A Little of My Experience

I just feel the urge to write about how wonderful it is to be a born again Christian. Most of you know me and know that I don't usually show a lot of emotion. I don't go around grinning like an idiot, is what I mean. But inside, man I just love life.

Check this out. I have the same car that I had before I got became a Christian, I got the same pickup, I got the same guns (well... a couple more now), I still hunt, I still backpack, I still like Nascar, hockey... I still live in the same house and have the same job as I had before. Also, if I took a non believer and had him observe my life, he would say, "Wow, your life is everything but exciting. You don't go out and party, go on dates, or even just hang out with friends a whole lot. Your life sure doesn't look like fun." On the exterior, many things are the same... But EVERYTHING is different and where before I was miserable, now I am full of joy. How could this be? It doesn't make any sense.

Herein lies the thing. My joy now, doesn't hinge on seeking pleasure. It doesn't lie in doing good things. It doesn't lie in going to a church meeting. The joy I speak of doesn't even hinge on the people in my life. My joy doesn't even hinge on anything that happens moment by moment in my experience. I am not saying that I don't get joy out of these things. I do, but it is nothing compared to the joy from the hope I got inside. Now some of you know what I'm talking about but if you don't, your missing something, and you need to get it because it's good.

A little background... Most of my life I wasn't saved. Most of my life I was miserable. I didn't really recognize it at the time, I just thought that that's the way it is. It was normal. So to try and be less miserable I sought pleasure. If I could just keep my mind occupied long enough so the loneliness and sadness wouldn't creep in, I'd be ok. I looked fondly at my childhood because things were good then. No responsibility, no guilt... Just carefree living and having fun. Friends, when I look back... I was bitter. I was miserable. Life really did suck. I don't blame the unbeliever for saying, "Life is a b@#ch." It was.

Lets get to the good part. Long story short, I got born again. Everything changed. The whole aura of my life changed. I no longer liked listening to sad or dark music. It no longer fit my mood. A lot of my tastes changed. The amount of time I spent doing meaningless things, dropped. I thought about Jesus all the time, without purposing to. I desired to read my bible more, and I now understood it. I would wake up at sometimes three o'clock in the morning thinking about bible doctrine. This doesn't just happen by accident. You don't suddenly develop a hunger for the bible doctrine, without some sort of supernatural work. You don't just tell your buddies that you would rather not get drunk, you would rather stay home and read your bible. You don't suddenly have feelings of love for people that you never cared for before. You don't suddenly develop a hunger for righteousness and a pure hatred for sin, just by accident from one day to the next. You don't suddenly develop the strength to resist the sin that continuously is victorious over this body of flesh . It just doesn't happen randomly! It doesn't.

This might sound a little fruity, but I would (and still do) go for walks through the woods and just marvel at things that before I thought were stupid. I'm all by myself (grinning like an idiot) looking at different plants, bugs, trees, the sky, and just praising God! Praising Him for how beautiful He made everything but mostly, Thanking Him for sending His only begotten Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to die on a cross, where I deserve to be. Thanking Jesus for His righteousness and His shed blood. Just glorying in the finished work of Christ. Walking down the trail, with a new awareness of His presence and knowing that we are now on the same side. Knowing that if I ascend into heaven, thou art there, if I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there. (psalm 139:8).

The whole point here is that, all my joy is not dependant on my experience. All my joy hinges on something that happened outside of my experience. Think about that! If your joy is dependant on something outside of your experience, you are truly free! All my joy comes from a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. All my joy comes not from the life I live, but from the FINISHED work of Christ. Nothing left for me to do, but believe. That just thrills me! Throw religion aside! All you need is Jesus!

What I've got... It's good! If you haven't got it... you must. Eternity depends on it! If at one point in your life you didn't get different desires, if you didn't hate the sin you used to do, if you didn't hunger for righteousness... then you need to get what I got. If there was never a new hunger for Jesus, for knowledge and for truth, then you need to get what I got. If your "Christian life" is based on a decision you made or a prayer you prayed, then you don't have it, and you need to get what I got. You can't do anything to earn it. And don't go trying to stir something up. Don't go try to do something righteous so you can be sure. You can't put the horse behind the cart. The bible says faith comes by hearing. The bible says you are saved from the wrath of God (eternal damnation) by faith in Jesus Christ. Faith, not in the good works you do but, faith that what Jesus did is sufficient for you to get to heaven. It's a gift.

This is important. Get this straight! A person is saved by faith (believing)in Jesus, and how does one believe? You examine the evidence (hearing) and when you are convinced, you will believe it. You must believe. Deciding to believe is not enough. So you need to hear the Gospel. And you need to hear the true gospel. For the true gospel go to http://nogreaterjoy.org/ and listen to the free commentary on Romans download. If you listen with an open heart and a desire for God, it will totally change your present life and your eternal life.