Am I A True Christian? Thoughts from Greg Laurie

I have to re-mention and stress that I Samantha Tongol Verdaguer to save myself from plagiarism am no expert, or pastor, or liturgical person or really anyone worth forcing yourselves to pay attention to.  I just share my thoughts, my deep thoughts. :) And, today I am going to copy and paste on to my blog thoughts I read this morning from Pastor Greg Laurie. Wow, they are really good and worthy to be shared and I really pray that my readers will develop some deep thinking of their own regarding this subject of being a true Christian. Because, as far as I was concerned I have been a Christian since even years before I was a true Christiam.  If I really put deep thought into it and base the definition of being a Christian the way God defines it, I definitely was not. The question really is are you?

Devotion by Greg Laurie

Thursday, February 12, 2015

True Believers

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.

—1 John 2:19

When someone who has made a profession of faith suddenly walks away from it (seemingly out of nowhere), the question is often asked, "Did he lose his salvation?"

But the question I would ask is, "Did he ever have it to begin with?" Really, the only way to tell if a person is a genuine Christian is whether that commitment stands the test of time. So how can you tell if you are really saved? Here are some questions to ask yourself.

Is Jesus Christ Lord? (See 1 John 4:15.) Christianity is Jesus. And if you don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ, then I don't know what you are. You may be religious, but you're not a real Christian.

Do I obey Christ's commands? (See 1 John 5:3.) This doesn't mean that if you are a Christian, you will be sinless. But it does mean that if you are a Christian, you will sin less . . . and less . . . and less.

Am I unhappy or miserable when I'm sinning? (See 1 John 3:9.) If you continue in a pattern of sin without remorse, without conviction, then one would have to ask whether you really are a Christian.

Do you keep yourself from the Devil? (See 1 John 5:18.) Or, are you sort of going as close to the edge as you can get? A really bad question to ask is, "How much can I get away with and still be a Christian?"

Do I love other Christians? (See 1 John 5:1.) When you love God, you will love His children. If you find yourself not wanting to be around other Christians, it's an indication that something isn't right.

The true test is where a person winds up. And a true believer always will come home.