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My Jesus

by Rev. Moises Champo

How many of you would say it the same way, MY JESUS, is he YOUR JESUS?

This time of the year is a time to remember JESUS, leading up to His resurrection. We call it LENT, a time to remember His life and His suffering, the time to remember His death, and ultimately, the time to celebrate His resurrection.

Let me get something out of the way, when I say MY JESUS, I am not trying to spread a political ideology, neither a cultural trend nor even a simplistic theological view, as some people may do.

I just want to take this opportunity to praise JESUS, and to express before you my full devotion to my Savior and my Redeemer.

And, honestly, I am doing this because I haven’t had the opportunity to share my testimony with you. And I think that nothing I might say would be of any value to you unless you know for a fact that I have a personal relationship with JESUS.

Before I continue, let me share a Bible passage, for your consideration.

Galatians 3:26-29: "So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise."

 

1. Based on this passage of the Bible, this is what I can say about MY JESUS.

My Jesus made me a child of God.

Yes, I believe God gave me a new beginning, a new life. He set me apart from this world. He changed my life, He gave me a purpose in life, and He gave me a new direction for living.

I accepted the Lord into my life when I was 14 years old.

My Jesus guided me to be baptized in water.

I was baptized in my youth. Without much instruction or explanation, “I gave an outward witness to an inward grace.” I do remember the day when I went to the altar to be baptized by my pastor. What a wonderful experience.

Do you remember when you were baptized?

My Jesus gave me a new appearance.

By His grace, I am clothed in righteousness. This expression doesn’t scare me, especially when we hear strange theologies coming out of the coverture concept.

Instead, I rejoice in the fact Jesus transforms our lives into His likeness so that we now reflect the beauty of Christ.

It is critical for the good of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we continue to teach and announce complete victory over sin, in this world, through the power of the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is critical for the good of the church that we continue to teach and preach the goodness of Full Salvation, the experience of entire sanctification by the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.

My Jesus made me equal to others.

I can sincerely say that I love and respect other people, I, for sure, love and respect each one of you.

I see everyone else as God’s creation. Jesus died for all, no matter what their status in life may be. The rich or the poor, the powerful or the weak, the educated or those who did not continue to higher levels of academic education, all of them are the same in the sight of God.

No one is superior, no one is inferior. No one is legal, no one is illegal. We are all people who desperately need the grace and the power of the risen Lord.

My Jesus made me free, free from the bondage of sin.

We are not slaves, but we are servants. We are not slaves to the things of this world. Rather, we are servants in the Kingdom of God. It doesn’t matter if you are full-time in the ministry, or that you are bi-vocational, what really matters is, "Are you happy to serve?"

If Jesus made you free, then you are free to serve.

My Jesus affirms my human nature. I do not doubt who I am.

I will not get into that topic that has confused so many people nowadays. However, I can tell you that I am not confused. I know who I am. I know my gender.

And I pray for those who have allowed themselves to be confused by strange, and sometimes, evil ideas.

I tell you, brothers and sisters, our church needs to be strong in affirming our sons and our daughters as God created them, male and female.

My Jesus gave me a community of faith to which I am happy to belong.

It is the wonder and the power of God who unites peoples from all walks of life, from every country, from every language, we are one in Christ.

Aren’t you happy to belong to a church? Aren’t you happy to belong to the people of God?

My Jesus has done these things for me and so much more.

WHAT HAS YOUR JESUS DONE FOR YOU?

This is why I am happy to sing “Oh, how I love Jesus, oh, how I love Jesus, because He first loved me.”

2. I want to tell you a little about myself only because I want to tell you what JESUS has done for me.

I was born in a Christian family in a small farming town in the southern part of Mexico. I say this to tell you that Jesus is being preached in many parts of the world, including my little town.

A group of Nazarene Christians came to share the gospel and my father was one of the ones that heard the message and began to attend the small Nazarene church.

That’s what Jesus can do, through His people, many lives are being changed just by sharing JESUS.

As a result, I also received the benefit of the Gospel. I became a Christian, thanks to God, and thanks to the teaching and example of my mother and father.

WHEN DID YOU RECEIVE CHRIST INTO YOUR HEART? DO YOU REMEMBER?

I thank God for what he has done in my life and in your life.

3. Jesus is with us in difficult times.

It goes without saying, that people go through difficult times in this life.

Only God knows if I am speaking to someone who is going through difficult times even right now.

Let me tell you, Jesus is with you. Whatever you are going through, God is with you. His Grace is abundant, His Grace is sufficient, and His power is unlimited. God will strengthen you; God will sustain you; God will guide you; God will not forsake you.

Again, I want to tell you a little about myself only because I want you to know what God is so powerful to do.

When your medical doctor tells you that you face the end of your life, when sickness strikes, and you go through months of chemo, when you lose hours in the middle of the night thinking about what could have been, or what may come, then, in those moments, you only have God to rely on.

In those moments, you realize how important your faith in God is. That’s when the promises of God become very personal. That’s when you confess your dependence on the Almighty God.

I believe in a powerful God, a God that heals. So, I praise His name, I am healed. That’s what my God has done for me.

HAVE YOU EXPERIENCED HIS GRACE IN YOUR LIFE? DO YOU HAVE A REASON TO PRAISE HIS NAME TODAY?

4. One last thing, may God give you the strength to continue with your ministry.

I know that one of the deepest desires of your heart is to serve God. I want to continue to serve God. If you ask me to do anything to serve God, within my possibilities, I am willing to do it. And I am certain that I am speaking to a group of people who feel the same way.

I want to serve Jesus. I want people to know who Jesus is and what He can do for them. I want Christians to be trained to better serve and to become messengers of God into a world that is profoundly confused and lost.

My Jesus is their only hope.

I pray God’s blessings upon each one of you.

 

- Rev. Moises Champo is a longtime NBC Board of Trustees member, pastor, and public school teacher.