My Birthday!!

Okay I have a "riddle" of sorts for you all to figure out!  

I was born on January 24th, 1963, but this past Monday, May 16th, I celebrated my 27th birthday?

How can that possibly be?

Have I completely on all counts (no pun intended!) lost it once and for all?  

The most ironic part is that my son will turn thirty-one in July!!!  

And I just celebrated turning 27?

WHAT???  HUH???

I can hear you all saying, "Barb, this is absolutely ludicrous!"  

And I would say, "please read on!"

I'm sure some of you have figured it out!

January 24, 1963, was the date of my physical birth!

May 16, 1989, was the day of my spiritual birth!

It's the day I truly understood the Gospel for the very first time.

"For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:"
I Corinthians 15:3-4

It's the day I became the whosoever in the verse which says

"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
Romans 10:13

It's the day I left religion behind for a relationship with Christ.

"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
Acts 4:12

It's the day
when I made the
MOST IMPORTANT
decision in my life
EVER!

As far back as I can remember, I heard about Jesus.  I knew He was born of a virgin, died on the cross for the sins of the world, and rose three days later.  But I was never taught to make Jesus' death, burial and resurrection PERSONAL.  

To realize as Jesus was hanging on the cross, He was dying for MY sins. 

I just couldn't see myself as a sinner needing a Saviour!  I had my very own "sin system" worked out in my mind.  I had sins categorized in different "levels".  The really "bad" sins, the "medium" sins and then the "little" sins.  I always thought of myself of falling into the "little sins level".  Never doing anything really "that bad" that would label me a sinner in my own mind.

BUT the Bible teaches NO SUCH THING.  In fact the Bible teaches that we are ALL sinners and that one sin is just as bad as another sin.  But there is no sin so great that it cannot be forgiven.

"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"
Romans 3:23

None of us can measure up to the Lord's standard of holiness and that is why we NEED Jesus to be our Saviour.

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

If being a good person, giving to the poor or even attending church could have forgiven us of our sins, God would have NEVER sent His only Son to the cross to die.  But God loves us so much that He wants us to be with Him in Heaven forever and the ONLY way that was possible was for His perfect, sinless Son to die on the cross and to rise again the third day.

I'm so thankful for Pastor Bruce Stewart taking the time on May 16, 1989, to share the Truth from God's Word with me.  I'm very grateful that he loved and cared enough about me to tell me the Truth.  He knew my religious background and knew there was a very good possibility that I would flat-out totally reject all that he shared with me, but he was willing to step out of his comfort zone, and I'm so VERY thankful he did!  

That was the very first day I ever read from God's Word!  Growing up we had a ginormous family Bible which had two purposes.  To record births, deaths and weddings and to collect dust!  I didn't even realize the account of Noah and Ark was actually in the Bible!!  

Everything in my life didn't magically change the day I trusted Christ as my Saviour.  But Jesus did begin a work of transformation in me that day which is still continuing to this day, and will continue until I meet Him face-to-face one day in Heaven!

On May 16th Jesus not only forgave me of my sins and gave me entrance into Heaven one day, He gave me SO much more.  His unconditional love. His peace.  His joy.  His guidance. His comfort.  His grace.  The ability to comprehend and understand His Word.  And, oh, so much more!

So does that mean since I have Christ as my personal Saviour that my life has been one of all hearts and roses and blue and sunny skies?

Absolutely not!  Jesus saved me on May, 16th, 1989, from my sins and to assure me entrance into Heaven one day, not so that I could live a life free of trials, heartaches and sorrows.  But as a child of God I have the unfathomable promise that Jesus will ALWAYS be with me throughout every moment of my life.  WHAT A PROMISE! 

Many of you may already know Jesus as your Saviour, but for those of you who don't, please know it's NOT about being Baptist, Catholic, Pentecostal, Presbyterian or any other religion.  It's not about living a good life, doing just the right things or not doing bad things.    

It's all
about having
a personal relationship
with Jesus Christ

Trusting Christ as your personal Saviour is so very simple

It's simply realizing Jesus died, was buried and rose again for YOU.  Even if you had been the only person living at the time, Jesus still would have died just for YOU because He loves YOU that much and wants YOU to be forgiven of YOUR sins and spend Eternity in HEAVEN with HIM.

Pray and tell Jesus that you believe He died, was buried and rose again for you.  Tell Him you know you are a sinner and You are trusting Him to be Your Saviour.  The Only One to forgive you of your sins and take you to Heaven one day.  Tell Him that you are placing your faith in Him and Him alone to forgive you of your sins and you are asking Him to be the Lord of your life.  You do NOT need to use fancy words like "thee" and "thou" when praying to God.  Praying is talking to God.  He is NOT impressed with eloquent speech.  He is interested in what is truly in your heart.  It’s that simple.

Trusting Christ as your personal Saviour IS THE MOST IMPORTANT decision that you will EVER make in your entire life.  It is literally a matter of life and death.  Eternal life with God in Heaven.  Or being separated from God and spending Eternity in Hell.

I know what I just wrote is not popular these days and it surely is not "politically correct", but it NEEDS to be said because it's straight from God's Word and it's TRUTH.

We are not guaranteed our next breath.  The Bible says, "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life?  It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”
James 4:14

Tomorrow
may be
too late.
Trust Christ
TODAY! 

If you have any questions about trusting Christ as your personal Saviour, please don’t hesitate to contact me.  If I can’t answer your questions, I PROMISE that I will find out the answers for you!  At the top of my website, click on the “menu” tab and then click on “Prayer Requests” and send me your questions or please feel free to contact me at barb@castingyourcare.org.

Please KNOW I AM praying for you!

As the song says,
"At the cross,
at the cross,
where I first
saw
THE LIGHT!"

---

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May God Bless You,

Barb

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