(When God gives a word to a person it's not uncommon for Him to give the same word to someone else, it's a way of staying in check and knowing that this is God speaking.
Lately God has done this regularly for me and I am very thankful. When you are writing things in the Christian world you have to be very careful to not insert your own words or let there be any influence other than the Lord. With that being said, He has put on my heart the need to write about learning to be who He wants us to be and then walking in it. I have hesitated and even pulled back from writing on this! There are so many others qualified more than I am! But if I don't write what He gives me, I won't be in obedience and luckily He has had some other's, more well known that Lorna Mercer, write on this subject so it has prodded me to do my writing!)
When you claim to believe in Jesus, what does that mean? Many know that Jesus was a man and that he did actually live in Israel. Does that make them Christians? No.
So what does it take to make a person a Christian? The early day disciples were people who followed Christ, they were able to sit at His feet and hear His voice. That would be ideal! But now the way we are able to follow Him is to read His word. That is how we're able to sit at His feet and hear His own words.
If a person goes to a new country and wants to be a citizen of that country they need to learn their language and study their customs and history. The same is true of becoming a Christian, it's like becoming a citizen of a country with no borders, but it still has a language to learn, and customs and history to study.
To believe in Christ as your Saviour is more than just repeating some words. It changes your life! You transfer your citizenship, you put away your old language, you learn to speak as your Saviour speaks, you put away your old customs and learn the new customs of the One that you claim to follow and you study His history. In His words "you are a new creation". 2 Corinthians 5:17
Granted, it's not easy to learn a new language, I did take a Spanish class and it was the most difficult class I was ever in. So I agree that you may progress slowly at first, as I did in Spanish, but the more you study and try to speak in the way that Jesus would have you speak the easier it becomes! You learn to speak in love and faith. You put away fear, criticism and hatred because they are not part of the language of your Saviour.
As His student you should study His history, the truth of Jesus's life and death become part of who you are. You live in a way to honor Him because He lived and died that you could be free and not condemned to death! He freed you from always being controlled by the enemy or your own habits! Now you are free to serve Him, and to serve Him should be your desire! If the knowledge of your new freedom doesn't bring you joy and the desire to serve Him you probably don't really grasp the situation you were in and the freedom He paid for with His very blood.
Imagine yourself in a gloomy, dark, wet dungeon. There is no sunshine, even very little candle light. You can hear the scurrying of rats in the darkness, looking for a crumb to eat or even someone asleep that they might chew on. Only rags cover your body, your body and hair are dirty and filthy. You are closed into a small cell with heavy chains cutting into your ankles and wrists. The chains are holding you in your small cell if by chance there is anyway you're able to push the large wooden door open. It has been so long since you've eaten more than a small crumb of stale bread that you are barely even able to stand to your feet, much less push that door open! In the other cells you are able to hear people crying, begging for mercy. But in this dark, hopeless place there is no mercy! And then you hear the guards approaching your cell! No, please! not another beating! I have nothing more to give! But the guards open your cell and remove your chains. They tell you that someone has paid the ransom for your freedom! You are speechless, you had expected another beating, but instead you were being given freedom! The guards carry you between themselves up the stairs and to the door of the dungeon. They push it open and throw you out! The day is bright! There is fresh air! And then the One who paid for your freedom picks you up, carries you to a clear flowing stream and gently place you in it, washing years and years of dirt and filth from you. Placing fresh, new clothing on you and laying out a feast before you. You have been cleansed, your needs have been met when this One came into your life! He asks you to follow Him. You gladly agree and become a citizen of His!
That's why it should be your heart's desire to learn to speak as He does, to study His customs and history! It is possible to turn back to your own selfish ways, but if you do it's likely you'll find yourself in the dungeon again, with nobody else that is willing to pay the price for your freedom. When the truth of your situation is really recognized by you, you naturally love and follow the One that paid the price for your freedom.
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