Traveling across the country and talking to Christians in every walk of life, I am made keenly aware that the Christian life, as it is generally being lived, is not always a happy life. Someone remarked, “You Christians seem to have a religion that makes you miserable. You’re like a man with a headache: he does not want to get rid of his head, but it hurts him to keep it.”

The Bible teaches that Christianity ought to be and is meant to be something to make people joyful, not something to make them miserable. The Bible teaches that a life of inward rest and outward victory is the believer’s birthright.

Thousands of you have received Christ as Savior; you have been born into His kingdom; you have begun the Christian life. Becoming a Christian is one thing, and living the Christian life is another.

You took a simple step—you invited Christ to come in as your Savior and Lord. It was then that God performed a miracle—He gave you new life. You were born of the Spirit. You were adopted into the family of God. You became a child of God. You may not have been conscious of any great change, even as at the time of your physical birth you were not conscious of what had taken place.

Nevertheless, just as when you were born physically you emerged as a new and independent personality, so when you were born again by the Holy Spirit you became spiritually a new creature in Christ. Thus the children of God are those who are born of the Spirit, and those who are born of God are those who have received Christ into their lives and who have believed in His Name.

But this is not all there is of the Christian life. It is true that Christ through the Holy Spirit now lives within you; but in spite of this, you may find yourself unhappy, confused, frustrated and miserable.

You may have become discouraged and are living a sub-normal, defeated life. The joy and thrill of the original Christian experience is gone. There is only the dying ember of what used to be a mighty flame for Christ in your soul. In the very depths of your heart, you know that your experience is not the New Testament experience. It seems that all you can expect from your Christianity is a life of ultimate failure and defeat—one hour failing and the next hour repenting—beginning again, only to fail again.

We read in the Scriptures that the believers in the early church were filled with the Holy Spirit. They had no church buildings, no Bibles, no automobiles, no planes, no trains, no television and no radio. Yet they turned their world upside down for Christ. They set in motion a spiritual revolution that shook the very foundations of the Roman empire.

They were vigorous, virile, powerful. They lived their lives daily for Christ. They gladly suffered persecution and even death for their faith in Jesus Christ. We American Christians are not living up to the standards set by the early church.

The reason other ideologies are making such inroads in the world today is because Christians have failed to accept the ideology set by Christ. Christians have failed to pay the price of discipleship, causing the great masses of the unbelieving world to become confused as they gaze upon the strife within religious bodies. Instead of a dynamic, growing, powerful, Christ-centered church, there are divisions, strife, pettiness, greed, jealousy and spiritual lethargy, while the world stands on the brink of disaster.

The great need of America today is for Christians to discover the secret of daily victory over sin instead of struggling within themselves. Paul himself described this struggle when he spoke of desiring to please God but not being able. The things he did not want to do, he sometimes did; and the things he wanted to do, he did not do. Driven to the brink of despair, he cried out: “Who shall deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24).

And he records God’s answer to that all-important, bewildering question: “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:25). He said Christ was his deliverer. The difficulties experienced by defeated Christians come because they have taken their eyes off Christ. Their eyes are on the world about them—on circumstances. Some become too introspective, looking only at themselves and their failures.

Once you fasten your eyes upon Christ, you will have victory. As long as Peter kept his eyes on Christ, he could walk upon the water, but when he looked upon the waves instead of Christ, he began to sink.

Thousands of Christians may be whispering within: Why do I as a Christian do some of the things I do? Why do I as a Christian leave undone the things I ought to have done? Many of you name the Name of Christ, but you are living in constant defeat. You have unclean hands, unclean lips, an unclean tongue, unclean feet, unclean thoughts, an unclean heart—and yet you claim to be a Christian.

You claim Christ, you attend church, you try to pray, and yet you know there are things in your life that are not right. You do not have the victory that is promised in the Scriptures; consequently, you have practically no testimony for Christ in your community. You rarely if ever win another person to Christ. The joy and thrill of Christian experience is not yours. You know that something is missing.

Some have resorted to going about the country with magnifying glasses attempting to find a mote in somebody’s eye, not realizing that the beam in their own eye is blinding them to their own spiritual condition.

I learned long ago never to track down the rumors that spread. I make it a policy never to answer the critics, but to go on in the center of God’s will, preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The devil would like nothing better than to have us stop our ministry and start answering critics and tracking wretched lies and devil-inspired stories.

But the Bible says: “Bless those that persecute you” (Romans 12:14). The more the devil attacks, the more the enemy moves in like a flood, the greater the blessing that God gives.

There are Christians who have never learned to live a separated life. They are not separated from unclean habits and unclean thoughts. They have never learned the secret of separation unto God in daily life.

Some have no daily quiet time in which to get alone for prayer and Bible reading. It is unfortunate that even among Christians, conversation is too often of comparatively trivial matters. Many can quote the batting average of a favorite baseball star and speculate as to who is going to win the next sports spectacular but are woefully ignorant of the things of the Lord. If a sick and dying man should stumble up to the door, most religious persons would be incapable of guiding him through his problems to Christ the Savior.

It is obvious how poverty-stricken spiritual intellects have become; hence, the trite small talk that passes between us. The daily conversation, whether it be in the office, on the campus or in the shop, should be concerning the things of the Lord. Believers should be exchanging spiritual blessings, and exchanging thoughts that have been received from their Bible readings.

To you defeated Christians who haven’t known the power, the thrill and the joy that Christ can bring, I beg of you to make this a moment of new surrender to Christ. Begin by taking all of the sins you are guilty of—list them, and then confess them and check them off, remembering that Christ forgives just as the Bible says: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

When you have confessed every known sin in your life, then yield to Him every area of your life: your girlfriend, boyfriend, your family, your business, your career, your ambitions, your soul, the innermost thoughts and depths of your heart. Yield them all to Christ.

Then believe that God has accepted your surrender. Accept by faith the fact that you have been crucified with Christ, but Christ is living in you (see Galatians 2:20). Stand before the cross, recognizing that Christ not only died to save you from the guilt of sin but also the power of sin; and that by dying daily with Christ, you can find the secret of victory.

It is a thrilling, joyous experience to wake up every morning and know His presence in the room. It is a thrilling, delightful experience to know, in the evening when the sun is setting, the peace of God. Then as you go to bed, you can sleep the sleep that only those who know Christ are able. What a joy it is to walk in that eternal and unbroken experience of Christ.

But there are many of you who have never committed your life to Christ. You have never surrendered to Christ your heart, and your soul and your life. You’ve never said Yes to Christ. Why not say Yes right now and receive Him as your Lord and Savior? ©1959 BGEA

Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version.

THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE

Jesus is the truth, and He taught that if we abide in His Word, we will know the truth and be set free. He will come into your heart and life today if you will turn from your sin and put your faith in Him. You can have a new life, a new beginning. First, confess your sin to God and turn away from it. Second, receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, putting your faith in Him alone to save you. He promises to live in you and to transform your life. 

START BY SIMPLY TALKING TO GOD.

You can pray right now:

“Dear God, I know that I am a sinner. I’m sorry for my sin. I want to turn from my sin. Please forgive me. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son; I believe He died on the cross for my sin and You raised Him to life. I want Him to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want to trust Jesus as my Savior and follow Him as my Lord from this day forward. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”

CONTACT US:

We will send information to help you.

VISIT US ONLINE:

Tell us about your decision or ask more questions at PeaceWithGod.net. For Spanish, visit PazConDios.net.

Sign up for a free weekly email devotional at BillyGraham.org/Subscriptions. Find a personal discipleship coach at KnowJesus.net or YendoMasLejos.net.

WRITE TO US:

Christian Guidance Department

Billy Graham Evangelistic Association 

1 Billy Graham Parkway
Charlotte, NC 28201-0001 USA

EMAIL US:

help@bgea.org (U.S.)
info@bgea.ca (Canada)

CALL THE BILLY GRAHAM 24/7 PRAYER LINE:

Toll-free, at 855-255-PRAY 

Photo: Russ Busby / ©1968 BGEA