There Must Be Something More

30 | The Lord Your God

And then the lights dimmed low. The band behind Pastor James played a mellow song, only a guitar strummed. The choir started to sing. 

"You know your situation right now," the pastor said, "you know, as an unbeliever, you're not happy about it. Maybe your mom and dad don't have any time for you, or maybe they pressure you to be the best of all without even giving words of encouragement. Or maybe you have friends who are only there for you in happy times, but they can't even listen to you when you want to talk about your problems. Or maybe you're in a relationship with someone right now, and you know it's wrong, and you do want to stop, but you don't know how to do it right.

"God is the answer to these things. Remember, He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Only He knows to every kind of answer to everything. John chapter three verse sixteen says: For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

"In Jeremiah chapter one verse five: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

"God knew who you were, are, and would be from the very beginning of time. He knew you'd be sinful. He knows how imperfect you are. The only payment for sin is death, because sin cuts us off from God forever. He didn't want us to die for our sins because He loves us so much. And so He sent His only Son to come down from His throne and die for our sins.

"Could you imagine? He has every right to be angry with us. He has every right to kill us once we sin, and yet He sent His Son who did no sin to pay for ours. And now all you have to do is believe it, repent of all your sins, and ask Him to help you live for Him. 

"In Acts sixteen verse thirty-one, it says: They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household."

And I heard the song: Are you hurting and broken within? Overwhelmed by the weight of your sin? Jesus is calling.

And then Pastor James said, "If you're that person tonight and you wanna answer God's call in your life, please come up front so we can lead you to the prayer of salvation."

I felt a hand on my shoulder. Meredith smiled at me. I made no hesitation. I stood up from there and came up the altar. As I approached, I felt a brush on my shoulder, and I turned to see it was Samuel. He was sobbing. He came up the altar with me. The pastor said we only need to follow the prayer he prays. We need to pray it sincerely from our hearts.

"Jesus, I believe You are the Son of God. I believe that You died for my sins. Please forgive me and come into my heart. I believe that You rose from the dead and that You are alive. Come and be my Lord and Savior. I want to follow You. Amen."

"Amen," I said. And when I opened my eyes again, the pastor told us to start reading the Bible often to know more about our Lord and Savior, and then he said we should be a part of a Christian Life Group.

"A Christian Life Group is your group of spiritual brothers or sisters who will encourage and walk with you through your life's journey with the Lord because none of us should walk alone," Pastor James explained. "Ask the person who's invited you today if you could join a Christian Life Group. It will be your second big step to living for Jesus."

Samuel and I smiled at each other and hurried over to Meredith. She both congratulated us and told us to meet with her friend, Steven Harper, who leads a Christian Life Group for guys. She said the guys and the girls were separated. She led us to him.

Steven Harper is a tall guy with his dark hair in a buzz cut and thick-rimmed glasses. He wore a white collared shirt and khakis. He greeted us with a warm smile and shook our hands.

"Before we start with anything, I have to explain to you the verse in Joel chapter two verse thirteen," he said. He dragged two plastic chairs and let us sit on them. He sat on another across from us. He carried a booklet in his hands that said Change 12.

He opened it and said, "Joel chapter two verse thirteen says, Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and He relents from sending calamity."

Samuel and I were quiet. I have never been this much at a loss for words before.

Steven cleared his throat. "Rend your heart and not your garment. That means we ought not just to change our outward looks, like our hair or our clothes, but most of all, we should change what we are on the inside." He looked at us. "Do any of you act this way on the outside, but feel another on the inside?"

Samuel chuckled, shook his head. "All the time."

I nodded. "Me too."

"And do you feel good about it? Or do you feel like you're doing the right thing?" Steven asked.

Samuel and I shook our heads.

"Remember the phrase 'The truth sets you free'? It's absolutely true. You don't feel good about what you are on the inside, because it imprisons you. Because it's not the truth. Jesus is the truth, and what He says about you is the truth. What He says is more than a feeling. It's the absolute truth.

"That's why in order to do what's true, you need to change your heart, which brings us to the next line in the verse--return to the LORD your God. The only way to turn to the truth and be changed is for you to return to God. And why should you return? Because He is your God. Just like how you return to your parents after a day out in the world, you should return now to the Lord. It's time to come home, you've been wandering for way too long."

Samuel and I smiled.

"For He is gracious and compassionate," Steven continued, "this is a reason why you can return to God even after everything you've done. He is full of grace. He tells you 'Never mind what you've done, just come home'. That's how much He loves you. He wants to right your wrongs so you can find true happiness and love with Him. So never ever be afraid to admit your mistakes to Him, it will always set you free. He is all you need.

"Slow to anger and abounding in love. God is telling you He is not mad at you. In the Scriptures it says there that the Lord hates sin, but loves sinners. That means He still loves you even when you sin. He will never stop loving you. It's also like when you do something bad and against your parents' will and they're mad at you, but they don't stop loving you, do they? They still care for you and correct you out of love. That's how God is with us. He is a parent to us. That is why we call Him as God the Father.

"And He relents from sending calamity. That means when you truly trust Him, He will save you from every form of calamity in your life. Whether it be in your school, friendship with people, anything. He will save you from it. But first, you have to let Him into your life."

He smiled at us. "Do you want to let Him into your life?"

"Yes," we said.