“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 (NAS)
In two days I will celebrate my second birthday. I was saved April 21, 1961 at Calvary Baptist Church in Kanaplois NC. As an eight year old preachers kid, I did not have a lot of bad living to repent from. A few stolen cookies from the cookie jar, a white lie or three. But I understood that I had sinned and that sin keeps us away from fellowship with God and I needed to repent, and I asked Jesus to save me. And, He did. I remember that night when I felt the conviction of Jesus and in the simple quite way of an eight year old boy I simply chose to follow Jesus Christ. There were no bright lights, no shouting angels, no voices booming from heaven. Just a quite simple prayer of confession and the Holy Spirit moved into my eight year old heart and has been there ever since. I did not know or understand all that happened to me that night. I would learn that in the years that followed. I would learn about prayer, struggling against sin, maturing in the faith, standing firm in faith and over and over again the beauty of forgiveness and restoration. I would later experience the call to full time Christian vocation. But on that quite night at a revival service when I took my dad’s hand and together we walked down to the alter, my eternal destination was changed and by my simple prayer Jesus Christ became Lord and Savior of my life, and I have never regretted that decision. Not of works lest I boast, but a free gift of God. Doubts? Plenty. Struggles? Many. Jesus wants to relate to our personalities individually. For some like Paul conversion is the culmination of a fierce battle of wills where self dies violently and hard. For others it is quite and gentle like finally meeting an old friend who you have been expecting for a long time. Such was my experience. But once that decision is made, your life will never be the same as you share your entire self with Jesus. I hope you too can point back to one time when you made that decision to follow Christ and make him Lord of your life.
Thought for the week: A gentleman is a man who can play the accordion but doesn't.
-- Unknown
Funny for the week: Here is today's Ad Free CleanLaugh.
Here's hoping there is no one like this at your workplace.
Faced with hard times, the company offered a bonus of one thousand dollars to any employee who could come up with a way of saving money.
The bonus went to a young woman in accounting who suggested limiting future bonuses to ten dollars.
Greetings from sunny Orlando, Fl…….Chaplain Barnes
Last week’s answer: Give the last name of each of the two disciples named Judas.
Iscariot and Thaddaeus
This week’s question: Who bowed down seven times to his brother after a long separation?
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