Start Your New Life Today (3 page)
Separate Your Who from Your Do
S
ometimes we as Christians have the tendency to make things complicated. We may fall into trying to please God or win His love by doing good works or working our way into right standing with Him. Salvation is not based on what we do but on what Jesus did for us and whether we accept it.
Helping people, going to church on Sunday, giving offerings in church, refraining from saying bad words, being a nice person, and leading an all-around good life are good things to do. Will you go to heaven for doing such things? No.
The Bible says in order to enter the kingdom of heaven we must be born again (see John 3:3). It doesn’t say in order to enter the kingdom of heaven we must attend church and do good works. This does not mean people should not go to church nor do good works. Yes, the Bible says for Christians to assemble together, and yes, the Bible shows us as our example Jesus going around doing good. The point is
doing
these things won’t put us in the kingdom of heaven. We can’t enter the kingdom of heaven based on what we do, but we do these things because we are part of God’s kingdom. Our motivation is very important to God. He wants us to do what we do for Him out of a heart of love and sincere desire. He does not want us to do them to get something from Him or to impress people.
We can’t enter the kingdom of heaven based on what we do, but we do these things because we are part of God’s kingdom.
The true work of the believer in Jesus Christ is to
believe.
It is the first thing we should be doing and is what makes us acceptable to Him. He also wants us to be assured of His love and never allow anything to separate us from it.
We need to know that God loves us! We need to know He loves us in the good times, and we need to know He loves us in the hard times. We need to know God loves us on the days we act right, and we need to know He loves us on the days we don’t act so right. We need to know He loves us based not on what we do but on whom we have become in Christ. In other words, we have to know who we are and how to separate our “who” from our “do.”
My children don’t always do what I would like them to, but they are always my children and I never stop loving them. God has the same affection toward us and we should never doubt His love. Just as God corrects us, I correct my children to help them do better, but I will never, never, never stop loving them.
We won’t
do
everything right all the time, but we are still in right standing with God through Christ. God still loves us every moment of the day. Does this mean we shouldn’t take our sins seriously? As the apostle Paul said, “God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:2
KJV
).
We take our sins seriously, and when we do things wrong, we ask for forgiveness and repent, turning from our sins by working with the Holy Spirit to continue making progress. We make mistakes. I make mistakes every day just like everybody else, but I thank God I don’t live under guilt and condemnation anymore. As a Christian, I spent many years of my life living under a huge burden of guilt. God doesn’t want us living under the burden of sin. He is the glory and the lifter of our heads (see Psalm 3:3). The Bible says among the blessings God has for us is to be the head and not the tail, above and not beneath (see Deuteronomy 28:13).
If you haven’t surrendered your life to God by receiving His Son Jesus Christ as the only acceptable payment for your sins, are you ready to become a Christian? The Bible explains how to do this. In order to be saved from our sins, we must confess and acknowledge that Jesus is Lord, and we must believe in our hearts God raised Him from the dead: “Because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).
This type of believing is more than a mental acknowledgement; it is sincere and heartfelt. Many people believe there is a God, but they have not committed their lives to Him. God is the Author of life, and He wants you to willingly and gladly give back to Him the life He gave you. God created you with a free will, and He will not force you to choose Him. But whether or not you do will make the difference in your quality of life on earth and where you will spend eternity when you die.
To receive Jesus as your Savior, I encourage you to pray the following prayer aloud, listening to each of the words as you say them to be sure they have meaning to you personally:
Father God,
I come to You. I love You. Jesus, I believe in You. I believe You died for me. I believe You shed Your blood for me and paid the price for my sins.
I am a sinner and I am sorry for my sins. Forgive me for all of them. Jesus, I receive You now. Come and live in me and help me live my life the way You want me to live. I need a new beginning. Thank You for saving me. Now I ask You to teach me how to live for You. Jesus, I pray this in
Your name, amen.
It is a simple prayer. But if you prayed it with all your heart and really meant it, then it is a life-changing prayer.
If you are already a Christian but have been living under a sense of guilt and condemnation and you now realize you don’t have to live that way, congratulations! You are about to begin enjoying your journey with God in a way that will be amazing. Don’t ever let false guilt steal your joy again, because Jesus died so you could have and enjoy your life in abundance (see John 10:10).
Rely on Truth Rather than Feelings
F
eelings aren’t always based on truth and they often change. When you accept Jesus as your Savior, you may feel peace or joy, relief or freedom, or you may feel nothing at all. If your prayer was sincere and heartfelt, be assured: God heard and answered your prayer. If your feelings tell you nothing happened, don’t allow them to hold a position of dictator in your life. Believe in the truth of God’s Word, not in your feelings. God is faithful and true to His promises, and He never changes.
Part of living the new life God has provided for you in Christ is learning not to live by your feelings. It is difficult for us at first because we have been accustomed to living by feelings all our lives. Feelings or emotions are part of the soul of man and they are neither good nor evil, but can be the root cause of both. Sometimes we enjoy our feelings and yet at other times they keep us from enjoying anything we do. Therefore, it is unwise to live by them. God invites us to live in the spirit where He dwells. We are to learn to be led by the spirit or the heart which is a deeper part of us. When I refer to the heart of man I am not referring to the physical organ called the heart; I am referring to the deepest part of us, the interior realm where God dwells.
You may not always feel God is with you on this wonderful journey in the new life He has for you, but His Word says He is always near. He is everywhere all the time, always watching over you. Some people try to hide things from God. This doesn’t make sense because He knows everything! He may not approve of everything you do, but your position of right standing in Him through Jesus and His love for you never change. He approves of you and loves you and has provided forgiveness and cleansing for you, available for the asking. When you make a mistake, be quick to turn away from it and toward Him. Be quick to repent, ask Him for forgiveness, know He has forgiven you, and go on.
If you dwell on something you did by feeling guilty after asking for God’s forgiveness, you are wasting your time. You are allowing feelings of guilt and condemnation to rise up to that position of dictator in your life to tell you to take on bondage from which Jesus freed you. If you ask God for forgiveness, but you don’t feel forgiven, you can still be assured you are forgiven, because His Word says you are. God wants you to believe He forgave you, turn your attention back on enjoying and following Him, and press forward into the new life He has for you! God’s Word is truth and we must exalt it above how we feel, what we think, what we want, what other people say, or what the devil says.
God wants you to believe He forgave you, turn your attention back on enjoying and following Him, and press forward into the new life He has for you!
The Bible teaches us in Hebrews 4:12 that only the Word of God can divide soul and spirit. In other words, only God’s Word, and nothing else, can tell me what truth really is. My soul can tell me what I think, but God’s Word tells me what He thinks and I must choose to believe Him above everything else. If your own insight or understanding or feelings conflict with the truth of God’s Word, choose to rely on the direction the truth of the Word is leading you.
Accepting the feelings of guilt and condemnation from which Jesus freed you is allowing accusations and lies from the devil to lead you. Jesus came to earth to destroy the works of the devil and free us to enjoy life to the full. The freedom and victory He purchased for us to accept and live by cost Him dearly.
We read and study the Word to know what it says, and we make a decision to receive and live in the freedom Jesus has for us. We make a decision to choose to believe the truth of God’s Word over our own thoughts, feelings, and will and learn to continue choosing to do what we believe God wants us to do. We keep doing the right thing no matter how we feel. We do it on the good days when it is easy to do, on the bad days when we don’t want to do it at all or ever, and on the mediocre days when we just go through the motions. We keep doing it until it becomes a lifestyle.
Our new way of living isn’t merely a process of us conforming to some preconceived image we have of how to be a Christian, but a gradual transformation by the power of God’s Spirit in us to become more like Jesus. God gives us the ability, the power, free for the asking, to do what needs to be done. The Christian life is about deepening our relationship with God through Jesus, receiving God’s love, then loving one another. God provides the strength and ability for us to do anything He has asked of us. We have the privilege of leaning and relying on Him. Ask Him to help you because apart from Him you can do nothing (see John 15:5).
Jesus is the best friend you will ever have. Whether or not you feel He is there, He is there for you to depend on in every area of your life. Lean on and trust Him with all your heart and mind. He will take you in the right direction and make your paths straight. Talk to Him about everything. He always understands you and never rejects or condemns you. Nothing is too big for Him to handle, and for that matter, nothing is too small. No matter how you feel, you can always know to depend on God and the truth of His Word.
You Are Spirit, Soul, And Body
The Way to a Happy Life
J
esus Christ has done a wonderful thing, and those of us who are born again (who receive Him as Savior and Lord) can receive and enjoy it through faith in Him. He has offered Himself to redeem our souls as well as our bodies and our spirits. In order to appropriate the full blessing Jesus purchased for us, we need to understand each of these three vital aspects of our being.
You are a tri-part being: You are a spirit, you have a soul, and you live in a body. Your spirit is the real you. When you make the decision to become a new creature in Christ, God’s Holy Spirit comes to live in your spirit. Your spirit comes alive to God and wants to do what is good. When you and I look at other people, we see the physical body, but there is much more to a person than the physical body we see. The spiritual part is just as real. In fact, the Bible teaches us to live by the things of the spiritual realm, things we don’t see. The only way to have a truly satisfying, happy life is to be led by the Holy Spirit.
Your soul is your mind, your will, and your emotions. Your soul’s thoughts and wants and feelings don’t necessarily agree with God’s thoughts and desires. For example, no matter what kind of opinion you have of yourself, God’s thoughts about you are so much better. We learn a new way of thinking, in line with God’s thoughts, by reading and studying His Word. The Bible calls this process the renewing of the mind.
Your body is the house where your spirit and soul live while you are on earth. If you are a new creation, God also lives in that house! The body has a mouth, and the mouth gives expression to the soul. In other words, the mouth tells everybody what you think and want and feel. It has great potential for causing trouble. The body’s five physical senses—touch, smell, taste, sight, hearing—contribute to the way the soul thinks, what it wants, and how it feels. They may also lead us into trouble. Just think about what happens when people let their taste buds run their lives. Something we see with our eyes may affect our whole life. The Bible tells us not to walk by sight (see 2 Corinthians 5:7). In other words, we should learn to value unseen things in the spiritual realm more than the things we see with our physical eyes. At one point when the apostle Paul was undergoing tremendous trials and tribulations, he said he did not become discouraged because he looked not at the things which were seen but the things unseen (see 2 Corinthians 4:18). For example angels are all around us protecting us and yet we do not see them. God is with us at all times, but we don’t see Him with our natural eye. God has a good plan for your life even though you may not feel at this moment that He does. Life gets exciting when we learn to see with the spiritual eye rather than merely the natural eye.
