Jesus Restores All

For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.

Colossians 1:13-14

After receiving the Holy Spirit and experiencing the Grace of God, it was like the Lord took that old life that I was, slammed the door on it, and placed a lock on it so that I will never ever open. The old life where I was stricken with grief, shame, guilt, and blame that I experienced from the loss of my dad – all of it was gone. The life being angry all the time, short tempered, didn’t care for God and my sins, all of this was lifted and forgiven from my heart and soul. I was given a new spiritual life, a spiritual renewal, or rebirth of the spirit. God had removed the darkness in my life, and exposed me to the light of Jesus Christ, and with that came the truth of this world.

And we all, who the unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with every increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:18

I didn’t just want to share my experience to you and others, but I wanted God’s grace and restoration be experienced for the people around me because the freedom from sin and the freedom from darkness and your past is liberating. Once you experience this, you cannot go back to the ways it was in your life. And the weird thing, is you don’t want to go back, you want the new life with Jesus Christ, and all you want to do is experience this feeling every minute of your day.

When I started my Spiritual Renewal with Jesus Christ, I did a few things in my life to get me started:

Seeking Forgiveness from others

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.

James 5:16

In the days following my restoration, it was important to me to reach out to the people whom I hurt the most since the loss of my dad and sought their forgiveness. It was humbling because I did not know how much I hurt those who supported me the most when I was grieving the loss of my dad. I was so self-centered to my own anguish, guilt, and shame, that I neglected how cruel I was to others because that was how I delt with this pain. What was more embarrassing is I didn’t care whom was around me at the time when my anger arose, and I didn’t care how much I was hurting them. I really took out my anger to my wife and kids, my immediate family, and those who were close to me at the time.

The most valuable lesson I received from this is exactly what James said, “that you may be healed.” This is exactly what happened to me. Seeking forgiveness from those I hurt the most, restored the relationships from which my pain and anger caused them to distance themselves from me. It also taught me that no matter how much we get angry with God, or how much we sin against God, that there is nothing we cannot do to detour God’s love for us. For as long as we love and have faith in God, and accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we can reach out to Christ for forgiveness and will always be forgiven.

To be closer to Christ, you must learn to put away your pride and ego and seek forgiveness of your sins and transgressions to others so that you may be healed through others.

Seeking Jesus Christ First

As I mentioned before, I didn’t want this experience to end, I wanted to have this feeling knowing that Jesus Christ is living inside me at all times. The biggest shift in my life that I did was put God and Jesus Christ first in all that I do. What I mean by this is when I woke up, I would think and thank Jesus Christ. Throughout the day no matter what I would be doing, I would be keeping in mind and in heart, Jesus Christ. Even when things got busy, I would recognize how busy I was and then think of Christ to help me. I would offload all my troubles, problems, worries, and anxiety to Jesus Christ so that I can sustain the inner peace and joy that Christ offers and promises throughout my day. I would include and asking God and Jesus Christ into any decisions that needed to be made that day and offer it to God so that He can make the choice for me, and I was follow His Will.

Overall, I made a conscience effort to put God and Jesus Christ in my life by prioritizing Jesus Christ in everything I do. It is so reassuring to know that God is with me all, and I can feel His presence throughout my day. I mean anything and everything I would give God because I knew that God knows what I need and will provide me and sustain for me the things I need for that day.

What a difference this makes in my life, and how much this shift of priorities can make in your life. When you practice and commit to this, your faith grows stronger because you are building that trust in the Lord that He will provide and bless you with the things you need for that day, and you will trust Him to keep in your peace and not let those things that stress you out or cause you to have anxiety to disturb you. God will take control of your life because you want Him to, and this will only bring you complete joy and love in your life.

Prayer

I’d like to think even before my dad died, that I thought of prayer as something to ask God if I want something in my life. It was also more a formal thing for me, like going to church and praying.

After my restoration, prayer became something I really enjoyed doing because it drew me closer to God. Prayer is how I worship God and give God the glory that He deserves for all that He has done for me. I don’t just pray to want things, but I pray to give God thanks, to seek Him, to seek rest with Him, to go to Him for all my troubles – prayer is how I form a relationship with God, I tell Him everything even though He knows my life. Also take time in my prayers to give thanks to God for all that He has done, and for things for He has not done. What does that mean, for things He has not done? This means through your faith in God, you believe that He will do things you prayed for before it even happens. So, for me, I give Him thanks and praise for everything.

Pray from your heart. Don’t pray the same things over and over again but pray because you want God closer to you. God already knows what you want, but that is not the point of prayer, prayer is a means for you to show trust in the Lord with all the things in your life. Prayer is the most powerful tool that God gives so that we can seek His love, forgiveness, and grace – it is through constant prayer how I was able to experience the Grace of God in my life.

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Read your bible

I enjoyed reading self-help, self-improvement books. However, I realized that the authors of these books were human just like me, and most likely make the mistakes just like me. Then I realized that each book help solved specific issues and problems in one’s life. What book is out there can help with life, fix issues about one’s life, and at the same time give you purpose on life? What book out there can teach about the life of Jesus Christ, and about God?

The Bible.

The Bible is a game changer. Every day I would read the Bible for 30 to 60 minutes day. I would take what I read, apply it in my life and/or reflect of the meaning that it would have on my life. But this was another way to keep God and Jesus Christ in my life.

I read somewhere that if prayer is way to talk to God, then the Bible is a way for God to talk to you. I carried that concept of how I can get God to talk to me instantly by reading the Bible. There are different ways to read the bible, and different ways how the bible reflects on a person’s life, but my best advice for you is to open the bible, read it, pray on what you read, reflect, and look for ways to apply those lessons you learned into your daily life.

For me one of the benefits from the bible is that it teaches you about Jesus Christ and how-to walk-in faith with Christ in your daily life. All of those lessons that Christ taught still apply today. Even the Scriptures in the Old Testament can apply to your life today. There is always a little something more for everyone, you just need to pick up the bible and read it.

Don’t be intimated by the size and length of the bible, it took me about two years to completely read the bible from Genesis to Revelations, take your time, and really dive deep into the Word of God and have it find meaning in your life.

Love One Another

Jesus said:

 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

John 13:34-35

Now I just can’t be on this earth alone and be with God. But at some point, I am going to have to interact with other people. As much as I want others to experience the same joy, love, and peace that I have through restoring their faith in Christ, not everyone is open and receptive about it. You have to remember when Jesus was here on earth, the number of people who opposed Him and did not agree with Him to a point where they had Him killed – Christ never stopped treating anyone differently because he approached everyone with the same love and respect. Even though hundreds or thousands of people wanted to see Him, He still took the time to meet with a single person.

In my transformation, I realized that I had to do my best to be like Christ and how I treated others with love and respect. It’s not easy because the world is not a friendly, as there are a lot of people who do not return the same love and respect as you do. This is something that you will have to endure when you have the light and blessed by the grace of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23

When you receive the Holy Spirit, it makes it easier to treat others with love and respect because the Holy Spirit is made up of these characteristics. Slowly you will see how the Holy Spirit will change you by how you approach and treat others. You will become a clearer thinker and not be so haste by reacting by emotions but by reacting by the Holy Spirit. One thing I learned is when I feel my emotions of anger or needing to prove myself right, I can immediately focus on Jesus Christ, and then I can feel all of these “Fruits of the Spirit” fill my heart and I can react through the love of Christ, rather than by the reaction of my emotions.

Love one another also goes with serving others. Don’t just live life for you, but live life loving each other by serving one another. Christ came to serve you, to be with you, and to do things for you because He loves you.

These are five means of how I started my spiritual renewal with Jesus Christ. Remember that God works in different ways with others, but if you are looking for encouragement and guidance, then I would invite you to please try any of the suggestions above. If you have your own experiences on how you started your journey with Jesus Christ, please send me a email or leave a comment below. I would love to read about it and help spread your journey with others.

Thank you.