How does Jesus affect people’s lives today?
In the time Jesus walked the earth, followers of Jesus would tell people of their personal encounters with him. At the end of The Passion of the Christ, we see Jesus get up from the tomb as He comes back to life from the dead – he is living today. People are still telling stories of their encounters with Jesus some two thousand years later.
Explore the impact and relevance Jesus has today through these snapshots of people’s lives.
1) Free to make decisions without fear
I’m a planning freak and am always looking for the next step. Recently I had to make a pretty big career decision. As I weighed the pros and cons of the choice, I decided to try praying. Maybe I could glean some supernatural insight into my situation that felt so foggy.
While I was praying, Jesus’ words came to my mind, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” (John 14:6) His words came to life in a new way and intersected with my situation where I was feeling confused and fearful of making a poor choice. “Kristin, I am the way. I didn’t come to show you the way to the good life of God’s plan for you. I am the way. It’s good you’re coming to me with your plans, but do you care more about the plan, or do you care about knowing Me no matter what is going on in your life? I want you to know that I am with you no matter what the plan is. I want you to grow to trust me so much that it doesn’t matter what you actually end up doing. If you are wherever I am, that is the way to go.”
With each major decision that comes I am still tempted to stress out and think that I am alone in my decision-making. Each time I am reminded of Jesus’ desire for me to discover more deeply how trustworthy he is in new situations.
2) Finding strength to love despite hurt
My husband grew up in a family that constantly had tempers flaring with no warning. I was raised in a family where we never discussed personal matters or aired conflicts in front of other people. Early in my marriage, my husband’s temper blew up while we were in the company of good friends. I felt so hurt.
But it was in that weak and humiliating moment that I felt God showing me his unconditional love for me (and my husband) despite all our weaknesses. I remembered Jesus’ words, “As my Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love… This is my command: love one another.” (John 15:9,10,17) What a hard thing to do, especially when I felt so hurt from the fresh wound of my husband’s lashing out at me. I knew I needed to love and accept my husband unconditionally, just as Jesus first extended his love to me and to my husband. But I realized I could not do it out of my own shallow, limited and conditional love. I could only do it out of a supernatural love and strength from knowing that Jesus first loved me.
3) Finding light in the darkness
I knew I had to leave the way I was living. I was at the height of feeling physically and emotionally drained from a life of working hard and playing hard, with a few bad relationship choices thrown in the mix. Spiritually I felt like I was dying inside. I knew I had to find a new life, as hard as it would be. I moved across the country and left everything behind.
I was all alone in my new place. It was pouring rain, a perfect match for my mood. I cried myself to sleep to avoid the pain of the loneliness and despair I felt. When I could sleep no more, I woke up and remembered someone had once told me to read the book of John in the Bible. I was so low I thought it couldn’t hurt to try turning to God. I read about Jesus in the first chapter, “In him was life, and that life was the light of the world. The light shines in the darkness; the darkness will not overwhelm it.” (John 1:4-5) I somehow felt at peace. I sensed a strange comfort. I felt the light of Jesus despite the darkness that surrounded me in weather and in spirit. I knew that Jesus’ light would bring me through this dark time.
4) Satisfying soul food
I struggle with compulsive overeating. When I’m bored, stressed, depressed, joyful, (or for almost any reason really), I will turn to food as a way to deal with whatever emotion I may be feeling. I subconsciously try to feed my heart with physical food.
I am learning to deal with the inner issues of my heart, to feed it first with truly satisfying soul food. Otherwise, my instinct is to turn to physical food, which doesn’t satisfy and often even makes me feel worse inside. Jesus said, “I am the Bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry; he who believes in me will never thirst.” (John 6:35) I’m learning to digest this truth and let it nourish my life. When I am full of Jesus – his words, his teachings, his truth, his love – my spirit is satisfied and I am less prone to overeat. And I am less prone to try to satisfy my inner heart with other fleeting pursuits like approval of others or success in the eyes of my peers. Jesus’ words are life.
5) Experiencing eternal life here on earth
When my father passed away I cried so much some days I had to pray that I would stop crying because my eyes could physically not handle any more tears. I missed my dad so much. I began to wonder a lot about heaven. I wanted to find out more about it.
I remembered that Jesus came from God the Father in heaven and returned there after his earthly life. I figured I could find out more about heaven by listening to what Jesus had to say about it since he came from heaven. So I began reading the four accounts of his life and teachings in the Bible. It was amazing! Each time I read with a willingness to learn, God would help me to see something new about heaven.
Jesus said, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know the only true God, and your Son whom you sent.” (John 17:3) I can enjoy a full life here on earth by knowing God in a personal way! Eight years after my dad’s death, I am still reading and considering Jesus’ words and I am finding comfort in knowing God as my Father in heaven. I am discovering that eternal life starts here and now with knowing God in this life. After I die, my eternal life will continue in heaven forever because I will continue to know God better and better as I see him face to face.
6) A new kind of faith
So I got the dreaded phone call. My first serious boyfriend told me that the doctor’s were 90 percent sure that he had cancer. Although the final results would come back a week later, I was terrified, devastated, and hopeless as I tried to be brave for him.
That night I cried out to God. As I read Jesus’ words, they hit me in a new way. He said to the sick that came to him: “By your faith you are healed.” He said to his followers: “If you ask anything in my name it will be given to you,” and “I am with you always.”
As I read about people’s encounters with Jesus, I felt like Jesus was asking me, “Shannon, do you really have faith in me, that I have the power I say I have, and that I will fulfill the promises I make?” That week I prayed believing Jesus was in the situation – I knew that his presence and power would give us the strength to go through whatever the outcome would be. I had a new kind of faith as the Bible came alive to me. The results came in and the doctors were confused because there was no cancer! Trusting my life to Jesus is living with a new kind of confidence in his presence to give me the strength to handle whatever circumstances life may bring.
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