Did you know that
you cannot comprehend God, nor the things of God, without sincerely asking
Him to show Himself? Read on for more information on what you need to do
to find your Creator ... God!
God is God and there is no other,
He is the one and only God. All things eminate from Him and all things
exist because of Him ... He spoke it and it happened, from the creation
of the earth and cosmos to you and me and all the heavenly hosts. God is
LOVE, in the purest sense.
God is the Architect/Creator,
you are the architecture/building (just like the building you now live
in has a builder, even though you likely have never met the actually builder,
you can attest the building is there none the less). God is the Potter
(pottery maker) and you are the clay but in a special way God allowed His
clay to have free will ... imagine if you made a clay pot and took it a
step further and allowed that clay a mind of it's own to choose to love
you or not. The evidence that you created the pot is that > it exists
<, but then you hide yourself to see if the pot will acknowledge you
on its own. That is what God has done for mankind. He created us and He allows
us to choose Him, to love Him, or not ... of our own free will.
God is SO loving that He doesn't
even provide what scientists call *proof* (until you seek Him out and ask
for it). For if we knew for sure that He does exist how could we not love
Him, and more than likely out of sheer fear? Where's the free will when
you KNOW the truth without asking for it?
God is eternal, omniscient,
omnipotent, all powerful, all knowing. God is our Father by His choice
and we certainly do not deserve His loving kindness. Is it not amazing
that He even considers us ... when you ponder all the wonders of His creation?
The key to Christianity is *finding God* through, and in spite of, our
own free will. We must seek, knock, ask before we can receive. We must
search out God, and if we do that He will be faithful to show Himself but
only through His Son, Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ, the living Son of God, our Lord
& Savior
Jesus was was not merely a
prophet, a wise man. Jesus lived and died in the flesh yes, but His death
was short lived. God did resurrect Jesus ... physically ... He bears the
scars of His martyrdom to this day. There will be no one on earth when He
returns that will be able to deny He is the Christ (Messiah), the Savior.
His afflictions for you were many and should not be forgotten: the probable
100 or so marks on His back from being flogged; the holes in His wrists and
feet from the nails driven into His flesh; the bruises from being beaten;
the sorry, sad list of His suffering are too many to count ... He took it
ALL for YOU!
Jesus is the Son of God. God
made it so. God made Jesus to be the Lord & Savior of ALL of His creation,
including mankind, because God knew that without obvious evidence of His
existance we would need some help in finding Him. That help was Jesus Christ.
Jesus came to earth in human form so that He, the Son of God, could live
among us and experience all the things we experience ... it cannot be said
that God *doesn't understand what it is to be human* ... He certainly does,
after all, He created us in the first place. All that we experience in every
sense of being human was also created by God, including our emotions and
our feelings.
That in mind, Jesus was also
our example of how to live our lives and how to communicate to our Father
God. Jesus prayed to His Father ... you pray likewise ... but you pray for
all things through Jesus, in the name of Jesus, because God has granted
all authority to Jesus. Think of Jesus as a Prince; His Father is God the
King. The King has placed all things into the hands of His Son Jesus to govern,
therefore Jesus IS God because His Father God has decreed it so! Jesus
will, in fact, be the King of this earth at His return, and we that believe
will be with Him HERE on earth for eternity ... but by then it will be a
NEW earth for all the old things will have passed away, behold all things
are created new. Isn't that exciting!?
Jesus was the first to go through
the trials of life and get through it all without sin ... He alone is
the only one to run the gauntlet and make it to the end blameless and
sinless! That is why He's called the Firstfruits, He is the First of many.
Yet, let us not forget why He died, He died for us ... He bore our sins
on the cross so that God could forgive us! He paid our debt, He took on
our sins, the sins of the whole world, being sinless Himself. There is NO
greater love than to give your life for a friend as Jesus did for us! You
may hear Him knocking at the door of your heart and mind but He won't force
His way in, you must open the door yourself, of your own free will.
The Holy Spirit, your spiritual Guide & Witness
The Holy Spirit resides within
believers and is their guide, interpretor, teacher and witness within of
all things spiritual and Godly. The Holy Spirit comes into you when you
believe, of your own free will and in faith that:
- Jesus Christ is the living Son of God, YOUR Lord &
Savior
- Jesus was born of a virgin (Mary) and that she conceived of
Him through the Holy Spirit
- Jesus lived a blameless, sinless life, and taught of the Father
God and His kingdom
-
Jesus died on the cross for YOUR sins, which
are the transgression of God's Holy Laws (the 10 commandments, Exodus
20). Jesus Christ paid your fine/price with the sacrifice of His own life's
blood ... some 2,000 years ago
- Jesus arose, was resurrected (the first of many),
after three days in the tomb. His sacrifice proven in His newly resurrected
body by the scars He bears of the nailing to the cross, the piercing in
His side, and likely puncture marks from that crown of thorns pressed
into His head
- Jesus is alive and eternal, seated at God's right hand, ruling
with Him, and preparing a place (many mansions) in heaven (God's residence)
to recieve all those that believe in Him
If you believe and confess
all this publically with your mouth; and get baptized (fully immersed
in water to symbolically die to your past and arise to your glorious
future); then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit who will come
into you and begin to teach you and guide you in all things spiritual.
You cannot have Him in your life any other way. You cannot understand
the things of God without the Spirit within, it is He that teaches you.
He is also your witness, of your spiritual walk and development ... He is
in constant contact with God & Jesus in intercessory prayer for YOU.
When you ask for the Lord to come into your heart & life, He does so
by sending you the Holy Spirit. Because He is sent to you from God, He
is God within you. You must listen for His still, small voice ... some
call it your conscience. He will never steer you wrong, He will always
guide you to do what is good and right. He will not communicate to you
loudly but in a gentle nudging way ... if He does speak to you loudly it
may well be a matter of life and death ... either way, learn to pay attention!
Angels, messengers of God
You likely have
angels nearby trying to guide you. They may be ministering to you
in still, quiet voices, whispering in your ears the testimony of God and
Jesus Christ. Some also refer to them as your consicence ... they are messengers
of God, and are continually trying to influence you to *do good* and turn
from your sinful ways.
The Holy Bible, the Word of God
The Bible is the Holy
and Inspired WORD of God. Written by the hands of men, yes ... but
inspired by the Holy Spirit within each writer. That's why Christians
know it to be the truth.
Satan, the devil
If you do not believe me, then you believe the devil.
It's his mission to make sure that you do not believe in God, Jesus
Christ, the Holy Spirit and in the written word, the Holy Bible! Consider
this, if I'm right then you have two choices: 1) Life eternal
through Jesus Christ, or 2) Eternal separation and torment from
God ... which option is more harmful to you in the long run? You cannot
serve two masters as Christ said. Satan IS your god if you choose
not to let Jesus into your life. That is your free will choice to make ...
life (with the God of eternity) or death (with the god of this age). Be
forewarned, satan well knows the Bible and if given the opportunity he WILL
use it against you!
If you think perhaps you are
too old for God, think again, He was here *in the beginning* and He'll
be here *in the end (of the world as we know it today) and forever*, He's
waaaaaaaaay older than you are! Maybe you think that for the sins you've
committed in your lifetime there is NO WAY God would want you. Nothing
could be further from the truth! Would you turn aside from your child if
he/she came to you with a repentant heart asking for forgiveness? God can
and will forgive ANYTHING you have ever done, not only will He forgive,
He will forget, as though none of it ever happened ... if you are sincere
in your repentance. The pains, sins and trials of life are for your learning
and growth and God will only remember it if you freely choose to ignore
Him and not come to Him with a repentant heart and ask Him for forgiveness.
This is what is meant by "Ask and ye shall receive" ... ask for forgiveness
and you will receive it in and through Jesus. And then, you can ask for
*anything* and receive it, if you believe. Is that a loving God or what
... you know you probably deserve death for much of your sin, and yes
we do go through a physical death that is alotted to us ... but God loves
you so much that if you seek Him out He promises you LIFE ETERNAL, just
like Jesus' resurrected body ... so you will likewise receive similar
... a new eternal body!
If anything I have said here
has helped tip your scale toward the side of God, and you'd like to freely
give your life and heart to Him ... pray this out loud with a spirit of
repentence and know that I, in the spirit, am with you!
Dear God, my heavenly
Father, I come to You with a humbled spirit and an open heart. I acknowledge
You as awesome, righteous and holy. You are God and there is no other.
I thank you for making me Father and for your unfailing love toward me,
a sinner.
In faith, I acknowledge
that Jesus Christ is Your Son. I accept that He is the living Son of the
living God. I believe that He was born of a virgin named Mary. I believe
that He died on the cross, that His life saving blood was shed for my
sins, and that He arose physically from the dead on the third day. I confess
that I have sinned by disobeying your righteous commandments and laws that
you set in motion for my benefit. I ask you to forgive me for these sins.
I pray for Jesus to
come into my heart and into my life. I open the door to my heart so that
You may fill me with your precious Holy Spirit, He will be my mentor of
all things spiritual. Jesus, be my Lord & Savior, my soon coming King.
Jesus, I will do my best to obey your teachings as recorded in the Bible.
Father, I ask these things with gratitude and thanks, knowing that
you have heard me. Please help me to grow in Your Spirit, don't let me
go my own way Father, keep me near to You. Please bathe me in, and teach
me of, your ever faithful, righteous love. Guide me to search your Holy
Word, the Bible, for the wisdom and hidden teachings contained within it
and on a deeper level than I could ever have imagined ... in Jesus' name
I pray ... Amen!
Of course you can pray in a
much more condensed version of that shown above, I just went all out to be
sure to get all the *key points* of your faith in. I'm so glad you chose
to give your life to Jesus, you won't regret it! Now, you really need
to find a good, reputable church and get baptized ... full immersion/submersion
baptism ... not sprinkled. You need to be fully submerged for a moment
into water (like a baptismal pool, river, lake). The significance of baptism
is that you are publically stating that you have died to your old self
(that's the immersion/submersion part where you are under the water),
when you come back up out of the water it symbolizes that you are emerging
a new creature, a new creation ... also known as *born again* in a spiritual
sense. Only after you receive the Holy Spirit and are baptised can you
truly begin your walk with God and begin to understand things from the spiritual
perspective. You are now a babe in Christ.
Welcome to our family my dear
brethren! Please know, you are not expected to be rid of bad habits instantly,
pray for help and guidance in getting past those vices of the evil
one ... the Lord will help you, persist until you overcome! You will stumble
and fall, we all do ... pick yourself up by the boot straps on continue on
your walk toward your Maker. Continually acknowledge your sins as the Holy
Spirit shows them to you, and pray for help to make them a part of your
past. Being a Christian is a growing process and it takes the remainder of
your life to complete! Don't stop now, and become complacent because you
are *saved* ... strive to get closer to God, strive to have a personal relationship
with Jesus, strive to listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit from now
throughout the rest of your life!
Another thing of the utmost
importance for your spiritual growth is to read your Bible. The Bible
is your baby food, your spiritual milk, without it your new spirit will
wither ... it needs to be fed from the word of God! You might consider starting
in the book of John, found in the Bible's New Testament. If you have a King
James Version (KJV) and find it hard to read with all it's thees and thous
then go buy another version, there are several available. I personally like
the New American Standard (NASB) Version, my Bible is a Ryrie Study Bible
with lots of footnotes and other goodies. A study Bible is a good idea, especially
with commentaries (annotated). Another good version is the Living Bible.
There are alot to choose from but again, reader beware ... the KJV is probably
the most accurate to the original manuscripts so you should have it as a cross
reference anyway. You can find bibles online or in any Christian bookstore.
Please, get yourself a Bible, read it daily, study it, pray about the contents,
ask the Holy Spirit for guidance and understanding, ask us at PACM (see link
below) for help if you don't understand something ... we'll be thrilled to
tell you what we've learned or try to point you in the way you should go.
Remember, the Bible is the living word of God, it is the inspired word of
God ... written by man yes but the writings were inspired by God Himself.
Once you accept that, you will be amazed at the wonders and wisdoms within
it's pages! Get a Bible with
BOTH Old & New Testaments, they are
both paramount to your understanding of God, the history of mankind, and
even for events yet future. Read it, study it ... pray, pray, pray ... strive
to stay with the Lord daily!
Unless you've backsliden (fallen
away from the Lord), you only need to give your life to Christ once, in
earnest; you only need to pray the Sinner's Prayer (as it's known) aloud
once; you only need to be baptized once (full immersion/submersion). If
you need help or guidance please visit me at our online ministry,
Phoenix
ALIVE! Christian Ministries, Inc. (PACM) at
http://www.PhoenixAlive.org/,
I'm called Samarra there.
What's in it for me? What do
I benefit? If you've given your life to God, in the name of Jesus Christ,
and have been baptized and received the Holy Spirit, and if you've been
fully submerged in water (baptized) and arisen a new creation ... well,
if I'm wrong *nothing lost, nothing gained*, but if I'm right ... my reward
is that we will someday meet in heaven :o} Praise the Lord!
I pray the Lord gives you ears
to hear and eyes to see! Time is SHORT ... never before in history have
so many *signs of the end times* been able to happen at once ... Jesus IS
coming again, very soon ... please, let Jesus into your life NOW!