After God's Own Heart Ministries

After God's Own Heart Ministries

Our Mission: To reach the world for Christ through the medium of the internet and other social media.

Kurt’s Testimony

If you would have asked me about five years ago how long I’d been a Christian, I would had said my whole life. You see I grew up going to church. I always had at least a surface belief that Jesus is God, and I used to think that as long as I try to be a good person, I’ll make it to heaven because I believe in Jesus. A lot of people fall into that trap, but Jesus said himself that,

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. (John 14:15)

Looking back, I had no desire to keep God’s commandments.

I remember reading Matthew 7:21 and it really hit me like a freight train. Jesus said,

Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles? And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

And this,

The demons also believe, and shudder (James 2:19)

Even demons have an intellectual knowledge of God. In some ways they probably know more about God than us since they were once in his heavenly kingdom. But they do not have the type of belief that saves; saving faith that produces repentance and a longing to live Godly.

I did not have saving faith growing up. To show you that, I will tell you a bit about my old self. I quit going to church in high school. To give you an idea of what kind of kid I was, at the age of 17, I started drinking every weekend. Nobody around me found that wrong – not my friends, family, or family’s friends. Everybody lived like that and once you were around that age, you start partying. People thought that was just a part of growing up.  The false notion is that you’ve got to have rebellious times when you’re young, so you have something to laugh about when you’re old. By worldly standards, I was a fine kid. I got good grades, was pretty involved in extracurricular activities, and played sports. I even did some good things while I was an unbeliever. I remember specifically standing up for an outcast several times when he got made fun of. You see I thought of myself as a pretty good person.

In college, I joined a fraternity. It was the type of stereotypical fraternity you hear about – lots of drinking and sexual immorality. Although, I was not the most immoral person in the fraternity, I was no doubt a part of that lifestyle. There were always people around me that seemed worse than me, and they made me think, “I’m a good person”. I had a friend from high school who went to college with me and did not join a fraternity. Instead, he lived in the dorms his whole time at college and tried to win people to Christ. At the time, I thought that was a nice thing he was doing, but it wasn’t for me. We had coffee a few times. I remember he would always bring the conversation to Jesus. My thought while talking to him was always, “Why is he telling me this stuff? I believe in Jesus. I believe everything in the bible.” I don’t remember exactly what he said but looking back he knew I was lost. I made clear to him that I believed in Jesus and always had. I promised him one day I would read the bible. Just not now. I was too focused on college then. Procrastination is what holds a lot of people in unbelief. They put off reading the bible, joining a bible study, going to church, and doing so they never come to face with the truth that they’re a sinner and need reconciliation. They fall more and more into sin and then lose the desire to know God. The governor Felix procrastinated. Paul presented him with the gospel, and Felix began to understand that God is a holy God and we are sinful people. Felix said, “I will hear you again on this matter”. He put off getting right with God. As far as we know, Felix never repented and came to faith. Procrastination damned him.

I procrastinated for a while, but God kept working on me. Shortly after college, I did start reading the bible. At the time, I thought of it as a checklist item. I have to do this once in my life. I thought of it as merely a pursuit of knowledge. I wanted to add bible knowledge to my belt. I did not know that through reading God’s word, God would reveal to me how sinful I was and would give me a new heart. Shortly after I started reading, I was seeking through the radio stations one night, and was compelled to leave the station on a station of a man giving a sermon. I never listened to talk radio at the time. If I was seeking through stations, I would listen for music. If I didn’t hear music, I would instantly keep seeking before I even heard what was being talked about. For some reason, this night I left the station where it landed and heard the man preach and continued to listen to him. I didn’t even know there were Christian radio stations. The next morning when I got in my truck, a new man was preaching. I kept listening and I’ve been listening to sermons on the radio ever since. It was through that radio preaching and my own reading that I was eventually converted to Christ.

You see since I thought I was a Christian all along, I can’t exactly tell you the moment I was converted. I can look back on a few moments and say it wasn’t then.

I remember the first time I read the book of Romans, it was like it went through one ear and out the other. I had no idea what I just read. Then, I read Romans about a year later and was in awe. I thought, holy smokes! That was incredible! So much doctrine in that one book. I remember looking back and thinking, I don’t think I had true faith the first time I read the book of Romans. You see you can only understand this book if you have a new heart. Unbelievers can understand things like historical and geographical things in the bible, but they can’t understand doctrine. The book of Romans is rich on doctrine. The only reason we can understand God’s word is because we have the Holy Spirit.

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God… But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them. (1 Corinthians 2:12,14)

You see unbelievers cannot understand the word of God. I see that proven all the time and it breaks my heart. There are several people close to me that started reading the bible once and they said they had to quit because they just had no idea what it was saying. I couldn’t understand when I first started reading, but God convicted me of my whole sinful life and I came crawling to God to give me salvation and with that salvation he gave me understanding of his word.

Another moment that I can look back and confidently say that I wasn’t a Christian – the time I heard on a Christian radio program a man telling a woman that she can be forgiven for her sin of abortion. My thought was, “What? Abortion is murder. Murderers don’t make it to heaven.” I was confused what this man was talking about. Now I know that anybody can be forgiven. We are all sinful.

There is none righteous, not even one;

There is none who understands,

There is none who seeks for God;

All have turned aside, together they have become useless;

There is none who does good, there is not even one. (Romans 3:10-12)

 You see I may be slightly better than a murderer, or an adulterer, or a drug addict. They’re here and I’m here. But the reality is that God is way up there at the sky. He is HOLY, HOLY, HOLY! He demands perfection in his holy kingdom.

We are not saved by our works. We are only saved by Christ’s works! He lived the perfect life, then died on the cross and bore our sins. He paid for an eternity’s worth of wrath for each one of us in those hours on the cross. It pains me to think how much pain Christ bore for me on that cross, not even including any others wrath that he paid for, but I’m sure glad he did.

No, we’re not saved by our works. Because once you put your works into the equation, you have to also put all your bad works into the equation, too. One sin cancels all your good works and is enough to condemn you forever. I now know that salvation not by being a basically good person. Salvation is by faith!

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:6)

The righteous man shall live by faith. (Habakkuk 2:4)

“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…” (Acts 16:30-31)

My old self thought I had been a Christian my whole life, but there is no such thing. We all are born into sin and live a life rebellious to God. The only way we can live a life of glorifying God is if we have been born again. I thought the born again was only for really bad people – prostitutes, drug addicts. The truth is that I am just as guilty as they are.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3)

Jesus told that to a leading pharisee, Nicodemus. Even Nicodemus, who was surely much better than me, probably didn’t fall into that partying lifestyle, and probably went to synagogue several days a week, and prayed several hours a day, needed to be born again.

To reiterate the point,

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

I have learned that the Christian life is much more difficult than an unbelieving life. It’s much easier to go with the ways of the world and be a man-pleaser. Jesus said,

“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you” (John 15:18)

Jesus received undeserved hate. He proclaimed the truth and way of salvation, and the world hated him for telling them they were deceived and living a life against God. The whole world is hostile toward the true Christian viewpoint. They’re not hostile to false Christian viewpoints, such as cheap grace – just believe in Jesus and go on living like a heathen; or the prosperity gospel – that God wants to make you healthy and wealthy and he’s going to really take care of you if you just have faith; or universalism – that God is a loving God and everybody’s going to heaven and there is no judgement for sin. God is a loving God, but he is also a just God. The world loves those false forms of Christianity, but they hate true Christianity. The Christianity that says, “All men have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God”, and all men need to repent and place their faith in Jesus Christ, for “there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” I know this Christian life is tough.

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

I would like to close by saying that although I know this Christian life has been and will be tough, I have great joy and peace. I do because I know the price has been paid for me by Jesus on the cross and whenever I die or Jesus comes to take me home, I will have eternal life in a kingdom where there is no sin and I have no sin and I can worship my savior face to face! I can’t wait for that day! I also have great joy and peace because of Christ’s last words on the cross, “It is finished.” My salvation has been worked out! Victory has won over death! And I know that because I didn’t earn this salvation, I cannot lose this salvation. God freely gave me salvation, and my salvation is in his hands. No one can take this salvation away from me. For Jesus said,

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” (John 10:27-29)

 

Kurt is 27 years old and has been a Christian for around three years. He lives in rural western Missouri and is a member of a Southern Baptist Church. He and his wife have been married for two years, and they have been blessed with a six-month old daughter.

dracy August 25, 2018 Leave A Comment Permalink

What Are You Worth?

One of the most devastating and powerful lies the enemy uses against men and women of God is in the area of knowing and understanding our TRUE WORTH.  Not only when it comes to our place in this world, but especially in the eyes of our Creator, God.

Whether we admit it or not, how we are viewed and how we are seen by others, is extremely important to us.  Our self-image drives just about everything we do. It determines what relationships we enter in and out of, what friends we have and even what careers we choose.

A wrong or damaged self-image can and often does, cause significant negative consequences to those around us. It affects our families, loved ones, community and most importantly, OURSELVES.

When our image of ourselves is low, we lack the ability to live out our God-given abilities, gifts and talents.  When our self-image is too high, we fall into the trap of being someone or something that we were not created to be. Believe it or not, with a high self-image or self-importance, it is easier to believe that we don’t need any one, and that unfortunately includes God.

THE PROBLEM – Non-Biblical

In my opinion, our self-value is formed at a very early age. I’m not going to go into the details of this, but I just ask you for the moment, to imagine some of the things that you may remember as a kid.

Personally, I remember watching TV Westerns with my grandfather. Shows like the Lone Ranger, Cisco Kid and Rifleman.  They were my first male heroes that always came to the help of others, beat the bad guys and save the day.  Then came the War movies where strong courageous men had to overcome extreme odds to win the battles and the war.  I then found my way to the wonderful world of comic books.  Superman, Batman, Spiderman and Captain America.  I remember taking one of our metal trash can lids, and painting it red, white and blue. Then making a mask out of one of my t-shirts and subsequently getting a butt whooping by my mom, for cutting up one of my shirts.

My point is that at an early age, how we thought about who we wanted to be or how we viewed ourselves, came from unrealistic models.  They were all external images. Whether we pictured our future selves like we pictured our parents, a fireman, a policeman, an astronaut, entertainers or something else, we never were told how to be ourselves.

As little boys, we are told not to cry.  To be strong, run fast, jump high, make the team, hit the winning shot. We always had to be better than the next kid, to be the best, to win the trophy.   All so we could just feel good about ourselves.

And I truly believe that this idea, this mind-set, continues today.

Job titles, corner offices, large portfolios, expensive cars, large houses, tailored clothes, six-pack abs, super-model wife or girl-friend or both, are all used to describe the successful man today.  A man of worth. A man of value.

And unfortunately, we find ourselves expending a lifetime of resources, energy and time, trying to obtain these things so that we can be somebody in the eyes of others, ourselves, and the world.  Often at the expense of those around us.

“Men get their self-worth from what they do, not who they love. “– T.D. Jakes

THE PROBLEM – Biblical

The Bible tells us in John 10:10, that “the thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy… “

That thief is of course Satan.  And in my opinion, he has developed a strategy to steal our identity, kill our spirit and destroy the relationship that God wants to have with us.

Satan is a liar.  He has been very effective at convincing us to chase after these worldly things to define ourselves…our manhood…our identity and our place in this world.

He does this by keeping our focus on the external and not on the eternal.  

When we look outwardly to be what the world says we should be instead of finding out what God says who we really are, then our identity is stolen.

And if we don’t know who we are or who’s we are, then we have no real chance of being what God created us to be.

THE ANSWER

The answer lies in hearing the truth about who JESUS says you are.  Because, let’s face it, the world doesn’t love you, never has and never really will.

Oh, you may have your name up in lights for a time. Or one day, you may accomplish some great, wonderful thing for you, your family and maybe even society as a whole.

But no matter what you do, what you accomplish or achieve, there will always be someone who has something negative to say.  There will always be someone to find fault in you or your achievements.  Not everyone is going to love you. And because of this, you will never find your true worth from the world.

But God’s Word says, in Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”

This is a basic, clearly identified and substantiated fact that God truly loves us.  We must get past all the brain-washing and lies of the enemy, the world and even ourselves, to accept this fact.  God loves us unconditionally.  God loves YOU unconditionally!

Yes, we may have made mistakes. Yes, we may still make mistakes.  But this will never change God’s love for us.

LIFE BECOMES REALLY REAL

How do I know this to be true?

Well, let me share with you some of my story.

You see, like many, I got my identity from the world.  As I mentioned earlier, whether it was from heroes in the movies and TV or from characters in books. To those boys and men, I interacted with in real life.

I came to believe, that a man wasn’t supposed to be sensitive. He was to never back down from a fight, never cry, had to show toughness, never any weakness.

A man was one that only saw girls or women as something to acquire.  In fact, the way I found my way into a church was because my buddy at the time said that there were a lot of pretty girls there.  I couldn’t wait for Sunday to come.

I sought promotion after promotion on my job. I worked and sacrificed my health, my time and resources to meet the standards of the world to be somebody that others would look up too and that I could be proud of.

What was sad about this was that this all occurred after I became a Christian.

I never fully understood what God wanted from me other than to believe that Jesus was His son and that He died as a sacrifice for my sins.

I call this Head Knowledge.

It wasn’t until after I had an encounter with Jesus Christ that I finally understood, how much I meant to God.  That my worth or value wasn’t in what the world said but in how God saw me.

Because of my warped view of what a man was to be, I struggled through many relationships with women. I got married right after college because a man was supposed to go to college, get a good job and then get married and raise a family.

I had no real clue of what a husband was supposed to be other than pay the bills, provide for my home and take care of my physical needs through my wife.  And if that did not fulfill me, then there were many other options available because that’s what I saw from the images of the world.

So, to satisfy my needs and of course, it was only my needs that mattered, I had the trophy wife, the cars, the house and the career that the world said I should have.

But there was something missing on the inside.

I tried to fill that emptiness with all manner of material things.  New cars, stereo equipment, clothes. I tried to fill it with illicit relationships with women outside my marriage.  I tried to fill it with work and my career.

But nothing, absolutely nothing, could fill the emptiness that I felt inside.

The sense of failure and dissatisfaction with my life and the way I had been living caused me to literally contemplate suicide.

The enemy had caused me to get so far from God, with feelings of failure and unworthiness that I came to believe that the only solution to this pain and misery was to take my own life.

I went to my kitchen with a bottle of pain killers, poured myself a big glass of Kool-aide and poured out the bottle of pills in my hand, and in that moment…Jesus entered the picture.

As I was crying and about to take the pills, I heard my name being called.  There was no mistake to me in who was speaking.

I heard, “Dracy”.

I said, “yes Lord”.

Jesus said, “When was the last time you were happy?”

I said, “when I was with you Lord”.

Then on my left, I saw this split form in the kitchen.  It was the brightest white light that I have ever seen in my life.  Two hands reached out from the white light towards me. And I heard Jesus say, “then come”.

Still crying, as I was looking at these pair of hands reaching out for me, another split formed on my right. This split opened to a scene that looked like the Vegas Strip at night.  It was dark with the sounds of cars honking, laughter and the bright neon lights of the hotels and shops and restaurants.

As I turned to look at this new scene, I heard Jesus say, “this is your last chance, son, to come to me.”

I took one last look at the vision on my right, then back to the hands that were still reaching for me and I said, “yes Lord, I want you”.

At this point, both visions vanished.  I put the pills back in the bottle and poured out the Kool-aide.  I then began thanking God for his goodness and mercy upon me.

My heart became filled with the assurance that I truly belonged to God and that I had been made whole.

What I had been looking for to complete me could never have been found externally.  It could only be found spiritually.  It can only be found in surrender to Christ.

God became real to me that evening.  He was more than stories in 2000yr old book.  He was more than just knowledge in my head, but a love within my heart.

I call that, Heart Knowledge

From that incident to this day, my life has never been the same.

No, it hasn’t been perfect.  I lost a lot of things both materially and relationally, but I have gained more and more of a relationship with Father God in knowing Him, His Son and His Spirit.

He gave me new eyes to see His Word with and there is where I found my purpose and learned what being a man of God really is.

I found out my true worth in Christ.

He showed me that I’m worth dying for.  I realized that I have been reconciled back unto my Heavenly Father.  That I was created not to be a partaker of this world, but to be a light and salt to this world. To be a servant, a vessel, an ambassador, a disciple, a messenger…a son of God.

“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1). 

No more guilt of the past. Because of the blood of Christ, my sins were/are forgiven.  I have a new life.  I am no longer the same.  I am new.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). 

FINAL THOUGHTS

No greater love will you find, than the love of God.  Nothing will ever satisfy the emptiness that you are feeling inside. No matter how much you achieve in this world, it will never be enough, nor will it ever bring you the eternal happiness and satisfaction you seek.

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ … that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:4–7). 

God is giving us an opportunity each day, to let go of the lies this world has filled our hearts with. For it will never value us as much as God values us.

So, what is your True Worth?

To answer that question, one only must look to the cross.

God bless.

dracy August 25, 2018 Leave A Comment Permalink

What Makes You a Christian?

What ultimately defines whether you are a Christian or not, is not what Denomination you belong to, but whether you know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior in your heart. – Ravi Zacharias

Romans 10: 9-10 NLT If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.

What God is requiring from us is very simple in my opinion:  Confession and Believing

Everything else is us, going through the motions of trying to live a life pleasing to God, without doing what He has asked us to do.

1 Samuel 15: 22 NLT “What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice?
Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.

When I read this scripture, it was like a glass of ice-cold water had been thrown on me. For so long, it was my understanding from past teachings, sermons, personal observations of others, or, my ignorance, that to be a Christian, one must do all the right things. And what were those right things?

All the “Don’ts”.

You know: The “don’t” do this and the “don’t” do that. “Don’t’ be bad, cuss, steal, gossip, lust, sin, etc., etc., etc. Now before you get the wrong idea, and think that doing these things are okay, I’m simply saying that NOT doing them, does not make one a Christian.

So, what makes one a Christian? As mentioned in the scripture above, it is “confession” and “believing”.

Confession: acknowledgment; admission. (from Dictionary.com) But acknowledgment or admission of what exactly? Two things come to mind. First, admission that we are sinful. This to me is the biggest struggle that most people have. Oh, we easily state that we are not “perfect”, but we all believe that we aren’t as bad as the next person or that we inherently have some good things about us, that doesn’t quite add up to being “sinful”.

Yet, God’s Word is clear on this. For in Romans 3:23 …for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God… (NIV).

Second, is admission that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That He is Lord. And that only through Him, are our sins forgiven. This one also is troubling for most people, because this takes control over our lives and destiny, out of our hands…so to speak. What I mean is, if we all are honest, we struggle with someone else, determining the course and direction of our lives…even God. So even if we admit that we are sinful, admitting that removal of those sins can only come through one means, is problematic for most.
We can’t help but to think that we have the ability, the strength, the knowledge, the means, the experience, to live a good, prosperous life, without the help of anyone. And this my friends becomes a huge obstacle to living the abundant life promised by God. Which is a topic for a future discussion.

Then we come to the issue of “believing”.

Believing: to have confidence or faith in the truth; to have confidence in the assertions of (a person). (from Dictionary.com). So here again, confidence or faith in what? What truth? Confidence in who?

Well the simple answer, especially if one is wanting to be a Christian or calling themselves one, is having confidence or faith the “TRUTH”, which is the Word of God (the Bible). And the “person” the “truth” speaks of, is Jesus. Without believing that the Word of God is true and that what it speaks of about Jesus is true, then it is impossible to be a Christian. At least not the Christian that Paul speaks of that will be saved.

In closing:

It really doesn’t matter what we tend to label ourselves. Mankind has been doing that in some form or another for centuries. It’s like we must call ourselves something so that we can belong to something bigger than ourselves. Even those who pride themselves on being loners. When you press them enough, they will associate themselves with some type of label…even “Loaner”.

But the bottom line comes down to what you confess you are and what you believe which will dictate truly how you live your life.

So many so-called, “Christians”, look, sound, and act like everything but what Jesus Christ’s life, teachings and actions, demonstrated while on this earth. Nor do their lives resemble what the Bible describes a follower of Christ (Christian) life should be.

But if we honestly examined our lives, we would clearly see the things we believe in, because our lives and actions show it. Not just when we are around a certain group of people, say on Sunday mornings, but each and every day.

Jesus said in John 14:12 NLT, “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.

Ha, there it is again…’truth’ and ‘believes’.

I’m a Christian, not because of what I do or don’t do. But because I know/confess that I am a sinner that has been saved by grace through the sacrificial life of Jesus. I believe that the Word of God is true and that it states that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe this and live my life according to this truth. Yes, I sin. I don’t desire to, but I am under constant attack by the enemy, even my own fleshly desires and wants. This too is for a discussion for another time. But I believe the Word of God that states in 1 John 2:12 NIV, I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.

Whose name? Yes, Jesus’ name.

Being a Christian is more than going to church. It more than doing “good” things or not doing “bad” things. It’s more than repeating a few words at the end of a prayer. It’s more than reading the Bible. It’s more than talking to others about the Bible.

It’s about acknowledging that our sin has separated us from the presence of God. It’s about confessing those sins to the only One, Jesus, who can forgive us of our sins. It’s believing that Jesus is exactly who He says He is and who the Bible tells us He is. It’s believing that to be restored into a right relationship with God, can only be done through knowing Christ and being known by Him.

I pray that we realize what it truly means to be called Christian and the heavenly and eternal responsibility that name carries with it.

God bless.

dracy August 25, 2018 Leave A Comment Permalink

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