Month: June 2025

If you have been following my blog you already know this, but for new readers; my testimony is not about me. It is about God and what He has done in my life. I am just the one privileged to share it all with you.Every true believer in, and follower of Jesus Christ has their own powerful story to share. Our testimonies are powerful because people can argue about what we believe, but they cannot change what we have experienced.

A friend shared this quote today. “If you chew your food but don’t swallow, you will starve. Likewise, if you read God’s word without applying it to your life you will starve spiritually.” We can read the Bible from cover to cover memorizing chapter and verse, but without a personal relationship with God through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, it is just a mental exercise.

The most encouraging comment about this blog came from a retired school teacher who lives next door to me. She aaid that she had trouble relating scripture to her daily life until she began to read my blog posts.What she experienced was the work of the Holy Spirit; the same Spirit that opened my eyes to the truths and applications of the Bible when I was a boy. He still guides me and edits every blog post including this one.

God’s word is true and good for us. Let us not just chew on it; let us digest it into our life and let it become our identity as sons and daughters of God.

God is forever consistent. Sin is disobedience to His instructions. God told Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit of one tree, but they disobeyed Him and ate from the fruit of that tree, God told them they would die. After a life on death row, they both paid that penalty and they passed their rebellious spirit down to all generations. At the age of accountability, every human, including you and me, becomes a sinner. Thankfully, God is nor only righteously just, He is also Lovingly merciful.

Let me explain it like this. You are standing in a courtroom and the judge finds you guilty of a capital crime and is about to pronounce the sentence. You tearfully admit guilt and throw yourself on the mercy of the court. The Judge says, “I have removed my robe and taken your place on death row and died for your crime, then rose back to life three days later and returned to my judgement seat. Do you accept my sacrifice in your place?” You quickly reply, “Oh yes your Honor. Thank you!” “Case dismissed. Go and sin no more.”

Why do we ask God for justice, when what we need is His love, mercy and grace?

Because I have been a Christian for 71 years, and people see the fruit of the Holy Spirit in my actions and words, I am occasionally asked for my secret to a long, successful life. In a way that kind of catches me by surprise, because I will only consider my life a success when Jesus embraces me at the end with the words, “Well done my good and faithful servant.” But then I think about what life was like before God found me (I didn’t find Him – He was never lost but I was) and I realize how much my life has changed for the better. Then I begin to share my journey with them.

The Christian life only begins with faith in Jesus Christ. That took place for me in a Vacation Bible School assembly at age eleven. God’s Holy Spirit found me on the back row and pulled me out of my seat and to the front where I knelt at the altar with tears streaming down my cheeks as John 3:16-17 became real and very personal to me. For God so loved Jim Anderson that He gave His only Son so by believing in Him Jim Anderson will not perish, but have eternal life. God didn’t send His Son to condemn Jim Anderson, but so that through Jesus Jim Anderson will be saved. When I stood up that morning, I knew that I was born into a new spiritual life and God had placed His Holy Spirit in my heart to help me navigate through it. I wasn’t “possessed” by His Spirit, I still had my free will, but God will always be available 24/7 whenever I need His help.

My first experience with the Holy Spirit was when I asked God to help me understand my KJV Bible. As I studied God’s Word, I never doubted the truth He opened to me, even at that young age. He communicates with me through feelings I call prompts. I soon learned when I receive a prompt, I have only two choices, do it or regret it. Since I decided I don’t need any more regrets, my Christian life has gone much smoother. It turns out that my secret for a successful Christian life isn’t really a secret after all. “It is no secret what God can do. What He’s done for others, He will do for you. With arms wide open, He will pardon you. It is no secret what God can do.”