30 Days of Jesus: Days 2-4
You know, for a group presenting a “30 Day Guide for New Believers” you’d think they’d be pretty consistent with their “30 Day” portion of it. Days go by and nothing…then suddenly I get three days worth at once. Not very helpful. If I were really a new convert I’d have lost interest a long time ago.
I already spoke about Day 1, so here’s a synopsis of other days I’ve received so far.
Day 2 explained what I can expect on my journey. Firstly, I was told not to worry about how long the journey is or what I may encounter along the way, but to focus on “what’s happening right now.” Okie dokie. And here’s what is happening right now, apparently:
- Jesus is with me all the time, but I need to give up the idea of “instant results.” I need to look for small changes like meeting other Christians, reading my Bible and learning to stop biting my nails or something.
- Oddly, even though I cannot look for instant results I have to learn that I must live from moment to moment, and that God is working in me, around me and through me right this second.
- Jesus will not forsake me.
But here’s the cautionary tale,
Satan’s tactic for the new believer is to pull you back from your newfound faith. He’ll say: “This isn’t real. You’ve just had an emotional experience.” “You’re going to lose all your friends.” “Your fun days are over.” It’s a mental battle, and dealing with the adversary is a fact of your Christian life. When Satan comes with doubts, fears and temptations, oppose him with words like these: “I am a child of God, redeemed from my old life by the Lord Jesus.” Then pray for Jesus to help you. “Lord, help me through this battle.”
Day 3 was most exciting! On this day I learn what I should do first, because being a new follower of Jesus I’ve apparently already lost my free will and must come to him like a little girl looking for love. I’m not kidding.
Jesus wants us to come to Him the way a little child comes to a loving parent. Anyone who has spent time around young children understands this imagery. My wife, Wendy, and I were always delighted when one of our six children would run up to us, arms outstretched for a hug — then nestling in with their entire little bodies, completely at rest and filled with trust.Can I ask you to do this right now? Just become a “little child” for a minute — and come to Jesus as you would to a father or mother who deeply loves you. No requests. No expectations. You don’t have to brush your teeth or comb your hair. Simply come to Him and nestle in. Stay in His presence. Experience His love for you.
I’m supposed to feel spiritually loved by an imaginary sky fairy with this technique…but all I really feel is dirty. I need to make this childlike behavior a lifelong habit because too many people confuse rigid rule-based religion with this loving relationship described above.
I also need to remember my key thought of the day: “Jesus is a person. He wants a personal relationship with me.”
Day 4 introduced me to this awesome book called The Bible. You can even read it online! The Bible has to be my friend and lifelong companion. After all, “words are important in any culture. They are how we communicate facts, ideas, instruction, encouragement and correction.” Facts? Correction? Um, ok.
The email for Day 4 is a lot of praising of the Bible, explaining how people make the mistake of reading the Bible from page 1 when you really should jump around and find the most applicable lessons to inspire you in different aspects of your journey. They suggest I start with Luke’s Gospel, not Genesis. It’s interesting that they prefer you begin with the life of Jesus before letting you read the dark history of the Old Testament and learning what a bastard God really is. And the endorsement for cherry-picking the word of God is priceless.
And don’t forget today’s key thought: “The Bible is more than a container for the word of God — it is God speaking directly to me through the words I read.“
Google Adsense is a cheeky monkey
When you apply for an Adsense account you have to tick the box that says you will not click on the ads yourself. Normally I’m really good at this, but the other night one appeared that I couldn’t keep myself from learning more about.
The banner ad took me to Jesus2020.com where I found out that,
- God loves me
- All of us have done, said or thought things that are wrong and that this is called sin. Sin separates us from God.
- God sent his only son to die for my sins
- If I want God to like me again, I have to accept Christ as Savior and turn from my sins by saying the following prayer,
Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. Please forgive my sins and give me the gift of eternal life. I ask you in to my life and heart to be my Lord and Savior. I want to serve you always.
Fascinating. So anyway, for some reason (probably because I’d just finished a bottle of wine) I decided to sign up for the website’s daily email service. I mean, who can resist that sexual predator smile on the face of Jesus? I just started getting the emails yesterday. Basically it’s going to be a thirty day guide to help me as a “new-believer” learn how to become a re-born christian.The following is my lesson for Day 1:
Day 1 is about personal transformation, “What actually happens when I commit to following Jesus?” They say that many of us are clueless when it comes to our new transformed lives once we decide to follow Christ. But we need to straighten ourselves our right away and “grow in that understanding.” Here are the steps I need to take:
- Acknowledge we have been separated from God — living independently from Him — and repent for staying separated. (“Repent” means to stop and completely change direction.)
- Turn toward God and away from our former way of living
- Personally, and verbally, ask Jesus Christ to be our Savior — receiving Him as the One who by His death, burial and resurrection made it possible to come back to God
- Give ourselves fully to Him, recognizing that Jesus is Lord — the One who is entitled to all authority in our lives
As I read that I’m confused…exactly how does Christianity stand out as a legitmate religion and not a crazy new age cult? Replace the words “God” and “Jesus Christ” with “Poopsie the Almighty” and you’ve got yourself faction that belongs on the FBI watch list.
My suggested reading is 1 Peter 2:9, Romans 8:21, and Romans 6:13, but most importantly my “key scripture” is:
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17).
And my “key thought” is:
My life has changed — forever.
I guess I’m too much of a cynic because that all seems like a load of elephant shit. I know I don’t have the same needs that some people do, so I guess I just don’t understand this desire to be comforted by an unseen being in the sky. To quote the great Tim Minchin, “Isn’t this enough? Just this world? Just this beautiful, complex, wonderfully unfathomable world? How does it so fail to hold our attention that we have to diminish it with the invention of cheap, man-made myths and monsters?”
Well said. But I still look forward to the nonsense they will fill Day 2 with. I wonder when I have to start knocking on doors or wearing unfashionable long skirts with non-matching tops.
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Don’t feed the trolls
