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We had a great bicycle trip years ago but we never would have made it safely without the help of the Lord and having His word in our hearts. It is very dangerous out there on the road and a lot of stuff can happen, whether your cycling in the middle of nowhere, or in the middle of a big city. We were brand new Christians when we started this journey, and we tried our best to always listen to His 'still small voice' and obey His word.
The biggest journey of your life is going to be the one after it ends. I was wondering, have you come to a place in your spiritual life where you can say for certain that if you were to die today you would go to Heaven?
Suppose you were to die today and stand before God and He were to say to you, `Why should I let you in to my Heaven?' what would you say?
For a long time I thought that I would get to Heaven because of my good works but through the study of the Bible I came to realize that according to the Bible, Heaven is a free gift! There is no way that I can earn my way into Heaven. The Bible says `For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord'(Romans 8:23). The Bible also says that, `For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is a gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast'(Ephesians 2:8-9).
This can be seen more clearly when we understand what the Bible says about man.
The Bible points out that man is a sinner! The Bible states `For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,(Romans 3:23),
For there is not a just man upon the earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not,(Ecclesiastes 7:20). Because man cannot consistently
do good, he cannot save himself. A Bible verse that illustrates this is, `There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death'(Proverbs 14:12). He cannot save himself from this death.
The problem of man trying to save himself comes into sharper focus when we look at what the Bible says about God.
The Bible tells us that God is loving and merciful and that he doesn't want to punish us. But while God is loving, He is also just, and therefore must punish sin. Scripture says, `God will by no means clear the guilty' (Exodus 34:7b) and that, `It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God' (Hebrews 10:31).
God solved this problem in the most amazing way, by sending Jesus Christ into the world.
In your opinion, who is Jesus Christ?
The Bible tells us that, `In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us' (John 1:1,14). Christ is both God and man. What did he come to do? The Bible is about one great transaction that Christ performed on our behalf.
Imagine that our computer contains the record of every sin in our lives! (The Great Database!). Well, we can't get any thing done because we don't have a hard drive big enough to put any more programs on. Access is slow and the burden is just so great that no matter what the upgrade is we can't get the power to overcome. Then one day someone comes along and takes ALL the records away and does a format! As you may know, when you do a format on a disk it totally erases every thing. There's no way to get any of the information back again. (Not with this kind of format).
That's Jesus Christ!!! He comes and does a format in our lives, a new and different kind of format, one that no one else will ever be able to upgrade, duplicate or change. All the burdens of our past sins are gone forever and we have access to our real Father, Father God. The Bible says, `All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him [Christ] the iniquity [sin] of us all' (Isaiah 53:6). God put our sins on His son when he died on the cross. `God made Him [Christ] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteous of God in Him'(2 Corinthians 5:21).
This makes it possible for us to be free from the load and the guilt of our sin. By His death and PHYSICAL resurrection, He paid for our sins and purchased a place in heaven for us which He offers as a gift, which may be received by faith.
Now many people don't really understand what the Bible means by faith. Some have what is called temporal faith. An example of this type is trusting God for a safe plane trip, or for help on an exam, that type of thing. Others believe that Christ died and rose again, and they think that's faith, in other words, believing the facts. But the Bible says that demons believe the facts and they shudder(James 2:10). So whatever the Bible means by faith, it is more than just believing the facts. But the faith through which God's offer of salvation is received is different from that, too.
There are two features of true faith that we need to understand. True faith involves trusting in Jesus Christ ALONE for salvation and the responce to true faith is the desire to obey Him. The concept of obedience is so closely tied to faith, the Bible often uses the two terms "faith" and "obedience" interchangeably. True faith is committing yourself to a lifetime relationship of obedience to Christ. Listen how salvation is described in this verse: `But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart...being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness' (Romans 6:17-18).
NOTHING is more important for you than your decision to receive this free gift from God through Jesus Christ! It's either yes
or no, not now or later. Only God in heaven knows about your *later*.
If you wanted to receive God's gift of eternal life you would do so by...
1. Acknowledg Christ as God and personal Savior. Believe
that Jesus is God and Man, that He died on the cross for
your sins and was resurrected so that He could have a
personal relationship with you.
2. Receive Christ as Lord and master over your life, realizing
that because of Christ's great love, He will guide your
life better than you are able to.
3. Transfer your trust from yourself to Jesus Christ.
4. Turn from your former life of disobedience and follow
after Christ.
5. Finally, receive Christ into your heart. Christ says in the
Bible, `Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man
hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and
will sup with him, and he with me'(Revelation 3:20).
Would you like to receive this gift of eternal life now? The Lord is with you now and He knows your thoughts and desires. Is there
any reason that you can think of that would prevent you from wanting to receive Christ right now? If it is your desire to receive Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior...you can pray now and God WILL hear!!!
Pray this: Father God, thank you for making a way to Heaven by sending your Son Jesus to die on the cross for my sins. I have been trusting in myself but now I put my trust in you. I accept Jesus as my personal Savior and I do believe that He died for me. I receive you as Lord and master over my life. Help me to turn from my sins and follow you. I accept Your gift of eternal life. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen!
If you have prayed this prayer sincerly...do you know what you have done? Jesus says in John 6:47, `Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life.' Psalm 103:12 says, `As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.' 1 John 5:11-12 `And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.'
JOHN 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
If you have prayed this prayer and truly accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then please email me and encourage me - thank you!
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