I have a personal life experience that is similar to many others that I have met over my time as a Christ follower. I was raised to be a good citizen and to be helpful to other people. I was told never to bully anyone and even stand up to bullies when they attack. My parents did a great job raising their children to think beyond themselves but we still were very average children and adults.

But something happened in each of our lives that was a game changer. Somebody told us there was a better way. This way was based on the life and death of someone other than a famous politician, world renowned scientist or a pop- ul"r(figurehe"d:((e(w"s(twenty9three(when(e(truly(he"rd(the( re"l(story(for(the(first(time("s("n("dult:((e(he"rd(th"t(c od(loved( all of mankind and chose to rescue us from this very broken world we live in.

I didn’t need any convincing about the broken world. I w"s(struggling(fin"nci"lly7(young(m"rried("nd("(new(f"ther:((e( couldn't(figure(out(how(e(w"s(going(to(survive(the(m"ny(de – mands that life was shoving in my face. My wife had found herself being rescued by God about a year previous to me but I was a little more thick skulled. Getting my head pummeled in a boxing ring may have also slowed down my thinking too. s hen(e(fin"lly(g"ve(up(trying(to(solve(my(own(life(pro' lems and turned to Jesus for the answers, life didn’t just shift a bit, everything changed. I had new hope, new drive, new dreams and new passions. I saw my wife differently and my precious daughter differently. I saw the weight of my responsivities more clearly but also saw the hope of not doing it alone, God was with me and He was for me.

I went to work with new vigor and looked at my bank account with renewed expectations. God gave me the capacity to say no to myself and yes to Him. He showed me how to pl"nt(fin"nci"l("nd(rel"tionship(seeds("nd(then(how(to(expect( a harvest in the future. In fact some of the people I once had no care for, now I could see them as God sees them.

Now please don’t think that life is a bed of roses for people who walk as Christians. We are still a work in progress and fail quite often. But we are not alone anymore and we are not our own solution, God is the source of our joy and our reward. I’m glad everything changed for me and I long for others to experience this truth.

Maybe you need to have a new lease on life? Maybe you need to have your vision of humanity adjusted, so you can see the good of the day? Then I would invite you to simply ask Jesus to come into your life. You’ll see what I saw, and everything from that moment will change, if every day is renewed by God.

2 Corinthians 4:16 (NIV) Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

Written by Pastor Paris Pasch of The Journey Church in Hastings