When we make the choice to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, our journey is just beginning. We are now accepted into God’s Kingdom and our soul is at rest. Our sins are forgiven in the past, present, and future. We are now a child of God and an heir with Jesus Christ to the Kingdom of God (Romans 10:9-10).

All of this is possible because of Jesus, the Son of God, who came to this earth to atone for our sins. He made it possible through His crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. Hebrews 2:17 tells us that Jesus is our reconciliation with God. The Father is always willing to meet us half-way and will meet us in the middle. We must make the choice to accept Jesus and allow Him to be the mediator between us and God.

Jesus is the bridge where we meet God. The Father is on one side and we are on the other side. Jesus is in the middle holding the father’s hand with one of His hands and holding ours with the other hand. Another way to explain this is to look at the banks of a river. On one side of the river is the Father and on the other side of the river is us. Between God and us is a raging river of sin that has separated us from God (Colossians 1:21). We are alienated from God and the benefits of His Kingdom. Yet Jesus became the bridge where we can touch and be a part of God’s Kingdom. He covers the sin that has separated us from God and we become a son or daughter of God the Father. Thank you, Jesus!

This is just the beginning where God’s love meets us. The next part is just as important as the first part. Romans 12:1-2 tells us that we need to renew our mind with God’s word. But what does this mean?

When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, God instills a new mindset in us. Imagine your mind as a computer tower where all the data is stored. A computer has a hard drive that stores the data needed to run the computer properly. When Jesus enters our heart, God wipes our hard drive (our mind and spirit) of its old program and installs a new program (a renewed heart) has begun. The old hard drive is wiped out and a new program is installed.

For us, our new program is the Bible. We must willingly decide to accept the new program and use it in our lives. We must base our new program on the Bible and God’s word. We cannot base our program on feelings, emotions, or conform to the world’s program. We were meant to be Christ-like.

This part of the reprogram is not up to God. He has already done His part. God already did everything that He promised to do for us. We must believe that, receive that, and learn that. Meditate God’s word and most importantly, when we apply it, the manifestation of what we believe will become a reality in our lives.