Have you ever believed the wrong story? I remember as a teenager, being convinced that I was adopted. I couldn’t have been born into this family, these couldn’t have been my parents, these couldn’t be my sisters. This must have been some kind of mistake. When I was in junior high, I remember trying to convince a little kid that the earth was flat. The craziest part was that this kid believed me.

For too long we’ve believed the wrong story about Jesus and following him. We’ve been lied to by those who don’t know. Jesus and his message have been subverted for something that isn’t Good News. But when we take a look at Jesus, his message and life say something else entirely.

We’ve believed that Jesus wants to make our lives miserable. We’ve believed that Christianity is about keeping rules and stuff we have to do. We’ve believed that Jesus wants to make you boring and simple.

But this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Let’s set the story straight.

A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.
John 10:10 The Message

We have an enemy

Don’t be ignorant of this. We have a real and present enemy. And it’s not an enemy like anyone or anything you’ve ever experienced. We have an enemy that is behind the scenes, the devil himself who wages war on God’s people. But we don’t battle with ordinary weapons, but with spiritual weapons (Ephesians 6:10-12). The enemy wants to steal God’s best, and make you settle for a counterfeit. He wants to kill what was meant to be alive and vibrant in you, and he tries to keep you dead in your sin and struggle. He tries to destroythe foundations of your life and mess with everything and everyone connected to you

We have a victorious God

We don’t fight for victory, but we fight from victory. He has already overcome the world (John 16:33). We don’t serve a God who needs conquer your sin and dismantle your obstacles… He’s already conquered it. Now he wants you to walk in his victory. He has already paid the price for your sin, He already knows the end from the beginning, and He is with you in this moment to overcome, to persevere, to push through. You have already won, now you carry His victory into your life.

We have a God who fought for His Creation, and sacrificed everything for us (John 10:11). Don’t let any person or any circumstance tell you otherwise. You matter to God. He sent Jesus to die on a Cross for you. He decided to leave heaven and come to earth, to become one of us, so in the end he could take our place. Jesus fought for you and won… He is you first love and he loves you with a jealous love.

We have real and eternal life

In Jesus we find life beyond our wildest dreams (John 10:10). There’s a war going on right now… the enemy has tried to mess with God’s greatest dreams for you. He’s lied to you and told you that the best things that God has for you, are not really God’s best for you. The crazy thing is, he did the very same thing to Adam and Eve in the Garden. In God, your greatest days are ahead, and his future is bright for you. Here’s a secret… when you think of your future, don’t just think of your future here on earth, think about the future you have with Jesus in heaven. Your future is better than anything you’ve ever experienced.

Jesus does more than just fix your life, he makes it better than ever (Titus 3:4-7). It’s easy to think that Jesus is just about making us sinless… when following Him was about so much more. He wants us to have fun, enjoy Him, to live life full and blessed. He wants us to live by giving Him away. God isn’t trying to just fix us. He actually has an awesome plan for our lives, and His purposes for us are good.