Sunday, 14 August 2011
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What Must I Do?
Forty-five years ago, as a troubled young man, I began asking people around me (those whom I thought could give me a good answer) "How does a person find God? What must I do?"
One man that I asked was a lay preacher. I felt sure that he would understand what I was asking and would answer me straight. This was his reply (honest!): "Look in the Bible. There are about fifteen things you have to do." !!!! No scripture references to look up, no quotes from God's word. Where to start looking? How to know which things were among the fifteen - is fifteen all I need to find? Some others gave rather vague spiritual-sounding generalities, but none could say for sure; and I'm pretty sure most people considered that either I was trying to trick them or was just plain crazy. In defense of the skeptics, I was at a particularly low place at the time and rather distracted.
Well, before I get to the main message of this post, I must assure you that God did hear my cries and sent the right person to me. That person slowly and carefully over the next couple of weeks led me through a mini Bible study, assigning me a reading in the scriptures and a verse to memorize for each day. I was pretty desperate, but even at the first, I felt that I was on the right track for once and willingly followed his instructions. (It so happened that the two of us were placed side by side at the workplace and were able to converse over the factory noises.)
We began with Isaiah - verses that prophesied the birth, death, and rule of the Messiah. He explained the meaning of the term "lamb" as it referred to Jesus. Then we got into the New Testament and to Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus in John chapter 3. The day that my assigned "memory verse" was in Romans 10:9and 10:
" that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
I knew I had found God! The so-called fifteen things were a myth! There it was - the faith that I needed came to me as a gift. I knew this pertained to me and that I was saved. As my confession of faith, I thanked God then and there for all He had done in paying for my sins and giving me eternal life.....ETERNAL LIFE! My story since that day long ago is probably similar to others of you who have believed in the Lord Jesus - times of joy and peace and times of doubt and despair; but through all those years, God has reassured me time and again that I am His beloved child for all eternity.
Let me take this moment to thank Him. "I owe it all to You, dear Lord. Thank you with all I am for Your salvation and assurance.
Last Sunday in church, we read aloud the first chapter of Ephesians and all of this came back to me once again. I wanted to share this post as encouragement for all my brothers and sisters in Christ and for all those who don't yet know God but do hear Him calling them in the farthest reaches of their consciousness. It is His desire that you could hear His voice and that you would not harden your hearts against Him.
Ephesians, Chapter One: (I am copying this here without comment except for some bolding and highlighting which emphasis is mine.)
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,
To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.Redemption in Christ
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.
In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.Prayer for Spiritual Wisdom
Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.Oh, this is so wonderful!!! I could underline and bold every word! All of God's salvation is of God! All of it is a gift. There is no list of fifteen things. What is God's purpose in saving us? That we should be to the praise of His glory! Who is our hope? Is it ourselves? No, He Himself is our hope. Do you have "ears to hear this?" You who have believed were sealed with the Holy Spirit....He is the guarantee of your inheritance - to the praise of His glory.
This is my testimony to the wonderful grace of Jesus just as in the most recent post from Karen @deerlife@xanga and Amy @nightcometh@xanga. It is my hope that what I say here and what I have posted in the past are not in conflict in your mind
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Comments (9)
Great Post! And now I shall go and read the others two you mentioned.
"How does a person find God?"
Oh, yes, we must seek Him, and He has promised that those who seek Him w/ all their heart will find Him, but we would never seek Him at all and we would never find Him unless He were seeking us first!
None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
Psalm 115:1.
Awesome post and so nicely written!! Hugs and Love~Leslie
My comment wasn't intended as a criticism of your post at all, but I was thinking back to the state I was in, similar to yours, prior to the time I became a Christian, and how I viewed the operation of God in my salvation. I was seeking something to fill the emptiness in my life. And then I was saved. I thought my seeking and my decision was what brought me to God, but later on I came to see that God Himself brought me to Him.
John 6:44. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.
This from Spurgeon's "A Defense of Calvinism":
Well can I remember the manner in which I learned the doctrines of grace in a single instant. Born, as all of us are by nature, an Arminian, I still believed the old things I had heard continually from the pulpit, and did not see the grace of God. When I was coming to Christ, I thought I was doing it all myself, and though I sought the Lord earnestly, I had no idea the Lord was seeking me. I do not think the young convert is at first aware of this. I can recall the very day and hour when first I received those truths in my own soul—when they were, as John Bunyan says, burnt into my heart as with a hot iron, and I can recollect how I felt that I had grown on a sudden from a babe into a man—that I had made progress in Scriptural knowledge, through having found, once for all, the clue to the truth of God. One week-night, when I was sitting in the house of God, I was not thinking much about the preacher's sermon, for I did not believe it. The thought struck me, How did you come to be a Christian? I sought the Lord. But how did you come to seek the Lord? The truth flashed across my mind in a moment—I should not have sought Him unless there had been some previous influence in my mind to make me seek Him. I prayed, thought I, but then I asked myself, How came I to pray? I was induced to pray by reading the Scriptures. How came I to read the Scriptures? I did read them, but what led me to do so? Then, in a moment, I saw that God was at the bottom of it all, and that He was the Author of my faith, and so the whole doctrine of grace opened up to me, and from that doctrine I have not departed to this day, and I desire to make this my constant confession, "I ascribe my change wholly to God."
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And so, along w/ Spurgeon, the both of us would proclaim: "I ascribe my change wholly to God."
@naphtali_deer@xanga - I had never read that account from Spurgeon! I love it!
I thought (I guess erroneously) that I had not made any reference to my "accepting" Christ or anything that would ascribe personal effort in my believing....only that of reading. God did it all. Spurgeon speaking of some previous contact from God is exactly what happened to me, otherwise I wouldn't have "heard" Him call me in my distress. There were several distinct times when I somehow knew that God was calling me to Himself. I just didn't know enough. Putrid fellow that I was/still would be apart from His grace, I would make some attempt to reform and would tell others of my intent. No one would really believe I could do it, and of course I always failed. Those pangs of remorse and mysterious moments when I thought I heard Him calling me (not audibly) are, to me, the evidence that I had always been chosen - though I shudder to realize my awful condition at the time.
@quest4god - The sheep hear His voice. :)
Hi Norm, it was nice to read your salvation testimony. These testimonies are always an encouragement to the Body. God found you despite the false start with 15 requirements.
I love Ephesians. It is a great book with so many interesting subjects.
Hope you have a nice weekend,
frank
@ANVRSADDAY@xanga - thank you very much, Frank.
I never did find out which fifteen things he was referring to.
Hey,
This is Dave (from travelingstranger). I decided to give it a shot and return.
I'm still crazy busy, but I really missed staying in touch with everyone.
Anyway, hope things are going well!