Do you understand that God really loves you and wants to have a growing personal relationship with you? I was blessed to be brought up by loving, Christian parents; God and church was at the center of my growing up years. But,even though, I knew all about God and Jesus, I really didn’t know Him. Trying to figure out who I was during my teen years led me to numbing out, and doing life my way. I made lots of wrong choices which, in time, brought me to a dissatisfied place. This caused me to start searching for something bigger than myself and circumstances for help. One day a lady at work gave me a Christian book about God’s love. It ask, do you believe Jesus paid the price and died for your sins? Next it ask, have you ask God through Jesus to forgive you? Then it ask, have you surrendered your life to Him? At first I thought, sure I have; I’ve heard this stuff my whole entire life, and turned the page. But then the thought came to me, I’m not sure I’ve done that! Finally I turned the page back and prayed; “Jesus I believe you died on the cross for every mistake I have ever made-please forgive me- I have messed my life up and can’t fix it-I give my life to You-take me and make me what You want me to be”. That prayer, spoken over forty years ago, was the beginning of my spiritual awakening and I experienced a peace and joy I had never known before! It wasn’t just religion anymore, it was real, my spirit came alive in Christ! Jesus Christ did not come into the world to critique, discard, eliminate, refuse, condemn, or reject anyone. He came to offer deliverance, rescue, recovery, and escape from spiritual death. Jesus tenderly calls us to come to Him, and accept His payment for our sin,believe, and give our hearts to Him; as He offers to show us the Way, Truth and give us Life, while living in this world and for all eternity!
“For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten [unique] Son, so that whoever believes in [trust in, clings to, relies on] Him shall not perish [come to destruction, be lost] but have eternal [everlasting] life. For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge [to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on] the world, but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him”(John 3:16-17).
