Two things that a person needs to be saved: Awareness and willingness. Christians need them every day!

12 Do you see a person wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

CBN (Christian Broadcast Network) aired last night the first part of The Return, a weekend of repentance and intercession for our nation. It resumes this morning at 8am Central time and will include the Prayer March with Franklin Graham at 11:00 our time. If you can’t get the app or tune in online, it’s also showing on YouTube.

I listened to Nikki Cruz, the gang leader in New York who was led to the LORD by Bruce Wilkerson in 1970 and became a world-renowned evangelist. He gave his testimony, and in it he used this phrase, “Ask Jesus to change your life!” It was one of the things that Bruce told him. I would like to expound on that statement.

There are two things that a person needs in order to be saved:

1. An awareness of his personal sin against God and the consequences of that sin to his soul.
2. A willingness to change his life, but realizing that he cannot; he must have Christ change him.

A person who realizes these two things WILL
cry out to the LORD Jesus to change his life!

It’s the conviction of the Holy Spirit that makes us aware and woos us to Himself. Jesus calls us and we answer.

There is a third thing I would like to say: Followers of Christ live in an awareness of sin (and our forgiveness) and want Christ to change their lives every day. We begin with a confession of our awareness and our willingness to Him and then look for Him in the Scriptures. We trust that He will reveal Himself to us in them–every time we read them.

Are you there, yet? Have you cried out to the LORD Jesus to change your life? Asking for forgiveness of sin is good and needed, but it only works if we are truly repentant, if we really want to give up our sin and live in His righteousness. It’s what a true follower of the LORD Jesus does every time he/she is tempted to sin.

The next time you are tempted, cry out to the LORD Jesus to change your life by rescuing you from your temptation. He will offer you a better option: His mercy and His grace–along with a way out:

¹³ No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13

Let’s go for that other option: Holiness. Becoming like Jesus is what it’s all about!

Abba, I DO want to be like Jesus. May You change my life so that I am transformed, conformed and reformed in His image in personality, temperament, and in spirit. I’m not there yet, but I praise You that I am NOT what I used to be! Looking forward to a day of prayer for my nation and its leaders today; to be continued…