All I Wanted Was Some Toast! Jesus Lives In Me

"Homemade Strawberry Jam" by Dome Poon © copyrighted/ www.flickr.com/photos/pooniesphotos/4847603404

All I Wanted Was Some Toast!

Jesus Lives In Me

A Big Problem!

My eyes were still closed as the sun's rays began to peak through my window. Then suddenly, the thought struck my yet sleepy mind – mom made strawberry jam last night! Just like that, I was wide awake! I stuck my toes in my fluffy bunny slippers and dashed down the stairs to get out a deep red jar of freshly made jam! Oh, how good this was going to be on my toast!

I slipped two slices of bread out from the bag and eagerly placed them in the toaster! Then I pushed down the lever and waited. I put my plate on the table, a knife, and a glass of milk. After a few minutes I went to check on my toast – it was still white. I waited some more and still it was white. I waited a really, really long time, and still it was white! What was wrong?! I thought, surely the toaster must be broken. For the bread ought to be nice and brown by now! Oh, I wanted my toast so bad with mom's fresh strawberry jam! I could just about taste its sweetness on my eager little tongue! But, it mattered not how long I waited – nothing happened. No, nothing at all!

Then I began to cry. It just didn't matter what, the bread was not being toasted. Tears made there way down my cheeks and fell to the floor below. It was then, that I heard my mom's loving voice float into the room, “My little deary, what is the matter?” “Oh, mother,” I answered, “I just wanted some toast with the delicious jam you made last night, but try as I might, the bread just stays white!”

“Oh, don't worry sweetie,” Mom said, as she walked over to where the toaster sat so cold upon our kitchen counter. I watched carefully to see what the matter might be. Then, she peered to the back, and said, “My love, the toaster's not plugged in!”

Ah, in no time at all, I could smell that wonderful aroma of warm toast wafting toward my nose! Now I knew that soon I'd be biting into that toast loaded with mom's oh so sweet strawberry jam!

Trying Oh So Hard to Be Good!

Now, if you're a Christian already, but are bothered that you still do so many bad things. Then I want to tell you some really good news! Then too, maybe you are trying really hard to do good things for God, but its just not quite turning out like you thought it should. Well, you just have got to listen to the awesome news I've got for you!

You see, we are just like that toaster that wouldn't toast the bread! We can do nothing by ourselves! Remember, you could do nothing good that would make you become a Christian. Rather God gave it to you as a gift! For God sent Jesus to die on the cross to pay for all your sin. Well, neither can we live like Christians should by trying to be good! No, instead we need to be “plugged into Jesus”! You see, Jesus didn't stay in the grave, but rose back to life the third day! It is the living Jesus that has come to live in us, and He is the one who is able to live the life we can't! It is Jesus who gives us the victory over sin in our lives! Jesus is the answer! Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

So, just as Jesus is the only answer for a person who is a sinner, so Jesus is the only answer for every Christian! Just as the toaster was useless apart from being “plugged in,” so we are useless if we are trying by our own effort to live like a Christian should! Neither can we impress God by trying to do stuff for Him! For we will just end up with “white bread”! Rather, we need to let God tell us what we should be doing. Then let Jesus work through us! Listen to what God says, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) So then, remember that you will be like an unplugged toaster if you are trying to live like a Christian in your own power! However, when the toaster is plugged in, the electricity can power the toaster! So then, we ought to be thanking Jesus that He lives in us and thank Him that He is able to do all that He asks of us! Listen now to this! “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)

To put it very simply: Jesus is your answer to get saved, Jesus is your answer for this life, Jesus is your answer to get you into Heaven. Trust Jesus! Let Him be Lord of your life!

“The riches

of the glory of this mystery,

which is

Christ in you,

the hope of glory.”

Colossians 1:27b

“It is God who works in you,

both to will

and to work

for his good pleasure.”

Philippians 2:13

*Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyrighted © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.