My Travel to Christ

 Lately my faith has been called into question by a few people who claim that I have been in church all my life and am merely parroting what I have been inundated with.

I know of another who has been questioned the same way, I heard from them of their search for God in and of themselves and it resulted in a deeper understanding and faith in God not a commutation of all they heard and "lived" growing up.

So let me take some time and explain the process, for me at least, that led me to the point where I am today. Full disclosure: I am not perfect nor high and mighty, for if you read me and what I write you know that first and foremost I am speaking to me in all of my writings. I share, but it's pointed to me and my failures and lacking in the Christian life.

I have been in church all of my life, I attended Liberty Bible institute in Lynchburg, Va, and several other theology courses. 

So I do have a set of deeply grounded beliefs, but there was a time I was living the life but had no true understanding.

There was a time I wasn't living the life, disregarded all I knew and turned away.

There was a time when for a couple of weeks I opened the Gospels and read all 4 Gospels in a week for me and myself. There was no prodding, no outside influence for me, Just a need to have a deeper understanding of why I was a Christian, if I was a Christian, Why I believed what I believed. Was it grounded in truth or brought on by what I was "subjected" too.

The whole of the matter is very simple, I got alone with Christ in the Gospels and found Jesus was a lot like me, a Man driven by His passions, cared for the people, reviled the "religious, legalistic" leaders of the day, Verbally scourged the false prophets, wept for those who would not accept the Truth, and groaned for those led astray by the practices and customs of the "religious", while being failed by those same "religious" leaders who put power and position ahead of heart for God. A Man who lived and died to fulfill God's Will,

Mat 15:3  But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? 

I also ,in reading the Gospels, got a deeper understanding of the God who became Man. Who fought for the people, who healed the people, who cared for the people more than anything, even His own health and food and rest. The God who cared so much that He provided of Himself a sacrifice that I might attain everlasting life. That you might attain everlasting life. A God who cared so much He put on the human flesh to be able to relate to you and me. To go through what we did, The hunger, lack of sleep, derision from those that did not understand Him, Contempt from His own family, surrounded by those that could not know or see what He was about even though they were around Him constantly. A God who came to set the record straight about what He required of us instead of what the religious leaders distorted it into.

Mat 13:57  And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house. 

Mat 13:58  And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief. 

I found that Christ had boundaries, lines He would not allow to blur, no gray area, all in black and white, I found that He made a stand and never wavered, He accepted all whether they would believe or not, He gave every one a chance to turn from their sins, to Him. He gave everyone a chance to believe that there is a Pure, Holy, Just, God who loves the whole world, but because of that Love must also one day Judge that very World.

Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 

Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 

Joh 3:18  He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 

He told them to go and sin no more, He forgave their sins, healed their infirmities, taught that God is Love for those that seek Him. He taught that there are 2 commandments, love God with all your heart mind and soul, Love thy neighbor as thyself. That there is a Hell and a Heaven. There is a devil and a God.

Luk 16:22  And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 

Luk 16:23  And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

This does not mean, as shown in His very Words, to tolerate sin, but to show the light of the Gospel, God's Word, to the sinner and God will change those that choose Him, cleanse them of their sin and restore them to right fellowship with God. For a man or woman who truly knows God, to not tell their neighbors, is sin. To Love your neighbor means to proclaim the Life in Christ for all to have and know. to save them from that very condemnation that is coming to all who do not believe.

He also told us that few would actually believe, and those that do not believe are headed for eternal condemnation.

Mar 8:34  And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

God's whole purpose in Christ is so that a lost and dying world who does not know Him, Might know Him and come to Him, that Christ is the bridge over the Gap between man and God.

When you truly see Christ as He is in the Gospels you can not stay the same. For His very Words burn in my heart, I must proclaim the Gospel, which is why I write for I am not a full preacher, I am a minister of the Gospel as all ,who have accepted Him, are called to be.

There is Power in the Scriptures, there is symmetry in the Old and New Testaments that paint a fuller picture of God and what He has done and will do for this world and why. There is Truth in those pages and if you but seek it out, He will find you. He will teach you, He will guide you.