Origin
Origin
Disarming Deception: I Prayed the Prayer, Pt 1
We are disarming the deception that salvation is just praying a prayer. We minimize a vibrant and growing relationship with Jesus by reducing it to just saying "right" words. Join us at the Origin table as we talk about what salvation is, what it isn't and how to keep it fresh and growing.
Welcome back to the table of Origin. This season, we're going to deal with disarming deception. This ought to be an interesting, fun season. We're going to have a lot of good conversations. We're going to deal with common deceptions held either by the culture or even within the church, because at times the culture finds its way into the church. It's really not supposed to be that way. The church is supposed to take Word of God into our culture. Today and in the days following, we want to disarm deception. You do that with the truth. I welcome back to the table my friends, Kyli Rose and Jina McAfee. We want to welcome you, the listening audience, as well. We're glad you're joining in. We want to launch right into today's deception with some scriptural foundation. Jina, share some foundation with us.
Jina McAfee:For foundation, I'm going to go straight to
Scripture. Acts 2:21 says this:"And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Romans
10:9 says, "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." I want you to realize as we go through our study today, you'll see that these two Scriptures are the launching pads, the beginning points, the place where we start, but God's plan is always for more.
ReGina Johnston:Help me understand why this phrase, "I prayed the prayer," is a deception that we want to talk about. What about that can be deceptive?
Kyli Rose:I think it's the idea that it's this one-and-done moment on a timeline. We did it when we were eight years old, and that's that. There may not have been a lot of change since that point in time, but I prayed the salvation prayer, so I'm good.
Jina McAfee:Yes. It's the thought that all that's needed is just a prayer and you're ready for eternity. But it's
ReGina Johnston:Yes. We pray a prayer asking Jesus to be Lord of our lives, to forgive us of our sins, of our disobedience to His Word. The Bible tells us that sin entered into the world by one man, by Adam; we're all sinners because of that really a life change, a lifestyle, a relationship. The salvation prayer is the beginning of a relationship with bloodline, that Adamic bloodline. But Jesus then brought a new and better way. He paid for our sins on the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ. and we can accept Him as our Lord and Savior. We call that salvation.
Jina McAfee:When we look at "I Prayed the Prayer," the concern is that there are people that think they're fine, that they're ready for eternity. We want them to know that there has to be a life change. We want them to get that so they have time to pursue God, to know Him.
Kyli Rose:I think a lot of times when that prayer is prayed, it can be fear motivated, like, "I just don't want to go to hell." That is a part of it, but I think that you miss the benefits that come with true salvation, with inside-out transformation. If it's just fire insurance for something at the very end of your life, you miss all the good stuff in between. I think He meant for us to have that moment of praying the prayer and then from that moment, letting it be this launching pad into a life that's full and beautiful and whole and peace-filled. It's so much more than just a moment where there is no transformation that accompanies it. When we see it as just a moment, we miss out on a lot.
ReGina Johnston:So let's broaden our perspective. Let's break down that term"salvation." Let's talk about what salvation is not for a few minutes. Kyli, can you help us with that?
Kyli Rose:Salvation is not just praying a prayer, right. So here at the church we attend, at Bethel, we believe that when you pray the prayer of repentance, that's what we call it, that you're accepting Jesus as Lord of your life. You're saying, "I have been running my life, and I'm not doing a very good job of it." It's essentially like you are taking a knee and saying,"You are Lord." We do that. It's not just saying a prayer. Our pastor or whoever is leading the service will lead us in the salvation prayer regularly at our church. The Bible says that if you prayed the prayer, if you confess with your mouth and you believe in your heart, then you are saved (Romans 10:9). So praying the prayer is part of it. But it's not just the prayer. It's accompanied by faith. Something happens by faith in that moment. It's why we pray the prayer. Romans tells us to confess with your mouth, believe in your heart, and you will be saved. We believe it's not just this momentary experience, right? It's this daily lifestyle. It started with the prayer, but then it has this practical aspect of walking with Him and becoming more like Him. Spiritual formation begins. You begin to look more and more like Jesus every single day. It starts with the prayer, but then it grows and evolves and you mature in your faith. The goal is that you look a whole lot like Jesus every single day. This is important. When Zack and I got married on December 17, we made our vows to But, "I'll see You Sunday!" one another. He made some promises to me, and I made some promises to him. It would be like us standing at the altar, exchanging those vows, and then getting in the car afterwards Yes, "I'll see you Sunday!" and saying something like, "You know what? I'll see you tomorrow morning. I've actually got a date this evening. Or, I'll see you next week. I've got some things to do. I've got some people to meet. I've got a few dates scheduled." That would just be bizarre, right? We know that that would be a marriage
ReGina Johnston:"We're good!" that would not make it. Oftentimes, we treat our
Kyli Rose:Yes, "We're good!" It just doesn't work. You miss
ReGina Johnston:There's a regular transformation we see in relationship with Jesus just like that. I am promising myself out on all the benefits of that relationship. And that's exactly
it. Share 2 Corinthians 3:18 with us. to You, and I believe You have promised Yourself to me. There was an exchange that took place in that moment. what it was meant to be, a relationship. We see some of the foundation if we want to see what the Bible has to say about
it. In Ephesians 4:22-24, it says, "Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust
Kyli Rose: 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, "But we all, with unveiled and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and your attitudes. [This is something that should be continually happening our whole life, the whole time we're serving Jesus.] Put on your new nature, created to be like God--truly righteous and holy." Whenever you ask Jesus to be Lord of your life, you get the deposit of the Holy Spirit as well. There is this divine exchange that takes place. You take off your old sinful nature, and you put on a new garment of face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being righteousness. That's what He gives you. Then he fills you with the Holy Spirit, and you now have every tool you need to transformed into the same image from glory to glory." Whenever be continually laying down that corrupt self and walking in your you see that "from glory to glory," the first glory there is new created self. That's what we get. That's what we have access actually talking about the law. The second glory is the new to. The wording there is really strong--to throw off, to lay covenant. That's the gospel of Jesus. So you're actually being off, to put aside, to renounce. And you are putting on a transformed from behavior modification to relationship, complete and total change. You're a totally different person. That's what you have the ability to be. something that's relationship oriented. There's this inward transformation. That's the gospel. That's what the gospel of Jesus does. That is the only response--this transformation from the inside out. So we're not interested in surface behavior change, but inward transformation.
Jina McAfee:I love that Scripture too. I haven't heard what you just spoke. I think of going from glory to glory as you're continually becoming more and more and more and more like Him. It's a journey which takes place your whole life.
ReGina Johnston:I also liked this concept from the previous scripture in Ephesians that Kyli read that gives us the part that we do. We throw off, lay off, put aside, renounce who we were
previously. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says that "we, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed. So the transformation process or the transforming work is not on us. It happens because we're beholding Jesus in the Word and becoming more like Him. And He does that transformation work in us. Sometimes we're just thinking, "I just need to try to be more like Jesus, I need to try. Oh, if I can just be more like Jesus." But if we can just behold Him, just behold him in a mirror. When we behold ourselves in the mirror, oftentimes, it's not just a glance. it can be just a glance, but I dare say, there are times in the day when you behold yourself a little more than just a glance in the
mirror. That's the concept here:to really look at Him, and to really watch Him and really observe Him. And in the doing, we fall in love with Him, and we become more like Him. We're transformed.
Kyli Rose:I think one good question, one introspective question to ask is, "Do I look any different than I did the day I asked Jesus to be Lord of my life? How much? How much has that decision changed the trajectory of my thinking, my speech, my response to frustrations, to circumstances?" There should be a change. Because the idea here is that it's this continual process that I'm becoming more and more and more like Him, from that moment of salvation to the day I see Him face to face. So I if I haven't matured, maybe I have more lines on my face than I did the day I asked him, but if I'm still in the same place, spiritually, if I have not matured, I haven't fully grasped the fullness of what salvation means.
Jina McAfee:So salvation isn't just praying a prayer. But Jina, there's more that salvation is not. Talk to us about that. So one thing, salvation is not just living a good life or doing good works. I know all the time I was growing up, my dad was unsaved. My mom would say, "He's a good man." And I would say,"Yes. He is." He visited people in the hospital. He visited people who were in long-term care. He went to funerals. He was super honest. He had great integrity. But, that wasn't enough. It just wasn't enough. James 2:18 says this: "Now someone may argue, 'Some people have faith; others have good deeds.' But I say, 'How can you show me your faith if you don't have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.'" When we know God, we do have good deeds, but you've got to know Him. It's got to be from Him. We've got to give Him credit. And it's not just going to church. I know sometimes people will have a checklist, like went to church, check. And if that's all it is, that's not it. It's got to be a relationship. So good works are important. Going to church is important. Those are behaviors. But because I'm married, and I love my husband, just like Kyli said, I want to do things for him. I want to be with him. I want to talk to him. I want to share life with him. Because we love the Lord, we do good things. But without Him, without Christ in our hearts, the Bible says this, "Our righteousness is like filthy rags." And the truth is we can slip into that so quickly and so easily if we don't have what Regina said, that peering into the mirror, looking, being washed by the Word every single day. We really need that every day. Because we love the Lord, we come after Him. And it's out of that pursuit that we do good works. We go to church, because we want to be with His family. It's our family.
ReGina Johnston:We're connected. The Bible talks about us being the body of Christ. And, you know, a body is connected to be effective.
Jina McAfee:One more thing salvation isn't: it's not just saying, "I'm sorry," or "God forgive me." What does it speak if you keep doing the exact same thing over and over again? Kyli, said, "When you look in the mirror, you should see a change." Does that mean you see perfection? No, but you're going to see some things change. If you really are in that process of change, your behavior should change, right? It should, because He empowers us to live differently. And we want to live differently.
Kyli Rose:I think sometimes we know the right things to do. So I feel like you can try and adjust behaviors on your own. And we see some people do that, and you can feel the hollowness. It just loses its life. And then sometimes you'll hear a lot of criticism like, "I'm doing all these things well, and they should get their lives together." But that's really just not the heart of God. Our behaviors should be this response to everything He has done for us. How else could I respond but to give You every single part of me? I think sometimes, we can actually begin to think that we've got it together just a little bit. And so we think that we've cleaned ourselves up enough, and that we're actually deserving of it. And I think that's a really dangerous place to be. I think we're constantly needing to just remind ourselves how desperately we need grace. It's like it renews the fire again in your walk with Jesus. I think whenever you're a Christian long enough, you know all the right things to do, and you're probably doing them. You're probably not wrestling with some of these big things or renouncing your faith. But your walk might feel really dry and really just rote, like an old hat. I think we need to bring ourselves back to that moment, where we realized that we were desperate for a Savior, how broken and dirty and messed up we were, and that God reached down into my story, and He pulled me up. The only way that I could possibly respond to that kind of grace and mercy is to give Him everything in return. It's a life-filled giving, not just this duty. It's a deep desire to know Him. It's different. It's different.
Jina McAfee:On the other hand, when we look in the mirror, sometimes we don't see the great change that's happened in us. Sometimes we don't see it, but other people will actually speak it to us. If we're walking with Him, we are being changed.
ReGina Johnston:Transformation.
Jina McAfee:We are seeing that happen. It's not just a perfect upward line. Sometimes it's a spiral up--struggling a little bit but still going forward. If you're walking with Him, you can know you're being changed.
ReGina Johnston:Right, by faith for sure. But then you can look back over time, and it doesn't take a lot of time, you can look back over three weeks and see a difference. We are in a microwave society where we want to pop it in the microwave and see a difference in 30 seconds. That's not how it happens. So let's talk a little bit about what salvation is. It is an inward decision to follow Christ. That's where it starts. In my heart. I'm hearing the conviction of Holy Spirit. It's Holy Spirit who draws us to Jesus. And I'm hearing that. I may not know that's what it is. But if I'm being drawn, if I'm realizing there's a lack, and I'm being drawn to the Lord, that's the Holy Spirit drawing me to this inward decision, where I choose Jesus. And that's a choice. And then that's followed by repentance. I'm choosing Jesus. I mean, it can be either way. I can repent first and then choose Jesus. But either way, when I'm choosing Jesus, I'm repenting from some of the things that I have done in the past, from the way that I lived before, from just doing things my own way. We don't look at that as sin sometimes, but it is. We are saying, "I'm not going to follow my own rules, my own way, do my own thing, me do me, anymore. I'm going to follow Jesus." So Jina, there's a Scripture about repentance from 1 John 1:8-10. I want you to share that with us.
Jina McAfee:This is what it says, "If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that His Word has no place in our hearts." We do have to recognize that we are in need of a Savior. When that happens, it's like you're walking in one direction and you make a 180 degree turn and go in the complete opposite direction.
ReGina Johnston:So salvation is an inward decision to follow Christ, repentance, which is a heart change, a total 180, and we receive that by faith. So help me with that, Kyli. Give me some foundation.
Kyli Rose:Yes. We see this in Romans 10: 9 & 10. It says, "If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, then you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved."
ReGina Johnston:We see that we have this inward decision, following this repentance, this heart change that we've received by faith, and we see a lifestyle of obedience. We call this sanctification. That's a big word, but it just means, "a daily cleansing and obedience to the Word." Here's some scriptural foundation for that from 2 Timothy 2:21: "If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. [I had a picture of unrolling my utensils in a restaurant and having a fork with this big crusty piece of food on it. You don't want to eat with that, right? It's not useful. Please take this fork away from the table. This is the picture I get in my mind's eye.] If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use for every good work." That's the sanctification process. But again, let me just say, it's not that we do that by trying and trying and trying and trying to be good. We do that by drawing near to Jesus, peering into the mirror, beholding His Word, as beholding in a mirror, and becoming like Him in relationship. This brings me to a very important and often controversial question. We're going to try to tiptoe through the tulips on this question, but yet, answer it to the best of our ability. So Jina, can I lose salvation?
Jina McAfee:We know that God has given us all choice. He gives us choice of life and death. We're going to go to
Deuteronomy 30:19. In this verse, Moses is talking about God's plan for our lives, to walk in covenant with Him, to walk His way, to do what He's called us to do. And he says
this:"Today I have given you the choice between life and death, [You know, every choice really is a life or death choice] between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, [Can you just hear God saying, Oh, that you would choose life] so that you and your descendants [you and your kids] might live." The coolest thing is, just like Regina said, you have a part and God has a part. God enables us. And His way is better. He makes it very clear in His Word. He made us. He knows what will bring us life and blessings. And He gives us a choice.
ReGina Johnston:He gives us a choice. But then what?
Kyli Rose: John 10:28 & 29 says,"I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from Me, for My Father has given them to Me, and He is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father's hand."
ReGina Johnston:So we see that we have a choice. And no one can I can walk away. I can choose to walk away. I can knowingly just take our salvation from us, no one. So the question is: "Can we lose our salvation?" In that choice, Jina, what can we do? walk away. And we see people do that. I think sometimes the thought process is if you really knew who Jesus was, you would never walk away. I mean, scripturally,
in 1 Timothy 4:1, it says to us,"Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons." I mean, clearly, some will make the choice to turn away. We even see with the disciples who walked with Jesus, who slept with Jesus, who had that tangible life experience with Him for three years, they scattered. Did they come back? Yes, they did, but they scattered. Does God still love them? Absolutely. Does He still yearn for them? Absolutely. Did He create them? Absolutely. Does He want restored relationship with them? Absolutely. But they scattered. So we're seeing here in the Scripture in First Timothy, that we can choose to walk away from God. If we cannot choose to walk away from God, then we're taking away the power of choice that God gave every individual. And how do you love someone obligatorily? If it's an obligation, it's not love. And every day, it needs to be a choice.
Kyli Rose:It's the most dignifying thing that He gives us as His kids.
ReGina Johnston:It is dignifying.
Jina McAfee:I think about how He chose us. And He comes after us. And, He wants to be chosen by us.
ReGina Johnston:Choice sets us apart from nature--from animals, from trees, from creation. It sets us apart. It animates us. So how do we keep our salvation, our relationship with Jesus fresh?
Kyli Rose:We want to seek God above all else. We know this is the right answer, but it is hard to do. In Matthew 6:33, He tells us, "Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you." All of that hinges on whether or not I am keeping Him first, first priority. So we see that He actually does the work. Our job is to just stay connected to Him. Jesus is the vine. My job is just simply to stay connected. If you stay connected to the vine, you will produce fruit. And it will look like Jesus. An apple tree will never produce oranges. So we need to pay attention to what we stay connected to. If we will make it our job to stay close to Jesus, then that fruit should flow from us. Prioritize proximity to Jesus. Transformation comes to those who seek Him. Whenever you are following after Jesus, He will transform your life. He'll transform your speech. He'll transform the way you think. He'll transform the broken parts of you. He'll transform generational curses, things you thought were a part of your identity, but they're actually not. He transforms everything. We see that Jesus was sought out by a man in the New Testament. His name was Nicodemus. He was a religious leader, and he was curious about Jesus. A lot of his colleagues were very critical of Jesus and skeptical of Jesus and even hostile towards Jesus. We see this man, and I love this story, he wasn't brave enough to come and ask his questions in the light of day. He came at nighttime. He came under the veil of darkness. And he had a lot of questions. Now, he was not sure. He came full of questions and a whole lot of doubt, but he came. And Jesus met him there. And I love that because it gives us permission to come. You might not be the one who knows all the things or maybe you're very skeptical, and you have so many questions. But Jesus says, "Come anyway; bring them all to Me. I can handle any questions. I can handle all your doubt." I love that. And we see transformation take place. We meet Nicodemus in John 3. In
John 19:38 & 39, we get to see Nicodemus again. The first time we meet him, he's full of questions, he's full of doubt, and he is coming under the cover of darkness. In John 19, it says, "Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. [Jesus had been crucified. They're wanting to give him a proper burial.] Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds." So we see this transformation take place.
ReGina Johnston:Obvious growth. In his belief, an obvious growth. I love that.
Jina McAfee:He wasn't afraid anymore.
Kyli Rose:In daylight, he came. And then we see there's something really significant about what he presented to Jesus at that burial. Just a little bit of history here: Oftentimes, when they would bury their dead, they would present about one pound of spices. It wouldn't have been uncommon for a person of importance to be honored with more spices. We see that just by the amount he brought, he is showing that Jesus is so important. This would have been in line with what you would have presented to someone who was Royal. So not only is he not hiding in the shadows of darkness anymore, but he is openly declaring, "You are Lord!" I love that so so much. It was such an extravagant gift.
ReGina Johnston:I do believe that when we truly encounter Jesus, we can be changed. We just need to pursue Him every day, and be able to say today, at the end of every day, when we lay our head on our pillow at night, "Today, I've been transformed by my relationship with Jesus. I've been changed today. I'm not who I was yesterday." So I love that. But you have to ask yourself that question, "Has anything changed over the process of time, in my serving Jesus? Has there been an increase from glory to glory, a new level of relationship to a newer level of relationship? Are we having that progressive walk?" So Jina, tell us more about how to keep our salvation fresh.
Jina McAfee:So not only do we pursue Him and put Him first, there needs to be regular repentance. We talked about repentance at the time of salvation, at the time that you first believe, you repent of your old way. But we still, on this side of heaven, we're living in this world, and we still sin. And one of the Holy Spirit's functions is that He convicts us of sin. He does that so we'll quickly repent, and make ourselves right with God. Until we do, there's stress inside of us. Our relationship is not right. When we do repent, we experience freedom. We are called to regular repentance. In fact, many of you may know the Lord's Prayer, "Our Father who art in heaven...." In that prayer which many people pray daily, there is a line of repentance. It says, "Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us." So it needs to be regular and progressive. In other words, you will see the progression from glory to glory. When you first come to know the Lord, Holy Spirit may show you something that is life changing. Then as you walk closer and closer with Him, it might be smaller things that you don't even notice. He'll bring them to your attention. So you're becoming more and more and more like Him your whole life. It never ends.
Kyli Rose:I read something the other day, and it was talking about how repentance really is the key to victory. You're removing any obstacles. It opens up pathways that are blocked.
Jina McAfee:I know sometimes when Holy Spirit reveals something to me, it's like I can't rest until I make it right. You know what I mean? Sometimes with another person as well, but always with the Lord.
ReGina Johnston:So let's talk about some of those benefits to regular repentance. I want to look at a Scripture in Daniel for just a little bit. Actually I'm not going to read it, I might read parts of it, but I just want to talk about it and set it up. In the book of Daniel, chapter 10, exiles have begun to return to Jerusalem. Daniel is now 84 years old, but he has not laid down purpose. So if you have a pulse, you have a purpose. The people have gone back to face opposition in their homeland. They're homeless in their homeland. How interesting is that? And Daniel knows this, and he's sad. He's mourning for his people. He's in this season of mourning over their sin. It's very important when we deal with repentance that there's a true sorrow over our sin. Daniel is mourning over that and the things that separated Israel from their purpose. He's mourning, he's fasting and seeking God. He's repenting. For three weeks he's been doing this trying to get clarity regarding what is going on. After his fasting and seeking God, he's praying and something happens. Beginning in verse five, Daniel says, "I looked up and saw a man dressed in linen clothing with a belt of pure gold around his waist. His body looked like a precious gem. His face flashed like lightning and his eyes flamed like torches. His arms and feet shone like polished bronze, and his voice roared like a vast multitude of people.[Now verse seven holds the key.] Only I, Daniel, saw this vision. The men with me saw nothing." So interesting. Here, he has been set apart, spending time with the Lord, repenting, mourning over sin, fasting and praying, and all of a sudden, he has this clear vision of Jesus Christ. Repentance, regular repentance, will clarify our vision of Jesus. Jina, share with us another benefit of repentance.
Jina McAfee:From this same passage of Scripture in Daniel 10, we see a second benefit is that our fear is gone. When Daniel had this vision, it says that his strength left him and his face grew pale, deathly pale, and he felt very weak. But in verse 10 we see, "Just then a hand touched me and lifted me, still trembling, to my hands and knees. And the man said to me,'Daniel, you are very precious to God, so listen carefully to what I have to say to you. Stand up, for I have been sent to you.' When he said this to me, I stood up, still trembling.[verse 12] Then he said, 'Don't be afraid, Daniel, Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer.'" So two things: he knows he's loved. He knows he's very precious to God, he's very loved. Second, Daniel knows that he is heard, since the moment he started praying three weeks ago. Nothing more greatly moves fear and causes us to feel secure than knowing that God loves us and hears us.
ReGina Johnston:Absolutely. I love that reassurance that God gives Daniel. And He's reassured me in just that same way, I can testify to that. And I wonder, is He trying to reassure someone in our listening audience today? You are loved. You are heard? That's a benefit to regular repentance. The Lord doesn't come in and say, "I told you you've been doing the wrong thing. Finally, you're agreeing with Me." No, He says, "You are loved. You are heard." So Kyli, what's another benefit to regular repentance?
Kyli Rose:We see a third benefit of repentance: Daniel received a new pair of lips. Daniel was given new lips that had been touched by God's hand. Daniel 10:16 says, "Then the one who looked like a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and I began to speak." We see that whenever the Lord touched his And then we see the fourth benefit of repentance is peace and strength. I tell you, nothing wears you out more than lips that he began to speak with freedom. And he began to speak holding onto something when you were supposed to take a knee and bow and let it go. Whenever my husband, Zack, and I have been with boldness. And I think that's what happens when we have in a conflict, and we have just been at it, and we refuse to take a knee--like I'm in my corner, and I'm just in my position, I will not move, and he's in his corner and he has an encounter with the Lord. The Lord fills our mouth, He fills taken his position and he will not move--I cannot tell you how poor my sleep is. My mind is in tension and chaos. You know that lump you get right here. It's like your whole stomach is in a our mouth with a testimony, He gives us a story to tell, and knot. If you are sensing that the Holy Spirit is asking you to take a knee, release your position, take a knee and say,"God, I am sorry." You will receive peace. And it will it's all about Him. He's the center of the story. We need a strengthen your body, your mind and your spirit almost instantly. There is something about saying, "I am so sorry. Your way is better than my way. Your thoughts are higher than my testimony because we overcome with a testimony. Whenever we thoughts. I thought I knew, but I didn't. And I'm sorry." And He will come in and He is so gracious and so kind in that moment. That is a huge benefit of repentance. It brings peace meet Him in repentance, our testimony is: He meets me there and strength. You can finally see things clearly. We see in that passage there was actually a battle going on in the every single time. And He welcomes me and He welcomes me heavenlies for 21 days. And it says in Daniel 10:19, "As he spoke these words to me, I suddenly felt stronger and said to him, 'Please speak to me, my lord, for you have strengthened back in and He forgives me. He is so faithful. me.'" There is something so supernatural about repentance. It's one of the sweetest gifts that God gives us.
ReGina Johnston:Right, so we've been talking about keeping our salvation fresh. We talked about seeking God above all else. We talked about regular repentance and the benefits that brings. There are some other things that help us keep our salvation fresh. Jina, share with me, what else?
Jina McAfee:So one thing is a life of worship. Now, we're not talking about the time that you sing to the Lord in a service. We're talking about your lifestyle, how you live. In
Romans 12:1, Paul says,"Therefore, brothers, by the mercy of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God: this is your spiritual worship." It's worship. The NLT says it like this, "And, so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice--the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him." We're not copying the behavior of the world. We're letting God transform us by the way we think, and the way we live. And lastly, we stay connected to the body of Christ, which is His church. We stay connected. God tells us to do that. The body is living. It's alive. It's a family, God's family. First Corinthians 12:27 says, "All of you together are Christ's body, and each of you is a part of it." Each of you is an important part. You don't look exactly alike, but you're all part of it. And then Hebrews
10:25 says, "Let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do." We have got to encourage one another. When you come and meet with me at church, it encourages me. I know you have thought this was important, that you're going to come and be with me and stand with me as we praise the Lord together. His return is drawing near. We've got to be ready.
ReGina Johnston:So today, we want to disarm the deception that salvation is just praying a prayer. It's a relationship with Jesus that is progressive growth towards Him. And so I want to ask us today, "How are we growing towards Jesus? How's that working for you?" I love this, quote, "Learn to love the sound of your feet walking away from things not meant for you and walking towards the One who gave everything for you." So, I'm going to pray for you today as we close. Lord Jesus, I pray for those listening today that they would be encouraged by what they've heard. If there are those that don't know You, Lord, that we've given them a clear path to how to know You, that we would just repent of our sins, and confess them and then confess You as Lord and Savior and invite You to lead. We choose not to follow our own way anymore, but to grow in relationship with You and get to know You and follow Your ways. Lord, help us, help us Holy Spirit, to learn to love the sound of our feet walking away from things not meant for us though they may look good to the human eye, though, we may be able to reason their goodness according to culture, that we would see beneath that to the root of things and walk away and that we would run, not walk, run towards the One who gave us everything. In Jesus' name. Amen.