Today, October 8, 2019, is my husband’s birthday! He turns 49 and we have been married 23 amazing years! He is a man of God and an incredible leader in our home. God is good and He has taken us on a journey together to become transformed from the inside out with the image of Jesus being forged in us. The journey has not been without bumps and obstacles in the road, but perseverance and steadfastness are key in allowing the transforming power of God to be revealed in our lives. God has created my husband as a masterpiece and it is a testimony of God’s love and power. I celebrate my husband’s life today and what a wonderful gift he is to me!

We have to resolve in our hearts to allow God to take us through the process of becoming the person He designed us to be. He alone knows the intricate details of our hearts that need realignment with His heart. The Holy Spirit is the only one that can cause us to begin to have eyes to see and ears to hear so that we are awakened to the reality of the presence of God in our lives. Our job is to surrender. Our role is to let go of control and allow the tenderness of the Holy Spirit to marinate in us and cause us to become tender and sensitive to His voice. He knows us. He knows what we need. He knows what will truly bring us freedom that we long for. He knows how to get us to our destiny because He designed it and taylor made it for us.

The work of the Holy Spirit in my husbands life is truly remarkable. He has allowed the tenderness of the Holy Spirit to gently convict him to change. He has walked in humility before God, admitting His need for God to transform him and make Him into the new creation of righteousness that God desires Him to be. He has prioritized his time with God, and not in a legalistic way, but in a longing way. A longing to know His Father God and let him father him. As he has run after God like David did, so he could become a man after God’s own heart, God has forged His image inside of Him and now it is visible to everyone he meets.

This is the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He takes our brokeness and sin and removes it from us as far as the east is to the west and remembers it no more. Because God sent His son, Jesus, to die for us on a cross and take on our sin and pay the price that was meant for us to pay, he was buried for 3 days and on the 3rd day He rose again from the dead, we get to be born again anew. We get the privilege of new birth through the power of Jesus and what He did for you and me, we get to receive salvation and forgiveness of our sins and relationship with Jesus. He paid the price in full for our freedom, freedom from the bondage and penalty of sin. Freedom to live a life as a new creation in Christ Jesus and the old is gone and the new has come.

We get to have a brand new start, a fresh beginning of a new life in Christ Jesus that is full of love, peace and joy. God designed us for intimacy and relationship. He knows what we truly long for. He also knows that it can only be found in intimate relationship with Him. Today, if you are unsure if you are walking in this place of freedom and new life that I am describing, you can have it. It belongs to everyone of us that believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that Jesus is the Son of God and that He is Lord.

It is simple to receive all that Jesus died to give you. Right now, in your own heart, sincerely ask God to forgive you of your sins and repent for living on your own. Ask Jesus to come into your heart and be your Savior but also to take over your life. Tell Jesus that you are letting go and no longer want to be the one leading yourself but you desire for Him to take full control of your life. Invite Him to come in and live inside of you and reveal Himself to you. Ask Him to open the eyes of your heart so that you can have relationship with Him and make you a new creation, new beginning in life. Thank Him for loving you and then receive His love for you.

You may have thought you were a Christian, but have not felt like you have had a real encounter with Jesus. I am encouraging you today that today is the day of salvation and He longs for you to know Him and for Him to know you. This very day October 8th could be the most valuable day of your life as you start over by becoming born again, a birthday that celebrates the day you were born again and truly surrendered to Jesus Christ. He is calling your name today. Will you listen to the whisper of your name? He knows your name and every detail of your life. He loves you with an endless, everlasting love that will never fade. He will never give up on you! He is the God of new beginnings. He is the God that sees you!

Will you receive the greatest gift you could ever get in your entire life? Will you truly receive the goodness of God reaching out to you today? His love is chasing you down today and His grace is running after you. He loves you and you are never beyond His reach.

Today is a great day for a birthday! Your life is a gift from God and He longs to give you the gift of intimate relationship with Jesus so you can live the life He died to give you!