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i~am~scott
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| Joined: | Sun Jun 13th, 2004 |
| Location: | Phoenix, Arizona USA |
| Posts: | 3602 |
| Current Mood: | Angry, Blah, Busy, Drained, Exhausted, Tired | | Favorite Bible Book: | Acts | | Male / Female: | Male |
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Posted: Tue Jun 15th, 2004 05:19 pm |
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It is my sincere prayer that everyone who reads this will think deeply about this next statement:
"If you died tonight, where would you go?"
Something that all of us should really think about. We will never know when we are going to die. It could be in 1 minute, 1 hour, 1 day, or 1 week. It is important to understand that. The roof may fall on your head as you read this. You may get hit by a bus on your way to the store. You could also live to be 100 years old. Only One knows which it will be for you. That One is God.
Do you know that your sins have been forgiven? Are you saved? By "saved", I mean, have you given your life to Jesus Christ? You know that there is only one way to heaven and that's through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2014:6;&version=50; = John 14:6).
He was given to the world by God and willingly died on the cross so that our sins may be forgiven by Him becoming the ultimate sacrifice for them, so that we may share eternal life with Him (John 3:16). Amen!
Friend, do you have hope of an eternal life with The Father? If not, maybe you should examine your life from where you stand right now. If you don't like what you see, I think it's time to give your life to it's rightful owner, Jesus Christ (Mark 8:35).
It's hard to do, I know. I was there once before too. Don't let the devil fool you into thinking that just because you may be a "good person", you will make it to heaven. People who think they're "good enough" are counting on their own works to "earn" their way in. It doesn't work that way. We can only be saved by God's eternal grace. What is the measure we can use to be good enough or to have eternal life earned? Who is the judge? How do we know that judge's standards? The answer is, we can't know. If you really want to be sure of your eternal destination, you need to pray for forgiveness, repent from your way of life, and acknowledge that Christ is the only way to be with God for eternity (John 3:3-6).
What I mean by repent is to confess, ask for forgiveness and ask for a new direction in your life. Confessing is only the first step. You must want to change, or there can be no true commitment to serving The Lord. You can't serve God and serve your sin too (2 Corinthians 6:14).
Now you might be saying to yourself, "I've done too much wrong to go to God. He'll never accept me the way I am." Well, let me tell you a story about Saul from Acts 9:1-22. Saul was a man who worked as a "hit man" (for lack of a better term) of Christians. His job was to find Christians, arrest them, then torture or kill them. One day on his way to kill more Christians, The Lord stopped him and chose him to go out and preach The Gospel. Now let's go over this. Saul (whose name was changed to Paul by God) was on his way to persecute and even KILL Christians. The Lord gave him acceptance anyway. Now if God can turn around the life of a person who murdered Christians, why can't He change your life? The answer to that is, He can!!
I'll say it again, I know it's hard. I still have trouble to this day with my daily spiritual walk. But I have a hope now that I never had before; the promise from God that He will never forsake me, (Hebrews 13:5) and that His grace is sufficient for me (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Don't rely on yourself to bring you happiness. Have you ever noticed that no matter how hard you work to make yourself happy, there is always a void? There is always something there that just doesn't make your happiness complete, or makes it short lived. That is the void that Jesus can fill. I saw a bumper sticker that summed it up pretty well. It read:
Alcohol will leave you breathless...
Drugs will leave you senseless...
Jesus won't leave you regardless.
My friend, it is time to give it all to God, and lean on Him for your joy. That's what He loves to do. He'll do it for you right now if you leave your old self behind and become a new creation in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
If you want to do this, repeat this prayer to God from your heart:
Heavenly Father, please forgive me. I know that I have sinned against You. I pray for forgiveness for the sinful ways I have chosen throughout my life. I ask Jesus to come into my heart and be The Lord of my life. Cleanse me of all unrighteousness and help me to walk in newness with You. Thank You for all of Your promises that You are going to keep in my life. Help me to be obedient to Your Word, and Your calling on my life. I ask this all in the precious name of your Son, Jesus Christ, Amen.
If you prayed that prayer, I want you to know that God did exactly what you asked Him to do. This prayer isn't magical or special in words either. If you meant it in your heart, that's what matters.
If you're still reading this, I hope it's because you're making a decision to follow Christ (Mark 8:34). It is a sacrifice to give it all to Christ, but the rewards are eternal!
If you've hung on this long, I pray that is the reason. If this is true, I would love to hear about your decision! Until then, friend, I will pray that whoever reads this will make that change before it is too late (2 Corinthians 6:2).
If you've made the decision to live for Christ, I have added the link below to help you find a church to start going to wherever you are in the U.S. so you can start learning from The Bible. I would love to hear about your decision. E-mail me anytime!!!
http://www.calvarychapel.com/?page=churches
____________________
C-3PO: Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately three thousand, seven hundred twenty to one.
Han Solo: Never tell me the odds!
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