Gambling With Grace: A Journey to Freedom

ISBN-13: 9781463622046 / Angielski / Miękka / 2011 / 138 str.

Ben Ellard; Melissa Goble; Tasha York

Opis

I became a Christian at the age of sixteen but found my sanity when I was twenty-two. When I became a Christian, I didn't go forward on a Sunday morning and recite a prayer, or fill out a questionnaire so that people knew that I understood what I was doing. In my case, my uncertainty of where I would spend eternity just caught up with me one night. I was lying in my bed on Friday night, January 29, 2002 and I cried out to Jesus to come into my life and be my Savior. A miraculous rush came over me that night, one that I could not identify at the time. All I knew was that I was no longer destined for hell, rather my final destination was now with Christ in the heavenly realms. I didn't know what that looked like at the time and I am still not sure. I became a Christian when I realized that if heaven is just a shack and if Jesus is there with me, I would be more than ecstatic with that. I was adopted by Him. He saved me. However, this sense of liberation lasted only a short time. What I thought was going to be this incredible relationship with the Almighty God, turned out to be like an exchange of burdens; meaning, that when I decided to follow Christ, I anticipated a relationship. I thought I was going to be able to cast all my junk on Him and He would love me. What I found out is that most people in practice do not agree with that statement. The more I went to church, the more I found out how unrighteous I was, how incredibly bad I sin, and how I can never measure up. The solution? I tried to buck up, tried harder, and did my best to sell out for Him. I had exchanged my burden of sin for a whole new set of burdens; the Law... Then] In September of 2008, I went to Fishers, Indiana, to hang out with a family friend, Rusty Kennedy. We went to a football game, which I do not remember, where Rusty sensed the motivation to tell me about how I can live free-free to live out of who God says I am, and he unpacked this thing called grace. He laid it out there like a buffet of glorious food. It was like hearing the Gospel for the very first time. The message of grace was liberating and has since completely changed my perspective of life. From that September night, I began to understand the good news of the Gospel. I realized that His grace is enough and my behavior does not dictate who I am, but my new birth in Christ does. I started to understand that there has only been one person that had perfect behavior and it is by His grace that I can desire purity. Soon, I discovered that this perspective enables me to live the free abundant life He offers.