Devotional

2 Corinthians 5:17
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

A reader noticed that I mentioned the exact day Jesus saved me in yesterday's Devotional and was curious why I would recall the exact date of my salvation. A fair question. 

Today's Scripture tells us that anyone saved in Jesus is born again.
Sat, Feb 19th, 2011, 10 AM, was the date and time where I claimed my salvation.

Here is what happened:

I was working for a multi-national bank as Sr. Transformation Manager. At the time, I built a new department to facilitate client onboarding. I interviewed a chap, Richard was his name, and ended up hiring him. He was qualified, friendly, but above all, he was calm. The chaos in client onboarding needed decisiveness and calmness. One day, I asked Richard: "I admire your demeanor in hectic situations. How do you do it?" He looked at me and smiled: "I have Jesus to help me." 

A few weeks later, my then partner rushed off to Georgia to visit her two sons from a previous marriage. One of her now grown adult children had become a dad, but the child was very sick. I had to work and could not join her. One day, Barbara called me and said, "I have a grandson, but he is on the verge of death." He was in the ICU and was not expected to survive. They pressed the parents to turn off the respirator and let the child die in 48 hours. Barbara was distraught. But what could I do?

I remembered Richard and told him the situation. That evening, I found myself in his house together with the pastor of his church and some of his Christian friends. Barbara was on speakerphone. The congregation prayed. The meeting lasted about 30 minutes. That night, Barbara called me and said: "The little one turned the corner and was on his way to recovery." A week later, although he had lost two of his fingers partially, he had fully recovered and left the hospital. I remember the picture of the tiny baby, smiling, all happy. This had a profound impact on me. Right after we prayed, the child, ready to be declared dead, miraculously recovered. 

I became curious and pressed Richard as to what happened. I said, I believed in God because of this incident, but his response was not what I expected. He simply said: "You must know Jesus. Otherwise you can't know God."

John 14:6
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

A month later, I asked Richard to tell me more about this Jesus. He said: I have a movie for you to watch. I bring it tomorrow for you to watch," The movie he was referring to was "Faith Like Potatoes", a real life story about an South Aftican Farmer Angus Buchanan who found Jesus. I watched the movie and got angry. Supposedly a true story, it featured a person who was struck by Lightening, but she came back to life. I returned the movie to Richard with the words: "Hogwash. The church just trying to get followers and charge to extract money." 

But two weeks later, the Spirit of God stirred me and I wanted to watch the movie again. Richard brought the movie back, and on Sat, Feb 19th, 2011, at 10 AM, when Angus gave his life to Jesus in the movie, I broke down and decided to give my life to Jesus. I sobbed all weekend as the Holy Spirit showed me my sins and my wickedness,

A few months later, Rich baptized me in the freezing sea off the coast of Jersey. It was an unforgettable event and to date, it has been an amazing journey. I have changed my life completely. I am born again, a new creation in Christ. I ended up separating from Barbara after ten years living together, because we were not married, and she did not want to marry. In the Lord's eyes, this was fornication. Separating from Barbara was the hardest thing I ever did, but I did it in obedience to God. We stop our sinful lives and start righteous lives. Righteous living means doing what's right in the eyes of the Lord. I now hate sinful things, and even though I do occasionally sin, I do not live in sin. I repent instead. I am born again, and I am grateful for the Lord to send Richard to help me make that decision.

All that is required for us to be saved, no matter how sinful a life may have been, is to declare Jesus Lord. No works will get you there. Just one decision:

Romans 10:9
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

Just as Jesus died and rose again, so will you die. But will you be born again?

How about you? Are you saved? This may be YOUR call to action. Do it today, so you, too, will be saved and become a new creation in Jesus. Will you follow this call?

Stay blessed in Jesus' name

Amen

#Devotional #Scripture4TheDay #MyTestimony #testimony