Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
John 3:6
I grew up in a pastor’s family. My dad was a wonderful godly man, zealous for serving the Lord. My parents made it very easy to believe that God is real. I grew up knowing that His word is true, there is such a thing as right and wrong, and there are consequences for our behavior; and my parents’ lives reinforced what they were seeking to teach us.
As a preschooler, I prayed to receive Christ as my Lord and Savior. I was alone in my room falling asleep when I snapped back awake with the terrifying thought, “I’ve never really asked Jesus to save me. If I had died tonight I would have gone to hell.” I had been told that Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins, He rose from the dead and He’s alive and in heaven and someday He will come back, and I believed it all. But, I had never personally acted on this information. I had never entered into a relationship with Him by faith. I had never responded to the truth I had heard. I just filed it away in my mind and assented to all the right beliefs.
While it may seem extreme for a little child, I knew I deserved hell. I prayed, “Jesus, please forgive me for my sins. Come into my heart and save me. Amen.”
As humorous as it may sound, I told my parents the next morning, “All these years I’ve known about the Lord, but I never asked Jesus to come into my heart, forgive me for my sins and save me. If I had died, I would have gone to hell.”
I have known lots of people who have heard the truth and believed the truth, but they have never acted on the truth. They have never responded to God’s gracious invitation to know Him in a personal way by entering into a trusting relationship with Him. They have not asked Jesus to save them.
Even as a small child, I realized I had not done this. I knew it was not enough to know what I knew. I understood that I needed to respond to God’s invitation; so I prayed and asked Him to save me.
When I told my parents the next morning what I’d done and why I had done it, they had me repeat it to my sister, brothers, relatives and friends, so it remains a vivid memory for me to this day.
When I prayed as a toddler, I was saved. An eternal transaction took place. I responded, by the grace of God, and put my trust in Him – not in something I had done, but in HIM. I was not saved by the prayer that I prayed. I was saved by Jesus. He is my hope of eternal life.
Over fifty years have gone by, but I am still trusting on the same basis today as I was then. And, despite all my failings and all the times I’ve missed the point and taken my eyes off the prize, God in His mercy has been faithful. He has never failed. He has consistently drawn me back to Himself and reminded me that I am His.
I’m not His because I carefully follow all the rules; I am His because He created me, redeemed me, wooed me and won me, drawing me to Himself, giving me the capacity to trust Him. When I trusted Him, we entered into a covenant relationship that will not be broken. I am His and I am His for all eternity. It is entirely owing to His grace.
There have been and there will continue to be hard times as I follow Him; the path is guaranteed to include difficulty. But, Jesus has already told us, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Saying I believe in Jesus is not the proof of my salvation. Satan and the demons believe in Jesus. They know exactly who He is and what He’s done on the cross. They know He’s alive, and they know the Bible very well. However, the demons shudder in fear, because they are not saved. They will spend eternity in hell.
We must do more than believe; we must ask Jesus to save us. When He saves us, His Holy Spirit comes to live inside us. Then, we have the power to obey His commands.
Those who are trusting in Jesus have a Father in heaven. He loves us and wants fellowship with us. Prayer is developing an intimate relationship with our Father. Prayer is not about trying to impress or manipulate Him with our good lives and good ideas. Prayer is not about doing whatever we have to do in order to get God to do what we want Him to do. Prayer is the means by which we grow stronger and go deeper into the most important relationship in our life. Prayer is communing with God, our heavenly Father.
In order to begin this intimate relationship, our trust must be in Jesus. He has opened the way for us into God’s presence through his sacrificial death on the cross.
The opportunity to be part of God’s family is entirely the result of God’s grace. None of us is good enough to deserve God’s love or forgiveness. All of us have done things we know are wrong. We’ve failed to do what we know we should do! But, God offers forgiveness and a brand new start through the gift of His Son Jesus Christ.
Where is your trust? Have you been born again into God’s family? Are you still hoping to earn God’s love? Have you asked the Father for His Holy Spirit? Are you trusting Jesus?
