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Monday, June 20, 2011

K.I.S.S.

But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and heart”-that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness and with the mouth confesses, resulting in salvation. Romans 10:8-10) (New American Standard Bible)




I was talking to a person years ago about the Lord and His saving grace. The person had to continually stop me and say, “I don’t understand that. What does it mean?” I realized later that I was talking in terms and words the person had no reference for. I call it ‘Christian Speak.’ We Christians have a whole terminology for speaking of things we know which many of those outside of Christ don’t. For some it is confusing and frustrating. From the point of that conversation with that person my philosophy has been to follow the simple acronym K.I.S.S. Keep It Sweet and Simple.

The main reason we speak of Jesus is to bring people ‘into a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ’ which is a Christian Speak term. That means to bring a seeker into accepting and believing Jesus is God’s way so they can approach God without shame and guilt. Many don’t know what it means to be saved or how to even get there. If you’re reading this and you’ve been wondering and interested in Jesus then this is for you. Salvation is God’s plan of forgiving people of their sins. You see God’s word tells us we are in rebellion against Him and do not naturally seek to know Him. We are born with this anti-God nature and there is no work we can do that can bring us into friendly fellowship with Him. We simply don’t have that kind of spiritual power. The Bible also tells us that the penalty for sin is death. That equates to a miserable life of sinfulness in this life and eternal death when we die. That was mine and your penalty. But the most incredible story in all of human history is that the great and holy God of the universe intentionally took our sin on Himself so we could have a highway to complete fellowship with Him and He did that through the life, death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ. Believing on Jesus means you understand the price He paid on the cross for you and you believe in that work of spiritual intervention. Some people feel the need to ask Jesus to forgive their sins through praying a short prayer to God but belief is the foundation. It is a life changing choice that can bring great awe and relief of soul. When Christ cleans up our inner spirit we do want to confess His reality to others.

The message of the cross is a mystery. It can be understood by a five-year-old but some of its message still baffles religious scholars. You aren’t forced to believe in Christ but I ask why not trust Jesus? What do you have to lose? The ease of believing in Christ can be summed up by a great Christian scholar who on his deathbed was asked what the greatest spiritual thing was that he’d ever learned. His reply was “Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so.” That’s not Christian Speak that’s simply the honest truth.

Lord Jesus, I confess at this moment that I need your love and power in my life. I ask you to forgive my sins and make my soul a new creation in You.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com