Witnessing the Saving Grace for Josh

The following is an actual account of a lost, young man (Josh I.) finding Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Often times we hear of testimonies of how someone came to the saving Grace of Jesus. You might even look back and recant those beautiful memories of how you came to know and Love the Lord. You may have even wanted to help someone find the Love and Peace that God has to offer, but you just didn’t know how. Well, the following is an intriguing account of the Grace of God enveloping the heart of a young man on facebook as he reaches out to the nail scared Hand of God. It was over a period of 3hrs with different people interjecting their beliefs that they thought would help, some distracting and others right on track. His salvation caused someone else (Sally B.) to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior as well. Internet Bible Study is my Facebook page, you will see my response as such. It begins like this:

Josh I.:
i dont understand.. i know of god. was raised with a church background. and am highly interested in the bible.. i read and reread.. and i do good with it.. but then i fall back away from grace and end up where i started.. i fall back to the life that i try so hard to leave.. seems like everytime god grabs my attention evil slowly reels me back in.. anyone else in this position or just me?

Jasmine H.:
I used to have the same similar problem and I realized in order to completely move forward you have to let go of the past. Old failures, old mistakes, old friends, old life, old sins, old jobs! Its holding u back there!! You’re going to constantly be tempted, you just have to the guarded with God’s Word and be so fearful of him and love him enough so that you dont let evil/sins over take you.

Allan M.:  Not into Bible quotes .. But have Someone I call “IT” FRIEND. It is probably your Jesus Energy or Spirit or something.. Surely Something VERY WONDERFUL is out there?

Josh I.: so what are you trying to say? that i dont read? i dont get where your going with me h

Internet Bible Study
‎@Josh – stay focused we’re almost there, one more question. What is eternal life?

Sunny R.:
She’s saying what I said – pray for Faith.

Sunny R.:  earnestly

Sunny R.: Let go & let God

Internet Bible Study
‎@Josh – it’s mid-nite here past my bed time, but you are worth it. What is eternal life? God cares and is trying to help you now.

Josh I.: eternal life? well how i understand it is life in heaven. life through god and jesus. a life that isnt ever marked with death. the point in which all that can die has been shed and your soul may rest with god in gods kingdom.

Sunny R.: What is Heaven?

Internet Bible Study Here is what God says it is:

John 17:3 (KJV)
3And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

John 17:3 Amplified Bible (AMP)
3And this is eternal life: [it means] to know (to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand) You, the only true and real God, and [likewise] to know Him, Jesus [as the] Christ (the Anointed One, the Messiah), Whom You have sent.

Josh I.:
gods kingdom. free of all wrong-doing. free of persecution. free of the negativity. free of evil really. i guess you could say a perfect world.

Internet Bible Study  God promised you eternal life. God keeps all of His promises. If he says you have eternal life, and He does then you have it. What is the it? Knowing Him….You cannot keep what you don’t know you have, what you don’t have is a relationship that’s why you said ‘I know of god.’ What you want is relationship.

Josh I.  well yeah.. otherwise its eternal fire. not eternal life. no longer do we get struck dead for our sins like in the old testament bc our soul dies now.. meaning a soul thats dead is a soul without eternal life. and to get to eternal life you have to obtain that through christ and god. without them there is no eternal life. i understand that.. thats why i posted to begin with.. i want that life.. and seem to always get pulled bk away from it… so im missing something somewhere or we just did a big circle. lol

Josh I.:
ok i understand so void my last comment lol. yes i want relationship for sure.

Josh I.:
so how did u get a relationship? i mean i read i pray i do everything i think i should be doing.. bt i always get pulled away.. theres strength in numbers.. therefore god and me is better than just me.. so if i could obtain a relationship with god i probably wouldnt be pulled away so easy.

Internet Bible Study Human beings are motivated by 2 things reward and punishment, the tree of good and evil in the Garden of Eden. Your motivation is one of pain and not enjoyment. You said eternal fire (punishment) I said eternal life, relationship which is love. Eternal fire is rejection of the one who loves you. Yet you have not come to the point of knowing this. There are 3000 promises in the bible and 10 commandments reduced to one. So why do people focus on the 10 don’ts instead of the 3ooo. They can’t handle LOVE!

Internet Bible Study
Distractions, that is why I kept saying stay with me, stay focus, you are worth it. That is what God is telling you. This is a one on one relationship. You have not learned to freefall. You are right where you need to be for God who has His hand reached out to you.

                        Josh I.:
                        what do you mean by freefall?

Internet Bible Study Now you are ready for that relationship, that intimate oneness that God promised. Please read the following prayer of salvation, then say it. It is the same prayer used for backsliders. Then Say it out loud.

Internet Bible Study

Eternal Life Insurance
Get yours while there is still time!
Eternal Life Insurance, ‘The Lord Jesus Christ’ – Get to know someone who cares more about you then you do.
You are not good enough ON YOUR OWN to get into heaven or live a Godly life! You are a sinner and you need a Savior. If you are wondering about your Salvation, then wonder no more.

PRAYER IS NOT A THOUGHT, BUT A DECLARATION SPOKEN WITH YOUR MOUTH (OUT LOUD).

A silent prayer is a thought, and contradicts this scripture –

Rom. 10:9 (KJV) That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Everyone qualifies for a Savior.

Repeat this prayer if you are backslidden or lack the commitment for a successful life then rededicate with this prayer.

Repeat this prayer if you are a good person (Roman 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;) or just a ‘sinner’ who needs a Savior.

Repeat this prayer if you are in a religion and you want to know the God who is Love:

Prayer
Father God in the name of Jesus I ask you to forgive me for all of my sins. Come into my heart Jesus, take over my life and be my Lord, my personal savior, my personal healer and my provider. I summit to your Lordship! I believe in my heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, born by the Virgin Mary, crucified, resurrected and now He lives in my heart. Thank you Lord Jesus for coming into my heart and saving my soul and Father, I ask you right now to set my soul free. I don’t want my soul to be enslaved or to be in bondage to anything or to anybody. Father, I accept the freedom of my soul and ask you right now, Lord, to fill me with your precious Holy Spirit from the sole of my feet to the crown of my head. Give me power over my situation so that when I pray I will get an immediate answer and when I speak the word of God it will manifest itself immediately.

(Now put both of your hands on your stomach and say):

I have in me the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and all the power of God dwells in me all the promises of God dwell in me and when I call upon them one by one they have to manifest themselves because they belong to me and I call upon long life and peace and joy; come forth divine anointing, health and strength come forth! I will study my bible and learn about all the promises that God Has promised me. Father, I thank you for saving my soul in Jesus precious name, Amen. Thank you, God.

Jesus has set you free.

Love Conquers All,
Much love,
Pastor Harris

Internet Bible Study Free falling – its like jumping off a cliff with only the Hand of God to catch you. It’s all or nothing. It’s death to self. People tell you that you are weak. That’s not the problem you are suppose to be dead. Paul said it like this in:

Gal 2:20 The Message (MSG What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.

Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God’s grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.

 Internet Bible Study Oh, the definition of freefall is the above posting.

Internet Bible Study

                         Amplified Bible (AMP)

Gal 2:20I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to… and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me. I love this verse.

Internet Bible Study Did you ever see a dead man in the casket sin; like taking drugs, fornicate etc. Why? Because he’s dead. Dead men don’t sin. Your old man is dead. You resurrect him every time you sin.

Internet Bible Study How do you stop sinning?

Matt 16:24 -26 The Message (MSG)
24-26Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?

                                    Amplified Bible (AMP)
Matt 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [[a]cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also].

Internet Bible Study
‎@Josh – stay with me and we’ll get there together.

Josh I. im here. im reading everything you post and taking it in 🙂

Internet Bible Study Matt 16:24 Jesus says for you to pick up your cross and follow Him. Now where in the bible does it say to put it down? You are to carry it daily. It represents death, your death to self. So how do you stop sinning? You nail your b*** to the cross. Here is the clincher. The nails you use are THE WORDS …”NO”. Just like you would tell a child, ‘NO’!

Internet Bible Study Practice ‘No’ in the mirror and then apply it to your life.

Josh I.: i am gaining soo much from a simple post and a few caring people.. its amazing!

Internet Bible Study
If you are busy making the 3000 promises of God happen in your life, when would you have time to sin? You won’t. I’m motivated by the carrot not the kick in….

Eph 2:10 The Message (MSG)
7-10 Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.

Eph 2:10 Amplified Bible (AMP)
10For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), [a]recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].

Internet Bible Study No Josh, God is amazing, He loves and wants that relationship with you more than you. He proved His Love by sacrificing Himself and dying for you. You show your love by being a living sacrifice and dying to self till you are selfless.

Internet Bible Study
Are you a preacher’s kid?

Sally B.:
Wow ! I don’t know who you are, but I was just reading Josh I. comments & your responses, & I realized that my own feelings of being lost & alone are exactly because I too have slowly strayed away from my personal relationship with God – I prayed the prayer you set out for Josh I (out loud) Thank you for giving me direction, & for helping me to see where I was going wrong…

Josh I.: no i am not… what makes you ask though? lol

Internet Bible Study
You said you grew up in the church, so was it your grandma or parents that took you.

Josh I.: parents… they got divorced.. dad is still hardcore christian.. my mom fell away from it soon after the divorce.

Internet Bible Study
‎@Sally – Thank you Lord Jesus! Wow! I’m humbled by being a servant of God. I’m Pastor Harris. My Father wrote this prayer and has lead over 7000 people one on one to the Lord with it over the past 34yrs. I have an Internet Bible Study http://www.facebook.com/pages/Internet-Bible-Study/32463563573

Internet Bible Study
‎@Josh – Now you can lead her back in, she’s hurt.

Josh I:
my mom actually started falling back right before the divorce. they were both a hundred percent against it.. but some things were done that my dad couldnt allow in his home due to the sake of us.. the kids.

Josh I.: i will do my best. 🙂

Internet Bible Study
Well Josh, did you read the prayer out loud?

Josh I.:
i most certainly did 🙂

Josh I.; pastor harris.. i want to thank you for helping me.. all of you thanks for your contribution to the post.. now all i hope is whoever may read it can gain from it.. and hopefully more kids my age wont be ashamed to bring up god or ask for help..

Internet Bible Study

@Josh – Thank you Jesus! Josh you and Sally will never be the same any more. Sin is choice and every time you sin you chose death. God said in:

Deuteronomy 30:19
The Message (MSG)
19-20 I call Heaven and Earth to witness against you today: …I place before you Life and Death, Blessing and Curse. Choose life so that you and your children will live. And love God, your God, listening obediently to him, firmly embracing him. Oh yes, he is life itself, a long life settled on the soil that God, your God, promised to give your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Deuteronomy 30:19

Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹⁹I call heaven and earth to witness this day against you that I have set before you life and death, the blessings and the curses; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live

 

Thank God for 1 John 1:9

The Message (MSG)
8-10If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we’ve never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.

                                    1 John 1:9
Amplified Bible (AMP)
9If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action].

 

Internet Bible Study I love you all!!! Yes, I thank God for Sally and if anyone else said the prayer we all rejoice with you. If you slip up say the prayer and pass it on to everyone you meet. It was written by Willie Gene Harris Much love….

Sally B.: Josh, inadvertently you have actually helped me in finding direction back to the path of Righteousness that I have blindly wondered off in my own self-absorbed depression, so thank you for being so honest & thank you Pastor Harris for posting that prayer & for showing me that a silent prayer is just a thought, & I need to declare my prayers out loud. I have copied that prayer out & intend to pray it often (out loud). God Bless you both.

Jamie M.: WOW!!!! This IS THE MOST AMAZING post i have ever read on fb! Beautiful….*tear* THANK YOU Josh for starting it and Internet Bible Study for finishing it! AWESOME! :o)

Internet Bible Study

I love you Sally, please go to my notes on forgiveness. You are delivered from depression by your own testimony of victory over satan.

Rev, 12:11 King James Version (KJV)
11And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of… their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

                                     I love you all, goodnight…

Now all of this was accomplish by being lead by the Spirit of God, He is known as the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost in the scriptures. The purpose of the Holy Spirit is to make you a bold witness of Jesus Christ:

Acts 1:8

Amplified Bible (AMP)

⁸But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth.

GOD IS LOVE, LOVE CONQUERS ALL…
Much love,
Pastor Harris

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