Hello All,
Usually I know exactly what I want to write and this blog comes easy… today not so much.
Anybody else feeling… overwhelmed?
Me too.
We are all being initiated with opinions here and there, and numbers and breaking news and…………
The list goes on and on.
I’m tired.
If you are anything like me, you would love to go get away for a couple of days and just get away from it all.
But that is not always a realistic scenario.
So we stay, we wake day by day and we wait. We wait for the fog to lift, simmering hope to give way to glory. Or perhaps our hope lay in embers that have long since burned.
My heart is heavy for my nation, but there is one thing I DO KNOW:
Christ is on the throne. He sees all and He knows all and He is preparing to come back.
Are we ready?
Revelation is clear: He is the beginning and the end and this world holds no secrets from its Creator.
During this time of uncertainty, I want to offer you hope! If you do not know Christ and would like to accept salvation, all you have to do is surrender to Christ and then walk in that surrender. You will mess up. I’m not offering you a life without problems. On the contrary, living for Christ in a sinful world is not easy. BUT, God does offer an eternal hope in the midst of earthly suffering.
So, let’s begin with a few rock- solid, biblical facts:
Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”
All of humanity is born in sin. You can read more about the fall of man in Genesis, but we are all born with an innate sinful nature.
“For the wages of sin is death…” Romans 6:23
The ultimate penalty for sin is death and eternity in hell. Although it is much disputed, Jesus spoke of hell more than He did of heaven for one reason- no one has to go there. Hell was created for the devil and his demons, but because God is so holy, if we choose to reject God, we spend eternity separated from Him.
Romans 5: 8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
The concept of God sending His son Jesus to die for mankind is something that sets Christianity apart from other religions. We are saved in His grace, through faith, and this is a gift that was given from His sacrifice on the cross. (Ephesians 2:8)
“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Romans 10:9-10
This gives us a starting point for accepting Jesus as Savior: confession and belief. Keep in mind that belief alone is not salvation, the Word says that the demons believe and they tremble. (James 2:19)
Belief and confession are followed up by action as it says in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will obey my commandments.”
We see that Jesus does not only require salvation, but a life devoted to Him.
I am not selling a “pray the prayer, walk the aisle and you are sealed for eternity…” although if you mean it- that is sealed redemption. But I think so many do this and then live the way they want only to have no conviction, and later find they never truly knew Christ to begin with. They may have made this decision out of emotion and later didn’t “feel” like following up. Or they may have done this because everyone else was doing it, only to find that they truly don’t know Christ.
True surrender. True repentance is what God longs for, and that is backed by action, not just words.
The Bible is clear that we are saved by grace, it is not anything we have done. But if we truly have Holy Spirit within us, we will desire to please God, and if we can go on sinning year after year after year with no conviction we need to ask ourselves if we truly know Christ.
I leave you with this, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
Whoever means whoever.
Salvation is for all people.
If you would like to accept Christ I encourage you to get on your knees before God and pray. Pray that He would forgive you of your sins. Pray and ask Him to come into your life and show you His will for you! The Holy Spirit is the Entity that resides within those who are saved and this is the Spirit that Jesus talks about, to guide us, as a deposit until we reach heaven or He returns. 2 Corinthians 1:22, “set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”
Hope.
My friend, during these uncertain times if I did not share the hope that I had in Christ with you, well what am I doing?
I hope you have a great day and email me at uselesstouseful@yahoo.com if you made a decision to follow Christ! I also encourage you to get with a pastor that you know is Bible minded and continue a journey of mentorship within a local church body that is Bible minded.
Jesus loves you!