Your Faith Will SAVE You
I want to tell you a story about a boy who grew up with all the advantages. This boy had parents who provided not just a house, but a loving home, plenty of food, books, fun, and opportunities for learning, growing, and developing. The boy was shy and clumsy physically, but vibrant and alive in spirit, with an intense interest in nature that was encouraged by middle school and high school teachers.
But during high school, the boy’s heart turned inward and grew cold. He became wrapped up in his own feelings and pleasure, seeking after present gratification and thrills. This trend continued into self-destructive behavior, recklessness, and near death.
But through it all, God was watching, and protecting.
The boy was a man and God turned his interest outward once more. He became a research biologist, his mind on tiny things like viruses, chromosomes and genes.
For 13 years he was on a quest to understand the world, believing that since we were all a product of the physical, natural world, an understanding provided by science and philosophy would lead to knowledge of the truth.
There were so many questions, and he felt ever drawn toward the more difficult ones, the questions about how, why, and for what purpose. He rejected the Christian beliefs of his parents, and instead took comfort in pursuing a diligent study of mysticism.
As a Rosicrucian, he learned the wisdom of the universe from the masters of the ages, obediently performing the prescribed rituals. But this pursuit, at first deeply satisfying, started to lose its attraction. There was something more than man’s wisdom, something still missing.
Yes, the man is me. Toward the end of the 13 years of my quest for truth, as I was finishing the Ph.D., God was still looking on, and protecting me.
He led me to explore many religions and creeds, and I ended up joining the Mormon church. I started meeting with a dear man who taught me in home study. This teacher saw my zeal for knowledge and urged me to read through the New Testament.
Now, it’s important to know that I’d had a lot of exposure to the Bible during my childhood and teenage years, but I’d never sat down and read through the whole thing to really know it. And when I took that Mormon man’s advice, that’s when God spoke.
I actually read the WHOLE bible in just a few weeks - It was like opening a whole new world. God’s spirit gave me an assurance of the TRUTH of His Word. I saw the tremendous unity of the message of the bible, a message that stated loud and clear that God loves me, even to the point of dealing with my sin, by sending His Son to die for me!
The other thing God did was to help me with the struggle I was having, in trying to discern if the Mormon teachings were truth or falsehood. That took a lot of study, and also some intense prayer. Finally, God revealed to me the truth in a dramatic way, in a vision, letting me know I must leave the Mormon church.
I want to tell you I’m so very thankful to God for opening my eyes and blessing me with HIS certain truth. He took a rebellious soul, a believer in the religion of a naturalistic, evolutionary worldview, and smacked me aside the head and instantly gave me the answers to those big questions! Glory to God for that true knowledge, the truth that comes not from man, but the one who made the world, and loved me enough to show me that love, that Grace, that salvation and the assurance, that only He gives, freely, it’s a wonder! He offers that truth to everyone, He longs for ALL to have that assurance.
I can’t tell you for sure, why it took me more than 30 years to come to know the truth. But I know it wasn't even me, it was God doing something in my heart. I want to tell you a lot of great things God has done since that time in 1990, but I’ll just tell you one thing. We naturally have hearts of stone. Praise God that he doesn’t just soften a heart, he gives a NEW heart.
And He didn’t wait to tell us, about 2570 years ago He revealed through Ezekiel (Ez 36): “It is not for your sake that I do these things, but for the sake of my Holy name. For I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in you, and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. I will be your God, I will save you from all your uncleanness.”
Praise God for who He is, for what He’s done, and what He continues to do! I will sing of His Love, forever!
Dr. David Johnson
Do you know Jesus? Not "have you heard OF him?" but do you have a personal relationship with the One that made you? If not, I invite you to sincerely ask him to come into your life, into your heart, and take over!
It is against our nature to give up something, and many people do not come to the point of asking Jesus to take control until they feel that their life is not worth keeping. But the good news is that you can ask Jesus to take control ANYTIME, and if you REALLY want this, it will be done!
When Jesus has control of your life, you are not in bondage to a treacherous master. You are involved in joyful service to the only One who truly deserves worship as the creator and redeemer and giver of all that is good.
Many people are deceived into thinking that since bad things happen all around, there is no God. How can there be a universal force of love and good, if there is so much injustice in the world? The answer lies in the beginning ...
The curse of sin infects human nature, making us ALL vile, depraved creatures. We cannot live above or beyond the effects of this sin-nature by any amount of effort, not by physical punishment or by ritual cleansing. ALL OF NATURE is cursed by the effects of sin. This is why bad things happen beyond our control, beyond what anyone could consider as good.
God does love and care for us, but we suffer from sin within us and within all nature. The curse is FROM God, but it is just, and it is the loving nature of God that brings us the possibility to escape from the curse. For it is beyond justice, and into the realm of undeserved favor, or grace, that God reaches out to us through Jesus. He invites all to believe in the atonement provided through Jesus, given as a SUBSTITUTE for our payment. All it takes is sincere belief in this gift.
Yes, that is what it takes to escape the curse of sin, not some long program of physical or spiritual hardship, but a simple, child-like belief in Jesus as the One sent to pay for the curse for us, for YOU! Why don't you take these simple steps to become freed from the bondage of sin, and step into a NEW LIFE with Jesus:
1. Pray sincerely to God that you realize your sinfulness, and that there is no way to change it unless He does a miracle for you. This is the absolute first step, to realize your plight.
2. Tell God that you are ready to receive that free gift he so graciously offers, through Jesus, of forgiveness and restoration from the bondage of the sin nature.
3. Invite Jesus to take control of your life so that He has control of your thoughts and actions.
If you believe, you will be saved from the curse of sin, which is death! You will inherit the gift of eternal life with God, and you are enabled to live a life victorious over sin while you are alive in this world.
It will not be easy, and you will have to pray DAILY, keeping close to the Master in all that you do. But He promises to be with you, to enable you to bear all burdens and bad times, if you depend on Him. That is the awesome power of God, and when you do these steps, to become a true believer in Him, you have that power for yourself!These are serious matters. Each one of us is a physical being, but we also have emotional and spiritual parts that should not be ignored. Please read the Bible, I recommend starting with the book of John. Seek out a local church. If you want to talk with me about your spiritual life or faith, I will be glad to hear from you!
May God bless you and your search for spiritual truth!
Dr. David
"I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes -- I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!" -- Job 19:25-27, copyright about 3000 years ago!
In this sin-soaked world,
there is
one source of
true peace, our creator and redeemer!