“Jesus, come into my heart. Amen.”
That was the prayer I prayed about twelve years ago on February 28, 2005, two months before I turned three. It changed my life forever. Now, you might be thinking, “Huh? Why would Alyssa want someone to come and live in her heart?” And, that’s what I’m going to tell you in this blog post – why a girl of 2 would want someone to live in her heart…
Our world is amazing. God created everything just by speaking.
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.“~ Genesis 1:1-3
“The Rock [God], his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he…” ~ Deuteronomy 32:4
Also, He wants us to live with Him in Heaven forever.
But, we break God’s law and disobey His commands. We are all sinful. Sin is anything we think, say, or do that breaks God’s law in any way. Exodus 20:1-17
“Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.” ~ Ecclesiastes 7:20
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” ~ Romans 3:23
“Wait a minute,” you might say, “I’m a good person. I hardly ever do anything wrong.”
“For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.” ~ James 2:10
This verse means that if you break one law, even a so-called “small sin” such as a lie or a mean thought, you are guilty of breaking all the laws.
This creates a big problem. Because God is holy, He cannot stand sin. He must punish it. And, the punishment for sin is death.
“For the wages of sin is death,” ~ Romans 6:23a
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins.” ~Ephesians 2:1
We are spiritually dead in our sin. There is nothing we can do to save ourselves.
Do you know what? God loves us even though we sin. God loves us so much that He made a way for us to live with Him in heaven forever. He sent His only Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins. He took the punishment that we deserved. He died in our place.
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” ~ Romans 5:8
How could Jesus do this and how is He any different from you and me? Well, Jesus is God incarnate – God in human flesh. He is totally God and totally man. He had a body just like us, yet he never sinned. He lived the perfect life we could never live. This allowed Jesus to take our place. God punished His Son instead of us.
Jesus didn’t stay dead. He rose again three days after He was buried. He defeated death and conquered the grave!
“And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”
~ 1 Corinthians 15:4
What do we do with this? Jesus died on the cross in our place so that we can live with God forever.
“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.” ~ Romans 10:9
We need to confess our sins, repent (turn away from them and toward God’s ways), and trust in Jesus’ work on the cross to save us.
“What must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” ~ Acts 16:30b-31
So, when I said “Jesus, come into my heart,” I was, in a way, saying, “Jesus, I believe that you are God’s Son. I believe that You died on the cross to save me from my sins. I can’t save myself. Jesus, I put my trust in you to save me. Please come and be the Lord of my life. I put my life in your hands, Jesus.”
Now, I have told you why I asked Jesus to come and live in my heart. But, I have not explained how or why this decision changed my life forever.
When I trusted in Jesus Christ as my Savior, God sent His Holy Spirit to live inside of me. He does this for all believers.
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” ~ John 14:26
“And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit…”‘ ~ Acts 2:38
The Holy Spirit reminds us of different things that we have been taught about God and His word.
One of the other ways that my life was changed is a sense of peace and God’s presence in my life. When I am afraid, I can pray to the Lord and read the Bible. This peace that the Lord gives is nothing like you can ever have without Him. It is the kind of peace where even if you are to die in the morning, you aren’t scared and you know you are in God’s hands.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” ~ John 14:27
This is why, after I gave my life to Jesus, I was able to say “I have Jesus in my heart!” As a two-year-old, I could know that Jesus was really alive and that He was my Savior. He gave me joy, joy that only those who are saved by Christ’s blood can experience. He gives us joy and peace in all circumstances.
So, through moving, missing friends, and losing those whom I care about, Jesus sustains me and gives me the strength to live for Him.
And, this is why and how my life is changed by Christ’s sacrifice for me.
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