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JimfromOhio

I am happlily married with 5 kids. I am an accoutant and worked in an accounting field for over 25 years. I like to make a habit of writing down whenever I have deep thoughts about God (so I won't forget). I really into Reformed Theology that is connected to Presbyterian Church in America.

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Location: Columbus, Ohio, United States

I enjoy having deep thoughts about God and put down what I actually think about (so I won't forget).

Sunday, April 09, 2006

What do I have to do after I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior?

Have to do something? I have learned that all Jesus wants from me is to love Him and submit to Him. He simply wants me to allow Him to be in my life by transferring my will to His will. A.W Tozer's quote made it very clear to me, "The Lord will not save those he cannot command." By surrendering my will to Jesus will not solve my problems. I realized that when I allow Him, my life is more peaceful and more enjoyable. I noticed that. Even though God will not take away my problems but He always been there for me when I am facing problems. I am still having problems but very very peaceful.As I posted in the past, Spirit-lead is outlined in Galatians 5:22-23 "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." In 2 Peter, Chapter 1, verses 5 through 9: "make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Lastly, in Romans 5, verses 3-5: "we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." The bottom line is this: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. In Romans 15:13, Overflowing hope is the gift of the God of hope by the power of the Spirit. It is that hope that carries us through the difficult experiences of life. In the time of death Paul was very brave because he had firm confidence in the final outcome. "For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake," he said, but his heart remained cheerful knowing that "our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all" (2 Corinthians 4:11,17). Faith is confidence in the character of God, and hope is the sweet anticipation of desirable things promised but not yet realized. Hope is a gift from the heavenly Father "who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope" (2 Thessalonians 2:16). The Christian's hope is sound because it is founded upon the character of God and the redeeming work of His Son Jesus Christ. For this reason Peter could call it "a living hope" (1 Peter 1:3). It is living because it rests on reality and not on fancy. It is not wishful dreaming but vital expectation with Jesus Christ behind it. Faith in Christ, in His Character and His will is the key to complete faith.