US columnist CAROL ROUND, in an article first published by ASSIST News Service, on what it means to begin afresh in Christ…
Grove, Oklahoma, US
Via ASSIST News Service
“When someone becomes a Christian, he becomes a brand new person inside. He is not the same anymore. A new life has begun!” – II Corinthians 5:17 (TLB).
PICTURE: Joshua Earle/Unsplash
As I clipped and then filed her fingernails, I listened as my soon-to-be 89-year-old friend relived her past. Josie has been hospitalised or in rehab since May of this year. She was injured in an automobile accident, killing the driver, her husband Dave.
I’ve known Josie since 2001 when we became neighbors. However, there was much of her past I did not know, like the fact her only daughter is adopted. As my friend shared her journey from her first marriage and the adoption of Monica, I asked more questions. She readily shared, including the circumstances of her first husband’s death.
I held back tears as she described in details the adoption process and her fears of someone returning to claim her daughter, not born of her body, but of her heart.
“I was so afraid,” she said. “I wanted to hold her close and never put her down.”
Although I have two biological sons, I could understand Josie’s fears. When my sons were younger, my fears sometimes led me down paths of “what if?” What if they were kidnapped? What if I lost one of them in a crowd? I thought I’d lost my youngest son once at the Tulsa State Fair. However, I discovered later he was with his father. At the time, I thought one of my biggest fears had become real.
What has become real for me is my fears no longer dictate my life. After recommitting my life to Jesus Christ over 16 years ago, my faith in my Heavenly Father has grown, leaving me with a peace only He can provide.
He is my Provider and my Protector. He is my Rock and my Redeemer. He is my Help and my Hope.
Where do you place your hope? Is it in money and possessions? Is it in the government? Your own strength and knowledge?
Christian missionary and author John C Broger once said, “The hope that God has provided for you is not merely a wish. Neither is it dependent on other people, possessions, or circumstances for its validity. Instead, biblical hope is an application of your faith that supplies a confident expectation in God’s fulfillment of His promises. Coupled with faith and love, hope is part of the abiding characteristics in a believer’s life.”
Although some people believe in God, they haven’t completely surrendered to Christ. For some, it’s a matter of believing they aren’t good enough. No one is.
For others, it’s a matter of sin. They think their sins are beyond forgiveness. They’re not.
A fear of change can also hamper some from surrendering to Jesus.
II Corinthians 5:17 tells us we become a brand new person on the inside when we surrender to Jesus. That change means we can begin anew. When we embrace the living God, our desires begin to line up with His. He doesn’t ask us to change. We’ll want to experience a new beginning through Him.
