God
loves you. He loves you more than anyone ever has or ever will. He made you to
be his friend. He thinks about you more than you think about yourself. He wants
you to know him, like he knows you.
He
has a beautiful and important plan for your life.
"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 NIV).
“How precious concerning me are your thoughts,
O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber
the grains of sand. . . ” (Psalms 139:17-18)
[Christ speaking] "I came that they might have life, and might have it
abundantly"
[that it might be full and meaningful] (John 10:10).
But
most people aren’t living a meaningful life as God’s friends. We have a big
problem. God is all things right and righteous. He’s love and truth. He’s holy
and perfect. We’re not.
We’ve
done wrong things; it came natural to us . . .
Our
wrongness separated us from God. Now we can’t hear him when he calls; our guilt
makes him turn his face away when we pray.
"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of
God" (Romans 3:23).
"The wages of sin is death" [spiritual separation from God] (Romans
6:23).
“. . . the eyes of the
Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the
face of the Lord is against those who do evil." (1 Peter 3:12)
We
might try to convince ourselves that we’re okay. We can compare ourselves to
others and say, “See? I’m not that bad.” The world is filled with false religions, psychology
and philosophies that tell us we’re good enough; we may believe and try each
one.
But
they won’t set us free.
No,
not even religion can save us – we’ve already broken one law; we might as well
have broken them all. We can’t be good enough to make up for it. Even if we’re
good compared to most people, there’s still a canyon of guilt between us and a
perfect God. Our soul remains hopeless; our spirit lifeless and lonely.
“For whoever keeps the whole law and yet
stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” (James 2:10)
“My
guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear. My wounds fester and
are loathsome because of my sinful folly. I am bowed down and brought very low;
all day long I go about mourning.” (Psalm 38: 4-6)
But
God loves you, and he made a bridge over this canyon.
“.
. . the law requires that nearly everything be
cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no
forgiveness.” (Hebrews 9:22)
God
sent a savior to suffer and pay the penalty for our sins.
Jesus
Christ was the only person who ever lived a perfect and sinless life. He
claimed to be God in human form. He proved it by fulfilling hundreds of
prophecies, healing sick people, casting demons out of others, bringing dead
people back to life and by rising from the dead himself.
His
death was an acceptable substitute for yours,
because unlike everyone else, he was not dying for his own sins. He was dying
for yours.
There
are many false beliefs and useless religions. But (this is important!) there’s
only ONE bridge to God! Jesus Christ is God's ONLY provision for forgiveness
from sin. Through Him you can know God's love and plan for your life.
He Died
in Our Place
"God
demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us" (Romans 5:8).
He Rose
From the Dead
"Christ
died for our sins...He was buried...He was raised on the third day, according
to the Scriptures...He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. After that He
appeared to more than five hundred..." (1 Corinthians 15:3-6).
He Is the
Only Way to God
"Jesus
said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the
Father, but through Me'" (John 14:6).
"Where,
O death, is your victory? Where, O death,
is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the
law. But thanks be
to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians
15:55-57)
If you don’t know
Jesus, you are not God’s friend, yet.
You’re still stained by the things you’ve done wrong. You’re separated from God
who is perfect. You can’t be good enough.
But you can cross over on the bridge God
worked so hard to give you.
"Therefore, my
brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is
proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is justified from
everything you could not be justified from by the law
of Moses.” (Acts 13: 38-39)
“. . . a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in
Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be
justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing
the law no one will be justified.” (Galations 2:16)
You can be God’s
friend. You can be set free from your sins, guilt and shame. You can accept
Jesus’ payment for your wrongs and his “goodness” because he wants to share it
with you. And what does he ask for in
exchange?
You.
All of you: heart,
mind, body and soul.
“Love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30)
You must believe. You
must ask Jesus to take away your guilt, give you a clean heart and carry you
over the bridge and into friendship with God.
[Jesus said] “I tell
you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him
who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over
from death to life.” (John 5:24)
“He commanded us to
preach to the people and to testify that he [Jesus] is the one whom God
appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about
him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his
name." (Acts 10: 42-43)
‘If we claim to be
without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our
sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from
all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8,9)
If you believe, are
forgiven and ask, God will send you his Holy Spirit to live in your heart. This
spirit will explain spiritual things to you, give you the power to change and
help you discover the important plan God has for your life.
“At one time we too
were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and
pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But
when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because
of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through
the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us
generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by
his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:7)
“I will pray the
Father, and He will give you another Helper, [the Holy Spirit] that He may
abide with you forever” (John 14:16)
If you believe the
things you’ve read in this Bible study, talk to God about them. Ask him to
forgive your sins through the work Jesus did. Ask him to fill you with his Holy
Spirit and open your eyes so you can understand him. Begin to read the Bible
and pray that he will explain it to you.
And send me a message
so I can pray for you.
Blessings.
Pitbulls4Christ
