John 1:1-5 English Standard Version

The Word Became Flesh

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life,[a] and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Footnotes

1. John 1:4 Or was not any thing made. That which has been made was life in him

I cannot speak for anyone else. My witness is mine alone.

God revealed Himself to be God to me one Sunday in the Cape Neddick Baptist Church.

I did not know there were other denominations.

I didn’t know about footnotes.

I didn’t know what I did not know.

All I knew was that I had been changed by God and that I did not change on my own.

I believe that God exists but I did not know what that meant for me in this new life. I did not know this “new life” was in Christ Jesus.

My parents did not teach me anything spiritual. They let me choose what I wanted to believe even though I had no idea what to believe.

Decades later, after a life of sin, my father died. In my grief I repented of the life I lived away from him because I was ashamed

The moment I did God spoke to me for the first time. He said “What is stopping you from starting over right now?”

I knew this was God and I knew the answer. “Nothing.”

So I went home, picked up my bible and began reading the gospel of John. Why?

I remembered that John wrote that Jesus loved him best.

I did not know the Holy Spirit had brought that remembrance of scripture to my mind.

I don’t expect anyone else to have my experience. I just hope you believe in my sincerity in sharing my journey that began decades before I repented of the life I lived without God’s direction. That began with repentance. Does that sound familiar?