Are you a Christian? How do you answer this question? I used to say: “Yes, I’m Catholic.” However, I am no longer a Catholic. I am a Christian. This is not said to offend you. This is simply the truth of my life. I have decided to start this blog to tell you my story. This is one avenue I can use to explain why I’m writing this blog entitled, “God’s Word for Today.”
I always believed in God. This is why I assumed I was a Christian. I believed I had the faith in God. I was “in” the “flock of the faith.”
I also believed God would help me when I was in trouble. Yet, I always felt a sense of guilt because I would truly only call on God when I was in trouble or when I just felt that I was at my wits end! Why was I only seeking God at those times? Because it’s basically what I was taught to do.
However, the Bible tells us that even the demons believe in God. The Bible states: “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.” (James 2:19 — NLT)
So, if even the demons believe in God and they tremble in terror (or total fear), then the faith of my belief was not enough! Merely believing in God was not going to save me from eternal hell. No wonder why I never felt a confidence that I was going to Heaven. I wanted to believe that I was going there, but I had no real evidence that I would end up there. I thought I merely had to believe in God.
So, when I hit rock bottom (and for me it was when my marriage was ending because my ex-husband chose to leave, which broke up the family), I sought the help I always did as I prayed to God. (By the way, no blame in mentioning why I hit rock bottom; it’s only a short explanation of what occurred to bring me back to God). Yet, here I was again, only seeking God in desperation!
This was only the beginning of my journey to my answer to this question: “Are you a Christian?”
I hope you’ll keep reading my blog and post your comments. I pray this will help you in your journey, whether you are a Christian or not yet!
Until we virtually meet again, may God call you to Himself.
God’s Word for Today: “We love him, because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19 — KJV)
In Christ,
Patty Shehan
Copyright © 2011 by Patricia Shehan
