A friend asked me the other day, "How do you know that Jesus lives in you and you will have eternal life. Do you have warm, fuzzy feelings or what?" I really had to think about this question.
Not that I don't know in my heart, but how do you explain this to someone else? Especially a non-believer?
I know because the Bible tells me so - Doesn?t that just sound too perfect? It did for me!
Do I know that Jesus lives in me? Yes I do. How? I believe in the absolute truthfulness of the Bible and the Bible says:
John:3:16, 17 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him." 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me. "14:16 "And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;
14:17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you.
14:18 "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
14:19 "After a little while the world will behold Me no more; but you will behold Me; because I live, you shall live also.
14:20 "In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
I have found it a struggle to explain how I know Christ is here, living in my heart, and yet I know He is. I am a new Christian (just three years and a couple of months) and I found myself with "warm, happy, bubbly, overjoyed, too happy, mushy feeling" when I was first saved. It was an emotional high. One I will never forget, and yet now, the emotional highs are not quite as important.
And yet, I still get the highs, the feelings can be compared to a bonfire; when it is roaring and blazing, you can't get close enough to get warm, because the flames are too overwhelming. And yet when the fire settles to a gentle blaze and embers, you can get close enough to warm yourself.
That is how a marriage is. The Fire is so intense you can?t really get close to each other, and then over time, you become comfortable with each other. You open up and let each other see the real you. You still have the sparks of the old fire, now and again, yet the blaze is settling.
That is how I felt with Jesus. I was so "In Love" that I couldn?t get to know Him. Now I can, the blaze has settled. I can get close enough to truly love.
With Christ, I was so scared of Him at first, so tentative that I couldn't enjoy the bond I had been blessed with. Now, He is not only my Savior, He is also my Friend. I find myself on my knees, my face, at the foot of the cross when I pray, and then when I've said my prayers, I walk to the tomb and sit at His feet and talk. At His feet.
Outside the tomb is where I tell Him my fears, my joys, my heartaches, my hopes and dreams. It is such a comfort when He reaches out, strokes my hair. Without a word from Him, I know He understands, that He cares. The Tomb, yes, that is where I meet my Friend.
There are so many times that the old me would yell and scream when things went wrong, and occasionally I find that nature trying to take over, yet Christ has given me so much of Himself, that instead of yelling and screaming, I find myself in prayer. I owe Him that after all He has done for me.
I wish I had written down the dates and times that Christ Himself has spoken to my husband and I over the last three years, and yet I didn't. I do however remember them all. When Christ lives in you, in ALL of YOU, not just here and there, but everywhere, it is impossible to not know. He truly does walk with you, and
He talks with you.
With Christ in our lives, we can?t have any doubts about our Eternal Destination, can we? He promises eternal life:
Matthew: 25:46 "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." John:
10:28 and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.
Editors note
God hates sin but loves the sinner
May His Truth be your truth!
Theresa Leavitt
1999