Ruth's christian testimony: What about you?

Monday 2 April 2007

What about you?

If God is out there, but not in here, not in you, then it’s not enough for you to accept, and you really don’t want the alternative. What you must do is truly and genuinely ask God to come into your life. He will not reveal Himself to you if you are proud and think you have no need to humble yourself before Him. Acknowledge Him as the Holy God that He is, acknowledge your sins and your need for forgiveness, and with His love and grace He will come to you with His Holy Spirit. The Bible tells you all about it, how to come to God, how to enter into a proper relationship with Him. You will be welcomed, with warmth unknown to you before now, by other believers who make up this wonderful family that I am now a part of. It does not matter what particular background you come from or what beliefs you hold, nor am I suggesting that you join up with any particular group. You don’t have to clean up your act, go to church or become holy all of a sudden to go to God. Go to Him just as you are, right now. He died for people just like you. Pick up a Bible and read it, if you don’t have one, phone the number at the end of this and I will get one to you. A good place to start is John’s gospel.

Some people think that you cannot live your life by the standards set out in it, and they would be right. You cannot do it on your own, however, you can if you have the help of God’s Holy Spirit. People say that the Bible doesn’t tally up, that it contradicts itself. It does not. When people don’t understand it they automatically blame the Bible. If there is a choice between the Bible being wrong, and a person’s understanding of it being wrong, well, I’ll back the Bible any day! The pride of man! If he doesn’t understand it, well it must be God who has made a mistake! God Himself says that the natural man cannot make much sense of it. (1 Corinthians 2:14) If you are an atheist like I was, learn from me and seek God. No matter how silly you may feel, no matter how much your pride may stand in the way. Find out for yourself, don’t wait till it’s too late. If you believe in God, trust the Bible. Use it as your starting point. Check what you believe with the Bible. It is always right, always. Don’t just believe what someone once told you or taught you as a child. Find out for yourself what God says in His own Book. If what you have believed is not in the Bible, it is wrong. Pray to God to show you the truth. He will show you if you ask.

If what you believed were wrong, would you want to know?

I believe that God loves me and has been waiting for me to call out to Him. I in turn was busy living a happy, contented life without a thought for God. Thankfully, with love, God got my attention (eventually!) by allowing my life to fall apart, bit by bit, so that when I got so low and there was no one to turn to, I turned to Him. I was an atheist for almost twenty years, but ended up desperately hoping that there was more to life, and God proved to me that there is. An awful lot more! An eternity!

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How to be right with God...

The following is taken from BCF Self Confrontation Manual for in-depth Biblical Discipleships developed by John C. Broger

If you do not already have a sincere (guiltless, pure, genuine) personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, you have a spiritual problem that only God can solve. Without this relationship to Jesus you are:

Hopelessly separated from God (Romans 6:23a; Ephesians 2:1-3 11-12: Colossians 1:21)

Spiritually dead in your own sin (Romans 3:23, 5:12; Ephesians 2:1, 5; Colossians 2:13)

Hostile to God (Romans 5:10a, 8:7; Colossians 1:21)

Blinded to Satan (11 Corinthians 4:3-4)
and held captive by him to do his will (11 Timothy 2:24-26, esp verse 26)

Powerless to overcome sin's hold on your life (Ecclesiastes 7:20; John 8:34, Romans 1:28-32, 5:6; Galatians 5:19-21; 11 Peter 2:19)

Unable to understand the things of God (Proverbs14:12, 16:25; Isaiah 55:8-9; 1 Corinthians 2:14)

Unable to please God or to walk in His way (Psalm 143:2b; Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:9-12, 23; 8:7-8; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:8-9; 11 Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:5-7; Hebrews 11:6)

Incapable of living a spiritually fruitful and meaningful life (John 15:4-6)

God's answer to your spiritual problem is based on His character.

God is just, so you face His wrath and judgement in your sinful state (Romans 1:18, 6:23a; Ephesians 2:3; Hebrews 9:27; 11Peter 3:7)

On the other hand, God is loving and doesn't want you to perish in your sin (John 3:16; Romans 5:8; 1 Timothy 2:3-4; 11 Peter 3:9)
so He draws you towards His Son, Jesus (John 6:44-45, 65)

The answer to your spiritual problem is found in God's Son, Jesus Christ.

By His gracious and merciful love, God gave His one and only begotten Son, Jesus, as the only answer for your helpless spiritual condition (Isaiah 53:2-12; John 3:16, 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 5:6; Ephesians 1:3-12; 1Timothy 2:5-6; 1 John 4:10)

Since you could not save yourself or do anything to merit God's favour and mercy (Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:8-9; 11Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:5-7)
Jesus paid the full price for your redemption by dying on the cross for the penalty for your sins (Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:3;-4; 11Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 1:7; 1Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; Hebrews 10:10-14; 1Peter 1:18-19, 3:18)

God accepted and approved His Son's sacrificial death for your sins by raising Jesus from the dead (Romans 1:4, 4:25)
Jesus Christ is eternally alive (Acts 2:32; Romans 6:9; Revelation 1:17-18)
is with God (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 8:1)
and is Lord of all (Philippians 2:9-11; Revelations 17:14, 19:16)
Through His death and resurrection, the Lord Jesus Christ is victorious over sin (Romans 6:10)
death (Romans 6:9)
and the devil (Hebrews 2:14)

Through Jesus you can:

Have your sins forgiven (Acts 5:31, 10:43; Ephesians 1:7, 4:32; Colossians 1:13-14, 2:13-14)
and be reconciled to God (11Corinthians 5:18-19)

Experience a spiritual new birth (John 3:3; 1Peter 1:3, 23; 1John 5:1)

Receive the gift of eternal life through God's gracious gift of faith (John 3:16; 5:24; 6:40, 47; 11:25-26; 17:1-3; Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9; 1Timothy 1:16; 1John 5:11-12)

Have access to God (John 14:6; Ephesians 2:18, 3:11-12; Hebrews 10:19-22)

Be a member of God's family (John 1:12; Romans 8:15-17; Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 1:5, 2:19; 1John 3:1-2)

Understand the things of God (John 14:26, 16:13-15; 1Corinthians 2:9-13)

Become a new person with the capability for living in a totally new manner (Romans 6:4-22; 11Corinthians 5:17; Philippians 4:13)

and be empowered to change, to mature into Christlikeness, and to have an increasingly intimate knowledge of God Himself (John 17:3; Romans 8:2, 28-29; 11Corinthians 5:17; Philippians 1:6, 4:13; Colossians 1:9-11; 1Thessalonians 2:13; 11Peter 1:3-4)