Best Friend

Too often all of us are judged by a group of people who call themselves Christians. When they lay out what it is you are doing wrong they add to it an attitude of condemnation, which makes us want to run instead of accept their philosophy or belief. This is a no judgment zone. The following is my personal belief and I believe in it enough that I wanted to share it with you.

In my book I mention a best friend and He truly is my best friend. He knows me better than anyone. He accepts who I am with all my mistakes and errors in life. He understands the way I handle certain situations. In fact he loves me so much that He does not ask me to change to fit in other peoples boxes. Did I change, yes but the change was a result of His love for me. How can you not change when you find out about the sacrifice He made by giving His life so that we could live? This was simply a gift. It is a gift not only for me but for you too.  He knows I’m not perfect and He loves me anyway.

When I found out that everyone, EVERYONE, was a sinner and all of us have fallen short of what God had intended for us. I felt a since of peace because there is nothing I can do to earn my way to heaven. That takes the pressure off.   Do you mean being nice; giving to the poor, or feeding the children does not earn me a special place? That’s right even those loving acts of kindness don’t get us there. We were all born of flesh which means we were born into a sinful nature. Jesus was born of a virgin, which is important because it means that one of his parents was flesh and the other was God. God, the seed giver had a Son that accomplished what no man could ever accomplish and He became 100% God and 100% man.

Christ lived a sinless life as only a perfect man could do. He was sentenced to die by the religious zealots that judged him and hated him because He was so much more than they could ever be. Jesus in essence paid the ultimate sacrifice by being willing to give His life as a replacement sacrifice for you and I. I was the one who deserved to die because it was my sin not His. It was my mistake not His. He laid down His life as a sacrifice so that I did not have to be condemned to eternal life in hell.

What I really love about my best friend Jesus is He is a gentleman. He would never force me to choose Him. He allows both of us to make our own choice. We can either accept Him and His gift of eternal life in heaven or we can reject Him and live an eternal life in hell. I chose life! I chose to follow Jesus. First I confessed that I was a sinner and then I confessed Jesus as my Lord. This simple act of my heart caused in the flash of a second my name to be written in heavens book. When I die, I have no doubt that I am going to heaven.

As a result of my prayer to Him I noticed a desire to know more about Him. I noticed that I actually understood things that were in the Bible for the first time.  I noticed my heart toward other people was different. I can truly say my life is so much different now that I know Jesus as my Lord, but also as my friend. He desires to have fellowship with me and with you. He desires to hear the intimate details of my life from my lips. He desires a relationship with all of us.

Does knowing Jesus mean you have to give up cussing, alcohol, sex, etc. I can tell you this, you can make the decision to follow him and He does not require you to change. He does not say “You go change and then come back to me”. He wants you just the way you are with all your imperfections and mistakes. Once you make that decision you start noticing that you do change and some things that never bothered you start to bother you and because of that you change. The change happens after you receive Christ and it is much welcomed when it comes.

When Jesus Christ died on the cross the zealots and hell believed it was over. Three days later the Warrior of all warriors was raised out of His tomb and many people witnessed him over a 30-day period of time. On the 30^th day He ascended into heaven where He lives today. When he came to life on the third day he defeated an unbeatable foe, Death. By defeating Death He became the only doorway into heaven. His body is the only body of all the prophets, gods, etc. that was never found. This would not even be possible by someone of Jesus’ stature unless His body was raised into heaven.

God is so good He makes it simple. Do you want to know Jesus and have Him as your best friend too? If so, pray this or any simple prayer to Him. Start your own journey with Him and see how wonderful life can be.

Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, I know I don’t deserve heaven, Please forgive me. Jesus I believe you were born of a virgin and you died on a cross after living a sinless life. I believe you rose from the dead and are alive today and you are living in heaven. I confess you as Lord of my life and I will confess you before men.   I accept your free gift of eternal life. I pray this prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Warrior, let me be the first to welcome you to a new family! The Marine Corps has a camaraderie that is like no other military branch. Now you are a part of another family that has been talked about for over 2,000 years and will live eternally with God. We are warriors and we stand up for those who do not know the way. We show the way by example. We simply love Jesus and we love others as we love ourselves.

Once you pray this prayer I encourage you to reach out to a church or someone you know in your life who is a Christian. Get involved with a church who follows the teaching of the Bible. Start reading the bible by reading in the book of John. Read the story of Jesus and see that Christianity is not a judgmental religion at all. We are meant to love one another and to help each other along the way. Semper Fi to you my friend. Share your experience with others.