Today I share a special message. Yesterday was August 27, 2015. After I sent out Today’s Word I realized it was my 20th birthday of walking with Christ. On August 27, 1995 I gave my life to Jesus. I feel led this morning to give you my testimony.
I was born in Brooklyn in 1972 to immigrant parents. My mother raised me in the Catholic church and I can say that throughout my youth I wanted to know and please God. I faithfully attended catechism classes, I received First Communion, I went through my Confirmation, but I never experienced God. I spent countless Sundays in mass, but I never truly came in contact with Jesus. Please don’t take this as an indictment against the Catholic church. The Catholic church is full of believers who walk with God. This is simply my personal testimony. I spent years in religious activities without ever having a true relationship with Jesus.
I joined the U.S. Army at the tender age of 17 and as I traveled around the world — from South Carolina, to Georgia, to Germany, to North Carolina, and ultimately to Kuwait — I heard people use term, “I am saved”. This term intrigued me. I thought I was a good person. I believed I knew God. I felt as though I had done the right things. I secretly “hoped” I was going to make it to heaven. I tried to do right. I tried my best to ensure my good deeds outweighed by bad deeds, but I honestly had no clue about salvation.
At the age of 23 I was a young Staff Sergeant stationed in Kuwait. It was there that I met another young Staff Sergeant named Leo Jacobs. There was something clearly different about him. He carried himself well, he was highly respected, well spoken, and I was drawn to him in a way that I had never been drawn to another person before. I wanted to know what made this man ‘tick’. I wanted to know what made him special. I wanted to be like Leo. And Leo was not shy about telling me that the only thing that made him special was Jesus! Leo told me he was “saved” and I was, once again, posed this internal question that I wanted answered.
Leo invited me to church. On August 27, 1995 I walked into the chapel on Camp Doha, Kuwait as a 23 year-old hard-charging, arrogant and egotistical overachiever and I walked out a Born-Again believer. That’s the short version. The longer version is that I entered the chapel and attended Sunday School. After an hour of Sunday School I was ready to leave and was very surprised to learn that the service was just about to begin. I had never been in church for hours, so this was going to be a new thing for me. But I had promised Leo, so true to my word, I stayed. As the service began I saw something in the people that I did not have. It was the same thing Leo Jacobs had – it was a sincere relationship with God. Whatever they had, it was true to them. They sang with passion, prayed earnestly, and cried out before their God. I saw people in tears. I saw people falling on their knees and their faces. I knew that I wanted what they had. At the end of the service, Pastor B.W. Burnett gave the petition to come forward, but this time I refused. I kneeled down where I was and said to God, “Lord, I don’t know what this ‘saved’ thing is that these people keep talking about, but I know I don’t have it, and I know I want it. Please save me!” And just like that, I was Born-Again. I had been in church all my life, I did not know one verse of scripture and I did not know the God of the Bible, but with a simple prayer, the Father saved me by grace and Jesus became the Lord of my life! 20 years later, my life is amazing. I know I am living the life Jesus died for me to live, the life God planned for me to live before the world began.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
- Religion can’t save you. Religious activity is focused on rules, rites and rituals, but Jesus died so you can have a true relationship with Him.
- God made plans for you before the foundations of the world. You are unique. No one else has your God-given story, but you don’t get to live it until you die to self.
- God saves by grace. On August 27, 1995, when I asked God to save me, I did not even know one Bible verse. Even though I thought I was a good person, I was not good enough. Even though I thought my good deeds outweighed by bad deeds, I did not know that salvation had nothing to do with deeds. I had to acknowledge the fact that I could not earn my way to heaven, because Jesus earned it for me. I accepted eternal life by faith, knowing it was offered to me by grace. That’s how we all come to God.
- Enjoy the ride. If you are Born-Again your ticket to heaven is secure. It was purchased with Jesus’ blood. But God does not want you to live focused on making it to heaven some day. He wants you to enjoy the ride. Walk with Him. Learn from Him. Allow yourself to be led of Him. He will lead you to live the life He birthed you to live – an amazing life, full of grace and truth.
- Enjoy the process. One of my former Pastors used to ask, “How long does it take to become a Christian?” His answer, “A moment and a lifetime!” His point was that salvation is instantaneous, but transformation is continuous. If you are Born-Again you are already saved, but the more you walk with God the more you become the man/woman He called you to be.
- The last point I will make is very important to the person who may not be saved as they read this. Listen to me: You have not disqualified yourself from God’s best! I was 23 when I came to God. I had 23 years of mistakes and sins. But when I called out to Jesus on August 27, 1995, God did not consider my past. He was focused on the future He planned for me. And no matter who you are, no matter what you have done, no matter how many mistakes you have made, you have not disqualified yourself. Jesus qualified you with His own blood and salvation is available to you completely by grace – it’s unearned, unmerited and even undeserved. Accept Jesus as Lord and you will begin your journey towards becoming the person you were born to be!
Closing Confession: Father, I thank You for teaching me about Your grace and my requirement to live by faith. Thank You for saving me when I clearly did not deserve it. Thank You for sending Your Son to die for me, even while I was a sinner. Thank You for walking with me, all these years, in spite of my constant failures and flaws. Thank You for loving me and sticking with me by Your amazing grace. Your commitment towards me enables me to walk with fearless confidence, because my confidence is not rooted or grounded in me. My confidence is in You and in Your tireless commitment to me and to the plans You made for me before the world began. So I walk and live by faith, daily accessing Your grace, and incrementally becoming the person You birthed me to be. Salvation has come TO me, I now declare that Your Salvation will flow THROUGH me towards the lost, so they too can be saved. The world will see Jesus IN me! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
