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Paul
I had started working at IBM a year later in September.
My Grandfather (Dad's father) died 2 years later and I saw my Dad again for the first time in about 8 years.
Earlier...
- I attended Church only a few times, usually with neighbors. During grade school we would be bused to a local firehouse for "religious instruction" - during school hours! Filmstrips, singing, Bible stories. (Memory is a little foggy here.)
- I remember being mad at God because of my parents divorce. Cursing Him. Ridiculing those who were "religious".
- Living in California for a summer I used to go skin diving alone every day out on the point. I used to walk by this huge stone immersed in the sand upon which someone wrote: "Jesus Saves".
- A friend knew a family that were "really religious" and used to answer their telephone with "Jesus loves you". We would call just to hear them answer and then laugh at how silly it all seemed.
- Started Transcendental Meditation. It was all the rage since the Beatles first got into it. I was searching.
- Watched Billy Graham on TV a couple times and was intrigued by his messages.
- Saw the movie "The Exorcist" and wondered if all this could be true - if God actually does exist and has supreme power over evil.
I met a girl at IBM and started dating. Her Dad was a Baptist Pastor and he said I could date his daughter but I had to come to Church with her. Ok, no problem. I can do that. I began to hear, for what seemed like the first time,
the truth. The great thing is - God's word is not complicated. I thought it was. I thought I couldn't read & understand it for myself.
A couple months later I bowed my head at my desk in my office at work and asked God to forgive me of all that I have ever done. For all of my sins - and there were many. For all the times I cursed His name and swore He didn't exist. I admitted that there was a rift between Him & me and that I couldn't fix it myself. I needed His help. I needed the sacrifice that He offered in my place -
His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I believed that He would take away my sin, guilt, sorrow, and pain - and replace it with the righteousness of Christ, peace of mind, and joy. He did that and more - eternal life. I will live
forever in a glorious place all because of what Christ did on the cross for me 2000 years ago, and not just for me, but for everyone who receives Him.
"For God so loved the world
that He gave His only Son,
that whosoever shall believe in Him
should not perish,
but have eternal life."
John 3:16
That's probably one of the first verses I learned as a believer. It is the bedrock foundation message from the Creator to all of humanity - God loves us and wants to reconcile us to Himself through Jesus' finished work on the cross.
It sounds too good to be true, but it is totally true and will never change.
I'm not religious, I just love Jesus with all my heart and want to serve Him all the days of my life until I see Him face to face.
Life goes on day-to-day - work, family, finances, but all things fall into place as God sees fit once you trust Him and ask Him to come in. At the foot of the cross is level ground. Everyone has to come to God alone, one-on-one - you,
me, the President, the Pope, Billy Graham, the man in the street. God has no grandchildren. We are all sinners in need of a Savior.
Consider praying this simple prayer:
Oh, God, I come to you by faith
and admit to you that I am
guilty of my sin. I can't save
myself. I believe Christ died
in my place for my sin. I'm
asking You now to forgive me of
my sin and to wash it away by
the blood of Your Precious Son.
Come into my heart, Lord Jesus,
and be my Lord & Savior forever.
Fill me with the Holy Spirit to
help me live a life pleasing to
You, to serve You and live for
You forever, to turn from my sin
and live a life pleasing to God.
I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
I have led thousands of people to Christ by that simple prayer. It's not even written in the Bible. The exact words are not even important. God looks on the heart and He hears an earnest call for help. See Romans 10:9-13.
Jesus was the missing piece in the puzzle of my life. My life was pretty happy, but there was always something that I just couldn't put my finger on. I tried a lot of stuff to try to fill the void. That void is placed in each life by God and only He can fill it. We were made to worship Him. Until we do we are in denial and hopelessly groping for something to take His place.
This is my story of faith that I share with you because you are important to me and to God. I pray that you find it within yourself to call out to God and cross from death to life.
Paul