The Most Important Thing I've Ever Written!!!

I’ve been doing this blog thing for a while, now. I feel compelled to write about something that I have not yet, something that I probably should have from day one. I’ve written much about the troubles and stress that we feel in today’s society. If we get too caught up in these things, we will quickly be brought down into despair. Millions suffer from depression. They have lost all hope of things ever getting better. We have been conditioned to be so consumed by our own humanness that we have turned away from the flashing neon exit sign to escape our dire situations.

(Now, I know some of you will feel like rolling your eyes and hitting the back button on your browser. Some of you will, but I encourage you to hear me out, consider what I say, and then make a decision, for I hope to present this in a new way to you. One that will finally click inside of you.) Our only hope of finding purpose, fulfillment, and true joy is through trust in Jesus Christ. Now, let me first say this: I apologize on behalf of every Christian that said he/she represented Christ, but was not really living a Spirit-led life, for they probably did more damage than good in you seeing Christianity as it truly is. Please don’t write us off because of the foolishness of a few. I’m sure that many of you have been told to accept Jesus because you will always be happy and all sorts of other flowery things that just are too good to be true. Well they are too good to be true! Being a Christian will often bring more trials, but will also bring greater rewards than anything else you can be in this life.

Why would you want to bring more trouble upon your life if you already feel crushed? In Matthew 11:30 Jesus said: “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” This does not mean that He will take away all of our troubles. Rather, it means that He will build the type of character in us that will give us the patience, hope, and grace to work through our issues with His help. I would rather have evil hot on my heels, with all of the tools that faith in Christ brings, than to be left alone to handle a few problems, and watch them pile up as I keep screwing things up on my own.
You say, “That’s all great, but who says that this Jesus was even a real person?” Well, not only the Christians believe in Jesus, so do the Jews, and Muslims. All three people groups were in the area at that time. They have don’t dispute the actual person of Jesus ever existed. Now, the Jews and Muslims don’t believe that Jesus was the Messiah. That is a whole other matter. We have documented records of what Jesus said and did in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These books are written by different people that hung around with Jesus, and have written four separate books that record a lot of the same incidents, and none of the books disagrees with the next. They all write of miracles, healings, teachings, and His death and resurrection. If we can get past the resurrection of Christ, we can come to believe He is the Messiah. He was dead on that cross. Water poured out of His side, as a sign he was really dead. He was buried for three days, and then arose and appeared to the apostles and over 500 other people before he ascended into Heaven. Each of the gospel writers visibly saw Him resurrected. If He wasn’t who He said, nobody would have followed Him after His death. If His memory was inflated to legendary status, the movement soon would have died out. Think of other cults where the leader dies. They disperse. However, this was different. His followers went around continuing to do the same things He did. They healed the sick, cast out demons, and preached the gospel throughout the land. This only would have happened had Jesus been who He said He was, Lord.

Jesus’ ministry was not one of coming to judge the world for all the evil in it. I’m sure that we’ve all heard John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him might not die, but have everlasting life.” The next verse explains why; “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” You see, when God created man, He created us in His image. This is not just His physical image, but His spiritual image as well. We were given the earth, to rule over and take care of it. After we sinned against God in the garden we became separated from that spiritual image that we had been molded into. We have been trying to restore ourselves to the image and purpose that God had originally intended for us ever since. Most, however, have been trying to find this on their own, and have accomplished little more than becoming as confused as ever.

This is where the message of God’s salvation through Christ is so important. There’s nothing that we can do to earn God’s forgiveness. Romans 3:23 says that “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”. It doesn’t matter if we have only told one little lie, murdered someone, or lived a sinful way of life, we’ve all sinned. This means that anything we do to try and earn God’s favor is useless. He already gave the gift of His Son. It’s a free gift available to all. There’s not one person that has been so bad that God won’t accept them. Paul, the greatest apostle of all time, hunted down Christians to kill them, before Jesus changed his life. Sometimes we focus on the first half of the verse. “All have sinned”. But the second half is just as important. God wants to show His glory in us and through us. Salvation is the first step. Restoration is the rest of the puzzle. Many Christians don’t get that. They don’t move past the salvation experience, and that is why they have done things that have offended or hurt you in the past. They haven’t moved into the restoration process, because anyone that is becoming restored to God’s image would know how to handle themselves better.

Also, God wants you just as you are. He loves you. He doesn’t expect you to be perfect when you come to Him or immediately after. Restoration is a process of receiving God’s glory as we are transformed into His image. It takes time. We will just lose the desire to do the wrong things as we begin to act in the manner of Christ. Don’t worry yourself over things that aren’t in your control. You couldn’t keep from doing wrong before, and can’t now. God, who is in you, gives you the will and power to do it. Restoration will bring a new awareness to you that will empower you to meet and handle every challenge. Many more challenges will come our way to build Godly character in our lives, but we will have the power to deal with each one.

Do you want more joy? Do you want to receive a whole new view on life that will restore you to a place of being able to overcome every issue in your life head on? Then you must make a decision here and now to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. We’re not promised tomorrow. Putting this off only increases your chances of dying before you get a chance to make things right with God. John 14:6 says, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Buddha, Allah, Gonesh, or L. Ron Hubbard can’t promise you what the only true God can. All the self help books in the world can’t transform you into what you are trying to become (Your soul is longing to be restored to God’s image). Unfortunately those who don’t want to be restored to God will not spend eternity with Him. Revelation 20:15 says “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 21:8 also says: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” There will be fear, weeping, and gnashing of teeth. Many ask how God could cast away those he loves. He has given people every opportunity to turn to Him. He is a fair God, and knows who has had a chance to accept Him and who did not. Those who rejected Him will receive the above fate. However, being restored to God will give us eternity with Him. He will bring us into all the completeness we were destined for from the beginning. There will be no more sorrow or tears. There will be more joy than we can comprehend forever and ever. If this made sense to you, and you wish to be restored, if you’re at the end of your rope and don’t have any more answers, or if you feel an emptiness inside of you that you wish would go away but won’t, please say this right where you are:

“Dear Lord Jesus,
I know that I’ve fallen short of the glory that you created human beings to live in, I don’t have any answers. I’ve tried many things on my own, but still feel unsatisfied. I am so sorry. Please accept me as I am. I offer you my heart, that I may someday be restored to Your likeness. Help me to find my way, as this is all new to me. Please keep me from getting discouraged. Hold me in your hand and lay a new foundation for my life. I want to know You more. Thank you for your gift of eternal life.

In Jesus' name I pray,
Amen”

If you prayed that, congratulations! You have just stepped into eternal life with God. All the angels and beings in heaven are celebrating at your decision to accept Jesus. Here is the next step to make sure that the restoration process has begun:

1) You need to get a Bible. Everything we need to know is in this book. Granted we won’t understand it all at once, but by reading and studying some everyday, we can begin to know God.
2) Keep praying. The salvation prayer is the first of many you’ll have to make. The Bible says to pray without ceasing. Learn to pray as often as you can. This is how you communicate with God, Himself.
3) Find a good Bible-believing church. Part of our glory is to fit into the body of believers in a productive way. We need to fellowship with other believers to keep us encouraged in the faith and to help us up when we are down. You can research many churches in your area on the internet to find out what they believe. Talk to the pastor, tell him you are a new believer, so that he will know best how to meet your needs to guide you in restoration.

Again, congratulations! You have just taken the first step towards total restoration, greater than anything else we’ve ever known. Please email me or reply on this post if you prayed this prayer. I want to be able to pray for you. Throughout scripture we see people publicly confessing their new faith, as a show of solidarity with God. If you want help finding a church, I’ll see what I can do, just let me know. Peace be with you! Be blessed!