May I Have A Moment Of Your Time?

Fred S. Jennings

I would like to share a personal experience with you that changed my life.   Please be at ease because I am not going to bore you with my personal philosophy.   I would simply convey to you how I found real peace and satisfaction (John 14:27).   I share this with you because I have discovered that most of us participate in a common illusion concerning the pattern of life that we live.  Please let me illustrate.

I was reared by a religious mother and a father who was a  Democrat.

I was educated in one of our modern colleges.

I served four years in our nation's Air Force.

I married and became the father of two children.

I entered a family business and became a contractor.

We joined the proper country club, and vacationed in the Bahamas.

I worked sixteen hours a day, bought my wife most everything money could buy, and spoiled my children.

SOUND FAMILIAR?

I gave my family all the physical bread that money could provide, but I never knew that Jesus Christ had warned that "Man cannot live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." (Matt. 4:4)

My ignorance brought me to a personal crisis in July of 1964.  I was so busy that I didn't recognize that I had an eight year old son who was in trouble.   On July 30, 1964, my world stopped because I nearly lost him.  For the first time in my life I was aware of my own need for help.  I realized that I was faced with a situation that I could not resolve.  That night I did something that I had never done before.  I dropped to my knees and asked for help.  I didn't know how to pray, I didn't know how to ask, I didn't even know if there was a God, but if there was, I wanted to find Him -

AND I DID (Jer. 29:13)

That night I had a personal encounter with Jesus Christ.  That night according to the words of Christ, Himself, I was "Born again", (John 3:3).   That night I passed from death unto life (I John 3:14).  That night I received eternal life (I John 5:11) and I knew it.

I share this with you because I never knew that Jesus Christ could be experienced.  The night that Christ came into my life, He imparted to me a type of life that had nothing to do with natural birth.  He made me spiritually alive (John 6:63), and suddenly the emptiness that had existed in my heart was filled with the reality of His presence (Revelation 3:20).  During the first thirty-three years of my life I had associated Jesus Christ with religion.  I never knew that Jesus Christ was not a religion, but a relationship.

The confusion about religion was no longer a mystery after I made the discovery that it was not religion that I had been seeking, but relationship.  The night that I was "born again" (John 3:3) I instantly entered into a relationship that ended my question about religion because I discovered that there is no religion in the world that can provide a living relationship with God.  Religion tells me about God, but relationship links me with God.  After that experience, I did affiliate with a church, but when I go I take the Lord with me.  In Acts 17:24 the writer states that God doesn't dwell in temples made with hands.  The reason is that when a person receives Christ as his Savior, God then dwells within his heart.

I want to address another area that had me confused.  I had heard of the word "sin", but I had assumed that sin involved my behavior.  I never knew that my problem with God was not my behavior, but my condition.  That realization helped me to understand the reason why I constantly struggled with the issues of good and evil.  The human nature we receive at birth simply cannot comply with the laws of God because the Bible states "that no one seeks after God" (Romans 3:11), and that human nature "goes astray" as soon as we are born (Psalm 58:3).   It may seem hard to believe, but Adam did this to us when he broke his relationship with God in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:17).  Sin, then, became an inherited condition that was passed on to the whole human race (Romans 3:19)

The Bible declares that if I invite Christ into my life by an act of my will (Romans 10:9) that he will enter into me (Rev. 3:30).  I know that we can agree that when something enters into a person that is reality.  If you invite Christ into your life, the real proof will be in your personal experience (Rom. 8:16).  If you do invite Him in, then you can tell me - What Happened To You...

Have you received CHRIST as your personal Savior?  If you have not - you can right now.  Simply bow your head and pray this prayer:

"I accept JESUS CHRIST as my Lord and Savior and ask for forgiveness for my sin."

This is when it begins for you.

If you read this line it means that you read all the above and I would like to thank you for taking the time to do that!  I have had a number of responses from Christians who thank me for making the effort to share my testimony over the internet.  I would like to extend to you the opportunity of sharing your testimony over the internet on our site.  Reference to it will be posted on our Home page.   I really would like to know what happened to you!  We will only post what you would allow us to post.  I would like to include your email address for those who would have questions about what you write.  Any personal information that you do not want posted will be kept off our site.  I know it can take considerable time to write a testimony, but if you share your testimony with me I am more than willing to allow you to share it with the world.

Fred S. Jennings   
fredjennings@jenningsheating.com

77 Lethbridge Lane, Copley, Oh 44321