Once upon a day I was dead in my sin,
Happy and content,
Most certain that all roads lead to God.
Raised in a home
Where the name of Christ,
A curse word uttered by father.
No Bible was found,
No prayers were uttered,
Sunday…time for leisure…no time for church.
Something inside me was stirred,
A longing, a desire,
For faith that others had.
Misguided,
Down wrong path,
Left to my own devises.
Witchcraft seemed so attractive,
So innocently portrayed,
By a sitcom that left me “Bewitched”.
Latchkey and alone,
The world of vampires,
Transported me to “Dark Shadows”.
Unbeknownst to me,
I was firmly on the path,
To hell and eternal separation from God.
Astrology,
So appealing,
Could I really find my way by looking to the stars?
Palm reading,
They promised,
The lines in my hand could reveal my future.
An Ouija board,
Contact with entities,
That could lead me to the other side.
Little did I know,
Of the world,
That would bid me to enter.
Disguised as angel of light,
Satan desired,
That I would share his same fate.
So seemingly innocuous,
A phrase from a movie,
“May the force be with you.”
Oh…but it was more than that.
New age philosophy,
Available at ever turn.
Edgar Casey,
The diaries of Seth,
I even found religion in a “new age church”.
There, no sin was acknowledge,
No Savior was needed,
The cross not necessary to pay the penalty for my sins.
After all, there was reincarnation,
I could advance on my own,
Until I could become one with an all loving god.
But God had a different plan.
From before the foundations of the world,
I was predestined for salvation.
While darkness threatened to overtake me,
Seal my fate for eternity,
God was going to take me from darkness to light.
Surrounded by Christians at every turn,
Forever talking about their Jesus,
Speaking truth from their Holy Bible.
How narrow minded they seemed,
They talked about One Way to salvation,
Through Jesus Christ, their Lord.
Our works could never be good enough,
Our righteousness was as filthy rags,
A sinner, born separated from God.
But Jesus Christ came,
Fully God and fully man,
He bore the penalty for my sin and was nailed to the cross.
He died,
Was buried for three days,
Then…He arose victorious, triumphant from the grave.
God is the One Who was offended,
Set the penalty…a heavy price for my sin,
Death.
He then provided the Way,
Jesus Christ…One with the Father,
Set His glory aside…and He willingly paid the price.
When Scripture was uttered,
The Holy Spirit bore witness,
Enable me, who was dead in my sin, to be alive in Christ.
I must agree with God, repent of my sin,
Believe in my heart, confess with my mouth,
That Jesus Christ is Lord.
At that moment,
I was snatched from hell to heaven,
Eternally secure, kept by my Father.
My salvation is secure,
My fate is certain,
I am saved, by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ my Lord.
By Susan Bunts
February 12, 2008
As one who was dead in my sin…and tried to find my way to God, anyway except through Jesus Christ…I can testify that I was saved by grace, not of my own works, but by God’s grace. He asks that I believe Him and confess Jesus Christ as Lord.
I was on the path to hell. I believed the lies of the enemy for so long. I was ready to follow any path where I could earn my way to heaven, based on my good works. Have God on my own terms…and have Him be my “big genie in the sky” and answer my every wish. I was blinded…self blinded…and deceived by the enemy…the hater of my soul. Make no mistake he is real and he knows his future is certain. He wants to take as many people to hell with him. He’ll give you whatever he can to keep you satisfied where you are at.
I was walking on the edge of hell. A precipice…and if I slipped I would have been there for eternity. A place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth and unimaginable and unending suffering. Do you ever feel alone here on earth? Well that won’t hold candle to the aloneness you will feel in hell…and there will be no end.
There is One Way to salvation…and that’s through faith in Jesus Christ. God’s One and Only Prescription and His acceptable sacrifice for our sins.
That why I get sick and want to vomit when I hear pastors soft sell the Gospel message…or worse say that all roads lead to God. Those pastors who want to entertain and capture the “seekers” rather than build up the body of Christ by teaching the uncompromising Word of God.
The lies of enemy are abounding in this world. Prominent, well respected people are deceived and spreading lies and denying Christ. Oprah Winfrey is promoting “A Course in Miracles” which denies Jesus Christ is God incarnate and the only way to salvation. If the Bible is true…then “A Course in Miracle” is nothing but a lie from the pit of hell. An effective instrument used by Satan to take more people to hell with him.
Which are you going to believe?.
Pastors…are you going to teach the Word of God and equip your people to know the truth of the Word of God so that they can recognize the lies of the enemy even when it’s cleverly and attractively packaged?
“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” – 2 Timothy 4:1-3
Beth Moore says that her salvation is scandalous. My salvation…is miraculous.