God's Grace is Sufficient

A few weeks ago, I read a very sad, but disturbing, article about someone who had done some pretty dark things in his life. He commented on how God could love him, accept him into His Kingdom, knowing the dark things, the hidden things, that has been committed by him. This person went onto say that he was under the impression that he had to get his act together FIRST before God would accept him. For many years, he went through his life falsely thinking he had to change first before being able to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal savior! How SAD this was for me to hear! For his soul and spirit, but also for knowing there were missed opportunities to share the gospel with this man by several people who I'm sure crossed his path since those first impressions were made upon him. Jesus invites you to present yourself before Him, ''just as you are.'' He says in Matthew 11:28: "Come to Me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you." It does not, however, make any mention of requirements or CONDITIONS beforehand, and Jesus gives us ALL an open invitation into His Kingdom! 

His inerrant Word

God does not require such a thing from us! Nowhere in the Bible does it teach that either! The ONLY thing required of us is to repent of our sins, believe on Jesus as the Only Begotten Son of God, who was born to a virgin, died on the cross, shed blood for ALL of our sins and rose three days later! The birth, death and resurrection! That's what is required and THEN the transformation can and will begin! Jesus will change all of that because first of all, as soon as you repent, believe and accept Jesus, you become covered by His shed blood, making all of your sins white as snow! And forgotten by God.....as it is written in  Isaiah 1:18, "Come, now let us reason together," says the LORD, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." All of our sins, every last one of them, will be forgotten and God will begin to transform us into the likeness of His Son! We will not be perfected until we return home to Him in heaven, but while we're on this earth, given this body and sin nature, we are given every tool possible to fight our temptations, to get through our trials, and to be a light to everyone who comes in contact with us! We will continue to sin, either by thoughts, actions or feelings, but with Jesus in our hearts and the Holy Spirit taking over, we will hate those sins, grow weary of them and have more strength in the Lord to turn from them!

He's Waiting on YOU

Being a Christian is not keeping a set of stringent rules. It's not about trying to do your best. It's not about "religion." It's not trying to live a moral and ethical lifestyle. While those things are wonderful to try to achieve, as a believer, we all know human nature would prevent that from happening. What a Christian IS about, however, is having a personal relationship with Jesus! John 14:6,  "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." He also said in John 3:3, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." Now remember, being a Christian means "Christ believer" and Jesus wants each of us to know Him, Believe on Him, walk with Him, and love Him. A relationship with Him does not require being a member of a certain denomination, doing specific rituals, nor doing any special deeds. It doesn't matter what you did in your past, before you knew the Lord, because it will be forgiven, forgotten and covered by the blood of Jesus. God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ must be put first and no other idols or deities can be put before them. I've heard some awesome testimonies of people who have been in the darkest pits of Hell, and finally succumbed to the voice of God calling their names! They've never been the same! It was God's love, TRUTH and LIFE they needed and what a difference He made! God created ALL of us and He gave us His only begotten Son to die on the cross for ALL of our sins. He didn't quantify or qualify any one tribe or nation. Why? Because ALL means EVERY SINGLE PERSON! It's every nation, every person, every tongue and every tribe! He hears the cries of every heart no matter where you are located, no matter what language you speak, no matter what you did in your past. He already knows all of that because He made us. Our God knows each of you....and He wants you to know Him and His Son!

We are all sinners. We've all done, thought or felt things that we shouldn't have. It's simply impossible for any of us to get our "acts" together FIRST before coming and seeking the Lord. Seek His face FIRST and the transformation will follow. It won't all happen overnight and that's OK. Part of the wonderful relationship with the Lord is getting to know Him, learning about His Grace, and watching Him transform you! There is a happy ending to the story above about the man who thought he had to be changed first. He found the Lord! The Lord heard his cries while he was on his knees! He came to know the Lord just as he was and the Lord then made him who he IS today! Praise the Lord for His unselfish gift of Grace! It's FREE and once it's given and received, it can't be taken away!