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A new dimension of faith as a living encounter
with the person of Jesus Christ .
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by Carlos Mantica

How come they never told me... 

That God is a personal being
who dreamed about me from all eternity,
who loves me,
and, because he loves me,
wants my happiness,
and is omnipotent.

That Christians do not follow a doctrine,
but a person—Jesus of Nazareth, the Alpha and the Omega.
I died, and behold I am alive for evermore,
and I have the keys of Death and Hades. (Revelation 1:18)

That God did not come into the world in order to save the righteous—
He came into the world in order to save people just like you and me.

That the Holy Spirit is not something that is given to us,
but Someone who gives himself to us and who works in us
inasmuch as we yield to him.

That a Christian is
a human being
chosen by Christ
in order to be like Christ,
to love like Christ and,
having been empowered by Christ
and incorporated into Christ,
to complete Christ’s mission in the world.

That being a Christian is only difficult when one is not a Christian.
That what Christ requires from me is
to believe in him and to trust him—
to believe that he can,
that he wants to,
and that he will act if I will, and
I allow him to take control of my life
and to give me a new way of being, of acting and of loving
through his Spirit.

That Christ hates sin

but loves the sinner
before he sins,
when he is sinning,
and after sinning.

That nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.
(Romans 8:31-39)

That I am not a sinner because I sin,
but I sin because I am a sinner. (Romans 7:17)

That I cannot save myself
no matter how sincere my intentions,
or how strong my will.
If I were able to save myself, Christ would have died in vain.

That I will never die.

That he who will judge me on the last day
is the same who died for me on a cross.

That we shall one day be like him (1 John 3:2)
and that such was his intent from the beginning (Genesis 1:26).

That what no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man conceived
is what God has prepared for those who love him.
(1 Corinthians 2:9)

That the whole creation waits with eager longing
for the revealing of the sons of God. (Romans 8:15)

Carlos Mantica is a founder of The City of God community (La Cuidad de Dios) in Managua, Nicaragua, and a founding leader of the Sword of the Spirit. He served as president of the Sword of the Spirit between 1991 and 1995.