Jesus Is My Savior, and He Wants to Be Yours
I can’t recall the exact date, but I remember the day. I remember the details of that simple, yet sacred moment with Jesus. That moment when I truly understood what he had done for me.
Between the ages of 8 and 9 I realized that all that I had been hearing in church had been sinking in a little deeper. I was thinking, and I am a deep thinker. I always have been, and I still am. Many of the kids I had gone to school with went to another church. When I talked to them, I was seeing and hearing some different things than I had heard, and it looked a little different.
My young mind wanted to understand why.
So I went to God and asked Him, “Who are you?”
This began my lifelong journey of understanding who God is.
I began reading the Bible more and paying attention around me, in Creation and in life. As I read His Word, I remember coming to that place where I saw that this Jesus loved me and died for me. Then he rose again and beat the devil to save me. I read that God was making a home for me in heaven. I don’t know what part of this excited me more.
But the one part that got me more than anything was that He loved me, the way I was. I understood that I was a sinner. We are all born into sin because of what Adam and Eve did. That made sense to my nine-year-old mind, and even at that age, I knew some of the sins I was living. I lied to stay out of trouble, and I was not always nice to my sister and my parents. In my anger I reacted. I am sure I took something that was not mine to take.
It amazed me how much love would take someone to do that for me. I thought about whether I would do that for someone else, and I wasn’t sure; even at nine years old I thought about those things.
It is interesting to me that in that year, I was getting my first hearing aid, and it was the year my hearing loss became very real to me. I had cried a lot, and I had cried just as much for my mother because she was deaf. Yet, that did not seem to make me doubt what I was seeing in the Bible.
So one day, at nine years old. I told God I was sorry for my sins and asked Him to forgive me. I wanted Him to help me not sin anymore and to live the way He wanted me to. My heart was so thankful that He loved me. That He had sent Jesus to die for me and be raised from the dead so that I might live forever with Him in Heaven.
John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
I want to go one more verse longer into 18; He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Romans 10:9-11 says; that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved, for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses resulting in salvation. For the scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”
I will go deeper into this another day, but the Bible shows us that belief is necessary and confession that we believe that God raised Him from the dead, defeating Satan and death.
At nine years old, I believed this with my whole heart. Did I understand all of who God is? I did not, and I would have so much more to work through, wrestle with, and be delivered from.
What has God saved me from?
He has saved me from eternal death. He has saved me from destroying myself. He has saved me from a life of not knowing Him and being in relationship with Him.
What has God saved me for?
He has saved me for a relationship with Him. As I live for Him, I get to live in the gifts and the purposes He has created, especially for me in this life. He has created me for an eternity of life with Him.
What does it change about the way I live today?
It changes everything. It changes how I see Him, myself, and others. It changes how I read the Bible, and pray. It changes how I worship. It changes how I live my life. It changes how I love myself and others. It changes my relationships. It changes how I see eternity. It changes all that and more.
The amazing thing is He wants that for everyone. He didn’t come to this earth as a baby, through a virgin birth, born in a stable, living life as fully God and fully man with His disciples, going to that horrible, torturous cross, and raising to life again just for me. He did that for you too and for the whole world that all might be saved.
Forty-three years later I can say, I still believe, and I still confess that Jesus is my Savior and Lord. After a season of walking away, seasons of pain, suffering, and death, seasons of joy and laughter, He is who He says He is. I would not be here otherwise. I am sure of that.
That day was not just a one-time day for me; it has been a lifetime of choosing to believe when it didn’t feel like it was real or that He was real. It has been a lifetime of perseverance and character building. It has been a lifetime of asking God, Did you really say this? and “Is this actually worth it?”
It has been an invitation to live with Jesus daily, in relationship with Him. It is not a daily checklist or a bunch of do’s and don’ts; it is a relationship. Jesus is our example and our mentor, and as we walk with Him daily, we begin to learn from Him and become more like Him, and He becomes your best friend if you let Him.
I talked about this deeper in my first book, Created to Relate; Living Beyond Religion, and I share more of my testimony in the podcast interviews I have done, so I will leave those links at the end if you want to go a little deeper.
Most of all, I want to say, if you have believed in Jesus as your Savior and you confess He is your Lord, I would love to hear your testimony. I would like to share testimonies on this blog space once a month, so if you would like to share how Jesus is your Savior and how He has changed your life, I would love to hear from you. You can comment here or email me at desiree@arenewedcreation.com.
If you have not believed and received Jesus as your savior, I want you to know He is waiting for you. Not one of us is unable to receive this incredible gift. God loves you! He died for you, and He desires a personal relationship with you. He wants to give you and eternal home with Him and all those who believe and trust in the name of Jesus. If you want to ask questions or anything like that, please ask them here or personally email me. I would love to hear from you, and I would love for you to know the Jesus I know, love, and serve. He WILL change your life. It won’t always be an easier life, but it will be a full and free life if you follow Him.
Heavenly Father, thank you for loving us so much that you sent Jesus to us. Thank you for His willingness to leave the comfort of heaven for here, living life as fully God, yet fully man, going to that horrible cross, and rising from the dead, conquering Satan and death for us so that we too can live in Heaven with you. Thank you that we don’t have to live this life alone. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!
