By Madison Simmons
(This is a guest blog article written by my very dear young brother in Christ. Madi, as I call him, twenty-one years old has been incarcerated in a Texas jail facility for four years. I have personally known him for the last two years. He is growing into a lion in the faith and as Paul says of Onesimus in his letter to Philemon, "he has become my very heart." I know you will be blessed by this personal faith testimony.)
Jesus in his “divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1:3). We seek God’s will in His Word, and failure to do so and failure to keep this knowledge, or get it in the first place, means we won’t obey. If we read His Word once and then delegate our means of knowing it to the local church for the rest of our earthly life, we won’t learn and maintain it as well as we need to or as much as he wants us to.
God tells us to “enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts” (2 Timothy 2:22), but we are to supplement this companionship, fellowship, daily prayer and Bible reading in order that our daily fellowship will not suffer. I have neglected this in the past and the result of this neglect was that I stopped attending church all-together. I failed to grow in faith and knowledge first-hand and my “second-hand” faith didn’t last long and sure didn’t produce any eternal fruit. This behavior caused a lot of sin-producing things, which always cause a lot of suffering.
The Holy Spirit gently showed me my need for Him during my worst days. During the beginning of this journey that I am on, when I was called back to Him, or rather when I finally stopped rejecting His call, I connected with a few godly Christians. One of the most prominent, Ben Bounds, who, to me, exceeds a mere friend or teacher, and in many ways his influence in my journey is like a father. Even though he has a rich history of Pastoral roles, he has pointed out in his book[i] the seemingly increasing trend in those professing the faith, yet not reading the scripture as they ought, which begs the severity of the problem.
After God brought me back, I started my own adventure of discovering His Word to us. Early on I found truths that I never really “heard” before and I saw light that the world tries so hard to block out. This daily seeking Him in prayer, and the matter at hand, reading His Word has better equipped me to serve him and others and reignited my faith in a place that seems far from Him, but turned out to be the place where I experienced His presence like never before.
So, pick up and read, discover for yourself His precious promises and then your fellowship interactions will be that much more powerful as the Holy Spirit helps us sharpen each other and builds upon the foundation, Jesus the Christ.
4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:4-11 NIV, see also vv. 1-3)
[i] Bounds, Ben. The Divine Chase: Responding to a Pursuing God. Bloomington, IN., 2017.
Also from Madi: “ for any insights, questions, or concerns, please contact Ben Bounds at benbounds695@gmail.com
©2025 by Madison Simmons. All rights reserved.
__________________________________________________________________________________
We can come to know Christ through confession of our sins and repentance (turning away from sin). Let me encourage you to do this by talking to God through prayer. Here is an idea of how you might do that:
"Dear God, I believe your son Jesus Christ died in my place on the cross and rose from the dead on the third day following his death. I confess my sins, all of them, to you now with a humble heart. I repent of those sins and ask you to empower me with your Holy Spirit in overcoming further sin. Amen”
If you prayed this or a similar prayer committing your life to Christ and becoming one of his followers, let me encourage you to find a good, Bible-believing church.
Begin talking to God in prayer and reading the Bible daily. A good way to begin to read the Bible is to start with the Book of John in the New Testament.
Feel very free in connecting with me if you need any further help in your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. You can do this via the above email or Facebook page or this web page.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Mercy Road Ministries was founded and now led by Ben Bounds. Ben has pastored churches across Texas for over thirty years and is an ordained minister with the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA). He holds a BA in Pastoral Ministry and Biblical Studies from Southwestern Assemblies of God College and did graduate theological studies at the BMA Theological Seminary.
Ben's first book, The Divine Chase: Responding to a Pursuing God, was released on 12.08.2017 through Westbow Press, a division of Thomas Nelson and Zondervan. It is available in paperback and hardback through your preferred bookseller (Mardels, Barnes and Noble, etc.) and paperback, hardback as well as ebook through online book retailers (www.christianbook.com, www.cokesbury.com, www.amazon.com, www.booksamillion.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, etc.).
Ben is the host of Staying in Bounds, an on-air Bible devotional broadcast multiple times daily on KWJV 103.7 FM Weslaco, TX which can also be heard worldwide online at www.kwjvthestar.com. Ben and his wife, Linda, together have four adult children and nine grandchildren. They live in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
Ben can be contacted for preaching engagements at benbounds695@gmail.com or 903.441.3279. Ben can also be contacted via his website @ www.benbounds.com, which is also his blog and contains more information about his ministry.
Follow Ben @ https://www.facebook.com/mercyroadministries/ and this website www.benbounds.com.
Kommentarer