Word-Filled Wednesday ~#34~ The Difference

PASSAGE: "Then Peter said [to a crippled man], 'Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.' Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, & instantly the man's feet & ankles became strong. He JUMPED to his feet & began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, WALKING & JUMPING, & PRAISING GOD.'" ~Acts 3:6-8 [emphasis, mine]

"Yet I [Jesus] hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent & do the things you did at first . . . " ~Revelation 2:4

LESSON LEARNED: How long have you been a Christian? What was the difference in your life after your salvation?

I remember the very night I became a Christian ~ I was with a new group of Christian friends {one of those new friends, seated in front of me, would later become my husband} who had taken me to an Imperials concert. The 1st thing to strike me was that, having grown up in music & listening to rock/contemporary music, I learned that Christian music wasn't JUST hymns. (Don't throw stones at me, here, I love most of the older hymns but that is NOT the music that the Lord used to make Himself attractive to me. He used what He knew would work in my life. He's a big God.) Then, as He used that music to draw me in, He completely & utterly revived my soul as they sang "All my life ~ never knowing what I was reaching for . . . always feeling somehow there must be more . . . Looking back ~ Jesus through my life You were everywhere, picking up the pieces I'd scattered there, holding them for me 'til my heart could care . . . " Oh my! THAT was ME!

I prayed the prayer of salvation that night (May 20th, 1982) & I walked out of that concert hall a brand new creature in Christ (II Cor. 5:17). Clean. New. FORGIVEN. I felt like I must glow in the dark. All my filth & sin & shame were gone! I was squeaky clean. I went home & I DANCED!!!

But . . . like so many things in this earthly life, we can take even the best & dearest in our lives for granted; whether the things of Christ or family members or friends. Let's NOT do that any more. We are living in a dying world, let's let our joy & our light shine before men. And when we fail (&, being human, we surely will), let's ask for forgiveness from God & whomever we have offended ~ which will set us apart from many, in itself ~ dust ourselves off & REJOICE once again in being clean, new & FORGIVEN.

THAT's the difference.

Blessings from Ohio . . . Kim<><