I
love Easter, but today because of what I believe about Christ and His
resurrection, it has a deeper meaning. When I was 10 years old I walked an isle
prompted by a preacher’s message to receive a baptism that I did not
understand. It was a fun experience, but nothing in me changed. When I was 13
years old, I ask Christ into my life, yet my life never changed. That decision
too, was prompted by a number of firry conversations that my uncle had had with
me out of the book of Revelation. Still, I continued to do the same old
things that I had been doing, until God began to stir in me at the age of 18,
the gospel of the cross and opened my spiritual eyes through the Truth that He
had been placing in my heart from committed soul winners that had been sharing
the gospel with me over a period of time. Upon His opening up my eyes, to the
truth that had been shared with me, for the first time in my life, I really
understood the difference between, having a head knowledge about who Christ was
and what it was exactly, He did on the cross. Once I understood that clearly, I
personally embraced it by receiving it, as the precious gift that it is. Luke
24:45-47 says this, “Then opened he their understanding,
that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is
written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the
third day: “And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his
name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Once I got my salvation right,
I was then properly baptized. Where before, it was like having the cart before
the horse.
You see, like myself, many people make some sort of decision about
Christ, but their decisions are based on what they believe about God, as mine
were and not what His Word says about Him. In John 3:16 you will find this,
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him shall not parish, but have everlasting life.” You see many
people misunderstand what that verse is saying. The word believeth does not
apply to a person who believes in Jesus in his head or mind alone. Satan
himself believes that, yet he will never be saved. Hitler believed in Christ,
many people believe in Christ, yet have never been born again. That word
believeth is and should always be paired with other verses in the scripture
that speak of salvation. You must always understand the Bible as a whole and
not dig out the verses you want and come up with your own interpretation, that
was what I was doing. I thought, “if I just believed in Jesus”, then I was good
to go, by what John 3:16 said, and that made me born again, so I thought!
Besides, John 3:16 said nothing about being baptized. Theologically, I was just
a mess! Yet, God broke through all my messed up thinking about Him and brought
the light of His Truth to overshadow my way of thinking in order to see His. He
looked at my heart and knew that I was trying to get to Him. As He stood at the
door of my heart knocking, with His help, I was able to open my heart up and
allow Him to come in. The greatest decision I have ever made. Your belief is
most important to your salvation, but it must involve more than a head
knowledge about Christ. It must come from the heart, not merely the head.
Happy Easter Sweet Friends,
Bren
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