Dear friend, congratulations on finishing the mentorship course with us. You’ve persevered and finished the course, showing that you have a willingness, and probably even a great desire, to minister the gospel to others.
Question 1. Please take a moment and share your experience of going through this mentorship course with us. What has it been like for you?
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I want to just take a minute here and share with you what Jesus has done for me, and what He means to me. There is a reason why I’m wanting to do this, which I’ll tell you at the end.
I was in such a horrible condition when Jesus found me. I was all wrapped up in myself, in bondage to so many sins of the flesh, taken captive to the devil and living in such depravity. My wife, Jody can tell you that I really was in such bad shape.
But Jesus Christ came to me where I was. Like the Good Samaritan He gave me mercy, pouring on the “oil and wine” of Holy Spirit-infused gospel grace. He ministered to my heart, healing the brokenness of my sin and lifting me back up on my feet.
The way He did this was to take me to His cross and tell me to look. “Look to Me, all the ends of the earth, and be saved” (Isaiah 45:22). Like the Israelites who were shown an uplifted pole with the serpent on it, and told to “turn and look, and live”, so God showed me the uplifted cross, with the Savior on it, and invited me to “look and live.” In looking I saw Him bleeding from head to toe, and thereby covering my sins with His precious blood. It broke my heart. It hurt me. I realized I had done this to Him. And yet I also realized He did it by choice, the Shepherd willingly laying down His life for this lost sheep. And oh how I wanted to now be with my Shepherd, the Lamb of God Who took away my sin, forever.
As I sat pondering my sinful life in light of the Lamb Who died, I also saw that it would take more than willpower for me to change, more than a mere decision or vow to stop sinning. And that’s when I saw Jesus’ resurrection and the power that God exerted in raising Him from the dead and lifting Him up to heaven. This same power came for me, entered me, raised me and lifted me. Love lifted me!
Oh, sure I still sin, very often and in many ways. But the freedom I have, this “lifting” of my heart and life, has kept me out of sinful bondage and captivity. The way it has done that is through taking my heart captive to Christ. Causing me to love Him back, Who loved me unto death. Oh how I long to be so near to Him, don’t you? He died for us that we might be intimate with Him, His “bride”, dressed in splendor and radiant glory, and live with Him forever.
Question 2. What thoughts do you have of Jesus Christ right now? What does He mean to you personally? Please share as much or little as you like:
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