Christianity is a lifestyle of self-denial and discipline: one of total surrender and obedience to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Some view this as a constraining, boring, and old fashioned way of life. But we only have one life to live. We can seek to find our own way of life, or we can give our life back to God and discover true abundance.

“Bless the Lord, o my soul, and forget not all His benefits”  — Psalm 103:2

These words were spoken by King David of Israel. He knew God and followed after the heart of God. He was a frail, flawed human like all of us, but because he kept God first on the throne of his heart, he experienced a life full of God’s presence and intervention. I would like to mention several of the benefits of living the Christian life in an effort to persuade some and challenge others:

God gives me lasting peace in a tumultuous world. It guards my heart and mind from fear, worry and anxiety. It is not fragile and fleeting, but beyond my understanding and stronger than life’s storms and uncertainties. He gives rest for the weary soul.

His joy is my strength – not just physical strength, but the part of me which will outlast this aging body. Jesus delivers from depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. He renews my mind, which can be so easily polluted with all the things I see and hear. He gives a sound mind that is not tormented with suicidal thoughts.

God gives wonderful counsel free of charge in His Word. When I apply it to my life, the result is that I live a more abundant life. I have great help in my relationships, such as marriage, children, parents, co-workers, friends, and yes, even enemies. That’s what life is really made up of – relationships – and having a personal one with Jesus makes all earthly ones even better. His office is always open, and He is never on vacation.

Jesus is ready, willing, and able to give all types of healing – physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. I don’t need a psychic, medium, or holistic therapist to overcharge me for their services. I can activate my God-given faith and access His healing power.

God has knowledge of and provides for all of my needs. He supplies them from His great resources and riches. Most of the time I am unaware of how He is constantly doing this, and often I have to trade my worries in for a whole-hearted trust in Him.

I choose to indulge in good, clean fun. There may be many other self-indulging options available that offer unrestrained but temporary pleasures, but God lets me choose – and when I choose, I also live with the consequences. Consequently, I’ve chosen to live a life free of regrets, guilt, hurt relationships, or punishment. When I also confess and turn from wickedness, I will be given an escape from God’s judgment against sin.

I experience pure love from its very source, which is God. Love that never fails and is so deep, so wide, and so forgiving that it’s difficult to understand, because there is nothing like it anywhere else in life. I know God as my heavenly father, which makes me one of His sons. Even if your father was abusive, neglectful or absent from the home, God is a kind and everlasting Father whose family is always growing because He keeps adopting more children.

Jesus has empowered me to live a lifestyle free from self-destructive addictions like smoking, alcohol, drugs, pornography, gossip, and complaining. I reap the benefits of a moral lifestyle with no regrets. God has cleaned the proverbial skeletons out of the closet of my life. And when new ones die and want to make their grave in my heart, Jesus comes with resurrection power over past hurts, pain, guilt, and shame.

There are many more examples, but perhaps this sampling will give you an idea of why I am convinced that being a Christian, not just claiming the title, is the best life possible!

Something about this story stirs a desire in me that to see the miraculous power of God take over my town. I’ve heard other stories about revivals that emptied and eventually shut down bars. Then there are the tales of entire factories full of workers falling to their knees, weeping in repentance, simply because an anointed man of God walked through the door. These stories are fascinating, but I don’t want to be merely a historian of others’ stories. I don’t want to settle for reading the books of other mighty men of God. I want to partner with God in writing some new history books.

Doubtless, these stories did not happen to just anyone, anywhere. It required sacrifice, submission, and faith. Yet it proves that God can do and desires to do amazing things in America. Am I willing to do my part?

I heard a story a few weeks ago about an old time pastor and his wife who went on a 30 day period of prayer and fasting. This pastor would start praying at 12 midnight and pray until 12 noon. His wife would sleep during this time as well as get the kids ready for school. She would then begin praying at noon while he would sleep and get ready for the evening service. She would sit in the back and pray during the service. Then at midnight he would resume his 12 hour vigil. This continued for the duration of the 30 days. When my astonished mind finally registered the magnitude of this couple’s sacrifice, I profoundly uttered one word. “Wow.” Their church began seeing the results of this intense prayer. As soon as people walked through the doors they would instantly feel the anointing and power of God. Revival swept many souls into the church.

While I’m not attempting to persuade you to embark on such a radical prayer mission, perhaps there is something God is looking for from you that will open the door to another spiritual awakening in your area. Pause and consider: why did God put me where I am? What purpose am I supposed to be fulfilling?

Is it crazy to ask God to give us an Azusa Street style spiritual experience? Is it extreme to ask God to give New England another great awakening? Is it ignorant to ask God for a demonstration of the miraculous, leading to a mass exodus of the hospitals and nursing homes? If so, then I will proudly announce that I am crazy, extreme, and ignorant, because those are exactly the sort of things I am asking and believing God for. The time for stories is past; the time for deeds is here.

My parents ran into the room, and when they saw I was having an asthma attack they immediately put me on the nebulizer, but even with all of that medication I wasn’t getting better. So my mom told my older brother and dad to go on to church and that she would stay home with me. After they left, my mom sat down with me and started to pray. My dad and my older brother asked the whole church to pray for me.

When my mom finished praying, she said that I changed from blue to a reddish color. When the church found out that God healed me they praised Him and thanked Him that I was alive. When I went for a checkup the doctor told my mom that my asthma was completely gone — not a trace of asthma! We told the rest of my family, and they all praised God and thanked Him again for what he had done.

Today I am still asthma free. Ever since then I have reminded myself again and again of what He did for me. God has helped me through great problems. Every time I think about it, I thank Him, for without Him I would not be here today. One lady I related this story to said that it was the most amazing story she had ever heard.

God has blessed me in many ways. He has shown me things that I have never seen before. I am thankful for what He has done for me, and more importantly I know that He loves me always and I love Him.

Over the past few weeks, God has been working deep within me, down where no one can see what’s there – places I didn’t even acknowledge. He has let things from my past resurface so that I can come to the place where I’m so desperate that I will throw myself at his feet, laying down all that I am. I have experienced all over again the pain that comes from losing my mother and sister in a car accident. I have realized that for fifteen years I’ve buried my pain and harbored anger and resentment towards God for what happened. Finally I came to the place where that had been buried so long that there was no more room. My emotions, thoughts, and feelings all exploded and I found myself deep in depression, ready to ship it all in.

Two Fridays ago I planned exactly how I would end it. I thought that I could kill the pain. Then last Sunday God, in his awesome and overwhelming love, began the healing process that I have needed for years. This weekend He spoke into my life through people, continuing the healing process as I poured myself out to him.

If you have stuffed away your feelings and let them fester inside, let them go. Fall on your knees and pour everything out before the God who came to heal; He desires that you live a life of true joy.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.” (Luke 4:18)