Jesus is my Joy

I always had a sense that God was real and the Bible was his book to us. All I remember learning as a child from the Lutheran Church was that Jesus loved me. I grew up thinking that you just had to be good enough, like not a murder or something terrible. At 16 I began drinking, smoking marijuana and generally being foolish. Fun was the goal and Sex, Drugs & Rock N Roll was the motto. One day a friend (Scott) called me and our friends. He told us that he had gotten saved and dumped his marijuana off Liberty Point. “OKAAAY, that’s strange”, is what we all thought. A few months later I started dating Scott and attending PW Baptist Church (Community Church at the time). As they taught from the Bible, I began to learn a lot of things that the Bible said that I had never heard before. Scott & Dorene (later to be my husband and Mom-in-law) also began telling me about Jesus and the what the Bible taught. I wondered why no one ever told me those things before. The most important thing that I learned was the Bible said that no one can ever be good enough and that is the whole reason God had to intervene. Because God is completely just He could not just let us slide, we rightly deserve punishment for our sin and rejection of Him. But God is also completely loving, so he made a way to both pay the penalty and draw us to him. God came as a man, Jesus, and paid my penalty with his life on the cross. All God required was for me to trust him to forgive me (save me from the penalty) and be my Lord. “John 3:16 For God so loved the world that whosoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life.” One evening I read a tract in my room and asked Jesus to forgive me and be my Lord and Savior. I was overwhelmed with thankfulness and joy. Shortly after I went forward in church and was baptized. My heart and desire was completely changed. I did not want to party or live like I was and completely quit very shortly after. The Lord is still working on me, helping me to continue to learn and be a better Christian. I know I never would have changed so much on my own. I have become increasingly sure of the truths of the Bible and God throughout my life. I have had many blessings and hard times, just as everyone, however I have never regretted that decision. Knowing the love of God and having Jesus in my life is so great. It is not about religion, it's about relationship and that's what makes it so much better. I hope that everyone that reads this has made this decision (or soon will)

and has this joy also.

God Bless You!

A Child of God,

Sherri