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Praying

accepting Christ

The first step to a whole new life!

“I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.” - Jesus John 10:10

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Have you discovered the joy and peace of personally accepting Jesus’ invitation to life? Perhaps you have believed in the existence of God and His Son and have tried to live a good life, but have never consciously invited Him to be your Savior and Lord.

No matter who you are or what you have done, at this very moment, you too can make the decision of a lifetime. Right now Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart. He offers you the same wonderful life that millions through the centuries have received with life-changing results. He has already paid the penalty for your sin. He is asking you, in the quiet of your heart, to put your trust in Him. Here are four spiritual points that will help you discover how to know God personally and experience the full life He promises.

God loves you and wants to have a personal relationship with you.

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 “And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.”  John 17:3. 

God wants you to know Him.  Why is it that most people do not have a personal relationship with God? Because:

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Our sin cuts us off from God so we cannot have a personal relationship with Him and experience His love.

We have all sinned. “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” Romans 3:23 

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We were all created to have a personal relationship with God. Because we all choose to go our own independent way, our relationship with God was broken.  The fact that we are selfish and self-centered is obvious because we either rebel against God or don’t really care about Him.  This is evidence of what the Bible calls sin. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23 

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God is holy (pure and sinless) and we are sinful.  A great gap cuts us off from God because He cannot tolerate sin.  People often try to find a full and meaningful life through their own efforts.  They try to live a good life or be religious.  But the Bible clearly teaches that there is only one way to bridge the gap between us and God

Jesus Christ is God’s only cure for our sin. Through Him you can know God personally and experience His love.

“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” Romans 5:8

 

The Bible says that Jesus experienced death in our place, and then Jesus rose from the dead.  “I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.” 1 Corinthians 15:3-6 

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Jesus is the only way to God. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 

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God has done the work to bridge the gap which cuts us off from Him.  He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross in our place to pay the penalty for our sin.  But it is not enough just to know these truths.  We must take the next step . . . and “cross the bridge.”

We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know God personally and experience His love.

We must receive Christ. “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12 

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We accept Christ when we understand that we are sinful, that we need a way for our sin to be paid for, that we want to live new lives (repentance), and that we believe that Jesus Christ is the only one who can pay for and forgive our sins and give us the power to live new lives.  This new life is our personal relationship with Him.  Just to know in your mind that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for the sins of people is not enough.  We receive Jesus Christ by faith, as an act of the will.

 

Would you like to accept Jesus’ invitation to life? You can receive Jesus Christ right now by faith through prayer.  God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart.  Millions of people all around the world have already found new life in Christ.  Here is a suggested prayer that can help you express your trust in Jesus, too:

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“Dear Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins and for rising from the dead. I open the door of my life and receive you as my savior and lord. I trust you now to forgive my sins and give me eternal life. Please make me the kind of person you want me to be.”

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