ODB: the final opening ceremony
January 8, 2010 READ: Revelation 15 All nations shall come and worship before You, for Your judgments have been manifested. —Revelation 15:4 Some words used to describe the opening ceremony of the 2008 summer Olympics were awesome, breathtaking, and extravagant. One commentator observed, “This shows what happens when you give an artist an unlimited budget.”When [...]
ODJ: early or late
Out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness (vv.21-23).
READ: Mark 7:14-23
Have you ever listened to someone tell how he or she came to receive Jesus as Savior, and it totally blew you away? You sat slack-jawed as you took in every incredible detail. The depth of depravity from which God lifted this person was amazing!
It’s likely we’ve all experienced the goosebumps and waves of faith-building joy that powerful testimonies for Jesus can elicit. But, if you’re a person who came to believe in Jesus as a child, these accounts can also make you think your conversion story is boring and not worth sharing.
Not true.
Whether you’ve come to Christ early or late, it’s an amazing tale to tell. God performed a miraculous work in your life. Jesus said that before salvation your heart was full of “wickedness . . . from within” (Mark 7:21-23). You were literally “defiled” on the inside (v.23).Your sin nature was present at birth, not something that settled on you during life’s journey (vv.15,18-20). As the apostle Paul wrote, you entered earth “dead” in your sins (Ephesians 2:5). And all of us were under sin’s power (Romans 3:9). In Psalm 53, the writer states: “All have turned away; all have become corrupt. No one does good, not a single one!” (v.3).
There was nothing inside of us that could save us. But God reached out in mercy, and “though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead” (Ephesians 2:5).
So if you think your salvation experience lacks power in presentation, you’re dead wrong. For if your story were a headline, it would read:
DEAD PERSON COMES TO LIFE!
Now that’s an amazing story that everyone needs to hear. —Tom Felten
How do you view the power of your salvation story? How does the fact that you were once dead in sin affect what you now share with others?
(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)
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