Would you like to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior?
God desires for every person to be saved and this is only made possible through the birth, life, death, burial, resurrection, and 2nd coming of Jesus Christ. 1 Timothy chapter 2, verses 4-6, in the Contemporary English Version (CEV), says "God wants everyone to be saved and to know the whole truth, which is, There is only one God, and Christ Jesus is the only one who can bring us to God. Jesus was truly human and he gave himself to rescue all of us. God showed us this at the right time". Dear friend, this verse is for you, Jesus is FOR YOU and salvation is available to you. I believe that the Lord is meeting you in this moment to make the best decision you will ever make that will change the trajectory of your life.
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Sin and Separation: The bible says in Romans 3:23. "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". No one on this earth is perfect and we all make mistakes. The word sin just means to miss the mark. We all have missed the mark that God has for us. Everyone was created by God, for Him and was created to dwell in intimacy with Him. That was His original design and still is His desire. However, because the Lord is Holy and we are not that means sin causes separation between us and God. The first half of Romans 6:23a says, "For the wages of sin is death". There is a consequence of sin, a payment that must be paid and satisfied for missing the mark of God. That penalty is death, spiritual death (Separation).
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The Solution: The Gift of God: Jesus was sent as our replacement so that we can be reconciled back to God (2 Corinthians 5:21). He was the perfect sacrifice for us because He never sinned- He was 100% man and 100% God. To satisfy the penalty God required a perfection and no man could fulfill that but Jesus Christ. There is nothing we will be able to do to bridge the gap between us and God. Ephesians 2: 8-9 says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by your works, so that no one can boast." You can't pray enough, go to church enough, be a good person, give to the church and the poor or do all the right things. Our good deeds cannot save us. You do not have to work your way into heaven. It is only by the birth, life, death, resurrection and 2nd coming of Jesus Christ. The second half of Romans 6:23 says, "but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord". There is hope for you. You don't have to be separated from the Lord. Romans 5:8 says, "But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners."
The Promise: Romans 10: 13 says, "for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." This is an guarantee for anyone who calls on the name of Jesus, salvation is available for you.
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Our Response: Because of this great gift, our response is to simply accept it. Romans 10:9 says that all we have to do is , " declare with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."
So here is The Gospel, also called "The Good News":
God became man in Jesus Christ. He lived a life we should've lived and died a death we should've died- in our place. Three days later He rose from the death; offering the gift of salvation and forgiveness of sins to anyone who repents and believes in Him.
If you would like to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior of your life, pray this prayer out loud:
Lord Jesus, I need you in my life.
I believe that You are Lord
I recognize and confess that I am a sinner.
I ask that you forgive me.
I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross and three days later rose again so that I can be forgiven and experience unhindered intimacy with You.
I acknowledge that salvation is only through Your grace and not by my works.
Come into my heart.
Renew me.
Help me to live a life that is pleasing to you.
Thank you for saving me.
You are my Lord and I am Yours.
in Jesus name,
Amen.
If you just confessed Jesus as your Lord and Savior- I want to know! Click the button below to notify me so I can celebrate you!
Next Steps
My passion is to see people receive salvation and to not stop there, but to cultivate a lifestyle that will help nurture this new relationship with the Lord that will ultimately make you a disciple of Jesus who makes disciples. Many people receive salvation (that's great) but will continue to live the same life and have no inward or outward change. It burdens my heart to see that many people are missing out on a life full of freedom, purpose, community, joy and most importantly, to know and to be known by The Father because they stopped at getting saved. If that's what you want, go ahead and I will see you in heaven one day. However, I will beckon you to seek more because The Lord has more for those who confess Him as Lord. He has called YOU for more.
Below are some next steps that are both biblical and effective that I believe that will help you jumpstart your new life with Jesus. These are no means a formula to a perfect and trouble free Christian life- that doesn't exist. These biblical and practical steps that will help you grow in your faith.
1. Go and Tell
If you just made the decision to make Jesus your Lord and Savior this is GOOD NEWS to share with others. The last thing you want to do is not share it because it's exciting news to be celebrated. Go share it with a trusted or Christian friend, a parent, a sibling, a mentor, or a coworker. Psalms 96:2
2. Get water baptized
Your first step in your walk with the Lord is to get water baptized. Baptism is important because it reminds us of what Jesus did for us. It's a public declaration to show the world a decision you already made to follow Jesus. Here are a few things to keep in mind about water baptism.
1. Baptism isn't what saves you and it's voluntary: Our salvation IS NOT in whether or not we get water baptized. It is very important to your walk, but it is not required. This is a choice between you and the Lord. We are not saved by our works, but only by faith through Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:8-9
2. Baptism is an act of obedience: Jesus was baptized and desires us to be baptized and to baptizes others. Matthew 3: 13-15 , Matthew 20: 19-20
3. Baptism is a symbol: When we are baptized we are identifying with Jesus when He was buried and rose again on the third day. When you go into the water you are representing Jesus's death and dying to your old self and when you come out of the water you are representing his resurrection and being a new creation in Christ. Colossians 2: 12, Romans 6: 6-8
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3. Join a church
God created us to be in a community of believers to encourage and sharpen us. This could be an online or in-person church. Ideally, you would want to join a biblically trusted local in-person church, if you can, so that you can worship weekly with believers to be fed the Word of God. I also want to briefly address "church hurt". I am aware that there are many people, maybe even you, that have experienced getting hurt by people in the church. I am so sorry you have or are experiencing that hurt, it's not right and that's not God's heart for you. I want to be clear that the Lord did not hurt you, but people did. God is not responsible for people's actions, even people who are Christians. We have been given free will and we choose how we treat people. It grieves the Lord's heart when people are mistreating each other, especially people who are suppose to be representations of Christ in the church. The Church is suppose to be a place that build people up not tear them down. So I urge you, please try again.
Some Advice: Unfortunately there are many churches that do not preach the sound doctrine of Jesus Christ. So please be wise in deciding what church you become a member of so that you do not be lead astray in scripture (Matthew 24:11 ). I encourage you to pray for guidance to the Lord about finding a church, staying at a church and asking trusted Christians friends/mentors for help. There is nothing wrong with trying different churches, I actually encourage it to see where the Lord wants you, but at some point make a decision to pick one church that you can become a member, serve and grow there. I know sometimes you will have to church hop for a season, but try to make it a goal to be able to settled down in a church so that you can grow. Please do not see your pastor and leaders as god. They are imperfect just like you and they will make mistakes. Guard your heart by staying close and following Jesus. Jesus The example as a believer.
Romans 12:4-5
4. Join a small group
Being a part of a small group at my local church has saved my life. Even though I grew up knowing the Lord, I never had a consistent Christian group of friends and joined a small group until I was 22 years old.
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If we do not have trusted Christian friends in our life walking with us to reach the same goal towards Jesus our spiritual journey will be stagnate. We are not called to do life alone, I know that can be tempting sometimes, but joining a small group of believers that you meet with throughout the month will help you grow closer to God by digging in His word and gaining understanding and closer to your brothers and sisters in Christ.
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In small groups is where the transformation happens. This is where you can get support to fight temptations, have accountability, gain wisdom and walk in unity. You gain brothers and sisters to walk alongside with. Going to church every Sunday is great and necessary, but there is only but so much a Pastor can do once a week. I know being vulnerable with people you don't know yet can be scary and intimidating, but you were created for this and your soul desires it. If I did it, so can you. Hebrews 10:24-25
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Some Advice: These people are imperfect humans just like you. They will make mistakes, forget your name and say something that hurt your feelings. Please don't leave and give up. Relationships take time, teamwork, prayer and consistency. It will be hard many times, but it's so worth it. I am a living testimony.
5. Daily Devotion
The bread and butter to your spiritual journey is scripture reading and studying, prayer, fasting and worship. These four spiritual disciplines are necessary to deeper growth, strong and accurate theology, connection with the Lord and longevity as a believer and in ministry. I view these as non-negotiables in my walk with the Lord. These are not a means to salvation, but they allows us to become mature believers in Christ.
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1. Scripture Reading and Studying: The bible is going to be your bestfriend. I believe that we should read our bibles everyday because it's our daily food for our spirits. Billy Graham said, “The very practice of reading [the Bible] will have a purifying effect upon your mind and heart. Let nothing take the place of this daily exercise.” As a believer, reading and studying the bible helps us grow in our understanding of who God is, who we are and how we should live.
We cannot become mature in our faith and have a right understanding of who God is if we do not study scripture. We are transformed by the renewing of our minds by storing God's word in our hearts and allowing it to change us. Not only should we read it but we should do what it says. Even though I grew up going to church i never read the bible on my own until I was a junior in college. Once I started to study the bible, memorize scripture I started to see a change in my thinking, habits, attitude and heart. James 1:22-25, 2 Timothy3:16, Psalm 119:9-11;105; 130, Proverbs 30:5
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2. Prayer: This is how you communicate with the Lord. This is when you talk to God about anything and learn to listen to His voice. If you prayed the prayer of salvation, you now have unlimited access to commune with the Lord and He with you. Matthew 6:6, 1 John 5:14-15
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3. Fasting: There are different types of fast you can do but fasting is voluntary and intentional abstinence from food for spiritual purposes. This is not a diet, but a certain amount of time you choose while being lead with the help of God to not eat certain foods, drinks or anything that takes away your focus so that you can grow closer to Jesus. (ex. social media, shopping, drinking alcohol, gossiping, etc.). This is an act of humbling yourself for a more deeper and more powerful relationship with the Lord. Isiah 58
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4. Worship: We were created for the Lord (Colossians 1:16). Because we were created to worship, we will always be worshipping something. Worship simply means to show honor, allegiance or praise to something or someone. I believe everything you do is a form of worship. But for this section I am particularly talking about communing with the Lord through music and/or creative outlets. So there is cooperate and private worship. Cooperate worship is when you attend an event, church service or gather with people to publicly worship the Lord together through music and a sermon. Private Worship is when it's just you and the Lord alone in your own space.
Both are necessary and should be done often. For example, in my private time with the Lord, many times I would just turn on some Christian music and dance in my room or I would go on a walk while listening to worship music or many times I would just cut on the music and sit on the floor and just be. For you it might be drawing, writing, painting, sewing, photography. It can and will look different for us all. The importance is that you are praising and honoring the Lord daily in your own private time and also with other believers.
John 4:23-24
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Some Advice: These spiritual disciplines are hard. I'm not going to life to you. But what I can say is that they are worth it to keep doing. There are going to be many days you forget to pray or even fall asleep while you're praying, or forget to read your bible. There will be a lot of days you don't want to read your bible. When you fast either on your own or with a group of people you might mess up and eat something you decide not to. And that's okay. We are not striving for perfection. Perfection is an illusion and a trap of the enemy. You will make mistakes as long as you acknowledge them, repent and try again. Spiritual disciplines cannot be done without the Lord's help. When you are saved, you are given the Holy Spirit which is there to help you. You and I will be doing these things for the rest of our lives. Start small, be consistent and build from there.
6. Discipleship
An important aspect of following Jesus is to be a "disciple". This simply means a student or follower of Jesus. Another way we grow as believers is having a person is who either or both older than you or farther along in their journey with the Lord for the purpose of personally walking alongside you to hep you grow in your walk with the Lord. These people help give you guidance, advice, support, and counsel. Proverbs 11:14, Proverbs 12:15
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Some Advice: Please remember that these mentors are not your god. They are imperfect humans just like you so have a perspective and a heart posture that they won't have all the answers, they will make mistakes and they are here to help you not force you to do anything.
7. Go and Make Disciples
Before Jesus ascended into Heaven He gave all of us "The Great Commission". This is a call to all believers to share the Gospel with others and help teach them what it looks like to follow Jesus. The Gospel is for everyone, everywhere. Jesus died for every human on this earth and desires for them to be saved. So when you are a believer you are a disciple who makes disciples.
Matthew 28: 16-20