‘WHEN Jesus come to you, He brings gladness; when Jesus comes to you, He’ll bring peace; the glory of His presence from care will bring release, when Jesus, Jesus comes to you.’

These are the first lines from a song called ‘When Jesus comes to you’ and sung by a Salvation Army group called the Joystrings. I remember playing the song regularly, I think on the gramophone record player, and produced on a vinyl EP. Some of you older ones will remember record players from the 1960s and vinyl records called EPs which stood for extended play.

I became a Christian in my late teens and this song stood out for me for quite some time because it expressed just how I felt as the life of Jesus Christ entered into my life, giving me forgiveness, new life, vision and hope.

That is just a part of what you get when you exchange your life for His life in you. It really can be an unfair exchange because what you give Him is the life you have lived up to that point, which can have been dark, selfish and wrong … when the life you get is pure, loving and kind.

That is the kind of life we are given as Christians and we are encouraged to share it with those around us. It’s not about going to church and being good, helpful as these are, it is about the power of God changing you, clearing out all the old rubbish in your life and filling it with His presence and His love which you can share with many, many people who do need that love and peace in their own lives.

I remember the story of one man some years ago, in jail because of terrorist offences, who picked up the bible left in his cell. He began to read it and felt the voice of God speaking to Him and the presence and the power which came with whatever He was reading. I believe, such was the impact of this, that it changed his life and he said that people should beware of the power of that book which in his words was dynamite.

So, if life is not giving you all that you hoped for, or has dealt you a very poor hand, get a hold of a bible from wherever you can and start to read.