The following is an excerpt from my book, “52 Paths to Heaven.”
Having Confidence in My Relationship with Jesus (from the extra chapter, “Not the End”)
Although it isn’t as deeply rooted as I would like, I have a secure confidence that says I would give up anything for Him.
My identity isn’t in myself. My true identity is found in Him. I have that peace about my relationship to God as an adopted son – I’m royalty (John 1;13, Revelation 19:16).
I know I’m going to heaven. No one, says the Lord in John 10:28-29, can take me out of His hand. He emphasizes that promise, repeating it twice within three verses.
“… and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”
The neat thing about Christianity is that I didn’t need to get cleaned up first. I could have been a pornographer, pimp, adulterer, seasoned thief, foul-mouthed gossiper, anger management failure, or a drug addict. Who cares? Jesus didn’t.
After asking Jesus to rule my life, I kept sinning. As a Christian, I’m still allowed to sin. Pretty weird, eh?
The difference is that I now have a relationship with Jesus and that my sins bother me. I keep working on them with Him.
Non-Christians may know that they sin, but they neglect the Jesus as Lord and Savior part. He’s kind of a big deal.
Sure, Jesus hates sin. But sin didn’t push Him away from His desire to keep me from hell. My pride did block Him at every turn until love broke through my deteriorating defenses.
Amazingly, Jesus now even considers me His friend. “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me but I chose you…” (John 15:15-16).
I can’t predict what Jesus will do next in my life, but I can look back, and it gives me great hope and courage as I face my future.
When I’m broken and dependent upon Him, the sky literally is the limit. I picture His graces and mercy in a giant warehouse of balloons, like those stored in the ceilings of the Democratic and Republic conventions. In this case, His balloons could fill Texas. He can’t wait to let the balloons fall so I can pop them and bask in what’s inside – His presence I sense in the quiet of the morning, people, voices, moments, embraces and more. I can’t reach those balloon blessings when my eyes are on me.
To keep my attention on Him, the Lord provides a Code of Conduct in the “fruits of the Spirit” verses. I joke with my family that I don’t like the verses because I fall short on any given day:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:21-23)
The Lord brands His Word in my heart to stretch me. I’m to love Him with all my heart, mind, soul and strength, and to love all neighbors (Mark 12:30-31). Romans 8:13 calms me with the assurance that the Holy Spirit has my back and helps me put to “death the deeds of the body.” Sanctification is a process leading to perfection that may not arrive until the moment I walk into heaven.
If I’m going to stay close to the Lord, I must be devoted to His Word (Psalm 119). In John 15, He’s all about abiding in Him. He wants me so tied to Him that my life is transformed by His voice and presence. Often, that’s really the Holy Spirit working in my life. Where He ends and Jesus begins is a mystery I don’t dwell on that too much.
In his book, Free at Last, Tony Evans encourages Christians to live victoriously. The Lord, he writes, will ensure that we’re as productive as possible. “Being a Christian isn’t just hanging onto Jesus, drawing life from Him, and not producing anything. Even productive believers undergo pruning to increase their fruit-bearing.”
Now that He’s with me, Jesus wants me to ensure that I have the right foundation to see me through the tough times. In the Bible, He tells the story of homes built on sand and the rock.
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.
And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.
Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell – and great was its fall.”
(Matthew 7:24-29)