Pennylynn wrote:
Hello, and welcome. We are all here to learn from one another about what we believe and how we came to our beliefs. We all come from interesting backgrounds, so do tell us as much about yourself as you feel comfortable. Please do not use your real names, addresses, and any other information you do not wish to fall into hands that could abuse your rights.
This is a VERY good thread to start. Am I religious or spiritual? You tell me. I am a follower of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and believe in the inerrant teachings of the Holy Bible. With that being said, Ive heard it said that God cannot be found by logical conclusion. I believe this to be an untrue statement. Fortunately, or unfortunately as my wife might say, I am a logical thinking person. I have lived on this planet for just about 58 years and in that time I've had many experiences that have led me to logical conclusions. So with that being said, Ill provide a chronological 50,000 foot view of my religious and spiritual experience up to now:
Raised Roman Catholic
Non-religionist
Born-again Christian
Follower of The Urantia Book
Follower of Conversations With God and other books by Neale Donald Walsch
Follower of my voice within
Returned born-again Christian and follower of Jesus
So how have I came full-circle with all of this leading me to where I am today? The first time, I may have been a born-again Christian but truly didnt understand it. The second time, after a long journey of over 30 years, it started by me asking Jesus every day during prayer to reform my mind to be like His. Over time, this must have happened because I came to the realization that:
1.
I am a sinner
Romans 3:23 For
everyone has sinned; we all fall short of Gods glorious standard.
2.
As a sinner, I will die
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the
free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
3.
If I believed that Jesus died on the cross and was raised from the dead to save me from sin and death, I was saved
Romans 10:9-10 If you
confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.
4.
I could receive, in faith through Jesus, His free gift of salvation
Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been made right in Gods sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.
5.
I needed to repent by turning from my old life of sin to a new life in Jesus
Acts 20:21 I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alikethe necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus.
I cannot begin to tell you how free I have became or the changes that have happened to me since praying this and following these steps but with this in mind, I decided to rededicate myself to being a follower of Jesus. Do I have struggles? Of course...but now I have peace of mind. And as
Philippians 3:11-13 says, I dont mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead