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Why and How Did You Become a Follower of Jesus?
Because I came to realize that he is God. The how is a long story, but in short, as a young teenager I was wanting to know that the God I grew up hearing about was really true. If he wasn't, I didn't want to pretend to follow something that wasn't real. If he was, I wanted to give my life to the ultimate cause. School Director, 41, South Korea I became a follower of Jesus my freshman year of high school. However, I did not understand the concept of acknowledging God's daily presence with me 'til in my college years. I know that following Jesus means that I was going to direct my energy into a direction that is real and lasting. I also saw that becoming a follower of Jesus as the only way to set the roots of my foundation of self to something that is genuine. Student, 21, United States I became a follower of Jesus in 1988. My grandparents had given me a Bible that they asked me to read every day. On one particular evening when I didn't have anything else to do, I decided to take a good look at it and see what it had to say. I found the Bible to be true and pure, expressing incredible love and peace through the life of Jesus Christ. Through my reading, I eventually became a follower of Jesus. Professional Tennis Champion, 30, United States I personally decided to become a follower of Jesus when I was a high school student. Billy Graham, who is an great evangelist, came to Osaka, Japan. He clealy showed my sin in life, and I understood and believed Jesus took the punishment for my sin on the cross. Children's Worker, 37, Japan My parents were Jewish, but not observant in any way, but something inside me was always seeking. Always knowing there was more. In 1988 or 1989, I ran across a Messianic teacher on TV. When I heard this teacher on TV, all my questions were being answered, and now my Jewishness and belief in Yeshua (Jesus) all came together so clearly and beautifully that my soul could finally rest. All I can say is, what I felt was that, "My soul had come home." United States I believed in the good news (gospel of Jesus). Pray and you will find peace and love in your hearts. Student, 16, Singapore I became a follower of Jesus because He changed my heart. I realized that life was pointless without God. Everything (and I mean everything) will ultimately fail you sometime or another (whether the object or person does or doesn't mean to). It's just the nature of this world. I was actually in a relationship at the time and had gone through a pretty bad break-up. God really used that trial in my life to realize that everything I had laid my treasures in (my ex-boyfriend) was gone. But Jesus never fails you--though it may seem like it sometimes, he never does. Jesus is good, all the time. Student, 20, United States I wasn't always a Christian. I met a friend about 4 years ago who introduced me to Jesus. I was an atheist, and my friend had been a follower of Jesus all his life. We would talk occasionally about our views on Jesus. What made me commit to living for Jesus? Well, at about that time I had starting reading the Bible a few days before hand and while I was reading it, I just felt this prescence. I couldn't deny it. It was Jesus, and he wanted to know me and what he was saying just made so much sense. How can I possibly turn away from that? Musician/Guitarist, 20, Australia I was raised in a Hindu family that gave me an appreciation for Jesus as perhaps one incarnation of God on earth. My family also gave me a conviction that God exists. I discovered Jesus is the God I can interact with as my friend, so I decided to follow him. He has proven himself to be true. General Manager, 40, United States I had some bad experiences in my life which made me understand that I could not do it alone. Student, 23, Spain Though I had grown up in a Christian home, I made no effort to attend church or seek the company of Christians at college. I adopted the smug superior attitude of most of my professors that religion was for the "herd" and we superior beings did not need it. I never thought about religion, nor discussed it. When my elder brother became a Bahai during his tenure in the Air Force, I concluded religious "affiliation" must be unimportant. Now, we did discuss "spirituality" and "enlightenment" in the vague, selfish way typical of the psychedelic era, and the then budding "new age." If someone told me that they had received truth from talking to a dolphin, I would have said "How interesting!" but if they had told me that they received truth from the 2,000 year tradition of faith in Jesus Christ, I would have said, "Don't shove your religion down my throat, man!" I was running from Him, hiding from Him. I was actively seeking an alternative, and l found one. I learned Transcendental Meditation, and within a year I was off in foreign soil studying with "The Maharishi." I became a teacher of TM, and was one of their top "initiators." I returned to the States, and worked to establish TM centers, I personally trained over 500 people in the practice, appeared on local radio and TV, and thought I had found "the highway to enlightenment." I spent nearly 13 years in the movement, with six month retreats with the master every year or two. In 1991, I passed this church while running every Sunday, and each time I had a longing to enter, seeing the families, the friends, the fellowship. The desire would not leave me - to come in, come in. I did and heard a message about how the scholars of Jesus' time found it scandalous that God would become a man. They, too, held that God was spirit, a force, transcendental. But the followers of Jesus argued that "God meets you where you are." I felt like it was just for me. None of my big questions were addressed such that I could take Jesus more seriously. Instead, He moved in on me and encountered me. Manager, 46, United States I became a follower of Jesus as a young child after recognizing his teaching that life comes only through following him. My parents were both followers of Jesus, and their lives and instruction in the message of Jesus led me to decide to follow him, too. As a university student, this decision became even more important to me. Finance Executive, 32, Australia I was raised in California in a Jewish family. Our Judaism consisted of celebrating Passover, and a few other holidays on occasion, and maintaining a sort-of philosophical perspective on life. That was pretty much it. But I was an explorer. In High School, this being the late 60's, I experimented with political radicalism, psychedelics and promiscuity, and studied meditation and Eastern religions, especially Zen Buddhism. I spent 2.5 years at a small college with a program of travel/study (more travel than study) that for me included a weekend of Scientology in NY, months at Hindu Ashrams in India, and while in Pakistan, visits to a couple of Christian churches. Then at 20 years old I found myself back in the U.S. at a commune in the southern Arizona desert. But that wasn't the answer, and I left the group disillusioned. I reflected on my spiritual life, and determined that I had led a purposeless life without a foundation for understanding right behavior and without the transforming power of Jesus. I did not like the person I had been, or the way that person had treated others or had disrespected God Almighty. All the evidence was against me and the conviction was in, but Jesus had used his infinite mercy to grant me a pardon. Me who least deserved it. High Tech Marketing, 49, United States
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