Grace For The Journey

In John 9:25, the Bible records the man who Jesus healed of blindness responding to the interrogation of the Pharisees, “He answered and said, ‘Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know.  One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.’”  In today’s blog, I would like to continue looking at the topic that I wrote about yesterday on “Telling Our Story.”

If you don’t have a conversion story,

You don’t have a conversion.

I’m not saying you need to know the date, or the exact moment you were saved.  But . . .

You need to know it’s happened,

And

You should be able to relay the experience of it.

If a woman has become a mother, for instance, does she know it?  Is she sure of it? Does she know how it happened?  Does she remember going to the hospital and having her first baby?  She can give you all kinds of details, not only of how she became a mother, but how she continues being a mother today?

It’s the same way with knowing Jesus.  The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away: behold, all things have become new.”  Note two key truths in that verse – 1) A definite change takes place when we repent of our sin and ask Jesus to be our Lord and Savior; and; 2) That change is known and observable.  The word “behold” means “to look and see the difference.”  Salvation doesn’t just sneak up on you while you’re asleep.  You don’t catch it like a cold.  You can’t enter into an eternal relationship with God the Father through His Son Jesus Christ without knowing you’ve done it.

Granted, it can take some time to develop.  It can take some time to grasp.  Maybe you’re like one of the blind men Jesus healed.  He knew something had happened to him.  The Bible tells us in John 9:10-11, “Therefore they said to him, ‘How were your eyes opened?’  He answered and said, ‘A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘God to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received sight.”  He knew he’d had a memorable encounter with this “Man called Jesus,” but he didn’t know much more about Him in that moment than His name.

Yet, the account goes on.  The more he processed what Jesus had done and who He must be, he knew Jesus couldn’t be merely a man.  In John 9:33, the Bible record him responding to further questions from the Pharisees, “If this man were not from God, He could do nothing” – like heal someone from blindness.  As the day continued, Jesus found this person again and asked him, “’…Do you believe in the Son of God?’  He answered and said, ‘Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?’  And Jesus said to him, ‘You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.’  Then he said, ‘Lord, I believe!’  And he worshiped Him.”

For a while, this formerly-blind man knew the Lord only as “the Man called Jesus.” Maybe He was at least a prophet, a man sent from God.  But as Jesus revealed Himself more clearly, the man’s response became an absolute, “Lord, I believe.”  Jesus was the Son of God, and this man was now His follower.  That was his story, and he was sticking to it.

I’ve known people who’ve taken a long time – I can think of one man in particular who came to our church for ten years before accepting and confessing Christ as Savior.

The details of their stories are always different.

The way it happens is never quite the same,

Despite the fact that Jesus never changes.

But I don’t know anyone who’s been converted to Christ

Who couldn’t tell you what happened to get them there.

Their story is straightforward, simply, and powerful: “I know who He is.  I know what He’s done for me.  I know what I was like before I accepted Him.  I know how I met Him, how He’s changed me since I gave my life to Him, and I know that He’s still working in me today.” There are a lot of things I don’t know, but “one thing I do know . . . though I was blind, now I see.”

It’s the story of every believer.

Do you have that story?  Could you tell it to somebody today if God gave you the opportunity?  Don’t forget the part about how He’s still changing your life!  How would you describe this?

Because you have accepted Him as Savior and He is still working on you (Philippians 1:6) you should join me in a prayer of praise and thanksgiving:

“Lord, thank You for loving me, for Your grace that saves me.  Thank You for giving me a story that I could never have crafted on my own.  It still contains a lot of things I wish weren’t there, but it’s a story brimming with hope because You’ve written it and You continue to write it.  Help me to share it with others as a testimony of Who You are and of Your awesome power to redeem.  I praise You for loving me and saving me through Jesus, in whose name I pray, amen.

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”