i learned alot today

I was at work, nothing out of the ordinary. Met with a client and ended up in a discussion about church. the week prior he notices the web address to Lifepoint365.com that is on my drivers side car window. This is funny because, I am not a very bold person when it comes to witnessing about Jesus. I put the sticker on backwards on purpose, always said "If someone asks me why, I could tell them about Jesus". Well, I got put to the test today:

My patient revealed to me that he had begun to go to a church that was in walking distance. He stated for the longest time he just sat there, never hearing a word of the sermon. "I was so overwhelmed with guilt and shame" "I have a whole life full of mistakes and bad choices to deal with. I know there is a heaven and a hell and I know I'm first in line for hell." He proceeded to ask me about salvation. ""how do I know I am saved? What does it feel like? and so on. He stated he believed in God and Jesus and that he died to save us. He then just said, I don't know if I am saved or not. I got cleaned up, now I got to get religion and make something out of the rest of my life"

We engaged in a beautiful discussion about mercy and grace and how running to an altar makes you no more saved than asking Jesus into your heart to forgive you while you lye in bed alone. I just simply said, you don't need to get "religion" , salvation is a process that happens 1 on 1, you and God. I gave an example of a prayer. I don't know that he said it and applied it to his self. I encouraged him to keep going to church and to ask questions about things he didn't understand.

We talked about the fact that salvation may seem magical but is far from magic. And that just because you make the choice of salvation, struggles and behaviors and attitudes take time to transform into Christ-like ways. The key is to get back up when you fall and admit that you need forgiveness.

Today, God blessed me. He gave me the right words to answer the questions asked of me. And I was reminded that God's Grace is huge! All of the junk in my trunk is history because I asked Him to forgive me and to help me learn to be more like Jesus.