Why Jesus? Why The Bible?
Before I even get to my testimony I want to start of my saying with Jesus
I have peace
I Live in victory
I have Discipline & power
I have power and purpose
A better life
More on this in a bit …
To start off, I’m not one of these judgmental people who believe in Jesus that is going to tell you, you’re going to hell. Only God can judge and what you do or anyone does is none of my business. It’s none of our jobs to judge someone’s life. Your path is your path, my path is my path. I am here to actually walk out why Jesus came to this earth in the first place: To show God’s love in action. I am here to walk the “narrow path” as he says in the word.
Jesus' biggest commandment was to love God with all your heart and soul and to love your neighbor as yourself. Unfortunately even people who believe in Jesus still create division and hate than they do love. I want to say boldly that I try and even though I am not perfect to exemplify loving people no matter what religion, race, background, gender, views, and sexual identity. Jesus used to eat with people who the religious people called “sinners”. Jesus’s enemy was actually the religious people (the Pharisees) during his time because the religious people held people to a standard that they themselves could not meet and were “hypocrites” and judged them for breaking any of the laws. (Isn’t this how we can be sometimes? Look at others people's lives and not our own?) The religious people actually killed him because what came out of his mouth was truth and they were jealous. (Isn’t that how many religious people are now today? They hate on people who aren’t in the church, but sometimes people outside the church are actually doing great for their communities and the world, but just because they don’t say Jesus in every sentence and don’t go to church then the religious people think they must be doing it wrong” But this is why Jesus died on the cross. To break the law. To break religion. To show what’s really real. To show the actual truth. Before Jesus, the people would need to sacrifice animals for their sins, now all we have to do is repent to God through Jesus for our sins. Also sidenote, sin is not this religious thing you think it is, sin is just another word for missing the mark of perfection. The only person that can be perfect is God. But I do know we can strive for perfection and that’s a fact. For example, if I’m at work and I curse someone out, what I will do as a follower of Jesus? I have to recognize “ok I missed the mark”, let me apologize to my coworker but also let me pray to God for repentance but also for wisdom on how to react in that situation next time. Repentance meaning, changing my mind and making a decision to do better, and acknowledging missing the mark in front of God. But we have to remember, he did not come to condemn us. As it says in the word. There is no condemnation in Jesus Christ. He came so we can live life fully and abundantly.
This is why we need Jesus, as believers and non believers we will miss the mark even if we don’t physically do it we may be doing it in our thoughts or even motives sometimes. We are not perfect and we need someone perfect to give us and cover us in his grace. When we miss the mark we are covered by Jesus sacrifice on the cross. That’s why the Bible explains there is no condemnation in Jesus Christ. Shame and feeling bad about ourselves is from the enemy not from God. Without Jesus how then do you get over shame or a big mistake or sin? You really can’t do it on your own. That’s why the Bible says you can’t work your way to heaven all you have to do it believe in Jesus. This is one thought. But then the second ideology is some people treat Jesus like an an insurance plan but Jesus just didn’t die for us on a cross so we can just go to heaven. That makes no sense. He died for us so WE CAN VICTORY IN OUR LIVES ON EARTH. As Jesus said himself he came so we can live life full and abundant.
As Joyce Meyer said:
“When we receive Jesus as our Savior, it is not merely so we can go to heaven when we die, but so we can live in freedom and victory when we are on earth”
A little about my story, I had 50k followers on Instagram, I was with the cool kids, I was a “cool kid” with the celebrities, always getting free clothes, trips and perks but none of that fulfilled me. All of that stuff actually got me sick physically, mentally and spiritually. The only thing that fulfilled me was the Holy Spirit, living through biblical principles and God’s love. That is when I started to experience transformation and saw the contrast between living through the strength of the Holy Spirit and his wisdom vs living through my own strength and wisdom. I saw the difference between purpose and clout chasing. I saw the difference between hustling and working effectively. I saw the difference between truth and lies. I saw the difference between living with Jesus and living without Jesus and the difference was night and day. I learned the worst day with God is still better than the best day without him.
Around 2018 I was I was not in a great place mentally spiritually or physically. I was pretty much at the end of myself. I have tried everything I knew possible to “be the best version of myself, be successful and make it” and it wasn’t working at all. This includes other religions, ideologies and also no religion. I had chronic fatigue, I was basically broke and I was always getting dizzy spells because of my health, it was hard for me to do things for a long period of time. Also around this time, I was on Instagram a lot and most of my time trying to build my influencer career. But I didn’t realize at the time that Instagram was ruining my energy, destiny and health. I know that’s not the case for everyone with Instagram or social media but for me, that was case. Everyone is called to different paths and some things are for some people and some things are not.
Around this time I knew I needed to go to church because that was my only option at the time. I was basically desperate. So that’s what I did. I started going to Hillsong NYC on a consistent basis. I have gone before once or twice but never every Sunday. What I learned from my successes and successful people is that you can’t just do something once and expect it to all of the sudden work, healing and transformation take time. You cant undo all the years of horrible habits in just one shot, it takes time. It’s like going to the gym once and expecting a six-pack. What I didn’t realize at the time was since I was going to church and experiencing the presence of God my heart was changing slowly but I was seeing the changes in how I look at my life, my body, and my relationships. When you change your heart, everything else changes. Everything you do or think flows from the heart.
At times I had the following setbacks (which I know call setups or problems are just opportunities in disguise) which God healed today.
He healed my bad health
He healed my rocky relationships with my parents
He healed my insecurity and gave me power
He healed my ineffective actions and taught me to become more effective
He healed my Bell’s palsy (paralyzed face) I had for a summer, which many people have for life.
He put away the unnecessary and gave me purpose
He took away my silly thinking and gave me wisdom and knowledge
He healed my procrastination to always taking action inspire of fear
He healed my self-doubt and insecurity and gave me confidence and power
He healed undisciplined habits and gave me self discipline
He made me into a real man and no longer a boy
He gave me forgiveness and I forgive everyone who has done wrong to me
HE GAVE ME RIGHT THINKING, SOUND JUDGEMENT, OUR MIND IS THE BATTLEFIELD OF THE MIND, what we think is what we do and what we do becomes our habits and our habits eventually becomes our life
But the most important thing he has given me is peace! Out of my experience and just learning from famous and successful people, money cannot buy your peace. Peace is that feeling of inner tranquility and joy that comes from no one else but God. “As Jesus says my peace I give you not as the world gives” even when I face huge challenges in my life, even when everything was going right then out of nowhere I get Lyme disease and Bell’s palsy I felt so much peace and experienced his presence. When you know where you are going after you die and when you feel his Holy Spirit presence there’s nothing more peaceful and better than that. This is why people love coming to church because you feel that peace and Holy Spirit but peace and jay (a calm delight)
God is good
I know I was talking about people who go to church earlier but the church is actually the best thing you can do ( if it’s a Holy Spirit-filled church) because God’s presence will fill your whole body sometimes to tears and you will be rejuvenated for the rest of the week. Sometimes you don’t know what can happen or change in an instant when you have the presence of God and in a room filled with faith. And you can meet a great community of people that can help you or you can help them which in turn still helps you. (Our purpose in this life aside from our careers is to love and help people, if you didn’t get anything else from this that’s all you need) What I meant as far as the religious people is that they think just because they go to church they are better than people who are not or they go to church just to check a box and not actually have a relationship with Christ. I would rather you have a daily relationship with Christ, read the Bible every day rather than go to church just to “check a box”. But as believers we carry church everywhere we go. There is no separation between secular and sacred. And how do I know about all of this? Well because for a season I felt like I was that person who went to church to check a box or felt superior because I went to church. We have to be super humble we know God does know show favoritism. But there’s are benefits. As you are reading this you are probably sensing tension and a conflict between two worlds and ideologies. And that’s correct. As people who love Jesus, we need to “be in the world and not of it” we need to love our neighbors as ourselves. We need to go to Church, have a ( relationship) with Christ be confident and courageous but then be humble and know we are not better than anyone as well. It’s the art and balance of holding two ideas in your mind at once.
The church is the bare minimum as a Christian. We have to go out in the world and actually walk it out and help and love people.
Do you want man-made knowledge and wisdom? Or knowledge and wisdom that created the foundation of the earth
Do you want to build your life rock solid or do you want to build something that is blown away by the wind?
Something I have been struggling with is communicating my faith to non-believers or people who don’t believe in Jesus or Christianity and how to make it relatable but also appealing to them. But we have to remember to put ourselves in their shoes. We can’t be using all of this sanctified lingo with them at first they won’t understand it or will they want to hear it. Thank God for Carl Lentz, Joyce Meyer, and Joel Osteen that showed me how to use the Bible in everyday life. To win in every circumstance. God came to earth so we can enjoy our life not just live our religious dogma bro.
The Bible shows you
How to win in your thinking
How to win in your actions
How to win in treating others
How to win in business and finances
How to win in experiencing peace, love, and joy in your soul
How to win in your relationships
The Bible will teach you how to be a victorious human being
Before Jesus’ time the people of Israel needed to sacrifice animals for their sins but because Jesus died they no longer have to do that. All you have to do is pray to God for repentance for Jesus
So …
Why Jesus? Why the Bible?
With Jesus and the Bible, you can live a better and effective life.
The Bible teaches you how to live a more effective, prosperous life.
The stories and wisdom can and will change your perspective.
It’s like this I don’t do the Keto diet just because I love the keto diet.
I don’t say I love the Keto diet because I have to sacrifice carbs. I love the keto diet because it’s just the Keto diet.
No, you love the keto diet because of the results you have gotten and how you feel on it.
Same with Jesus
I came to Jesus because I received better results. Not just miracles in my life in general, but in my health, relationships, mentality, career, and mentality. Living with less fear and living with more power and authority. Now I am not saying your life will be perfect, hence sometimes you may experience more problems but that is because he wants to show you everything beneath the surface that needs to fall or be unlearned first in order to live an extraordinary life.
The Bible is basically an instructional manual for life on how to live, how to treat others, and most of all on how to think. It strengthens our souls and increases our wisdom.
You will be more prosperous and successful as you learn what he has taught, how to conduct yourself, your business, and your daily life. You become a spiritual warrior.
We just don’t need physical food we need mental and spiritual food as well.
It changes your thinking
It opens and changes your heart
It cleanses your soul
It nourishes and grows your character, integrity, and ethics
It demonstrates the big picture
It teaches you about Jesus
About how he came to love people and not condemn them. He sat with sinners and not with the saints. He was never on the same team as the religious people but actually opposed to them for the standards they held people to. It shows you that Jesus was a rebel against the rules that were made for thousands of years. (In order to break the rules you gotta know the rules) He came so we can have eternal life and live life abundantly not in fear, not in anxiety, and not lost. He came to show us God’s love for people. How God’s love in action looks like.
It brings you back to your original nature when you were a child. When you were a child you had unlimited creativity, you had joy and you were curious about the world. When you encounter the Holy Spirit and his peace it will change you from the inside out and the outside in. It will cause transformation. The true lasting transformation from mindset, to how you talk to how you act every single day.
Gives you faith to live your dreams. When you have a vision or a goal and you believe in God you now know you have the power and support from God to go for your dreams. If the dream is in your heart then God already has a path for the dream and vision. This doesn’t mean that there will be no bumps on the road or detours. With every great movie and game there’s always opposition so expect that but God has given you power to face the opposition with victory. Claim it and rehearse it in your mind and then you will see it in your life.
You will know and feel the truth in every situation. You will sense a pure spirit vs an evil spirit. You will get the discernment you need to win at life but also the discernment for relationships, people, opportunities, business etc.
It will save you time. God is an effective God when he guided you he just doesn’t want to guide you because he is God he wants to guide you because it’s for your benefit as well. And when your take aligned action with the God who created the universe nothing and no one can stop you because God is on your side. He will let you know whether to take the job or not take the job. Whether to go on that date or even if that person is right for you. He will give you all the answers and all you have to do is obey.
The main reason many people don’t live in victory is that they are not living in obedience. When God tells you to do something and puts it on your heart you have to do it that day. We cannot delay. This is why he gave us daily bread, if we wait until tomorrow the bread will be stale. It’s like the woman who poured our a years wages worth of perfume on Jesus when she saw him, she knew it was her only chance. Sometimes opportunities are once in a lifetime and we have to act now. When we live in obedience we experience miracles and live a life in the will of God but also a peaceful one. God wants to save you from the way of how culture moves, God moves and builds differently. Even though it’s hard, we have to trust him every step of the way and follow the spirit.
The truth. You won’t have to be searching YouTube and the internet for ancient wisdom or “new” wisdom on life. As it says in the word there is nothing new under the sun. Don’t you want to live your life according to the principles that the earth was founded upon? That’s following Jesus. We don’t have to go by the wisdom of the people who come up with a new ideology about life when we have the answers in the Bible.
No shame and forgiveness
Jesus died so we could never feel shame, shame is from the devil. And we are eternally forgiven but he gives us the heart to forgive others that also heals us.
God gives us self-discipline and control. As it says in the bible “God did not give us a spirit of fear but of power, love, strength, self-discipline and a sound mind ”. All the things I wanted to do and was procrastinating on before I committed my life to Christ again, now I am actually doing or have done those things. Because the spirit of God will guide you to do it and you will be miserable if you don’t do it because you know you are called to go and live higher.
As it says in the bible : See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ” Colossians 2:8. A lot of “philosophy and wisdom of the world is actually baloney and might sound good nut will put you in a trap in the end.
Religious people follow all the rules and regulations and don’t help anyone. But God maybe loves the people who don’t necessarily follow all the rules and regulations but help people.
Have peace knowing that this life is only training for eternal life in heaven. This world is all broken, with lies, deceit, death, and I can go on for days. But Jesus promised us eternal life in heaven where there will be no more suffering and we will be with God forever. But we have to remember Jesus just didn’t die on the cross for us to go to heaven, he came so so can have victory and eternal life on this earth.
If you read this all the way through it’s not by chance. It happened for a reason.
You can change your life if you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior
Pray this with me
Lord Jesus, I confess my sins and ask for your forgiveness. Please come into my heart as my Lord and Savior. Take complete control of my life and help me to walk in Your footsteps daily by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thank you Lord for saving me and for answering my prayer. In Jesus name. Amen.
Feel free to reach out if you want prayer
kb@kevinbenejam.com