“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9 NIV
“I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.” John 10:9 NIV
Many years ago, I took my (then newlywed) wife Irma on a cruise so she could experience the joy of snorkeling. We had one small problem - she did not know how to swim.
We were near Cheeseburger Reef in Grand Cayman on a pontoon boat. I was determined to get Irma into the water. After all, she was on the edge of the boat wearing a life jacket, face mask and snorkel in place . . . All she needed was to take the plunge. I went into the water first and coaxed her into getting into the water using the ladder.
When she got into the water, she panicked as the life vest kept her awkwardly afloat. I had to reassure her she would not sink as I held her close to me. The boat guide offered us a round lifesaver that had a rope attached to it. Irma was able to hold on to the lifesaver and look through the center to see a beautiful, underwater world with brightly-colored exotic fish and coral.
The guide was kind enough to pull the rope from the front and I swam next to Irma giving her additional security with my arm around her waist. We ended up snorkeling to a distance of about 100 yards away from the boat. Our snorkeling adventure ended well because she grabbed on to the lifesaver and did not let go.
Prior to meeting Irma, I was drowning in alcohol and sinking deeper into darkness. I knew my life was wrong but I did not know how to fix it. I called out to the Lord one Sunday morning in New York City at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. You can read about this in Broken Walk: Searching for Wisdom.
For the remainder of my life, I will write in gratitude to God for saving my life and placing me on the Path to Peace. The three Christian books I have written are to bring Glory to God alone - Soli Deo Gloria! I want others with a similar upbringing as mine to know Jesus is the only way to the Father. I want to share how I was able to overcome alcohol addiction and being stuck in a world of darkness and regret. I also want to share my full joy of becoming a Child of the King. I started life as a child in a little church and had Big Faith. Now I am advanced in age and glad to have my Biggest Faith yet.
The remainder of my life is to bring glory to God through my writing. I am on my way to Heaven and want to tell others about how my life has changed after I accepted Jesus as my Lifesavior. I have double vision as I look back to the past and into my future. I look back at my past with gratitude as I have now forgiven myself and others. As I look to the future, I am excited and in awe of my eternal life in Heaven.
The conclusion of this blog comes with the following image. Picture this: Our Creator threw down from Heaven a lifesaver named Jesus to us. (A lifesaver has a rope attached to it to pull a drowning person out of the water.) That same Lifesaver is seated at the right Hand of the Father and is pulling us all the way into Heaven.
Jesus said it: “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” John 12:32 NIV.
Jesus is the reason for the season. Merry Christmas - Grab on to our Lifesavior and enjoy the ride into Heaven.
Will you join me In Heaven?
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