My Story of Coming to Faith, Part 3 – Peace, Church, and the End of Reincarnation

(Continued from Part 2.)

The Peace of God That Passes All Understanding

Then I believed. And rested. And when I believed and rested from my search I found peace. It was a peace beyond understanding. Please do not misunderstand me by nodding your head and thinking – yes – I know this peace.

I have had a good exercise, been to a good concert, a good family get together, an awesome trip into nature and felt that peace. No – this was very different. This was 100% supernatural. It was unlike anything I had felt before. It was and is from the Spirit of God.

It was a physical deep, lasting warm peace in my stomach which I had never ever felt before and which exceeded all understanding. It was literally a peace with God through my faith in Jesus.

I believed in my heart that God had raised Jesus from the dead and with my mouth I confessed him as my God leader.

God Leading Me – No Problem

I had long resolved that if I ever made contact with the Christian God of love and could really call myself a Christian, I would have no problem obeying Him – because if He is God, all knowing, all loving, all good – then His will for me would be the best for me – better than the plans I could ever make. End of discussion.

The Bible Is a New Book

As I started reading the Bible again – especially the New Testament, but also the Old Testament – all of a sudden it made sense now. I understood it and believed it. I started loving hanging out with Christians and going to church.

A New Discovery of Church

Around the period where I came to faith I also discovered the existence of churches that were full of life, awesome music, the presence of God, young people and where the people came – not only out of tradition – but out of a real experienced relationship with God – and where they would even see genuine miracles of healing and other good supernatural events occur as they prayed. This also really helped me be more positive toward the Christian faith.

What Else Was in the Book That Touched Me?

Seeking or Finding?

In the book Jesus says. Some people are so excited about seeking and the things they discover, that they don’t end up with me – who is the sum of all Truth – Truth in the God-human form. That was me. I was excited about searching because I had learned so much.

But now I saw I needed to search no longer. I had found what I was looking for – yes – much much more. It was so much better than what I had dared to hope I would find.

What About Being a Good Person?

Being good, being nice, seeking, studying hard, giving, loving, being spiritual, helping, fighting for justice and peace, preserving nature, pursuing science, believing there is a God, being excellent at a sport or trade or arts, working hard, enjoying life, family, friends and nature, being all you can be, doing good.

All these are good and right plus a million other things which are gifts given to us from God – but they all fall short of having found the One Who is love, Who is goodness, is justice, is creator, is eternal, is all knowing and being one with Him – being a friend with Jesus.

Like my friend, Peter, told me while I was searching – be careful you don’t make your own God. And be careful not to bow down to and love and worship creation instead of the Creator. We are to enjoy creation and the beautiful and perfect parts reflect on the Creator.

When you have the core in place – then you come from a whole ‘nother place of strength to then do all the good things mentioned above – which are all godly worthy pursuits – out of gratitude and thankfulness of being fully loved – not to be loved more by God.

An Impersonal Energy or the Person of Energy?

It was a total giant shift to go from the concepts – or if you will – sentences and words of truth about love, life, justice, power, energy – to a Person who wants to be my closest friend who is God and is made of the basic elements (from the periodic table of God’s personality ingredients) of love, truth, life, light, justice, power and energy.

I needed to hear that with all the reading I had done about energies, chakras, spirits, self-help and energies here and there.

No not just a concept of truth about light, love, life and justice – Jesus is a real person like you and me – who is God – who is love, light, life, peace, justice etc. personified.

He lived in real history, one time, in real flesh and blood, born of a virgin whom God made pregnant. 100% God 100% man. 100% perfect, innocent and loving. 100% just, truthful and all knowing. 100% led by the spirit of God.

Who died physically on a cross, bleeding and suffering taking our sin and the punishment of our sin on him and rose physically from the dead and now lives forever in His physical body. So, we can be friends – if we want and proactively choose to.

All My Search Goals Found in Jesus

I searched for meaning of life. I believe the meaning of life is dynamic and is found in a genuine friendship with my Father in heaven, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I searched for truth. Jesus knows all and is always true and always says the truth. Jesus is Truth. In the same way as he IS light – he IS love, life, peace, joy, righteousness, justice.

The End of Reincarnation Belief

Before this I read a ton of books on reincarnation. They were a lot about doing better, being better, doing good in order to get closer to God and in order to get a better reincarnation.

I now realized that in Christianity I had unity with God, God lived inside me by His Holy Spirit because I believed in Jesus. You cannot get closer to God that God making your body the temple of His Spirit and being a friend with God and being perfect in His eyes.

So even though at the reading of the book I didn’t have an explanation for the kids knowing secrets they couldn’t – I found that believing in Jesus gave me all I had ever searched for and much more – for free!

A little further below I will explain how the stories of the kids can also be explained without forcing us to believe in reincarnation.

A Surprise Confession of Faith

After this happened – I mean after I became a Christian – I also once visited a Lutheran State church in Denmark where they recited the Apostolic Confession of faith. I had learned this by heart in my own confirmation, but I had never believed the content. Now – as the pastor read it at that service – for the first time I could actually say yes! That is what I believe now. What a change from religion to relationship with God and faith in Jesus.

How Important Is Church?

Since then I have continued living with Jesus as the number 1 friend and leader in my life. I have studied his Word, His amazing promises and wisdom for a strong life contained in the Bible.

I see the Bible as the Fathers love letter to me to help me live life truly to the max.

I also discovered how absolutely important it is to be a part of an amazing church where I can serve God, build the house of God, the family of God and where I can proudly invite my friends to come along because the church services are life giving and full of joy, love, faith, positive wise input for a faith and value purpose driven life.

Since then and to this day I have been an integral part of great churches, families of people loving God, life and people – being an expression – though imperfect – but still an expression of the love of God for all man-kind. Jesus said these eternal words: I will build my church.

And in the Bible the word ‘church’ never means a church building – but a group of people gathering with prayer, teaching, fellowship and Bible reading, eating together and sharing life, growing in faith together. Church is a building of living stones, people, being built together by Jesus with Himself as the foundation.

The Bible also says in the book of Psalms that God says: Those who are planted in My house will flourish. I believe that because I understand why and I have seen it to be true and good. But not all things we call churches are what God would call churches.

As you can imagine, because we have free will because of the value and definition of true love – we can think and do a lot of things and call them God and Church – which are not according to God 😊.

Church is family. The Christian faith is all about family. Jesus is our brother, the Father is :-), the Holy Spirit has many female aspects. We are brothers and sisters. Families are there for each other in thick and thin. They fight for each other to succeed.

The help each other, speak life and correction to the sharp edges. They pray together, pursue God together. They share what they have for the common good. They love each other – that’s what church is. I have dedicated my life to build awesome churches who reflect to the world – the love of Jesus.

They are not perfect – because I am a part of them. But together with Jesus and each other – we can make a truly eternal difference through building living, fun, strong, wise, loving families of churches together. Church is the only thing Jesus said He would build.

Let’s be loved by Jesus and let’s go out and do this!

The Story of Creation, the Fall and the Cross and Blood of Jesus – The Righteousness and Grace of God

The math of Christianity. God was through Jesus settling the score with humanity. The math was not working out well for human kind.

We were in a giant minus – both because of the sin of Adam – the first human – who along with his wife – took a wrong decision that still has negative consequences for us today. We just can’t get around the fact that this world is broken – not perfect in love. Nowhere.

Not perfect in justice. Nowhere. Not completely led by the love of God and loving people. God is a God of love and love is right. Whatever is not of love is wrong. There is a consequence for not loving. God is love and if we do not love we move away from God.

God does not want this. If we will believe in this truth we will not want it either. Love is good all the time. Love is best for us. We were designed by God to love and to be loved by Him and each other.

Unfortunately, Adam and Eve did not stick with trusting God – they believed the lie, the deception and temptation of the fallen Angel, Satan, who is both a liar, a stealer and a killer. They disobeyed God even though they had been told by God that if they did – they would die.

Their perfect relationship with God died and they hid themselves from God…

We still do today – but we do not realize He is not looking to yell at us – He is looking for us to love us, to give us grace and to help us realize – there is a way out if this mess.

His Son, Jesus took care of the problem that rightly separates us from the love of God – the friendship with God.

So how can Jesus love us all so perfectly and completely, I accepted it and experienced it as I held on to it, even though we have both the sin and fall of Adam, the temptation of the evil one and our sin which should stop Him from loving us if He is also a perfect, truthful, righteous judge who says: This is not love and I do not like it and will not say it is good?

It is not of me – it is of my enemy. If does not build up – it destroys. It does not bring life – it kills.

How?

The cross of Jesus 2000 years ago! There our sin was laid on Him. The sin of the world. On the cross, He experienced the separation from God that we experience when we do not believe in Him. That is why He said on the cross: My God, My God – why have you forsaken me? We – who dare to believe – can say: Jesus – because my sin is on you now. THANK YOU for saving me, Jesus!!

There the perfect (Jesus) died for the imperfect (you and I). Only if Jesus was truly perfect could he take the punishment as the penalty for sin is death. Only if Jesus was perfect could He rise again from the dead – because death (the Devil) could not hold Him, because He had done nothing wrong Himself. He died and gave His life because my sin was on Him. So, he defeated death, hell and the grave.

The Math of God

The Big Question

How is this perfect love of God for me and all people on earth when we have not loved and do not deserve it – especially seeing that God is also a perfect judge and the law we need to live up to and obey is His perfect law of love?

So, the math is: ALL sin was forever laid on Him. All the minus was on Him. That means – nothing is left on me. I go free. I am loved. The releasing engine that God is requiring everyone to activate personally – is to openly confess Jesus before people around you with no shame.

God rightly states that we should be loud and proud about Jesus – the book, Return From Tomorrow, also said – that Jesus said in the Bible – that if we do not dare to confess Him before men – He will not confess us before His Father in heaven – and then we are in trouble.

So that spurred me on to be a vocal believer and I have been ever since. Not perfectly – but going for it.

What About Those Who Do Not Believe and Have Never Heard?

I was not very concerned about them – because I had heard and now I believed and now I experienced the presence and peace of God. I experienced and understood at the deepest ability of my intellect and the depths of my emotions that this was good and right and true.

So, my starting point is different – I know God is love. I know I did not accept that love up until a certain point in time. I know it was always there for me – as the love is as eternal as God Himself.

It was up to me to say yes, dare to trust it, believe it and receive it by acting on it by speaking about it and standing on it – believing it to be true. Hoping it was true then coming to the assurance that it was true a little later.

How Do I Evaluate If Something Is True and from God Today? I Believe

• God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit is love.
• God is peace. True peace flowing from our inward spirit.
• God is life. God gives life and all good and perfect gifts are from Him. We
• God is the creator. Everything we have in this life – including our lives are a gift from God. Nothing is really ours – we are just caretakers, administrators, leaders, rulers and stewards of all the amazing gifts God has given us.
• God is honor. God honors people. God honors leaders and people who do well with what He has given them.
• God is freedom. God sets free and grants us true freedom. Freedom to choose. Freedom to sin. Freedom to love. Freedom whether we want to love or not. Freedom whether we want to believe or not.
• God is grace. Grace means undeserved but total forgiveness from Jesus. Grace is also an empowering strength from the Holy Spirit which leads us to have strength to overcome our weaknesses, temptations and sin.
• God is light. There is not darkness in Him. No lies.
• God is freedom and sets free. God gives us the freedom to choose whether to love, believe, be positive or negative, whether to speak life or death, whether to complain or speak faith, whether to encourage or criticize, whether to confront in love or talk behind someones back, whether to pray or fear. Whether to be bold and courageous with wisdom and strength or to shrink back and be afraid and speak defeat.
• God is faith. Faith is positive – sees options, possibilities and is creative in finding ways out of a mess.
• God is justice and righteousness and a just judge. God knows all things, sees all things, and is perfect according to the law of love. No people always to what is right and loving. But all agree that we should. It will help us to know and be a friend of the God who is love – even though Christians – even those who know the love of God – make mistakes, are tempted, and do terrible things. This, however, does not mean that God did it. Even as Christians we still have a free will.
• The only safe spiritual middle man between Man and God is Jesus, the physically dead and physically resurrected Son of the Living God – Jesus the Christ of Nazareth
• By all these criteria based on the character of God all things should be evaluated. Does it bring life or death in the end if you do whatever you do all in?

New Age / Reincarnation / Chakra Etc. Belief / All Things Alternative Questioned

Later – after becoming a Christian and being attracted to and fully captivated by the extreme love of Jesus for me – leaving all other concepts and previous religious ideas behind because they were inferior deals, and quite honestly – were not true – I gradually found an answer to why the stories of the kids remembering details of now dead people’s secrets were not necessarily forcing me to conclude reincarnation has to be true.

The alternative method of explanation – apart from simply calling it a lie by the kids or authors or parents – is that unfortunately demons are real and live forever and can communicate thoughts – even to little children. Demons are liars and deceivers just like their leader, Satan.

They are at war with the loving truth of Jesus and use any means possible to even stand out like an angel of light to deceive anyone who wants to listen.

Demons can easily communicate hidden truths to little children who then would know things that would cause us to think the only logical explanation is reincarnation. The Christian faith is clear that we live once.

Then we die and then we are judged by God according to the perfect standard of love where we all will fall short and need forgiveness and a savior – Jesus.

The idea of reincarnation will have you deceived into thinking that it is not necessary to believe in the Jesus of the Bible to get into heaven and to get into a friendship with God – your Daddy in heaven. You just need to do good to get good.

This creates a pride in and reliance on our own goodness. Jesus says we are not good and need to be born again by the Spirit of God by faith in Him to become children of God.

Where Am I Now?

I am certainly by no means perfect – but I am growing, then failing to live up to my ideals – even though I still believe in them. I know what is right – but don’t always do so. I rely always and only on the grace of God to save me. I do strive to live wholeheartedly for Jesus in my daily life and therefore I am actively involved, volunteering in a truly wonderful church, Hillsong Church, which has a “room in the house” in Copenhagen, where I live.

The Ending of This Small Writing – The Choice of a New Beginning for You

What I am saying is – yes – you can – emphatically can – find you can be found and even yes – you can experience this extreme love of Jesus (Son of God and God in flesh and blood) for you. You can touch it, feel it and know it – truthfully – beyond a shadow of a doubt.

That’s the good news of what Jesus came to do. He rose again, lives today and hears us, when we pray and seek Him. Only let us not give up our pursuit of Him. The answer will come as you seek Him – and seek Him with all your heart.

How can you start this friendship – deepening as strong friendship do – with Him?

Pray this prayer with all your heart:

Dear Jesus. I come to you seeking to get to know you. I believe – help my unbelief. Help me to trust that you are real and the same, yesterday, today and forever. I turn to you, putting you first, making you number one – God – in my life.

Help me to understand your Word – The Bible as I read it. I commit to building a friendship with you – and I ask you to fill me with your Spirit – your Holy Spirit – as I turn from sin – to trusting you with all my heart.

Thank you that I can trust 100% that you have heard my prayer. Amen.

Secondly it is important to

• Find a great, strong, youthful, alive Bible believing church and come there as the highest priority and be a part of that family of believers
• To do that will also strengthen your resolve to do the following 2 important points
• Contact me on peter@skov.cc / peter@actionchristianity.com if you’d like me to help you find such a church
• Begin reading the Bible – especially the New Testament
• Take time to pray
• Tell someone about your decision who will support you and give you encouragement to keep going
• My heart to heart advice to you is to seek Jesus with the greatest passion, you possibly can. Go radically for serving Him and putting Him first in all things in this life. This is His good and perfect will for all of us to truly become all we can be and have the highest possible impact on this broken yet amazing world full of possibilities and opportunities to make an eternal difference

Please check out Hillsong Music on YouTube, Spotify, Google Play or Apple Music for some awesome God and people lifting music etc.

Please contact me if you have any questions at all after reading this. If there is anything I love to do it is to answer questions from fellow seekers: peter@skov.cc / peter@actionchristianity.com