Testimony and Salvation

If you are a Christian, then you have been given the ministry of reconciliation. This means we need to be ready at any given time to  it only share our testimony but also the message of Salvation. You never know what the Holy Spirt may do though you and what obedience may mean for someone’s eternity.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hey friends, and thanks for joining me for Unfiltered with Jesse B. Now, before we get started, I want to give some recognition to new friends in Dallas, Texas, Atlanta and Riverdale, Georgia, Gallatin and Johnson City, Tennessee, all right here within the States, and then our international friends in Morocco, Columbia, Bangladesh, and Tunisia. I appreciate and pray for all of you and your area of residence. And depending on how the Lord leads, I may or may not ever get the opportunity to meet you guys face to face, but I do look forward to our reunion in heaven someday. As this audience expands, I do think it's important to address salvation. We need to never forget how we came to Christ and be ready to share that testimony and the message of salvation at any time. 2 Corinthians 5, 18 through 19 lets us know that as believers, we have all been given the ministry of reconciliation, which is the divine calling, given to proclaim and invite all to restore their broken relationship with God through his only Son, Jesus. As believers, we are to serve as Christ's ambassadors, extending God's grace and forgiveness to others. I also understand that there may be listeners out there who have not yet accepted Christ as Savior, but they're just listening because they're curious about the Christian journey, and that's fine. So I just want to talk to everybody a little bit here and briefly share my testimony. I accepted Jesus when I was 14 years old, and I shared that on my very first podcast titled Hello, It's Me. I was raised in the Church of the Nazarene and attended there all my life up until a few years ago, where I am now at a non-denominational Pentecostal church. I always knew about God, Jesus, and some extent of the Holy Spirit. I can almost guarantee you that growing up I knew more songs, courses, and hymns and sermons than any other teenager in my area. I would listen to the testimonies of the adults, in particular the older adults, who had been Christians for decades and never regretted walking with the Lord. I figured whatever it was that was keeping them faithful to the Lord, I knew I didn't have it, and I wanted it. That's when I realized that Christianity is not a religion. It's not a club to be joined. It's not just about being a good person, but it's about having an active relationship with a real living God, the God. Now my great grandmother Elsie and her sister, my great aunt Hazel, lived just literally a stone's throw away from each other on an old dirt country road. And I would often ride my bike over there on Saturday mornings to visit with them. I remember walking up one day and hearing my grandma praying and sobbing. She was sitting at the dining room table with her hands folded, eyes closed facing the east. Now I don't know that she was intentionally facing the east, it was just her spot at the dinner table. These weren't tears of sadness, though, they were tears of overwhelming joy, just basking in the presence of her Lord. I don't remember any words being uttered that I can make out, but I don't think it's too far fetched that she was likely speaking in a heavenly language that was only understood to God. Some may differ with me on this, but regardless, there was no mistaking. She was clearly in the presence of the Lord, and I was not to interrupt. After that prayer was over, I hung around outside a little bit and walked up to the screen door as if I had just gotten there. She did not speak a word about that prayer, but I can tell you that I have never seen peace on someone's face like I saw on hers. No emotion, just peace, and I knew then that this thing was real. So several weeks passed, but the tugging on my heart only got stronger. I spoke to my uncle after church one evening and said, I want to get saved. We knelt at my great grandfather's headstone in the cemetery that's just right across the road from the church, and we prayed through, and I accepted the Lord as Savior then and there. Some of you may have more exciting conversion stories, some may have quiet ones like me, and either is okay. The important thing is that Christ has made you new. He's made me new. Now, at some point, probably next week, I will be talking about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, the three in one, but they all have distinct roles and functions that we need to be clear on. So for those who may be listening and haven't accepted Christ, I'll give the elements to that prayer. I don't want to recite some generic prayer saying, repeat after me, because those repeated prayers aren't the same as the ones that come from the individual heart, and that's just my opinion. But there are necessary elements to that prayer. One is acknowledging that you are a sinner. Romans 3 23 tells us that all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. The second element is acknowledging that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came to take your place in the punishment of sin by death on the cross. He defeated Satan and hell and the grave and rose again on the third day. He is alive and well. And in order to accept his gift of salvation, you'll need to acknowledge that he is your Savior and that you want to make him Lord of your life from this point forward in Jesus' name. If you have done that or will be doing that soon, congratulations. It is the most important decision that you will ever make. For those of you who have already accepted Christ, as I said, be prepared to share your testimony and be prepared to share the message of salvation at any given time. So I appreciate you guys for listening, and I just hope that everybody has a relaxing weekend, and I will talk to you again on Sunday evening. Thank you.