I feel happy when my beloved Buddy smiles. It shows that he enjoys living with me. After three years of being abused by his former owner, he’s loved sharing thirteen-and-a-half years with me now, someone who loves and dotes on him.
God is called “Our Heavenly Father (Matthew 6:26, 32),” yet sometimes Christians are presented with a solemn, joyless image of Jesus in movies and pictures as if being miserable or unhappy is the preferable Christian personality.
Does your earthly father want you to be miserable? (If mentally healthy, he doesn’t.)
Or, too often, pastors tell us that joy is independent of circumstance, meaning that you’re not supposed to feel or be happy, as if a smiling countenance means you’re not thoughtful or taking your faith seriously. That you can be cognitively happy, but to actually be happy is an unrealistic expectation.
Please ask yourself: Does a happy, energetic joyful person attract you more or less than a solemn, frowning person?
Jesus told His disciples:
“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”—John 15:11
I believe Jesus wants us to be authentic people. To be honest with Him when we talk with Him. To cry when we’re suffering, to smile when we’re happy, to laugh when we think something’s funny.
Jesus said:
“I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”—John 10:10
After all, who invented laughter?
As the Bible says, and modern scientific research continually confirms:
“A cheerful heart is good medicine.”—Proverbs 17:22
Go ahead and enjoy life.
Giving thanks to our loving Father Who has created a beautiful world full of wonders.
After all, who should be the happiest people on earth than Christians who know that all these worldly sufferings are temporary and in no way comparable to the eternal joys of heaven (Romans 8:28) prepares for us by a loving God?
God bless you.
Much love from Dawn and Buddy
PS. I realize pastors are trying to deal with human suffering, but is that how God wants our lives to be? Nothing but suffering without overcoming? To focus only on unhappiness? Even cops use gallows humor to defuse stressful situations.
I can totally relate to Buddy not wanting to be awakened at 10am this morning. After all, he woke me up at 6:30am to take a walkie and to do his business.
Similarly, one benefit of not being raised in the Christian religion is that I have an understanding of the outsider’s perspective. And I have not had dogma drilled into my mind without questioning it.
Not that the dogma is necessarily incorrect, but when you’re used to hearing something for many years, it’s usual not to mull over it much.
And sometimes we should.
There are two questions that would be very helpful to unbelievers if Christians could answer them.
1. Why did Jesus have to die?
2. Why is Jesus the only way to heaven?
The usual response to number one is: He had to die for your sins because, as God in the flesh, only Jesus could live a perfect, sinless life. Having no sin of His own to die for, He could die for the sins of others.
Great response. But then the unbeliever asks: Why do I need my sins forgiven?
Because God cannot inhabit a dirty vessel!
We require sanctification, to be declared righteous, wiped clean of our sins, for the Holy Spirit to indwell a person as God cannot tolerate sin in His presence:
“Because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’”—1 Peter 1:16
The second question has a similar answer: Jesus is the only way to heaven because only Jesus can give a person new life. A person is spiritually dead until they become born again through the power of the Holy Spirit. Only Jesus can give a person new life by resurrecting their dead spirit and freeing their spirit from bondage to sin.
Generally, the Church understands how to get saved, but not what happens when a person gets saved.
A saved human spirit is transformed, crucified with Christ on the Cross andresurrected with Christ.
Not just crucified with Christ.
But also resurrected into eternal life with Christ.
Before becoming born again:
A person sins because they’re a sinner.
A person isn’t a sinner because they sin.
The sin comes out of an unredeemed heart.
The unbeliever is:
“Darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart.”—Apostle Paul, Ephesians 4:18
In summary, the nonbeliever needs to understand that they are spiritually dead and need to repent of their sins. Eternal life only comes when a person accepts Jesus as their Lord and Savior, that He is “God in the flesh (Matthew 1:23),” died for their sins, was crucified on the Cross, and rose bodily from the dead.
Jesus warned the religious leaders in ancient Israel that pride in their good works was blinding them to the truth of their need for a new heart, an internal spiritual transformation:
“You are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.”—John 5:40
So dear reader, please be prepared to answer these two questions.
Because it’s a matter of eternal life or death.
God bless you.
Much love from Dawn and Buddy
***
Do you have eternal life? You cannot earn God’s favor; it’s impossible to meet His perfect standard of behavior (Matthew 5:48). It’s a gift. You need to ask for it, however, as Jesus won’t force you to accept Him as your Lord. He wants you to voluntarily invite Him into your life.
Are you willing to ask Him now? If so, please repeat the following prayer, out loud if possible:
Dear Heavenly Father, I’m sorry for my sins and want new life. Please forgive me. I ask Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. Please give me your Holy Spirit. I give my life to You. And reveal to me how much You love me. 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 your soul food. Just as your body needs daily nourishment to be healthy, so does your soul.
And please join a Bible believing church or Bible study, and get baptized. If that’s not possible right now, I recommend 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).
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).”
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.
If you’ve been reading my blog for some time, you know that Buddy ran off one fireworks streaked, July evening. I exhausted myself looking for him—to no avail. I took a nap for a few hours then drove around as the morning dawn spread into the early morning sunshine. I had no idea how many bunny rabbits hopped around my neighborhood till that morning. Fortunately, my cousin, whom I had just met at an 80th birthday party for her great uncle and aunt (same birthday) put me in contact with a neighborhood rescue that knew where Buddy was.
I honestly believe that Jesus introduced me to my cousin because He knew she’d be instrumental in helping me find my beloved Buddy one day.
Plus, I’m certain God protected Buddy that night he ran off. When I was running around on foot searching for Bud, I saw a van slam to a stop a block away. The driver of the truck behind the van angrily honked his horn because of the sudden stop. I’m certain the woman driving the van was avoiding hitting Buddy as that was the neighborhood where someone had taken Buddy in.
(Wish his rescuers had heard me calling for Buddy at the top of my strained voice, but at least Bud was safe, due to this kind couple.)
I wore myself out searching for Buddy because he is my pal, my furever friend.
Other neighbors helped search initially, but since Buddy wasn’t their family member, they didn’t persevere as long as I did.
Christians who claim that you can lose your salvation tend to camp on about three verses, while ignoring dozens of others that teach or indicate that the opposite is true.
For example, Jesus is recorded as saying, by His disciple Matthew, the former tax collector:
“‘Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father Who is in heaven will enter…I will declare to them, “I NEVER knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”’”—Matthew 7:21, 23
The emphasis on “NEVER” is mine to clarify the point I’m making: Jesus claimed He NEVER knew the person protesting that they should be permitted entrance into heaven.
He didn’t say, “You used to be one of my sheep, but you chose to leave the fold.”
No, Jesus said that the person was NEVER one of His flock.
What did Jesus teach about the shepherd who had a sheep who went astray? The shepherd had 100 sheep but one wandered away from the safety of the flock and the shepherd’s watchful care. The shepherd left the other 99 sheep and went in search of the one that strayed away until he found it (Matthew 18:12-13).
So, too, Jesus doesn’t turn His back on the lamb of His flock who foolishly wanders away because of listening to the world, the flesh or the enemy (Mathew 26:41, 1 John 2:16).
The Apostle Paul chastised the Galatians for going astray from the purity of the Gospel and rebuked the Corinthians for their sinful behavior, but he still considered them God’s people.
Because “Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith (Hebrews 12:2)” initiates our faith and brings it to completion. He knows that the world, our flesh, and the devil are always working to discourage, defeat, and lead astray His people. It’s the power of the Holy Spirit Who convicts us when we go astray and leads us back into the security of His flock and obedience.
As the Apostle Paul confidently declared in Philippians 1:6:
“I am confident of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
WILL perfect the faith He initiates in the lambs of His flock.
Hope this reassures you.
Jesus always has His children enclosed in His arms, leading them safely home (Psalm 139:5, Psalm 23:3).
God bless you.
Much love from Dawn and Buddy
***
Would you like to be a member of Jesus’ flock? You don’t have to “clean up your act” first. He only wants you to ask Him to be your God and Great Shepherd, then He’ll take responsibility for guiding you into attitudes and behaviors that are healthier and life sustaining.
You just gotta be humble enough to admit you’re a sinner requiring His moral guidance and authority in your life—the opposite of what Adam and Eve did.
If you’re ready, please repeat the below, out loud if possible:
Dear Heavenly Father, I’m sorry for my sin and want to change my life’s direction. Please forgive my sin. I ask Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I give my life to You. And reveal to me how much You love me. Thank you for hearing my prayer. In the Mighty name of Your Son 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 nourishment to be healthy, so does your soul. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide your understanding as it’s a supernatural book.
And please join a Bible believing church or Bible study, as sheep belong in a flock for protection. And get baptized. If that’s not possible right now, I recommend the following two ministries, which also have apps, if that’s your preference: http://www.LTW.org (Leading The Way) or http://www.AndrewFarley.org (The Grace Message). There are other godly ministries, but it’s easy to get misled by legalism or false teaching until you know the Bible fairly well.
God bless you as you start walking a new path in your life. May Buddy and I meet you in heaven one day.
I used a bathtub to wash Buddy when I lived in Washington State, but we only have a shower at our current home in Arizona. I haunted the bath shops until I found what I thought was an acceptably sized plastic bin to wash Buddy in. I used it a few times with a jumbo cup to rinse him with.
Then it hit me. The big, forehead slapping moment.
I rushed back to the home and bath shop and purchased a new shower head that included a detachable rinsing hose.*
Made washing Buddy much quicker and easier.
I was so accustomed to washing my dogs in a tub that it didn’t occur to me initially that there were other ways to do it. I was doing it “the same old way” because that’s how I’d always done it.
I’d love to visit the ancient churches in India that were founded by the Apostle Thomas. But have been praying for revival, a return to a reliance on the Biblical Scriptures and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. As with many religions, the people can begin to rely upon church membership or traditional forms of worship but miss entering into a relationship with the Living God.
I believe this is why many mainline churches grow cold toward God: They begin focusing upon good works and traditional church service performances and leave “their first love” as the risen Christ warned the Ephesian Church in Revelation 2:4.
The Apostle John composed The Revelation of Jesus Christ about 95AD while exiled on the island of Patmos. Since the Christian church was birthed on Pentecost, as described in Acts 2, the likely date being 30AD, it took the Christian Church only 65 years to begin to drift from sole reliance upon the Bible and Holy Spirit into rote practices.
God expressed His concern through the Old Testament Prophet Isaiah:
“Because these people draw near with their words and honor Me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from Me, and their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,…”—Isaiah 29:13
The tendency of people to drift into mindless worship has been a problem for millennia. I’m sure you can think of church denominations who now denounce the authority of Scripture, yet still go through the routine of their traditional church services.
It’s the same problem with legalism: Trying to please God through behavior. Trying to obey the rules never hits the mark.
Because obeying laws or just following routines doesn’t change the human heart. Only faith in Jesus and His work gives spiritual life.
It is “God, Who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist (Romans 4:17).” Following traditions or rules doesn’t make a person born again. Traditions can be followed, as Isaiah stated, without any heart or mind engagement with Jesus. And the Laws of God only show how wicked we are, incapable of obeying God perfectly.
The Pharisees thought they were godly leaders because they followed all the rules of the Old Testament—plus many they added that God didn’t command. But Jesus pointed out that you can outwardly follow the law, looking good, but fall short in your heart attitudes or spirit:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”—Matthew 5:27-28
I’m not speaking about those times when we’re tired and go through the motions, but we still actually “believe,…sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, Who is given as a pledge of our inheritance (Ephesians 1:13-14).”
I’m referring to people who think church attendance or being good or going through certain rituals makes them right with God.
ONLY the blood of Jesus brings a person into fellowship with God through faith (John 3:16).
The Apostle Paul emphasized the importance of Biblical Scripture to lead someone to saving faith in Christ:
“The sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God…”—2 Timothy 3:15-16
In summary, it’s okay to have traditions or to do good deeds, but when rote worship or helping people replaces reverencing God and studying His Word, then the Church will become a zombie haven for the living dead—the pews filled with people who claim to be Christians but are devoid of the Holy Spirit of God.
And sometimes I wonder this is why the younger generations are fascinated by zombies, because, subconsciously, they know there’s a lot of spiritually dead people walking around in Western culture nowadays.
God bless you.
Much love from Dawn and Buddy
*I was pretty excited to successfully install my first shower head by myself.
***
If you’ve read the above blog post, you now understand that attending church and going through the motions or doing good deeds won’t bring spiritual life to a person. There’s more to serving God or being a Christian. These aren’t bad things, but only faith in Jesus Christ and His death on the Cross can give you the “abundant life (John 10:10).”
Apostle Paul explained to the Romans (10:8-9):
“(That is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Confessing Jesus as Lord means that He is your moral authority and has the right to define right from wrong. And is the Boss, your Creator.
Believing that Jesus was raised from the dead, means that you accept He paid the price for your sins on the Cross and was raised from the dead, proving that He is God. And has the power to give you eternal life.
Before I became a Christian, no one explained to me what being “born again” meant. When you give your life to God, He sends the Holy Spirit to indwell you, to be your life, guide and helper.
If you’re ready to join God’s eternal family, please repeat the below prayer, out loud if possible:
Dear Heavenly Father, I’m sorry for my sins. Please forgive me. I call on Jesus Christ to be my Lord and Savior. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I believe Jesus died for my sins and was raised from the dead. I give my life to You. Please teach me how much You love me*. In the mighty name of Your Son Jesus, amen.
If you prayed sincerely, congratulations, you’re born again. Please start reading the Bible, asking the Holy Spirit to guide your understanding. The Scriptures are your soul food. Just as your body needs daily nourishment to be healthy, so does your soul. I suggest starting with the Book of Matthew as it’s easy to understand.
And join a Bible believing church or Bible study. And get baptized. If that’s not possible right now, I recommend these two ministries, which also have apps, if that’s your preference: http://www.LTW.org (Leading The Way) or http://www.AndrewFarley.org (The Grace Message). There are other godly ministries, but it’s easy to get misled by legalism or false teaching until you don’t know the Bible fairly well.
God bless you. May Buddy and I meet you in heaven one day.
*I believe a person learns to love others the more they understand how much God loves them.
Buddy just got his winter trim. And is wearing his Santa suit to stay warm. It’s been unusually cold and wet this winter in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Despite getting a full body haircut and wearing clothing, there’s no doubt that I brought the correct dog home from the grooming parlor. Buddy is easily recognized by his human pal.
But despite over 300 Old Testament predictions and prophecies about the coming Messiah, many people did not recognize Who Jesus was. God stood in their midst and most people didn’t recognize Him, particularly those in religious leadership who had studied and memorized the Old Testament scriptures.
You see, those religious leaders wanted a Messiah who matched their idea of Who He was supposed to be and act.
Jesus engaged in a conversation with His disciples over His identity:
“He was asking His disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’
“And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’
“He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’
“Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’”
Many Christians recognize that Jesus is the Christ, “Immanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:23).” And perhaps their Savior, Who died for their sins (1 Corinthians 15:3).
But He is not their Lord.
He might be their Sugar Daddy, Who provides for all of their needs (Psalm 34:9-10, John 14:14).
He might be their deliverer out of adverse circumstances (Psalm 34:6-7).
He might be their counselor, Who delivers them from depression or anxiety (Psalm 40:1-3, Isiah 9:6).
He might be their healer (Exodus 15:26).
He might be their physical strength (Isaiah 40:29-30).
He may be their avenger (Isaiah 35:4).
But He is not their Lord.
Jesus told His disciples, “If you love Me, you will keep my commandments (John 14:15).”
Many people claim to follow Christ yet continually engage in the same sin of disbelief that Adam and Eve committed, which condemned the human race to spiritual death and bondage to sin and Satan:
“The serpent said to the woman, ‘You will surely not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil Exodus 3:4-5).’”
When a Christian wants to decide for themselves what is right or wrong—listening to their culture or their own hearts to determine what’s right to do or not—instead of listening to how God defines good and evil in His Word, the Bible, they do not accept Jesus as their Lord.
You obey your Lord.
Now, I’m not saying you have to be perfect, because that’s impossible. We’re saved by grace through faith, not by works (Ephesians 2:8-9). And sanctification is a lifelong process of studying the Word of God and learning to follow the Holy Spirit.
What I’m talking about is your—and my own—attitude.
We cannot be light in a culture committed to living in the darkness of wickedness if we’re conforming to their behavior, rather obeying God.
If you are consciously rejecting what the Bible declares is wrong or evil, then you are acting as your own god, committing the same sin as Adam and Eve.
The Creator of the Universe has written the instruction manual for living life well—the Holy Scriptures.
So is Jesus your Lord?
Or are you acting as your own god?
Because Jesus says you’re a liar if you claim to love Him but don’t want to obey Him.
Not the cheeriest of topics, but so necessary because I know several people who claim to be Christian, but want to be their own god when it comes to moral decisions.
Hoping Jesus IS your Lord.
God bless you.
Much love from Dawn and Buddy
***
If your life is screwed up, it’s likely because you don’t know God’s ways. He explains how to live your best life now in the Holy Bible.
But unless you have the Holy Spirit within you, leading and guiding you, it’s difficult to understand the Bible. It’s a supernatural book that requires God’s help to properly comprehend it.
If you’d like to invite Jesus to be your Lord, and stop trying to be your own god, please repeat the following prayer, out loud if possible:
Dear Heavenly Father, I acknowledge that You are God and I am not. So I ask Jesus, God Who came in the flesh to die for my sins, to be my Lord and Savior. Please forgive my sins and fill me with Your Holy Spirit; I want to live for You. I’m tired of trying to be my own god and failing in life. Grant me the faith to be Your child. Teach me how much You love me. Thank You for answering my prayer. In the mighty name of Jesus, amen.
If you prayed sincerely, congratulations, you’re born again. Please start reading the Bible, as it’s your soul food. The Holy Spirit, Who is God, speaks to your heart and mind through the scriptures. I suggest starting with the Book of Matthew, as it’s easy to understand.
Also, 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) or http://www.AndrewFarley.org (The Grace Message).
God bless you as you begin your new life as a child of God.
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God.”—John 1:12
When I adopted Buddy, he didn’t come with his papers. So I don’t know his actual birthday. His official birthday is, therefore, his adoption day: August 21st.
I do know my re-birthday: March 7th, 1989. On that night I called the Billy Graham Crusade phone number on the TV screen and spoke with a Christian volunteer who led me to the Lord.
That night I had felt that something was wrong in my life, in my spirit, but couldn’t identify what it was. At that time, the local channels would broadcast the Billy Graham Crusades as paid advertising. So you didn’t have to pay to listen or travel to the convention.
I believed that Jesus was a real man who walked the earth. But I was raised in a cult religion that denied His deity. After I finally broke free from that false belief system, I tried to embrace atheism, but it was impossible for me.
I read a biography on Charles Darwin and the “Origin Of The Species,” but found his work to be very unscientific and speculative.
A turning point came at an unlikely time: I took a class in Greek and Roman Mythology at my university to fulfill a requirement. A longtime school friend and I had loved reading myths from other cultures when we were kids, so thought I’d enjoy the class. The professor surprised me by frequently attempting to discount the Old Testament instead of focusing on what the class was supposed to be about.
The turning point came when the professor declared that the Bible couldn’t be true as “every culture in the world has a flood myth”. Her statement surprised me. I knew to question my teachers as my uncle was a college professor and I knew that he had kooky ideas. It seemed to me—and still does—that if there really wasn’t a worldwide flood, then only a few cultures would have this belief. But if there really was a cataclysmic flood, then ALL cultures would have a distant memory of this event, passed down through the generations.
So, thusly, an atheist college professor turned me back onto the path of salvation.
Years later I’d thought I was saved and was baptized, but didn’t truly believe in my heart that Jesus was “God in the flesh”, as Matthew stated in his gospel, Chapter 1:23. It seemed incredible to me that the deity who created the vast universe could be contained within a human person.
There’s more to my story, but I finally believed and became born again about 11:27 PM when the Holy Spirit entered into my body and brought life to my dead spirit. Formerly dead in my sins (Ephesians 2:1), I became alive. As Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 10:8-9:
“The word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
I became born again when I truly believed that Jesus is LORD, God in the flesh, a person of the holy Trinity.
So today I celebrate my 33rd birthday as a child of the living God.
If you’d not born again, I invite you to join me. Because my only regret is that I didn’t believe in Jesus as Lord invite the Holy Spirit into my life fifteen years sooner.
God bless you.
Much love from Dawn and Buddy
***
If you’d like to celebrate a new birthday, to become a “new creation in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17),” please repeat the below:
Heavenly Father, I believe that Jesus is God Who came in the flesh to die for my sins and was raised bodily from the dead to give me resurrection life. I call on Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. Please forgive my sins. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I give my life to you. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus’ name, amen
If you prayed sincerely, congratulations, you are born again. Please start reading the Bible, as it is your soul food. And your soul needs daily nourishment, just as your physical body does. I suggest starting with the book of Matthew, as it’s easy to understand.
Also, please join a Bible-believing church or Bible study. If that’s not possible right now, I suggest these three ministries, which also have apps, if that’s your preference: http://www.LTW.org (Leading The Way), http://www.InTouch.org and http://www.AndrewFarley.org (The Grace Message). There are other godly ministries, but you need to grow in your knowledge of the Bible so that bad teachers don’t lead you astray.
God bless you. Celebrate your new birth today—and every year. This is your new beginning.
I recently had problems getting enough hot water flowing through my shower faucet, so I had to bathe Buddy in the tub at my parent’s home. So-called sailor showers were adequate for me, but not for my dog. Merely wiping at his fur with a wet washcloth would not get Buddy clean enough.
Most people don’t understand why it’s necessary to have faith in Jesus Christ to enter heaven. Sadly, many Christians do not either and an increasing number believe that there are multiple paths to heaven.
As the Apostle Paul explained in his first letter to the Corinthians, 15:21-22:
“For as by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection from the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.”
As several ministries have pointed out (Basic Gospel, People to People, InTouch, The Grace Ministries), Christianity is not just about getting your sins forgiven. People sin because they are sinners—the problem is that we are all born spiritually dead. Jesus died for our sins, but was resurrected to give us life (Romans 8:11). We have sinful hearts that need transformation.
Jesus warned that people needed to come to Him “so that you may have life (John 5:40).”
Jesus was speaking to a crowd of walking, breathing beings. They had physical life but were spiritually “dead in (their) trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1).”
Because we are spiritually dead, there is only one way to obtain spiritual life: to be made a “new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17)” through the power of the Holy Spirit.
The prophet Ezekiel prophesied about the gift of transformation from death to life by the Holy Spirit in Ezekiel 11:19-20:
“And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them.”
We all need more than a simple washing of our outer life. A mere washcloth isn’t enough to cleanse our heart of its sinful desires.
This is why I stated that “dead people don’t go to heaven.” The truth is that only living souls can enter heaven; souls dead in their sins cannot. And only through faith in Jesus Christ is the heart transformed so that the human soul naturally loves God and others and desires to obey God.
Jesus declared that He was the source of life when He was preparing to physically raise Lazarus from the dead in John 11:25-26:
“I am the resurrection and the LIFE; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.”
Jesus made it clear when He said, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me (John 14:6).”
“This is eternal life, that they may know You (the Father), the only one true God, and Jesus Christ whom You (the Father) have sent (John 17:3).”
If you want to be spiritually alive, Jesus is the only power in the universe who can give you that life.
Much love from Dawn and Buddy
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We are all made in the image of God. That desire to do good is evident in many religions. But following rules can never give you life. It can make life easier and more pleasant. But only the Holy Spirit can give you a new soul birth.
If you’re ready to be born again, please repeat the below:
Dear Heavenly Father, Please forgive my sins. I ask Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. Fill me with the Holy Spirit and transform my heart. I give my life to you. Give me eternal life. In Jesus’ name, amen
When you pray according to the Father’s will, He promises to answer your prayers (1 John 5:14-15). Congratulations. You are born again.
Just as your body needs food daily to be healthy, your soul needs soul food—the Word of God. Please begin reading the Bible. I suggest starting with the book of Matthew as it’s easy to understand.
And please find a Bible based church and/or Bible study to fellowship with other believers and grow stronger in your faith. It’s not easy to stand alone in a culture that is turning away from God. If that’s not possible for you right now, I suggest the following three ministries, which also have apps: http://www.InTouch.org, http://www.LTW.org and http://www.AndrewFarley.org. There are other good ministries, but as a new believer, you can be lead astray till you know enough to be discerning.
Meditations About God and Buddy 