Trusting Jesus

By Fred Kreuger

November 1, 2017

My name is Fred A. Krueger, and I am eighty years old.

In 2008, I was diagnosed with cancer. I had three lumps that formed on the right side of my neck, and I also had a larger lump appear in the clavicle area several months later. This lump was removed on July 14, 2008 and was later evaluated and diagnosed as being Hodgins Lymphoma of a multi-cellular type.

My surgeon gave the opinion that my cancer was at least stage two or three and said that I would have a port surgically inserted into my body for chemotherapy treatments. He recommended me to an oncologist, who ordered blood tests, a CT scan, and a PET scan. He said he wanted to stage the cancer.

After these tests were taken, my cancer was re-diagnosed as stage one. A new recommendation was then given for radiation alone. This procedure, called “The Mantle,” would involve radiation of the chest as well as the neck. There would be twenty-two radiations, which were very intense. They caused me great pain in my esophagus and caused swelling and difficulty in swallowing my food.

During this time in my life, the Lord was very precious. My relationship with Him was primary, and His precious Word was of great comfort to me. I committed my life to God, and it was good to know that if I died, I would leave this life and immediately be transported into the presence of the Lord.

You see, I know that I am going to heaven when I die. This is of great comfort when facing cancer and radiation treatments.

One verse in the Word of God, which meant a lot to me, was Psalm 62:5, which states: My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. I can truly say that my expectation is from God and Him alone. The medical community has their studies and statistics and recommended treatments, but the bottom line is that I belong to the Lord, and my expectation is from God alone.

I know I am going to heaven for three outstanding reasons, and these reasons are found in the Word of God.

First, I know I am going to heaven when I die because of the work of Christ upon the cross. Our Lord came to this earth to die for the sins of the world. The Bible states in Hebrews 2:9, But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. My Lord came to this earth and was made a little lower than the angels to die for my sins and pay the penalty for sin.

Romans 5:8 says, But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Jesus paid for my sins and satisfied the justice of an eternal God.

1 Corinthians 15:22 says, For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” He imputed His righteousness to me so that my standing is no longer in Adam, but in Jesus Christ. I am justified by faith in His precious blood alone, and God views me faultless because positionally, I am His Son Jesus Christ. God looks at me as being His son clothed in His righteousness.

Further, I know that I am going to Heaven because of the Word of God. It is the Word of God, which makes me confident of my salvation. It is the blood of Christ that makes me safe, but it is the Word of God that makes me sure that I am safe.

Have you ever noticed the “shalls” and the “have nots” of the Holy Scripture? There are too many to list them all, but notice the words of Christ in John 5:24: Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

Jesus tells me in His word that if I believe on Him, then He, by grace, will give me the gift of eternal life. To believe means to commit ourselves to a person to do for us the thing that we cannot do for ourselves. The same is true about salvation. I cannot save myself; I must trust Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life.

I love the verse Titus 3:5: Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Oh! How we need God’s mercy.

Finally, there is the witness of Christ that makes me sure that I am going to heaven. The witness is twofold: There is the witness of a changed life. Since I trusted Jesus Christ for my eternal salvation and repented of my sins, my life has been changed by the power of God.

These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life.

1 John 5:13

The Bible says, Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). I am a new man by the grace of Jesus Christ. I look different; I act different; I even smell different. The bondage of sin with the habits of cigarettes and alcohol are gone.

Second, there is also the witness of the Holy Spirit, who now indwells my life. The Bible declares in Romans 8:15-16: For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. The Holy Spirit now lives within me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20).

As I live my new life, I realize that God loves me and that Jesus paid for all of my sins on the cross. The work of Jesus satisfies God to the salvation of my precious soul. 1 John 2:2 says, And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

I thank the Lord for the gift of salvation and all that He has done for me. I don’t deserve it, but by the grace of God, I’m happy I have it. The closer you get to heaven, the more you talk about it. By the grace of our Lord, I am ready to meet Him when my times comes. Are you ready?

— Fred A. Krueger

My Life’s Verse:

Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6)