So you’re ready to make the greatest decision of your life? And yes, this is the smartest thing you can do. Accepting Jesus into your life is the best thing to do. I do want to say something though. It’s a quote from my book Spiritual Interpretations. In fact, it’s almost an entire chapter. It talks about what to expect when you first accept Jesus into your life. I just want you to know what you’re getting into. If you want to skip on ahead to the prayer, it’s at the bottom of the post.

There are many positives to accepting Jesus. For one thing, you now have eternal life. What you need to understand as an unsaved person, you are spiritually dead. Why? Jesus took our sinful lives to die on the cross so that we may have new life in Him. and the thing with Jesus’ life: it never dies. His spirit lives on forever and, if we accept Jesus, that spirit now lives in us.

Make sure you understand that Jesus died and took the ultimate punishment for us. Just like we are so grateful that the fireman saved us from the fire. But then, he died while getting you to safety. You were supposed to burn, but the fireman took your place. It’s basically the same thing with Jesus. You were supposed to be on that cross; but Jesus loved you enough to say that he would die for all of us so that we can live.

Here is the chapter from my book:

Unsaved Have Better Lives Than Saved?

Ever wonder why your life seemed like it got worse after accepting Jesus into your life? Well, you’re not alone. Look, it all starts with Jesus saying it first: Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.

That says two things. Let’s go over the first part “Here on earth you will face many trials and sorrows”. Another word used in a different translation is “Persecution”. Indeed, you will not have it easy. But why not? Well the point is this: threat level. Everybody has a certain threat level to the devil. He has a plan for this world. No, he will not succeed, but he’s still trying to get anything to work in his favor. He’s not going to spend all of eternity in hell by himself, so he’s going to try to drag us with him.

Let’s say you’re in a war. You have your army and the enemy has theirs. Who are you attacking? Your people, or the other people? If you want to win you’ll attack the enemy until they are under your control. You wouldn’t waste your time dealing with your own people since they are on your side. That’s what the devil will try to do with you. He sees your good deeds as a threat and doesn’t like it at all. He doesn’t have to attack the thief because the thief is already under his control.

But in all of this, we realize that these attacks mean we’re doing something right. We are a threat to the devil’s goals. Since we have Jesus, we’re actually going to pull through. It’ll be hard. It will not be easy. This has to be said to new believers. They kind of walk into Christianity with the expectation that things will be better. Things will be easier. But, it’s almost the opposite, because again, now you are the enemy and the devil wants you dead. I’m not trying to scare you but that’s pretty much his game plan. The devil will use your expectations to his advantage. Because your life gets tougher, he’ll come in with the, “See? Accepting Jesus was foolish. Things are tougher, and harder. Wasn’t Jesus supposed to be there for you?”

But there is a man who knows how you feel. His name was Job and the devil thought that he could get Job to turn on God. He even made a bet with God. God allowed the devil to do all kinds of things to Job. He took his food, livestock and even his family. Still, the ever so faithful Job did not blame God for any of it. The whole story is actually a whole book in the Bible. It’s called…Job. Okay so that’s what happens there. Devil will attack you, maybe not quite as serious, but he will make you want to give up on God. If you do, the devil wins. If you keep hanging in there, God will help you through it. You’re not alone in this. You have a fighting chance. So to all the new saints out there, stand strong. Make sure you learn as much as you can from church and other sources that relate to the Bible. Not all churches are good though so you have to be careful with making your choice. I would encourage you to listen for God’s counsel before you join any church. But you’ll probably know which church is for you the first time you enter it. You can talk to seasoned believers. When I say seasoned, I mean mature Christians. Some people are “saved” for 30 or more years and are still in the infant stage in their spiritual life. It’s a shame.

But, more importantly, read your Bible. People, like me, will offer their own interpretation of what scriptures mean so you have to make sure you have your own viewpoint and opinions. One of the most famous miss-quotes of the Bible is this, “Money is the root of all evil”. That’s not what the verse says though. It really says “The love of money is the root of all evil.” That small change makes a big difference doesn’t it? The next topic I talk about is why this verse is correct even today.

So, the main point is this: Just as new born babies need to be given the right food to survive and grow, new born again Christians need the same stuff for their spirit. Just like a teen’s most vulnerable because he is exposed to so much, a new Christian is at risk of believing wrong things because of what they are exposed to early in their spiritual lives. They don’t know much difference between right and wrong.

Your life will be better from accepting Jesus into it because you will have hope that will never die. You now have access to joy that you could never imagine. You are loved much more than the world could ever love you. You have eternal life. While the world tries to help itself, you can go to your heavenly father for help.

So while accepting Jesus into your life is very smart, things may seem to get more tough in life for you. Always remember that Jesus will give you the victory. In fact, He already did. Also know that the battle is not yours; it’s the Lord’s. God won’t let you down. You will be rewarded for humbly suffering the prosecution from the world. God honors that you are willing to stick up for Him and do His will even in the face of adversity. He’ll give you the strength to do whatever He wants you to do.

Jesus is all you need but you must be willing to let go of the control you have in your life. You must hand over your life to Him. Jesus knows what’s best for you. God is a God of free will. If you don’t want to give God full control of your life, He’s not going to force you. He’ll just let you do whatever you want and then you face the consequences of your actions. It’s not God punishing you; it’s just the spiritual law of events happening.

Of course, the most popular reason to accept Jesus would be to avoid hell and go to heaven. The ONLY way to get into heaven is accepting the spirit of God into your life. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one in the same. Your good deeds do not count. On the other side, your sins don’t count. God looks at you and if He sees Himself in you, you’re good. God the father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. They are the same person. When we say we accept Jesus, we are accepting His spirit. So if God sees His spirit in you, you’re in.

No sin is too great to overcome God’s forgiving power. Do not let anyone tell you that the one sin you did 5, 10, even 20 years ago was too great. Jesus died for EVERYTHING that could possibly be a sin. Past, present, and future. He was dying for sins before they even existed. Trust me, you’re fine. You killed somebody? So what? Jesus doesn’t care. You know that guy Paul in the new testament in the Bible? His name used to be Saul and he would kill Christians. Yup. And yet God forgave him. Jesus just wants you to accept Him. That’s it. He loves the sinner; not the sin. You are the sinner and Jesus loves you. It can be hard to believe. “How can somebody love someone like me?” But that one person is Jesus.

So now you have read all of that. And you still want to accept Jesus. Good for you. Say this prayer. You have to be sincere. You have to mean it. God knows if you faked it or not. And really, only He and you know if you really mean to accept Jesus. My role is to just help guide you to Jesus. But Jesus does the actual work on your transformation. You can pray the prayer I set up, or you can do it in your own way. There is no wrong way to ask Jesus in you life as long as you are sincere about it. There is no special prayer you have to know. A simple “Jesus I believe you died for me. Come into my life and make me whole” could work. This is between you and Him. I find it important to be able to talk to God in your own voice. It helps bring a certain level of comfort. God is God and deserves the most respect of all though so use proper language. Ok so here is the prayer:

Prayer: Jesus I know you died on the cross for me. I believe you died for me. You have forgiven my sins and I thank you for that. Come into my life. Cleanse me of my sinful nature. Wash me in you precious blood that was shed for my sins. Take me as your own. In Jesus’ name, amen.

You did it! You are now a born again Christian. The next step would be to find a good church. Find some seasoned believers to learn from. It’s very important you read you Bible too. Immerse yourself in God’s word. You’ll be fascinated by what you learn. The wonderful things that are in store for you as a child of the most high God are incredible. If you want to talk to me, just visit the “About Dante” page on the site. I have ways to contact me there.

God Bless!!!

-DALANEL