Faith

Equipping the Saints: The Totality of Knowing God Begins Here

Standard

I was called a “religious totalitarian” yesterday by a commenter on the Facebook page of my former pastor.

Anyone want to venture a guess why?

I’ll wait here for a second—

{“Final Jeopardy!” music plays while Dan hums the tune—}

Okay, time’s up.

I’ll preface the answer by saying that people can call me whatever they wish. I’m not zealous for my name but for the name of Jesus. And it’s for His name that I am shaken to the core by the reason why I got labeled a religious totalitarian.

My crime? I had the nerve to suggest that perhaps we need to work harder to teach Christians the Bible.

Yeah, my jaw dropped too.

There’s a growing trend in the Church that on the surface is a wonderful direction. More and more people are saying that when it comes down to it, knowing Jesus is what it’s really all about. If you’ve read my recent post on how to become a Christian, you’ll know that I end it with that same admonition. Eternal life is knowing Jesus.

Which is why I’m troubled by folks who go on and on about knowing Jesus yet have this perverse idea that they can get there by bypassing the Bible. By the word of God...You’ve got to wonder what it is about the Bible that makes them so reticent to want to know it or have it taught. Even more so, you’ve got to wonder what is going on inside them that the mere mention of knowing the Bible throws them into hysterics.

I believe this reticence about knowing the Bible well enough to understand the overarching story, the major themes, and particulars about who Jesus is, why He came, how the Church should act, and how Christians should live is a frightening trend. People who are supposedly the People of the Book seem to not want to have anything to do with the Book itself.

But we can’t tell God how we want to grow. He’s already shown us in the Bible. Just three simple verses encapsulate it:

“Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
—Joshua 1:7-9

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
—Psalms 119:9-11

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
—2 Timothy 3:16-17

Many of you know these passages. In fact, if you have ever memorized Scripture according to the Navigator’s Topical Memory System, they are key.

What cannot be escaped in these three is the power of the words of God. Power for courage and strength. Power for the avoidance of sin. Power for doing good works for the Lord.

People don’t give the 2 Timothy passage, as familiar as it is, enough power. Want to serve God? Know the Bible. Even if it’s the lowliest service there is, know the Bible. Did Stephen, who waited on tables in service to his Lord, give that profound testimony during his stoning based on ideas he pulled out of nowhere? No! He knew the Scriptures, and the Holy Spirit set fire to that knowledge even as the stones fell down upon that saint!

If God asks that of a waiter, how can we possibly say that we, who too often consider ourselves above that position, are exempt from knowing the Bible? And if we don’t know the words of God in the Bible, what kind of strength and courage do we expect to summon when the mob comes, rocks in hand, for us?

The fiasco at Lakeland, Florida, that happened last year (anyone still remember the hoopla?) centered around a man who claimed he could take people to the third heaven.

Want to go to the third heaven? I can tell anyone exactly how to get there (and beyond) and I don’t need a circus around me to do it. Start by building a foundation on the word of God. Know it. Live it. Breathe it. Then when we’ve mastered the fundamental core of it, we”ll see we’ve built a ladder to the very bosom of God Himself. And that’s a whole lot higher than any third heaven.

The context in which I got called a religious totalitarian was evangelism. The idea that had been floated was that evangelism is a mindset/paradigm and not a program.

Evangelism is a mindset, to a point, but the reason we have people in the Church who are scared to death to evangelize others is primarily because they don’t know the Bible.

If I claimed to be a nuclear physicist and was subsequently asked, based on the credentials I claimed for myself, to speak at a conference on the topic of string theory, do you think I’d be a little panicked if I knew nothing about that basic topic? Yet that is the case with most Christians. We have no ease in talking about the Faith because the most obvious revelation of that Faith, the Bible, remains a mystery to us.

How much easier would it be for us to talk about being a Christian if we better knew the Book that outlines the entirety of our Faith?

We can’t know God if we don’t know what He has said to us through the Bible.

We can’t know Jesus if we don’t know what the Bible says about Him.

We can’t discern right from wrong if we don’t know the Bible.

We can’t know how to live as a Christian if we don’t know the Bible.

We can’t know how to determine which spirits are truthful and which are liars if we don’t know the Bible.

We can’t know the voice of God if we don’t know the Bible.

We can’t make any progress in the Faith if we don’t know the Bible.

God has graciously given us His words because He has ordained that our growth toward knowing Him comes through those life-giving words He Himself spoke.

If you and I want to know Christ and to come to a place of deeper revelation, we simply can’t skip over the most clear document presented to us on how to begin that journey of knowing. That totality of knowing rests on growing in knowledge of God through the Bible. It’s the springboard for every aspect of growth we Christians may achieve.

So something is seriously wrong when Christians go on and on about their deep relationship with Jesus, yet they have a strange reluctance to embrace disciplined study of Scripture. You simply can’t have one without the other.

Several years ago at the church pastored by the pastor whose Facebook forum started all this, we started Wednesday night classes for adults. I offered to teach a course in the basic truths of the Bible. I had originally called it “Theology 101,” but I was told the word Theology was too loaded, so it was changed to something less high falutin’. Other classes were taught that night, about four or five, so people could choose which to attend.

I covered the basics in my class, like the nature of God, why Jesus is the sole way to salvation, and core doctrinal theology. Though scores of people in the church were new to the Faith, I had only a half dozen in my class. The class that got 95 percent of the many adults who attended Wednesday nights was “How to Move in the Power of the Spirit.”

When the three months of classes were over, I had one student left who had not jumped to the “Power of the Spirit” class. She was very grateful and blessed me mightily. When I confessed to her that I had not seen her around church, she told me she attended a different church, but that a friend from my church had told her about the class.

I learned a great lesson that day. Every Christian wants to jump straight to the third heaven, everyone wants to move in power, everyone wants to be a great saint, but next to none want to lay the actual groundwork that will get them to that place. They’re sitting in “How to Move in the Power of the Spirit” class, yet they don’t even know what God has revealed to us about His Spirit in the Book that He gave us.

In a previous post in this series, I said that you can trace a lack of dying at the cross to the reason that so many Christians burn out, walk away from the Faith, or never achieve great things for the Lord. I have to add ignorance of the Bible to that post mortem also.

If I claim to move in great charismatic gifts, I can erect a tent and people will fill it; but if I say that I know the Bible inside and out, no one’s going to toss Franklins into an offering plate on my behalf and tell me how wonderful I am.

The genuine way of Christ isn’t flashy.  It happens in back rooms devoid of glory and acclaim, at kitchen tables wet with morning tears. It happens in the hearts of people who know there’s no way to cheat on God’s test to get that A+, so they study to show themselves a workman approved, even if that study demands some discipline and commitment.

So here’s to the so-called religious totalitarians who believe you can’t get to heaven on a roller skate. If that’s you, keep on keeping on, because your final reward will be incredible.

Equipping the Saints: The Simple Genius

Standard

Roaming the Internet in search of genuine Christian expression paints what I believe is an unnatural picture of what constitutes the full expression of the Christian faith. Perhaps it should come as no surprise though, given the technical nature of the Internet and the costs involved to maintain an Internet presence, that the denizens of the Web, especially those who speak most loudly for the Faith, are college graduates.

But when I look over the people who have had the most impact on my life as a Christian, the majority never got beyond a high school education. And it never fails that I continue to learn the most about Jesus from people others might deem “simple.”

From a viewpoint of Christian education, these so-called simple people are often the ones with the most unshakable faith in Jesus. If anything, my experience has been that the people with the most degrees are the ones who flirt most often with doubt and who end up getting distracted by rathole theological discussions that ultimately never go anywhere or accomplish anything.

After a while, you start seeing that the difference between the simple person and the guy with the degree letters piling after his name comes down to whether they genuinely live with the Bible as their primary source of knowledge or some other tome (or set of tomes).

The people I know who never ventured into the ivied corridors of academia tend to have a more humble opinion of their own abilities. Ask the college graduate just who provides his living, and he’s most likely to point to himself. The simple person says, “I have all this because God is good to me, and not because of anything I have done.” Simple people say that whatever God says, that pretty much settles it. The college man says he will need to consult all sources before coming to an opinion. When simple people face disaster, they note that both good and bad come from the hand of the Lord, and are we not to accept both? The college grad wonders what he did wrong or to whom he should assign blame.

Are these generalizations? Sure, but I will argue they are not far off the mark.

I continue to get more from so-called simple people, the ones ignored in a lot of churches because they never went to seminary, didn’t graduate from a prestigious Bible college, can’t talk about Proust or quantum physics or how Wall Street schemes up new derivatives. Do we know what she knows of our Lord?Simple people often work simple jobs also, the kind that don’t get them a cover story on Business Week. Simple people who farm the land or work as greeters at WalMart aren’t the ones that churches push front and center when the photo op comes; they’ll choose the captain of industry with the Harvard M.B.A. And when Christian publishers fight to place another Christian Living bestseller on the top shelf of the local bookstore, they’re not beating down the doors of the old waitress at Denny’s, no matter what 50 years of walking close to the heart of Jesus has taught her. No, they want legitimacy, the kind found in clobbering home runs, or running a megachurch empire, or having once been a cohost on The 700 Club.

Not a day passes when I don’t consider that I have learned the most in my walk with Jesus from people who would otherwise be ignored because they don’t have flashy credentials. And I wonder just as much how it can be that we routinely pass by these repositories of simple faith and hard-won wisdom gained at the feet of Jesus. They languish, not because they have nothing to say, but because we’re ignoring them.

If you take all the Christians blogs out there, including this one, and pile their collected wisdom against the pile comprised by what the simple people know, it would seem like the smallest foothill on the way to K2 and Everest.

I think the greatest loss of wisdom in our churches today is that we’ve pushed out the simple people. We’ve done a lot of that to the elderly too. And when that elderly person is some simple soul, it’s the double whammy.

It’s time to take the microphone away from the 35-year-old Th.D. and give the podium to the stooped old lady in the back pew who never made it past 10th grade. I’ve heard what all the self-appointed church genuises have had to say and it hasn’t gotten us anywhere. Let someone else talk for a change.

You know that I’m not disparaging education, far from it. I’m saying that some education can only be gained in simple faith and through the crucible of time.

When I was in college, a friend once asked me if I had a wish for my education. I told him bluntly that I would trade every single bit of arcana I had picked up in my collegiate travels to know the Bible backwards and forwards.

There are people among us who have done just that. We need to get those people to share what they have learned. Many of those people are the ones who truly live by “give us this day our daily bread,” who actually spend two hours a day in prayer rather than just trying to impress others with all the theological treatises on prayer they’ve read. They know the Lord, not just about Him like so many of the rest of us do.

You can read all the Christian books in the world, but one saint who has lived it all is the more precious library. That’s the person I want to hear from. Don’t you?

Then please, let us step out of the way and encourage them to speak.

How to Become a Christian

Standard

These are exciting times, but also frightening to many people. It’s hard to ignore the craziness around us. Frustration and a general feeling that all is not right in the world plague many people.

If you sense that something is not right in your life and in the lives of people you know, I want you to know that you can find a peace that triumphs over the greatest storms, a love that never lets go, and a cleansing that wipes away even the foulest past.

All of this is found in one source, Jesus Christ. Because He is the source of all things, all the answers to life’s questions are found in Him alone.

As more and more people search for what is real and what truly matters in life, the question of how to become a Christian looms large. You can search and find many explanations of how to become a Christian, but many of those explanations only lead people into following a set of rules, something that failed long ago and will fail today. Life is not a set of rules but a relationship with Jesus.

A quick glance around is all it takes for most people to realize that something is very wrong with our world. Disease, poverty, anger, jealousy, murder, sexual perversion, war, and death hold this world in their lethal embrace. Corruption defines the human condition.

It wasn’t always this way, though.

The Most Unnatural Thing in the World

God created a beautiful, unmarred world. As the source of life itself, He made Man, both male and female, in His own image and breathed His own life into them. He blessed Adam and Eve with perfect bodies, souls, and spirits. God placed that couple in His paradise, charging them to mold it as they saw fit, all under His guidance and love. God and Mankind lived in perfect communion, a deep, intimate relationship filled with life.

But Man was not satisfied with what God had given, and when Evil presented itself, Man chose Evil. Mankind wanted to be like God and rebelled against Him, partaking of the very fruits of Evil that God had warned against.

In the moment that Man sinned, the most unnatural thing entered Creation: Death.

Death took two terrible forms, physical and spiritual. In the physical, Man’s bodies began to decay. In the spiritual, the flame that was the spirit of Man, the very connection of Man to the life-giving Spirit of God, was snuffed out. The intimacy that Man had with God was utterly destroyed, and Man went deaf to the voice of God.

The Bible puts it bluntly:

For the wages of sin is death…
—Romans 6:23a

Sin is a death penalty.

There is no death in God, though, only life. God cannot abide death nor the sin that causes it because they are antithetical to His nature. To God, death is a terrible, foreign thing.

Just as it is a law within Creation that an apple dislodged from a tree will fall to the ground, so it is a law that only life can pay for death. God Himself had earlier clothed Adam and Eve with an animal skin, that creature giving up its life to pay for the death wrought by sin. Abel, the son of Adam and Eve, born after the advent of death, understood this and sacrificed part of his flock of sheep to God.

God says:

For the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is its life.
—Leviticus 17:14a

The counter to sin and death is blood, which is life.

Striving But Not Attaining

Though Man’s spirit had died and Man no longer had a connection to God, the unnaturalness of death drove men to search for God and call out to Him. God chose to reveal Himself to Man and selected an unworthy tribe of people called the Hebrews. They wanted to know God, so He gave them a set of rules to show what He was like. God said that the rules, called the Law, could show people the way to Him. By keeping the Law, Man could hear a whisper of God and see the shadow of His presence. God instituted ways for the Hebrews to atone for their sins so they could continue to hear that whisper and see the shadow of His presence.

But no one could keep God’s rules. The rule of death in Man was stronger than anyone’s ability to keep every one of God’s laws perfectly. The Law was a plumb line that only showed how crooked Mankind truly was. It succeeded only in proving what was obvious:

None is righteous, no, not one….
—Romans 3:10b

Though the Hebrews sacrificed the lives of animals to try to reconcile themselves to the living God for the death that reigned in their bodies, God revealed the genuine truth behind their efforts:

For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
—Hebrews 10:1-4

The life of an animal cannot fully atone for the death brought by sin that dwells in a man. It’s an imperfect system that can never fully appease.

God’s Perfect Answer: Jesus

But God is perfect. He is life. And He had an answer to all this death. A man would have to die—a man who could fully keep all the rules of God, who fulfilled all the Law that sinful, death-filled men could never keep. That perfect man would have to spill his blood to fully satisfy the universal law of life for death.

God could not ask anyone but Himself to be that man, though. Only God Himself could keep His own Law perfectly, could shed life-giving blood as the source of life itself, and could restore the perfect communion Man once had with Him. God Himself would have to become a man.

God exists as three persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—joined together in perfect unity. God the Father sent God the Son to earth to live as one of us.

The Bible tells us about that God-Man:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
—John 1:1-4

In that man was genuine God-life. There was no death in him at all because he was without sin. Because of this, he alone can bring salvation from death. This man is Jesus, whose name  means: “The Lord is my salvation.

This is what Jesus, the God-Man, says about Himself:

“I and the Father are one.”
—John 10:30

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”
—John 5:24

“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”
—John 11:25b-26a

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me….”
—John 14:6b

Jesus made exclusive claims about Himself as the answer to the problem of sin and death. He said that He was God and contained all the fullness of God’s life.

But before we could taste that life, the universal law that a life must be given to atone for  death and sin had to be fulfilled. Because many hated Jesus for what He said and for who He claimed to be, they had Him put to death on a cross, the worst form of capital punishment known in that day. In the actions of those people who hated Jesus and wanted Him to die, we can see ourselves.

So in His crucifixion, Jesus, who was life, voluntarily gave up His life. And in doing so, a most wonderful thing happened:

For our sake [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
—2 Corinthians 5:21

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person–though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die– but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
—Romans 5:6-11

Sinless Jesus paid our penalty of sin and death, reconciling once-dead Man to God. By His blood sacrifice, He gives His life to those who believe Him. And that payment for sin and death is for all time:

But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
—Hebrews 10:12-18

Because Jesus kept the Law perfectly, took our place on the cross, and shed His own blood as the perfect sacrifice, the penalty of death has been fully paid for and all sins forgiven for those who believe. And because Death cannot hold Life, Jesus triumphed over Death by His resurrection, which is our promise of resurrection of our souls to new life one day.

Death & Life

But don’t our bodies still die?

In truth, you and I were born dying. From our first breath, our physical bodies began the long process of wearing out and dying. This world still suffers the marks of sin until that day when Jesus returns in triumph to make all things new. At that time, those who have tasted physical death will be given new bodies that never wear out and never suffer the effects of sin and death.

On the spiritual side, though, putting our faith in Jesus immediately lights that quenched wick that was our dead spirit:

But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.
—1 Corinthians 6:17

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God….
—Romans 8:16

We regain our spiritual hearing and can once again enjoy communion with God.

What About Other Religions?

Many of the world’s religions claim a path to God. Jesus speaks to that claim:

“‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'”
—Matthew 15:8-9

When you look at the world’s religions, it becomes perfectly clear that they are nothing more than rules made by men. They have some appearance of right living, but as we have seen, following a set of rules—even rules sent by God Himself—could not save Man from spiritual death. The problem of sin and death in Man means that no one can follow the rules, no matter who makes them. And if the rules cannot be followed perfectly, how can anyone ever get to the perfect God?

For the letter [of the Law] kills, but the Spirit gives life.
—2 Corinthians 3:6b

Jesus alone fulfilled all the rules. It is why He said that He is the only way to God. His gift of the kept Law and His sacrificed life means freedom from spiritual death. When we place our faith in Him, He puts His Spirit in us, which is our seal of salvation and the promise of our name being added to His Book of Life.

But what about those who do not put their faith in Jesus?

“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
—John 3:36

In short, those who believe in Jesus take on His life. Rather than following a set of rules, they gain a relationship with God Himself, the very source of life. However, those who do not believe in Jesus remain in spiritual death. Such a condition, sadly, has been the natural state of Man since our rebellion so long ago. Without belief in Jesus, we persist in a state of spiritual death. Nothing apart from taking on Jesus’ Spirit of Life will change that condition. Jesus said:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
—John 3:5b

Many have heard the term “born again” before. This is what Jesus means. He gives those who believe in Him a new life.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
—2 Corinthians 5:17

New creations in Jesus have nothing to fear of spiritual death. Their old, dead, spiritual  life has passed away, and they have been born again into new life.

Many people are familiar with the first part of this passage of the Bible:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
—John 3:16-17

Not as many know the rest:

“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”
—John 3:18

To those who reject Jesus, the very source of life, the natural end of their physical life brings a chilling spiritual reality, the due consequence of their continuing to abide in death:

And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
—Revelation 20:12-15

This second death doesn’t have to be your end. Jesus offers you life:

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
—John 10:10

How to Become a Christian

How to become a Christian? It’s not an elaborate set of rules, because as we know, rules cannot bring real life. It’s very simple.

Here is what I would recommend:

1. Get a copy of an NIV or ESV Bible and read through the New Testament or at least the Gospel of John, which is the fourth book of the New Testament. You can find John’s 21 chapters (and the rest of the Bible) online here.

2. God speaks to us through the words He gave in the Bible. Ask Him to convict you of the truth of what you read in the Bible. This may be something that happens as you read or it may take some time as you ponder the words. No matter which, God promises that His words will change you.

3. At the right time in your reading and thinking about God’s words, acknowledge the truth to God about your state of decay in sin and death. As Jesus so succinctly said:

“…unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
—Luke 13:3b

You will know when the right time will be because God will be with you by His Holy Spirit. Again, that’s His promise.

4. I included a verse earlier spoken by Jesus, but left off the last part:

“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
—John 11:25b-26

Every one of us must answer Jesus’ question. Let the Holy Spirit guide you as you talk with God about Jesus and your need for Him and His life. Don’t worry about saying the right words. If you stumble, just ask Him for help. He is faithful!

5. When you put your faith in Jesus, please write me and let me know. (My email address is at the top of the blog’s sidebar). I will try to help you with your next steps of finding a church and developing a devotional life that will grow you deep in Jesus.

A Divine Secret

Lastly, I want to tell you a secret that many Christians fail to understand.

Some well-meaning people will try to turn your new belief in Jesus into a set of rules. You will hear plenty of talk about all the things you must now do or not do. I suspect that much of that advice will be wise on the face of it, but just as we are powerless to save ourselves by keeping a set of rules, growing to be more like Jesus is something He must do in you by His means, not yours.

I know of only one way to do this. Jesus said it:

“And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
—John 17:3

If you want more of the eternal life of God in your own life, draw close to Jesus. Grow to know Him. The more time you spend with Jesus, the more you will begin to live as He did.

One of life’s most genuine truths: Whatever we are most devoted to is what we will become most like. If we devote most of our time to ourselves, we grow more into self-serving forms of our worst habits and mistakes. But if we devote our time to Jesus, we become more like Him.

When we become more like Jesus, it’s funny how all those bad habits, sins, and problems that plague us take care of themselves. If we look more like Jesus, we look less like our old selves. That’s Jesus Himself changing us. And it’s the only real way to change.

Additional Resources

If you would like to know more on how to become a Christian, I would recommend checking out this site: Two Ways to Live.

If you have put your faith in Jesus, I would recommend the following two resources:

The NIV Study Bible

This is a fine Bible for most people and includes a host of helps for those who have never read through the Bible before. I would also recommend this Bible-reading plan.

The Fight

The Fight by John White is one of the best primers on how to begin the journey with Jesus. It’s a simple book that covers many of the important practices of the Faith.

***

In closing, let me pray for you:

Father God, I pray in Jesus’ name for all who read this. May you reveal yourself to them in your perfect fullness and write their names in your Book of Life. Grant them the grace to grow in knowledge of you so that you will find them faithful when you come again in glory. Thank you. Amen.