Stan Toler - The Power of Positive Words: What You Say Makes a Difference

Your most important conversation is the one you have with the Person who knows you better than anyone, your heavenly Father.

W e have spent a lot of words in this book talking about words. Although I have made occasional references to the Scriptures, I have not made this a strongly religious book. However, I would be remiss if I did not tell you about the most important conversation any of us could ever have. Its the conversation with our heavenly Father, the one Person in all the universe who knows us better than we even know ourselves.

I did not have what anyone would call an impressive start in life. I spent the early part of my childhood in a coal-mining community called Baileysville, West Virginia. A small town of fewer than one hundred people, its main street was more of a cul-de-sac than an actual street. But in Baileysville, we could see the majestic hills of West Virginia, as well as an old-fashioned swinging bridge over which we could cross the Guyandotte River.

Our family lived in a small three-room house on the side of Baileysville Mountain. My mother, my father, my two brothers, Mark and Terry, and I didnt have a lot, but we had each other. We fetched our water from a nearby well, and in the winter, our hardworking potbellied stove kept us warm. It ran on the same coal my father mined. We didnt have the luxury of a bathroom, but we did have a well-worn path to the outhouse. Nevertheless, it was home and we liked it.

One Saturday, we came home from our weekly excursion to the Wyoming County Store to find our home completely engulfed in flames. The house was too far gone to save and soon it was a pile of smoldering ashes.

My dad was a man of faith. His faith in the face of our hardships made a tremendous impression on my brothers and me. His faith helped to provide a firm foundation for the lives we have lived as adults. He had a profoundly positive attitude, even in the midst of tragedy. He was singularly focused on God. Although I cried for days after the fire destroyed our house, my father never wavered. He always knew that God would take care of us.

But as important as my father was to the development of my faith, my heavenly Fathers influence has been even more important. My parents taught us early in our lives that we should have our own relationship with God. As devout as they were, it was not enough for us to ride on their coattails, so to speak. We needed to develop our own faith in a living God.

Thats where this conversation I mentioned earlier comes into play. We learned from our parents, and it was reinforced in our church, that every person is accountable for his or her own life and each of us must have that all-important conversation with God.

I did go forward in our churchbecause thats just the way it was done in those days and in our culture. I went forward and knelt at an altar, and asked God to forgive me of my sins and to come into my life.

But this conversation can take place anywhere, anytime because God is always listening. He is always available to have this conversation.

To have this conversation and to begin a personal relationship with God is as simple as ABC.

Admit

We must admit that what the Bible says about us is true. It says, All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). That simply means we have all done things we know are wrong, and we have failed to do things we know are right. I have known people who had a difficult time admitting they were sinners. But God has not singled you out as an extraordinarily bad person. Everyone has sinned.

When the writer says we have fallen short of the glory of God, he is simply stating what we know to be true: we have fallen short of Gods ideal for us. God wants us to live a life that honors him and is pleasing in his sight.

Believe

One of my favorite Bible characters, the apostle Paul, had an adventure-filled life. On one of his missionary trips, he found himself in jail in a place called Philippi. Paul and his friend Silas had been falsely accused and although they were innocent, they had been severely beaten. They were placed in jail in chains with their feet in stocks. At midnight, however, the jail shook, the doors flew open, and their chains fell off. When the jailer saw this, knowing that he might face the death penalty for allowing prisoners to escape, he was ready to kill himself. But Paul urged him not to harm himself. The prisoners were all still there.

The jailer asked, What must I do to be saved?

Paul answered, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be savedyou and your household (Acts 16:31).

That was good advice for the jailer and its excellent advice for us. We too must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. We must believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and when we put our faith in what he did, God accepts his death as payment for our sins and forgives us of all the wrong things we have ever done.

Sound too good to be true? I know. But it is true. And by faith, we accept the gift of forgiveness God offers to us.

Confess

Another important element in beginning this relationship with God is confessing our sins. The word confess means to agree with. So we agree with what the Bible says about usthat we are sinners. And we confess that we cannot save ourselves. No matter how many good things we do, we can never do enough to make up for the sins we have committed. God has made it simple for us. He says, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

In this all-important conversation with God, we confess our sins. We dont have to confess them to another human being. We must confess them to God. He is the one who can forgive us and give us eternal life.

Perhaps you have never prayed to God before and are not sure how to begin. Here is a simple prayer you can pray from your heart:

Dear God, I know I am a sinner. Im sorry for my sins. Please come into my heart, forgive me of my sins, and help me to be the person you want me to be. I cant do it without your help, but I am willing to change. I am trusting you to forgive me. In Jesuss name, Amen.

If you prayed that prayer from your heart, you have every right to believe that Jesus came into your heart and forgave you.

Theres a wonderful Scripture that helps us understand what God does for us when we confess and invite him to come into our lives. John said, And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life (1 John 5:11-12).

Jesus is the Son of God. If you have asked him to come into your life, you have eternal life. Thats what those verses are assuring us is true. Eternal life means, among other things, that when you die, you go to heaven. In response to that prayer, Jesus not only comes into your life and forgives your sins, he also gives you eternal life, assurance of going to heaven someday.

You see why we say this is the most important conversation you can have. Of all the words you will ever say and all the conversations you will ever have, this is the one conversation you dont want to miss. It is a conversation with eternal consequences.

After you pray the prayer and claim the assurance, I encourage you to get involved in a Bible-believing church, one that will help you grow in your faith and help you to become a fully devoted follower of Jesus. Remember that a relationship with your heavenly Father is your privilege, now that you have received him into your life. Like every other relationship in your life, it must be cultivated. Reading your Bible daily will help. Daily prayer will help. Developing Christian friends will help. But your commitment to follow through with all your heart is extremely important.