Author: Rebecca

Rebecca https://transformedheartblog.wordpress.com
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A story He is writing…

“The shape of true love isn’t a diamond. It’s a cross.” Alicia Bruxvoort

Something that I wish I had learned when I was young, is that life really is “His Story”. Right from the beginning of Genesis (1:1, and 2:1), in the first chapter of the book of John (1:1-3), in Psalm 90:2 (“from everlasting to everlasting, you are God”), and in 1 John 1:1, we can see that God was here “in the beginning”, and each person’s own story is really just a part of His story. Now it is difficult for our finite minds to comprehend an infinite mind. Children seem to accept this fact more easily than adults. Perhaps that is why Ecclesiastes 12:1 tells us to “remember now your Creator in the days of your youth.”

The most awesome part of this story is told in Romans 5:8 (“God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”) Knowing that mankind has sinned in every conceivable way, why would Christ then choose to die for us? It is because of His agape (unconditional, Godly) love for us. Again, the answer is simple, but difficult for some us to understand, especially, if we have not had loving, nurturing, sacrificial relationships with a father and mother.

However, we cannot truly understand this story He is writing until we actually become one of His children. We do this by acknowledging our sinful condition before God, and turning away from it (repenting), while believing the Gospel (Mark 1:15).  The gospel in a nutshell is that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and He was buried, and He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures”. So then, we are putting our trust in Jesus as our Savior and Lord.

As His child, you will begin to understand the wonderful love relationship that He has for each one of His children. His story is everything that is written in the Word of God, and it also includes everything that is past, present, and future. That means it includes everything about every person who has ever lived, and is especially personal for those who are His children. He has a wonderful plan for each of us, and as we grow in the Lord, we will want to make choices that are pleasing to Him. However, we must get to know His Word in order to obey it. There will be certain “disciplines” involved in our walk with Him (reading and studying the Bible, praying, sometimes fasting, meditating on His Word, worshiping with our praises and thanksgiving, etc.), but be careful not to fall into the trap of legalism. “Legalism says God will love us if we change. The gospel says that God will change us, because He loves us” (Tullian Tchividjian). Someone once said, “God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.” Get a sweet taste of His unfathomable love, and experience the abundant life, which will include mountaintop experiences and valleys; but know that “He is for us and not against us” (Romans 8:31) in this story He is still writing.

I’m Not Good Enough

After reading the books of the Bible that I recommended, some of you may be asking if you are good enough to become a follower of Jesus, or telling yourself that you are not good enough for Him to forgive you of your sins.

Perhaps you have some hidden sins from your past that you don’t want anyone to know about. You are thinking that if Jesus only knew those dark sins, that He would never forgive you. Well, I need to inform you of something very important. You cannot hide anything from Him. He is part of the Trinity of God-omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent (don’t worry if you don’t understand those terms yet; just believe me that He knows everything about you, and He has known it ever since you were in your mother’s womb).

All that He wants is for you to confess your sins, and then ask Him to forgive you of them. Then, the Bible says that there is no longer any condemnation as you learn to walk after the Spirit of God, and not after your fleshly desires. You become a new creature in Christ, and the old things have pass away, no longer to be remembered by Him. What an incredible blessing to feel clean again!

New Creature in Christ

This phrase may sound a little crazy or unbelievable to you, but just think of what happens when a caterpillar goes through metamorphosis and becomes a butterfly. (I’m really hoping that you don’t think of that as reincarnation).

Metamorphosis is a scientific, biological process. It is just a different stage in the life of the butterfly. When you come to Christ, you receive the Spirit of God, and you are the same person  that you were, but you’ve just been transformed by His Spirit.

Actually, that is the same thing that is going to happen to us when we die if we are adopted into the family of God (adoption will be the topic of another future blog which will help us to understand how merciful God is). We will experience another stage in our life, when our natural body will be resurrected as a spiritual body. In the meantime, while we remain on this earth, our character is to be changing to become more like Jesus. As we discover more and more who He is through the Spirit and by studying His Word, the Bible, we will be changed.

Does this mean that we will be perfect immediately, and never sin again? No. While on this earth, we are in the process of becoming more and more like Jesus Christ. Even though we should always be walking in newness of life, there will be times that we will do things that we don’t want to do, and not do things that we want to do. However, we can thank God through Jesus Christ, that, even though we fail sometimes (serving our flesh with the law of sin), we know that with our mind we still serve the law of God; and that, if we honestly and sincerely confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us from all unrighteousness.

Still Trying to Figure Life Out

Are you the kind of person that asks a lot of questions? I certainly am! Most 5 year olds ask questions continually, but I’m sure I must have been a real nuisance as a child, because I still tend to ask more questions than most people. I don’t do it to be annoying or for attention; I truly am curious about so many things in life. However, I am eternally grateful that I am a follower of  Jesus, because the Bible, His Word, has answered more of my questions than any person or encyclopedia could have. I know that many people throughout the years have asked questions like:

“Who am I? How did we get here? For what purpose are we here?” and, “What happens to us after we die?” Those are all important questions to which the Bible has very satisfactory answers. By the way, if you have never read any of the Bible and are interested in doing so right away to find the answers to those (and other) very important questions, I would recommend beginning in the first book of the Bible, and reading the first eleven chapters of Genesis in the Old Testament; and then, I would suggest flipping to the New Testament part of the Bible, and reading the Book of John. Although both the Old and New Testament are God’s Word, people sometimes get a little bogged down reading some of the overwhelming details in a few of the Old Testament books. Whereas, most of the O.T. points to the coming of our much-needed Savior, Jesus Christ, the N.T. is much easier to read, and it gives us practical advice on how to live in this (what may sometimes feel like a crazy) world.

The first four books of the New Testament will introduce you to Jesus: who He is, how He lived His life, what He did for us because of His awesome love for us, how and why He died at such a young age, what happened after His death that makes it possible to experience deep and everlasting true love, and why we have an incredible hope, no matter what our circumstances are like in life. I could tell you a lot more wonderful things about Jesus and the Bible; but instead, I will advise you to read if for yourself. Different religions, different churches, and different people may all try to give you their opinion about Jesus and the Bible, but you need to throw out all your preconceived ideas, and let the Word speak for itself.