This week has been a bit of a ride emotionally for me. On Thursday, I celebrated my 29th birthday. Weird. I struggled to be "happy" that it was a day to celebrate me! In the past, I couldn't think of anything better than a ME day! Now that everything happened...I just couldn't fully get into celebrating me, and instead wanted to celebrate other people and God...weird, huh?
So I started the day off going to a catalyst conference with the church staff. It was great. One of the speakers was Mike Breaux, a teaching pastor at Heartland, in Rockford. It is my new found second "home" on Sundays when I am visiting family. Anyway, he spoke on fear. Funny. The night before our friend Patti, gave me Fearless, a great book on....you guessed it....fear. After the dust settled from October, I realized I am fearful of the future for my children. So, I began reading the book the very night I got it, and loe and behold, Mike Breaux began his message quoting Fearless. So, I got a funny feeling that God was speaking to me. Then, broken a bit by the message but encouraged, there were two worship songs about to play. Earlier, the speaker who introduced Mike said that Mike had called late to change the second song to go more with his message but they were unable to change the song so the one they previously selected had to work.
You guessed it.....it was Mighty to Save. (Mighty to Save holds new significance. It was the first song Jut and I broke down at Church on our first Sunday back post diagnosis) Of course, I lost it again.
Flash forward to tonight. Tonight we had youth group and Josh invited the student's to a time of extended worship and had leaders available for student's if they wanted to pray or accept Christ. I saw Aubrey, a young lady I have been friends with for almost two years sitting there. I sat by her and prayed with her. To be honest, I was nervous. I have never led someone to the Lord. I was beating around the bush hoping she would say she just wanted prayer, or wasn't ready. But, she didn't hesitate and after talking about Jesus and the promise of heaven, she accepted Christ! I was snuggled into being content with being a seed planter....but in my brokenness, the Lord used me in mighty ways! Guess what song was playing right when I lead her to Christ?
You guessed it....Mighty to Save.
Rejoice with Angels on behalf of Aubrey with me!
The Gospel of Jesus
How You Can Know God's Love"There is a God in Heaven who loves you as you are and not as you should be."Yes... you are right... there is a God. You know that must be true. The heart of the human being longs for God, and logic demands divine existence.While everyone believes God is... most sense separation from God. We know God must be holy and good. We see ourselves as unholy and not good. We conclude that God is angry with us and we cannot know Him.Good News! This Testament of God's love is His Word to tell us that He loves us as we are. That love will save us from our sin and make us what we should be as God's children.
John 3:16"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."We hear Jesus say, "God so loved the world." God's love has no limitations. He loves "so". More than we can imagine. He loves everyone - not just some ones.
Romans 5:8 tells us that God loved us so that "when we were in our sin Christ Jesus came to die for us."Romans 3:23"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"This verse tells us that all people have sinned. We have fallen short of God's intended purpose for us. God made us to know Him.... to receive His love and to love him in return. For love to be love... for God to be God... and for humans to be humans.... God gave us a choice. We can choose to love ourselves and turn to our selfish pursuits. That is sin. In our sin we cannot know God and His love. The result of sin is that we are lost... separated from God.
Romans 6:23"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."Wages are just payment... due reward... what one has coming because of labor. The just payment for our sin is death.Death here means spiritual insensitivity. When we are still in our sin, we have no life with God. We are alive physically but dead spiritually. If we continue in that condition, we will be separated from God for all eternity.The wages of sin is death. but God's free gift is eternal life. While wages are earned, a gift is offered... no strings attached. God says He will give us eternal life - life with Him - in the place of sin's payment of death.
How can God remain true to His holiness and forgive unholy sinners? Because Jesus, His Son, has paid the price for sin by His death on the cross.Second Corinthians 5:21 says, "He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we may be made the righteousness of God through Him."Jesus arose from the grave to conquer sin and death for all who receive Him as God's free gift.
How can you receive God's free gift of love and life?Romans 10:9-10"that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."A person receives God's free gift of love and life by placing faith in Jesus Christ.
To believe is simply to take God at His word. With our heart (whole believing) we believe that Jesus is God's Son who died for our sin on the cross and arose from the grave to live in us as Savior and Lord.To believe in Jesus will result in confessing that faith with one's mouth.
Do you acknowledge that your are a sinner?
Do you believe by faith that Jesus, God's Son, died for your sin on the cross?
Will you now confess Him as your Savior and Lord?
Romans 10:13"for Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved."This verse says that any person who will call upon the name of Jesus, the Lord, shall be saved. To call means simply to ask in prayer. The verse does not require one to know more... do better... clean up one's life... or in any way try to add to what Jesus has done for us.
Will you now call upon Jesus to save you from your sin so that you can know God's love and forgiveness?
Pray like this: "Dear God, I confess that I am a sinner, and I am sorry. I need a Savior. I know I cannot save myself. I believe by faith that Jesus, your Son, died on the cross to be my Savior. I believe He arose from the grave to live as my Lord. I turn from my sin. I ask You, Lord Jesus, to forgive my sin and come into my heart. I trust you as my Savior and receive you as my Lord. Thank you, Jesus, for saving me."
When anyone calls on the Lord in this manner, that one is saved according to God's Word. If you pray a prayer of repentance and faith, you are saved. You have God's word on it.If you have prayed this prayer to receive Christ as your Lord and Savoir, why not record your decision to follow Jesus as follows.
Often times, a good place to write this would be inside the cover of your bible:
Believing by faith that God loves me and sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for my sin and arise from the grave to live in me, I, _______, do this day, ________, repent of my sin and accept Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. According to the promise of God in Romans 10:13, I have called upon His name and have His word for the assurance of my salvation.
Adapted from "The Covenant of God's Love" by Richard Jackson, Jackson Center for Evangelism, P.O. Box 99, Brownwood, Texas 76804,
