This is an excellent testimony - I asked Jack for permission to share it with my family and friends.... Jack Lambert 13 hours ago · .. When youre presented with the gospel—that Jesus Christ paid for our sins, died, and rose again, just as the Old Testament predicted centuries before—its easy to hear whoevers preaching it as asking for you to give something up, or like youll be left with less if you decide to follow Jesus. Its the opposite of that... For example, I used to think that the Christians were idiots who didnt know what they were missing, who they were hurting, and all that. Then I came to the point that I saw that I was no good. I had only just turned 16, but I was pouring out all my energy and resources on self-satisfaction. That didnt deliver. Drinking and smoking pot werent good enough, besides, I didnt have the money or cleverness to get away with it much. I found no romantic success, which is good because as an expert sinner, who knows what damage Id have caused from just trying to keep myself happy...! I really didnt have any other options, so I did what seemed right—I tried to stop living. By Gods grace I did not succeed. Naturally they put me in a psychiatric facility and while I was there, still just as sinful in my head (and pondering new-age metaphysical philosophies and all that mumbo-jumbo), there was this weird revelation I got. I needed God. I began to understand that I wasnt living right. There was a gap between me and my maker. I didnt necessarily believe that there was a Maker—let alone that I even existed. I had been to church before, I heard stuff about Jesus. I didnt really understand what he did but somehow I knew that Jesus was the answer. After I got out of the hospital, I decided to go to a church nearby that I went to for a while when I was about nine or ten, and had been to a few times with a friend of mine (who I had previously pitied for his narrow view of whos right and wrong). I talked to the worship leader, who I had met before, and he explained Jesus to me...how ever since Adam sinned, his descendants (us) have that sin nature, and that it makes it so were not right with God, and even though people tried to get right with God through following his commandments, we still all fall short. We cannot be in Gods presence, and so after we die, were destined for infinite torment, forever, in a lake of fire that doesnt ever stop burning. But, he told me how God loves me and you so much. Thats why Jesus came—because there was no way for us to get right with God except for God himself to pay for our sins. And he did, he sent his only Son, Jesus, to take on our punishment in death on a cross (a form of brutal execution reserved for societys worst offenders), even though HE NEVER SINNED AT ALL... But it didnt end there—God proved that Jesus is the Savior that the Old Testament talked about by raising him up after 3 days (which is just what the Old Testament said would happen, centuries before it happened). God made it clear that if we just confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead, well be saved—thats a promise. To be saved is to be forgiven of all your sins, past, present and future. It means that now when I die, I go to be with Jesus in paradise (heaven) forever, instead of suffering for my sin. On top of that, I know my life is meaningful, on one level because Jesus loves me so much that He would die a brutal and painful death for me, and also that my life counts because God can use it to bring other people to heaven if they hear the message and put their trust in Jesus, too. I went from a nobody with no hope, to somebody who is loved and cared for by God. He always loved me, but now I know it, because Ive put my trust in Jesus, who died for me so that I could be FREE... Anyway, instead of God demanding something from you, he just wants you to be free. Im free from eternal separation from God, and also Im now free from having to sin, like I used to. Im free to love God and love people, too. Its not just mine though, its the life that Jesus gave me, and hes offering it to you too. Just put your trust in HIM...theres no way you can be righteous on your own, and he promised that hed give that full and abundant life that Im talking about to whoever makes him their Lord.
Posted on: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 18:18:34 +0000
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