our homes. 

If discussions of bedroom posters come up, we should have heart-to-heart talks with our kids and help them understand how hanging a particular image on their wall is a form of idolatry.

But we need to go further than that. We can’t just sit back and expect our kids not to follow the examples we set for them. 

God should be honored in our households, whether that’s through a prominent display of a family Bible or an artist’s rendition of Christ. 

What our kids see us doing will have an even greater impact on our families, as children tend to pick up habits from watching their parents, in contrast to the appropriate advice their parents try to impart to them.

It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it. To raise up the next generation of leaders whose hearts are in the right place—honoring God— we have to do the hard work of setting the right example for our children.

Who’s in?

Is Your Faith Legitimate?

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

Have you ever wondered if your faith in Jesus is legitimate? Oh sure, if you attempt to raise your child in a God-fearing home, you probably exhibit a healthy fear of God that your children pick up on.

It is one thing to show your children a God-honoring approach to the Almighty, but it is something else entirely to live this belief out in your private life when no one is around to judge you.

In these cases, it is often all too easy to let our faith slide and commit sin through unbelief and trying to handle our situations using our own efforts.

But God never wanted to handle all our problems on our own. He is our loving, caring Father, and wants to help us through the difficult situations of life. 

In fact, I would even go so far as to see He feels honored when we reach out for help, as this shows a level of trust and reliance that He deeply desires from His children.

However, we can just as easily stray from God when we try to figure out and handle all our problems on our own. We may think we have all the answers, especially if our current situation is similar to one we’ve encountered before.

In these situations, it’s easy for us to rely on our past experiences and successes to handle this problem by ourselves. 

After all, we may think we don’t need God, while waiting around for Him to come through when we can easily take care of our situation ourselves. 

The first way we can tell we’re not living by faith is making the mistake of trying to figure out and solve our problems by leaving God out of them. 

If we truly love Jesus and all that He’s done for us, it should be easy to turn immediately to Him when problems arise and place their outcome in His hands. 

Romans 8:28 tells us that all things work together for our good to those whose love God and are called according to His purpose. 

If we’ve accepted Christ into our lives, we can rest assured that His leading and guiding are directing our lives into a favorable direction. Somehow, someway, everything will work out to our advantage.

The second action that should signal to us that our faith is legitimate is when we remember to continually love Jesus when things don’t happen the way we want them to. 

That may sound simple, especially when things are going well, but it becomes much more difficult when we’re facing the trials and tribulations of life. 

If you got recently passed over for that big promotion you’ve been looking forward to, it may be hard to maintain a happy attitude toward your boss and especially the individual who was promoted in your place. 

In fact, it may be one of the hardest things you’ve ever done to put on a happy face and offer them congratulations. 

God calls us to celebrate the good fortune of those around us, so we should try our best to feel happy for them and smile at their positive situation. 

Doing so shows that you’re displaying the love of Jesus. It means you’re a bigger man (or woman) and can celebrate their achievements no matter what they are. 

After all, you’re not in competition with anyone except yourself. If you can improve yourself by a mere 1% every day, pretty soon you’ll begin to notice some significant improvements in your life.

The third sign that we know our faith is legitimate ties in closely with the second sign and involves loving God’s people just as He loves us.

For certain, we commit many sins every day, yet our Heavenly Father is just to forgive us of all them. 

In the same way, we are commanded to love others and forgive them just as they sin against us. 

In fact Jesus tells us to forgive our neighbor a whopping 490 times, in essence saying there should be no limit on our forgiveness.

That can be a monumental task that the Lord is asking of us, especially when the trespasser shows no remorse for his actions.

However, if we’re to live in the peace, love, and forgiveness that Jesus did while on earth, we must take his teachings to heart.

Love for others also means going out of our way to serve others and anticipate their needs. Others may never ask us to do something for them out of embarrassment. 

It is up to us to see their needs and lend a helping hand when it is in our power to do so. We should always love, help, and serve people just as God does the same for us.

These three areas are but a few of the ways that we can demonstrate our love and care for God and His creation.

Since we are part of His creation, we should always be on the lookout for how we can better someone’s else’s life.

I’ll be the first to admit that I often fall short in doing this. Too often, I’m in a rush trying to get things done that I overlook the needs of those around me.

It could be something as small as letting someone cut in line at the grocery stop, or helping someone who is obviously stranded on the side of the road.

I try to justify my actions (or lack thereof) by telling myself that I would be late if I stopped to help that person. However, I might be the only person who stops to offer assistance while that persona waits in vain for help.

I need to do a better job of listening to the Holy Spirit as He speaks to me in these situations.

How about you?

A Chance Encounter

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

I was probably about 10 years old, give or take, and was riding my trusty Schwinn bicycle around my small town just as I often did. I came upon several kids, also on their bikes, who were more or less just congregating in the middle of the road.

I immediately recognized some of the kids as “those kids” that attended the one and only Christian school in our small county. It was located just down the road from the public schools, but it may as well have been miles away. 

I barely knew of these kids, as they rarely interacted with the rest of us who went to the county school system. To me, they all dressed funny and seemed a bit strange.

Nevertheless, I stopped to see what was going on, as there were a couple of kids I was familiar with in the group.

I don’t remember much about the conversation that took place—except that the Christian school kids were talking about Jesus and Hell. These weren’t my favorite topics, but I was curious to hear what they were saying, so I tuned in.

These kids, who appeared younger than I was, were saying that it was necessary to accept Jesus so that you could be “saved” and to go to Heaven and avoid going to Hell. I believe they even quoted a few scriptures to back up what they were saying.

I’ll admit that I didn’t like the tone of the conversation at all. It was disturbing. My mom regularly took me to one of the local churches in town, but at that time I don’t believe I had ever heard this particular teaching about Jesus.

As I recall, at our church there was some talk about Jesus being the son of God, but there was little if any mention about accepting him as your Savior as the only means to get to Heaven.

To be honest, hearing what they had to say about the gospel scared me. I had always assumed I’d go to Heaven just based on the fact that I was a “good person” who went to church and recognized that there was a God. 

It completely turned my idea of life after death upside down. Was what they were saying true? Did I really need Jesus in my life?

After a few minutes, I left the small group and continued on my bike ride, trying to put the conversation out of my mind. 

However, I never forgot what those young kids had to say about Jesus and salvation. Their words stayed with me over the years, and as I got older, I became more and more convicted of my need for Jesus as my Savior and that just a belief that there is a God in Heaven wasn’t enough for me to get to Heaven.

Things culminated in later years. My mom and I had switched churches by this time, to one where faith in Jesus was regularly preached as a prerequisite for eternal life in Heaven. 

Finally, at the age of 15, I gave my life to Jesus. It took many years, but I finally came to a saving realization in the Lordship of Jesus and the necessity of repentance and giving my life to Him. 

However, it all started back on that street with that group of kids several years earlier. That meeting left an impression on me that I’ve never forgotten.

I’m grateful to God for planting that seed in my heart even at that young age. It took some time, but the seed kept growing and came to fruition years later.

Who knows where I would be without that chance encounter on the street that day?

Knowing About Jesus Versus Knowing Jesus

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

Do you know Jesus? That may seem like a pretty simple question, but how you answer it is quite important.

Many people have heard of Jesus, that He was a man who lived a long time ago and who some say had some good moral teachings. 

Beyond that, there are many people who know of Jesus. They’ve heard a little more about Him than the first group and may even believe that He was a great prophet who had some radical ideas.

With all due respect, those who simply know some things about Jesus, don’t truly know Him, and they definitely don’t know Him as their Savior.

I may know of the President of the United States, but I certainly don’t know him on a personal level.

To know Jesus Christ as your Savior and have a daily, ongoing relationship with Him is the only true gateway to an intimate relationship with God the Father. 

As Jesus Himself said,

I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 14:6

Jesus also said,

I and the Father are one.

John 10:30

Simply put, there is but one true pathway to God, and that is through His Son, Jesus. If you don’t know Jesus, then you don’t know the Father.

Our sin is what separates us from God, creating a chasm between Him and us that goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden.

Adam and Eve were tempted by Satan into eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 

That is the point at which sin entered the perfect world God had created.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Rom. 3:23

Hundreds of years later, God made a covenant with the Israelites, giving them the Law, which they were supposed to adhere to.

However, the Law was simply the precursor to the work that Jesus did on the cross. The Law helped humankind to recognize their sin and the futile attempts at keeping all aspects of the law.

Being the just God that He is, and since man failed at keeping the Law, God the Father sent His Son Jesus to be the sacrifice for our sins once and for all.

He allowed Jesus to be flogged and cruelly murdered by crucifixion, one of the most excruciating forms of torture and death ever devised.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Rom. 5:8

But that’s not all. After His death, Jesus lay in the tomb for three days. Then the Father resurrected Him, putting on a grand display of Christ’s power over death. 

With Jesus’s death and resurrection, we have the same hope of eternal life if we simply repent of our sins and let Jesus into our lives as our Savior. 

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Rom. 6:23

There is no other pathway to an eternity spent living in Heaven with God.

When you die, if you haven’t let Jesus into your life as your Savior, you’ll spend all of eternity separated from God in a horrendous lake of fire.

You may say, “Well, that just doesn’t make any sense. I’m a good person. God wouldn’t send me to some place like that.”

It’s not that God is sending you there; it’s that you’re making the choice to live in eternal separation from God.

Or you may simply not believe the Bible and all the truth contained in it.

For all the Christians who take the Bible literally, the worst thing that could happen is that they’re wrong, and we simply cease to exist after we die.

However, if the Bible is right and you’re wrong, you’re putting your entire eternity at stake. You risk ending up in a place that you will definitely wish you weren’t in.

However, it’s easy to change all that. If you’ve never accepted Christ as your Savior, there’s no better time to do it than right now.

Take a moment and pray to God. Tell Him you’re sorry for the sins you’ve committed and that you want to live a better life from this point forward. 

Thank Him for sending Jesus to die for your sins, washing you clean of them, and making you righteous in His eyes. 

Then ask Jesus to come into your heart as your Lord and Savior. Acknowledge that Jesus is God in human form and that he is the true pathway to salvation.

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

Rom. 10:9-10

The next thing you need to do is find a Bible-believing church to begin attending.

Find the pastor and tell him you’ve recently accepted Christ into your life, and that you’d like to be baptized as an outward sign of your acceptance of Jesus as Lord of your life.

The steps to accepting Jesus and becoming a Christian are simple. But if you’ve been living in sin for a long time, they may seem like a huge commitment. 

Furthermore, it doesn’t mean that everything will be completely rosy after you accept Christ.

You’ll still have problems, but you’ll now have God in your corner helping you, as well as Jesus and the Holy Spirit interceding on your behalf with the Father (Rom. 8:26, 34).

Don’t put off making the biggest and best decision of your life. One day it will be too late.