I have decided to follow Jesus....no turning back.

So I've been inspired by another blog that I read, mycharmingkids.net. MckMama wrote an amazing post. Throughout the day today I kept thinking about the word salvation and a song popped in my head with that word and I can't get it out! I believe in absolute truth and regardless if someone doesn't believe Jesus died on the cross doesn't mean it's not true. I read through my journal tonight and found an entry that I was pretty passionate about at the time. I am glad to be reminded of it and thought I would share. I know, I write about the same things over and over again, but hey, I can't not do it because.... "I have decided to follow Jesus, I have decided to follow Jesus, I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back." (LOVE the new Selah CD and the last sentence is lyrics from an old hymn that they sing on the CD, LOVE IT!)

**Death is an inevitable reality. That fact doesn't make death any easier. But, what does make it bearable is the FACT that this- what we see here is temporary. Your relationship with God through Jesus Christ WILL determine where you will spend eternity, Heaven or Hell. I ask you, not if you believe in God, because the bible, James 2:19 says "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that and shudder." But do you have a personal relationship with Jesus? I used to think I was a good enough person and would probably go to heaven. I was wrong! My good enough will never get me there, nor anyone else's. See, Jesus paid the ulitmate price for our sins, all we have to do is accept the gift of salvation. I used to be searching for something. Nothing I found made me happy for a long period of time. One day I was broken and I cried out to God. Jeremiah 29:11-13 is so true - "Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." When you seek God you will find Him. He will change your life. II Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone the new has come." Change will come in your life and God will help you if you allow Him. He will take those desires away and you will become a work in progress.

But, let me warn you that God knows your heart. James 2:26 "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead." I'm not saying you can earn your way to heaven but if you are truly saved, you will SEE change. Your friends change, places you go change, shows you watch change, music you listen to changes etc. It's so easy to be "changed" for an hour on Sunday. What about the rest of your week, do you live like a changed person or do you look like the world? Do you read the bible and follow what it says? James 1:22-24 " Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and after looking at himself, goes away and immediatley forgets what he looks like." Pretty powerful isn't it?

Jesus Christ is real and changes lives! When you leave this earth, you can't take anything with you. I guarantee you - you will not be wishing you would have drank more, bought a better car, worked more, and so on. Eternity is something hard for us to fathom. Do you want to wait until your at that point to decide what is important? It will be too late then. God is knocking, will you open the door of your heart and let him in?***

So there you go, a little peak inside my journal. Not that this looks like a typical journal entry. I'm not sure what was going on that day but that is what I wrote. Hope everyone's week is going well!