How do we know?
June 7, 2013 – II Corinthians
7
Dear
Saints,
Today we
prayerfully continue the Feast in II Corinthians 7. “An
exhortation to holiness, and the whole church entreated to bear affection to
the apostle. (1-4) He rejoiced in their sorrow-ing to repentance. (5-11) And
in the com-fort they and Titus had together. (12-16).” – Matthew Henry Concise.
“9 As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you
were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered
no loss through us.”
2 Corinthians 7:9 ESV.
I
want to pose a question to each of you today! How do you know
Jesus, where does your faith come from?
Let me tell you how I know Jesus and some of what he expects from
me.
From my youth I
was a Protestant by tradition; I even went to Sunday school on Sunday’s,
until I was about 13 years of age.
That was when I figured out that Jesus was a good man and the bible
was a book of good rules. When I was
18 I went to war in Vietnam, think I went into shock the first time I got
shot at (the day I arrived) and stayed that way for 2 years. By time I came home I was 20 years old and
I saw enough “Big Bangs” to know nothing good ever came out of them.
I married a year after I met my wife; we
were both 21 years old. When I was 27
years old, married with 2 children; I was driving a transit bus in Los Angeles,
California USA; that’s when I accepted Jesus as my Savior.
About my
salvation like I said I was driving a transit bus in Los Angeles; and one day
for some reason I started thinking about Jesus. For some reason I couldn’t get Him out of
my mind. After work that night I was stuck in my mind on this Jesus thing. I
really wasn’t much of a drinker, but I thought I knew how to get my mind off
of Jesus. I went to a (noisy) bowling
alley an ordered a beer. I figured a
beer to relax me and with all the noise in there, I would surely forget about
this Jesus thing. Incidentally this
was way out of character for me. I was
a dedicated family man, I worked hard and I didn’t have anything to feel bad
about. I certainly wasn’t in a
position to need any forgiveness. So I
thought! To continue; the bowling alley
didn’t work. So I decided that I would
squash this problem by reading about Jesus in the New Testament, like I said
I did I go to Sunday School long enough to know my way around the bible.
I started to go
home when I realized there were no bibles at my house. So I thought my Mother–in-law would have
one, so I went to her house. When I
asked her if I could borrow a bible she replied; “What do you want a bible
for?” I lied (I didn’t look at white
lies as being wrong) and said; “I just wanted to look something up!” She seemed irritated I interrupted her favorite
TV show. She did finally find her
bible in a closet. I took the bible
and went to my brother-in-laws bedroom (he wasn’t home) to read it in private. I sat down and read the whole book of
Matthew that evening. The funny thing
is now if someone asked me where to start I’d say the book of John. To shorten this testimony I’ll just say; “By
time I finished It was late and I was crying because I knew Jesus was the son
of God and I was a sinner.” I left my mother-in-laws
by the back door (so no one would see me in tears). I yelled good night and
went home. The next day I accepted Jesus
as my Savior and repented of my sins.
I realized that I
wanted to know all I could about my faith and I joined a great church and
began reading my bible every day. I
was very independent and though I was in a bible believing church I wanted to
get the story straight from God. My
faith grew day by day eventually my wife realized I was a better man in Jesus
and she accepted Jesus. Now all my
children (who are married and gone) have accepted Jesus and are bringing
their children up in the love of Jesus. I’m 67 now and still married to
Sandy, 45 years now. I can say one
thing that I understand is a man and woman truly becomes one in Jesus. Our love for Jesus continues to grow. I never forgot from that first night over 40
years ago. If anyone asks me why my
faith has lasted so long I can answer; God told me how important it was to
read his word. “4 But he answered, “It is
written,
“‘Man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of
God.’” Matthew
4:4 ESV. I’ve been Feasting on the
Word of God ever since. Every time I read
through Gods Word my faith just grows.
“16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah
says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:16. There
is a lot more to this story but I will save it for another time. I’m praying
that you will all join me first in Jesus then in the Feast! I’d really like to hear about your
salvation or your questions. I don’t
have all the answers but Jesus does.
Jesus loves
you? Do you hear Him calling?
Do you want to love and be loved? If the answer is yes please click
the following link;
This
Feast belongs to Jesus you may share it anywhere with any one!
The Feast
God
Bless you,
Brother
Mike
Tags: jesus, love, hope, care, god, holy, ghost,
save, help
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“10
Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does
not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the
testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. 11 And this is the
testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12
Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not
have life.” 1
John 5:11-12 ESV.
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Friday, June 7, 2013
How do we know?
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