Buddy’s the sweetest little guy. Even though injured recently through negligence at a grooming shop, he still trusts in my protection and willingness to bless him.
I think there’s a lot of confusion in the Church about Christians who sin.
There’s some who seem to believe it’s a sign that a person is not really saved if they struggle with sin.
But the difference between a Christian and non-Christian is that a believer is “a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19).”
A person who is not born again does not have the Spirit of God convicting them when they willfully disobey God. This is why we’re baffled when someone engages in what seems blatantly wicked behavior without any remorse.
A Christian will be tormented and convicted by the Holy Spirit until he or she repents. God hates sin and our Great Shepherd is going to chase down a wandering sheep and return His child back to the sheepfold.
It’s why the Apostle John can confidently state in 1 John 5:18:
“We know that everyone who is born of God does not keep on sinning; the One who is born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.” (BSB)
Please note: The Apostle John recognizes that we’re human and sin, but will notcontinue to sin.
A friend’s daughter was living with a man. I asked my friend if the daughter was born again. Since she confirmed that the daughter was indwelt by the Spirit, we prayed the Holy Spirit would make her miserable till she repented.
She did repent within a few months and soon after met and eventually married a godly Christian man who was a better role model for her children.
But God couldn’t bring the right man into her life till she was willing to repent of her disobedience.
So please don’t assume that someone sinning isn’t a believer. Everyone is at a different stage in their Christian walk. Even the Apostle James stated that “We all stumble in different ways (James 3:2).” Every believer has wrong thinking that needs changing and it’s usually a lifetime process.
And not all sin is obvious. We all have sins of attitudes and thinking that aren’t loving.
Pray for the repentance of a believer with confidence. The Holy Spirit will answer that prayer and work within them.
I love Buddy with all my heart, but some mornings I’m tired and want to be left to myself. But I have to get up and walk Buddy, as we live in a condo with only a balcony. Then I prepare his breakfast and pills before my own. Some days I just don’tfeel like doing it, but Buddy is my responsibility.
Similarly, there’s times when our feelings don’t match up with God’s commands. As Christians we’re under grace and not the Law, but God’s rules still work to help us lead happier and more prosperous lives. We’re also commanded not to grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30), and we do that by not listening to Him and disobeying His leading.
One area people are particularly susceptible to disobey God and follow their feelings is in the area of sexual relationships. God’s commands demand one behavior, but our feelings pull us strongly toward a relationship, or behavior, we know displeases God.
“For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God…Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.”—the Apostle Paul, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5, 8
Now as Christians we can still choose to disobey God and, thereby, grieve the Holy Spirit; since He indwells the believer, we’ll be miserable till we repent. We still have free will as believers.
But we are supposed “to walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).”
Do we please God by following our passions? Because feelings are not only fleeting but changeable.
Or by obeying His Word, the Bible?
God promises that we’re blessed when we obey Him:
“But without faith it’s impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”—Hebrews 11:6
I’m thinking about this because in the past I tried so-called Christian dating sites and the majority of the men wanted to engage in premarital sex, which God expressly forbids (Hebrews 13:4). So I left the sites.
Every day, as believers, we can choose to disobey God and be miserable—or defy our feelings, obey God, and be blessed.
It’s all a matter of whether we trust God more than our feelings.
He loves us. And wants to lead us in the paths of righteousness (Psalm 23:3).
God forgives our sin. We can always confess our sin and choose to repent and get back onto the right path.
It’s all a matter of: Do you want to be miserable?
Or content, knowing God is in control and not your feelings?
It’s all up to you—and me.
And the Holy Spirit. We’re not left alone in our struggle.
“Blessed be the Lord , because He has heard the voice of my supplications! The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him.”—Psalm 28:6-7
Prayer, honest conversation, and singing praises helps a lot.
And maybe a brisk walk.
God bless you.
Much love from Dawn and Buddy
***
If you do what you know is is wrong, but don’t feel God’s Holy Spirit convicting you, then you should truly examine your heart whether you actually believe Jesus is God in the flesh (Matthew 1:23), died for your sins (1 Peter 2:24), and rose bodily from the dead (Romans 10:9).
Please don’t let pride get in the way of recognizing the truth about yourself. God loves you and wants to be your Lord and best friend. Jesus promises never to leave nor forsake His followers (Hebrews 13:5). But you must submit to His authority to be saved. The demons believe that Jesus is God and rose from the dead, but they aren’t saved.
Don’t be like the demons. Choose life obeying Jesus instead.
If you’re ready to receive Jesus, please pray the following, out loud if possible:
Dear Heavenly Father, I’m sorry for grieving You and ask for forgiveness of my sins. I also ask Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. I believe that He is God, died for my sins, and rose bodily from the dead. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit. I give my life to You. And show me how much You love me. Thank you for hearing my prayer. In the mighty name of Jesus, amen.
If you prayed sincerely, congratulations, you’re born again. And please start reading the Bible as it’s your soul food and the main way God speaks to you. And please join a Bible believing church or Bible study. And get baptized.
If that’s not possible right now, I suggest these two ministries, which also have apps, if that‘s your preference: http://www.LTW.org (Leading The Way) and http://www.AndrewFarley.org (The Grace Message).
May Buddy and I meet you in heaven one day.
God bless you as you start your new life in Christ.
Buddy looks like a giant Yorkie. He’s even oversized for a Silky terrier. But despite his larger breed style, he’s incapable of protecting himself; he’s totally dependent upon me for his needs.
The Old Testament prophet, Jonah, preached the lamest sermon ever. Most people, even if they’ve never read the Bible, have heard the story about Jonah and the Whale, about how he was swallowed and lived within the giant sea mammal for three days and nights.
However, most people don’t know that Jonah was swallowed by the whale because he disobeyed God and hopped a ship going into the opposite direction of the city of people God wanted him to preach to. After his horrendous incarceration, Jonah obeyed God and traveled to the Assyrian city of Nineveh to preach repentance.
Jonah hated the Ninevites and wanted God to kill them, not save them.
Although Jonah finally obeyed God, his attitude sucked. He preached the lamest sermon ever!
“And Jonah began to enter the city on his first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, ‘Yet forty days, and Nineveh will be overthrown!’
“So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them…”—Jonah 3:4-5
The king made a decree that everyone was to fast, even their animals, and “turn from his evil way and the violence that is in his hands (vs 3:8).”
Because the people of Nineveh repented in faith, God relented and did not punish them.
My point is: Just as Buddy is totally dependent upon me, Christians are totally dependent upon the Almighty God and His power. We cannot change a person’s heart nor can we force anyone to believe in Jesus.
Because repentance doesn’t depend upon our charisma or powers of persuasion—or even how knowledgeable we are.
On the other hand, it doesn’t matter how weak or pitiful we think our testimony or words are.
Our responsibility is merely to obey and tell people about Jesus.
And the power of the Holy Spirit will do His work.
Cone on! You cannot preach a worse sermon than Jonah did!
And because God’s power was already working on the hearts of the people, they repented anyway.
God bless.
Thanks for reading.
Much love from Dawn and Buddy
PS. Please check out my latest Friday blog post if you have time. Thanks!
I felt like it had to do with me, not life itself.
At that time we had a limited number of TV channels, and on one of the local channels was the Billy Graham Crusade, live.
I called the number on the screen to speak with one of their counselors, a kind woman, who listened to me, explained who Jesus was, and led me in a prayer of faith.
Shortly after hanging up, I was praying and a spirit swooped into my body near my sternum.
Scared the crud out of me, until the Holy Spirit told me Who He was.
This is one reason I emphasize that becoming saved is more than forgiveness of sin.
It’s also being given new life through the resurrection of Christ from the dead.
Christians never told me what becoming born again meant. I’d hear one gal say that her “body was the temple of the Holy Spirit,” so she would keep herself sexually pure.
But no one explained that being saved meant being given new life.
I was taught by the false religion I was raised up in, that the Holy Spirit was just a force in the universe,…
…but not God Himself, the third person of the Trinity.
In any case, I’m so thankful that Jesus never gave up on me.
CS Lewis claimed that God dragged him kicking and screaming into His Kingdom.
Jesus just kept prodding me along till I finally woke up.
When I first left Buddy to stay for a few days with my parents, I was concerned he’d become their pet and not return home with me to our condo.
Turns out that he stares at the front door for hours, waiting for my return. Buddy does not forget that he’s my best pal.
My parents love Buddy and he’s fond of them, but he loves me the “mostest”.
The Apostle James reminds Christians not to forget who they are:
“For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.”—James 1:23-24
Once you were “dead in your trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1),” “slaves to sin (Romans 6:20)” and “the powers of darkness (Colossians 1:13),” until you believed in the Gospel and became born again.
You were a sinner who sometimes did good deeds.
But now you are a saint who sometimes sins!
“You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.”—Apostle Paul, Romans 6:18
You are no longer a dirty worm. Nor a reformed sinner.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”—Apostle Paul, 2 Corinthians 5:17
You are a saint! You want to act saintly.
Or you grieve the Holy Spirit within you and become miserable.
It’s vitally important that you remember who you are! What is now your natural bent!
You were dead; now you’re spiritually alive!
The author CS Lewis got it correct in his Narnia book series:
You are now a prince or princess. You now wear the royal garments of Christ Jesus.
Look into the mirror which reflects back “Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).”
When Buddy ran off last year, he was too quick to capture. I couldn’t run fast enough. Fortunately, he stopped to sniff a bush and I was able to convince him to jump into the car for a ride.
The Lord Jesus told His disciple, Peter, during the Last Supper before His arrest that:
“Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.
“But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail;…”—Luke 22:31-32
If Jesus prayed that Peter would not lose his faith after falling away for a brief time, do you think He isn’t willing to do the same for you?
Indeed, there are two clear promises regarding the faith of God’s children.
For Jesus is:
“the author and finisher of our faith.”—Hebrews 12:2
And:
“He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”—Philippians 1:6
Rest assured that the Good Shepherd doesn’t bring sheep into His pasture and then allow them to wander away.
He’s going to continue His sanctifying work within His children till the Return of Christ, His Second Coming.
As you all know by now, Buddy is a bit of a spoiled brat because I was reluctant to discipline him after his adoption as he had spent three years in an abusive situation. But no matter how big of a stinker he is at times, I still adore my furpal and would never give him up.
Pastor Andrew Farley has been speaking quite a bit this year about how the modern church is treating the gospel as a “self-improvement program,” focusing Christians’ attention on themselves, rather than on their Savior.
So that got me thinking.
Concurrently, I started reading a book from the library on the perfectionism epidemic in modern Western culture called, The PerfectionTrap, by Thomas Curran.
Mr Curran discusses the research of the past few decades into the exploding, and rapidly rising, trend in perfectionism. It’s particularly difficult for the generations growing up under the influence of social media.
Culture, and families, are pushing unrealistic expectations onto people to be more, do more, accomplish more, excel more. It’s creating depression, stress, and anxiety.
There’s pressure to look better, be more fit, be more healthy, be more relaxed, be more confident, be more educated, be more organized, be more cosmopolitan—just always striving to be more!
You cannot just relax and be yourself.
Enough is never good enough!
You must always be improving!
People are manifesting this pressure in several different ways: overwork, or trying to be like someone else, or not trying, or procrastinating out of fear of failure.
Parents want their kids to be all stars and get into the best colleges, even if it means bribing people. Kids want to be influencers and make lots of money on social media.
And, it seems to me that the modern Church is mirroring our culture by putting the same expectations on people, turning the Good News into Bad News.
Many new Christians hear the message: The Law of Moses showed you that you were incapable of meeting God’s righteous standards, so, congratulations, you’ve realized your need for Christ. Now that you’re born again, the Holy Spirit will help you keep the Moral Law.
Now you can, dear Christian: be more, do more, excel more.
But what did the Apostle Paul write to the Church in Ephesus:
“…He chose us in Him (Jesus) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His Grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.”—Ephesians 1:4-6
The Apostle Paul was highly educated and can sometimes create massive sentences, but did you catch his conclusion?
That Christians are “accepted in the Beloved.”
After I prayed to give my life to Christ, the Holy Spirit told me three things, and I surely wish I’d meditated these past 33 on the third much more: “Although I know every sin you’ve ever committed, I still love you very much.”
I was so thrilled that God was real and loved me that I was smiling with excitement nearly 24/7. At that time I worked with the public, and nonbelievers would ask me, “Why are you so happy?” And I’d respond, “Because Jesus loves me!”
Knowing me for some time, they wouldn’t criticize, but mumble, “OK,” and walk away.
Then I heard two legalistic sermons the same day that stole my joy. Since Jesus declared that “the truth sets you free (John 8:32),” I should’ve figured something was wrong with the teaching. But I was a new Christian, so who was I to question these two preachers with massive audiences and worldwide influence?
What was that false teaching that stole my joy and placed the chains of legalism around my heart for decades?
That some Christians were more acceptable to God than others. Christians who worked hard enough and met a certain standard (whatever that is) got to sit at the banquet table with Christ.
And those who didn’t meet that standard—lesser Christians—got to heaven but weren’t seated at the table with those superior Christians.
So I fell out of the joy of knowing Jesus loved me…
…and hopped onto the hamster wheel of trying to be acceptable to God through works.
In other words, the gospel of: do more, be more, achieve more.
And then, we’re saturated with examples of the super Christian, the one who makes us feel we’re failing because we aren’t as good, or kind, or humble, or doing enough amazing works like this phantom superstar.
So, some give up, walking away from Christ and the Church because they can’t meet THE STANDARD.
When they were already humble enough to admit they couldn’t meet God’s STANDARD of righteousness and gave their lives to Him.
You see, Pastor Farley is correct: the Church has Christians focused on themselves and their performance,…
…instead of…
…on Jesus and His performance,…
…His finished work on the Cross.
Dear Readers, Jesus said, “It is finished (John 19:30).”
King David, of the ancient kingdom of Israel and Judah, understood this truth. He was forgiven the sins of murder and adultery because he understood the grace of God.
“Oh my soul, you have said to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord, my goodness is nothing apart from You.’”—NKJV Psalm 16:2)
Relax. Focus on Jesus and His righteousness…
…on God and His unbelievable love and kindness.
He loves you so much that “even the very hairs of your head are all numbered (Jesus, Luke 12:7).”
And, please, pray for the grace to follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
And don’t stress about your focus!
You are totally “accepted in the Beloved.”
And the joy of the Lord will begin to bubble out of your soul.
“Praise the Lord!”—Psalm 147:1 (and others!)
“Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.”—Psalm 136:1
God bless you.
Much love from Dawn and Buddy
***
The gospel about Jesus really is Good News.
God loves you and sent His Son to die for your sins, so that you don’t have to meet His standard of perfection to enter heaven (Matthew 5:48).
No one can meet God’s standards, not even the kindest and most sacrificial of Christian teachers.
What God wants is for you to humble yourself enough to admit that you’re a sinner and need a heart change, to submit to His moral authority.
If you realize you want to experience God’s marvelous love and acceptance by becoming one of His children, please pray the following, out loud if possible:
Dear Heavenly Father, please forgive my sins. I ask Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. I believe He died for my sins and was resurrected bodily to give me new life. Please give me Your Holy Spirit. I give my life to You. Please reveal to me how much You love me. In the wonderful name of Jesus, amen.
If you prayed sincerely, congratulations, you’re born again. Please start reading the Bible daily as it’s your soul food; just as your body needs daily food to be nourished, so does your soul.
And join a Bible believing church or Bible study. And get baptized. If that’s not possible right now, I suggest these two ministries, which also have apps, if that’s your preference: http://www.LTW.org (Leading The Way) and http://www.AndrewFarley.org (The Grace Message).
You can see that Buddy wasn’t feeling cooperative when I asked him to pose with a lightbulb. Since he’s totally dependent on me for his welfare, you’d think he could do this little favor for me.
Nope.
Why is Jesus the only path to eternal life and heaven (John 14:6)?
An easily understood metaphor is to see everyone as a lightbulb.
Lightbulbs exist but are not fully functional until they’re connected to an electrical power source.
They can be in boxes, on a self, and even screwed into a light socket…
But as long as the electrical switch is turned off, or the fuse in the electrical box isn’t functioning properly, then the bulb won’t shine with light.
There’s no power to come to life!
The potential to come to life is present in the bulb, but it needs electricity to shine.
Likewise, every person needs to be plugged into the power of the Holy Spirit to operate properly spiritually.
A person may appear to be plugged into that spiritual socket, attending church or expressing “spirituality” by following some other teacher than Jesus, but there’s no spiritual life flowing through their soul, resurrecting their dead spirit.
After Adam and Eve rebelled against God’s authority over their lives, every person has been born spiritually dead.
And the Holy Spirit is only sent to indwell a person after they accept Jesus as their Savior, Who died for their sins and was resurrected bodily to give them life.
This spiritual electricity, the Holy Spirit, is free!
You don’t have to pay a power company to provide this spiritual electricity.
But we are all totally dependent on God to give us spiritual rebirth.
You gotta ask for it.
Jesus said:
“If you, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”—Luke 11:13
Don’t be a dead bulb. Ask Jesus into your life.
And if you’ve already become born again, trust that your heavenly power source, the Holy Spirit, will help you shine.
I know my furpal. If another dog walked into my home who wasn’t Buddy, I’d immediately wonder why and who its owner was.
Because that dog does not belong in my home.
But we don’t use that same discernment in the church. We just assume that everyone who sits in the pews is a born again believer or is interested in knowing more about Christ, or that anyone who preaches has the Spirit of the Lord.
But there is an event in the Bible that warns this is not necessarily true.
“Then He (Jesus) went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths….Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!’ But Jesus rebuked him,…”—Luke 4:31, 33-35
Not only was there an opponent and enemy of God hanging around in the congregation of sincere followers of God, but who also wanted nothing to do with Jesus.
The demonically possessed man was also perfectly capable of speaking openly and emphatically within a group of believers gathered together.
This is a warning not to assume everyone knows, loves, and obeys the Lord who attends or teaches in a church. Always use discernment and evaluate their teaching. If they disobey, or reject Jesus’ clear teachings, do not follow them. And do not allow them to influence you to disregard what God teaches in the Bible.
Please be respectful, as everyone is made in God’s image and He loves them.
But there might be a time to reprove or bring false teaching to the attention of leadership.
And if it’s the leaders who disobey God’s Word, leave the church.
Not everyone who walks through the doors of a church building is owned by Jesus.
Bud is admittedly spoiled. Which greatly concerns me as he’s willful and doesn’t like to listen to me. A family member let him slip out the front door this afternoon, so I panicked, knowing that Buddy wouldn’t listen to me call for him to return to the house. However, he was more interested in following me back through the doorway to safety than running away.
If Bud ran off, he’s too quick for me to catch him.
Some people won’t like this post. But if I’m only repeating what’s already posted out there on the internet ad nauseam, then why bother? I could just post links directing people to other material.
Many Christians have memorized Psalm 23; some have even read the excellent book, “A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23” by W. Phillip Keller; and many follow the Shepherd of our souls; but how many “sheep of His pasture (Psalm 100:3)” actually trust Him?
“The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want… He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His namesake.”—King David, Psalm 23:1, 3
Jesus made it clear several times what His attitude toward His flock is.
1. If they wander off, He goes in search of them:
“What do you think? If a man had a 100 sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the 99 and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he souls find it, assuredly, I say to you , he rejoices more over that sheep than over the 99 that did not go astray?”—Matthew 18:12-13
Jesus doesn’t just wave goodbye when one of His children stray away from the faith. He takes action and goes in search of that Christian to return them to the fold.
2. The Good Shepherd leads His sheep in the paths of righteousness for “HIS namesake” (Psalm 23:3).
Jesus takes action to correct His wandering sheep because His reputation is at stake when someone claims to be born again but is willfully, or deceived by Satan, disobeying.
3. Jesus promises that we’re united with Him through the Holy Spirit once we’re born again. As a result, He will never abandon us to evil nor can anyone or anything separate us from Himself.
“And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, Who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”—John 10:27-28, 30
“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word (the Apostles); that they may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me…I in them, and You in Me…”—John 17:20-21, 23
So, if you believe you can lose your salvation, you may not either understand what being born again means and your salvation—or you are trusting in your own works and efforts to maintain your relationship with Him. You are not trusting Him to seek his wandering sheep and return those sheep back into the safety of His flock.
You don’t have temporary life until you die. You are promised eternal life if you are in Christ Jesus (John 3:16, John 10:27).
Apostle Paul strongly admonished the Galatians about this teaching in his letter, Galatians 3:1-3:
“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your eyes Jesus was clearly portrayed as crucified? I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?”
Christ’s crucifixion put to death all human self effort. You’re either one with Christ or not, trusting in Him or yourself.
So you have a choice, dear brother and sister in Christ: standing on sifting sand or on the rock of Jesus Christ; trusting in Him to keep you—or in your own shifting, unstable efforts and moods (Matthew 7:24-26).
Your salvation is not at stake.
But, rather, your ability to rejoice in your salvation and truly feel grateful for being delivered out of slavery in the kingdom of darkness to becoming a sheep in the kingdom of light. (Colossians 1:13).
You can exhaust yourself with fear on the hamster wheel of insecurity or…
Dance with joy, little sheep, trusting in His work on the Cross, not your works.
He promises to “never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)”.
So who is your shepherd?
You?
Or Jesus?
***
Please trust in Jesus for your eternal life. Only He can send the Holy Spirit to indwell you and resurrect your dead spirit into eternal life. Other religions can teach you how to behave better, or experts can guide you in self-improvement programs, but only Jesus can give you life (John 5:40).
I spend the time to write these blogs because I waited till I was twenty-eight-years-old to give my life to Jesus. I only regret not doing it sooner. Becoming born again is the most wonderful experience—to know that God is real and loves you—and I want this for you too.
Please, heed my plea and give your heart to Jesus now.
Tomorrow is never guaranteed to any of us.
Repeat the following prayer out loud, if possible:
Dear Heavenly Father, I’m sorry for my sin and for being my own worst enemy. I call on Jesus Christ to be both my Lord and Savior. Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I give my life to You. Please change my heart and teach me how much You love me. Thanks for hearing my prayer. I ask in the mighty name of Jesus, amen.
If you prayed sincerely, congratulations, you’re born again. Please start reading the Bible daily as it’s both your soul food and God’s letter to you. Just as your body needs daily nourishment to be healthy, so does your soul.
And join a Bible believing church or Bible study, and get baptized. If that’s not possible right now, I suggest these two ministries, which also have apps, if that’s your preference: http://www.LTW.org (Leading The Way) and http://www.AndrewFarley.org (The Grace Message).
There are other godly ministries out there, but it’s easy to be misled by legalism or false teaching till you know the Bible fairly well.
God bless you. May Buddy and I meet you in heaven one day.
Meditations About God and Buddy 