Faith in God

Why REthink Life?1. BECAUSE OUR PERSPECTIVE ON LIFE IS LIMITED. Proverbs 16:1-2 (TLB) We can make our plans, but the final outcome is in God’s hands. We can always “prove” that we are right, but is the Lord convinced? 2. BECAUSE GOD SEES THINGS DIFFERENTLY THAN WE DO. Isaiah (MSG) For as the sky soars high above the earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think. 3. BECAUSE THE TEMPORAL THINGS IN LIFE ARE SHORT-LIVED AND DON’T ULTIMATELY SATISFY. 2 Corinthians 4:18 (MSG) …The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever. 4. LIVING FOR THE ETERNAL THINGS BRINGS TRUE SATISFACTION AND PURPOSE TO OUR LIVES. Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

THE LIFE you’ve always wanted or is it?

L-LOVEGod made us so He could love us and enjoy a real relationship with us. His plan is for us to live and experience a full and meaningful life. God created us to ultimately spend forever with Him. John 10:10 (MSG) …

[Jesus said] I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.

I-ISOLATIONGod created us in His own image to have a full and meaningful life, He did not creator or program us to be robots who automatically love and obey Him. Instead, He gave us a will and freedom of choice. Unfortunately, we abused this freedom and chose to start living for ourselves. The result is sin, which caused isolation from God. Isaiah 59:2 (NLT) It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, He has turned away and will not listen anymore.  Romans 3:23 (NLT) For everyone has sinned; we fall short of God’s glorious standard.
On our own, there is no way we can attain the perfection needed to bridge the gap to God. Good deeds won’t do it…or religion…or money…or morality…or philosophy…won’t do it. Proverbs 14:12 (NLT) There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.

F-FORGIVENESSJesus Christ is the only answer to our isolation caused by sin. Paying the penalty for our sin and bridging the gap between us and God, He died on the cross and rose from the grave. 1 Peter 3:18 (NLT) Chris suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but He died for sinners to bring you safely home to God… 1 Timothy 2:5 (TLB)…God is on one side and all the people on the other side, and Christ Jesus, himself man, is between them to bring them together. Romans 5:8 (NLT) But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

E-ETERNAL LIFEThe death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ made it possible for us to restore our broken relationship with God. This means your sin can be forgiven. The full and meaningful life God intended for you to have can become a reality. Even more encouraging is to know you can have the peace and confidence that you will spend eternity in heaven. John 3:16 (NLT) For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believed in him will not perish but have eternal life. Romans 6:23 (GW) The payment for sin is death, but the gift that God freely gives is everlasting life found in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Is there any reason why you shouldn’t receive God’s gift of forgiveness and cross over to God’s side for the guarantee of eternal life?

Romans 10:9-10 (NLT) If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.

A-ADMIT We must admit to God that we are sinners in need of a Savior.

.

B-BELIEVEWe must believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose again for the forgiveness of our sin and for our salvation.

.

C-CONFESSWe must confess verbally and publically Jesus is our personal Savior, as well as, make Him the Lord of every area of our life.

Romans 10:13 (NLT) For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

WANT TO ASK JESUS TO FORGIVE YOU AND GIVE HIM CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE?

Ask Him right now: Lord Jesus, I admit that I am a sinner and need your forgiveness. I believe that you died for my sins and rose again. Right now, I want to turn from my sins and invite you to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow you as the Lord and Savior of my life. Thank you for saving my soul. Amen.

CONGRATULATIONS! You just made life’s greatest decision.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT) This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

HOWHOW CAN I KNOW FOR SURE?
Your Assurance is based on the truth of God’s Word (the Bible). 1 John 5:11-13 This is the testimony in essence: God gave us eternal life; the life is in his Son. So, whoever has the Son, has life; whoever rejects the Son, rejects life. My purpose in writing is simply this: that you who believe in God’s Son will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life, the reality and not the illusion.

Your assurance is based on the promises of God. John 5:24 (GW) I can guarantee this truth: Those who listen to what I say and believe in the one who sent me will have eternal life. They won’t be judged because they have already passed from death to life. Romans 8:38-39 (TLB) For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels won’t, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God’s love away. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, or where we area” high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean” nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us. John 10:27-30 (MSG) My sheep recognize my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them real and eternal life. They are protected from the Destroyer for good. No one can steal them from out of my hand. The Father who put them under my care is so much greater than the Destroyer and Thief. No one could ever get them away from him. I and the Father are one heart and mind.”

Your assurance is only as reliable as the person who makes it. That is why the assurance of your salvation rests on God’s character. What do these verses teach about His character? 1 Corinthians 1:9 (GW) God faithfully keeps his promises. He called you to be partners with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Hebrews 10:23 (NLT) Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.
The Bible teaches that God is faithful, trustworthy, and reliable. You can trust His promises because you personally know the One who made the promise. God, your loving Father, is absolutely faithful. Nothing will change His mind about your salvation. Nothing will separate you from His love. Your relationship to God through Jesus is secure.

Your assurance is based on God’s Holy Spirit who lives inside you. To further guarantee your salvation, God has sent living and daily proof of your relationship. As an official seal is placed on a contract between two individuals to guarantee the contracts validity, so God has given a seal (guarantee) of His promise to you. Ephesians 1:13-14 (TLB) And because of what Christ did, all you others too, who heard the Good News about how to be saved, and trusted Christ, were marked as belonging to Christ by the Holy Spirit, who long ago had been promised to all of us Christians. His presence within us is God’s guarantee that he really will give us all that he promised; and the Spirit’s seal upon us means that God has already purchased us and that he guarantees to bring us to himself. This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God.

THE HOLY SPIRITThe Holy Spirit at work within you is indisputable proof of your salvation. The Holy Spirit’s work in your life will bring changes. Some changes will be gradual; others will be instantaneous. The inward and outward changes in your life are the final proof of your salvation.

Now that you have placed your trust in Jesus for your salvation and understand that your relationship with Him is secure and complete, you do not ever have to pray the prayer of salvation again. Your name is now written in Heaven. Nothing or no one can take that away from you. There, however, are going to be times when you face discouragement, doubt, and defeat. Giving your life to Christ in one of the easiest decisions you will ever make but daily living for Jesus will be one of the most difficult things you will ever do. Therefore, do not put your faith in your feelings or emotions as they will mislead you. Instead, place your faith in the facts and promises of God.

As we already learned, our relationship with Christ is established when we place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ to be our Savior and Lord. There often will be times when we fail to demonstrate Christ-likeness by the way we live and conduct ourselves. When a child disobeys his/her parents, it does not mean that he/she is no longer a member of the family. In the same way, a follower of Jesus Christ, we will continue to fall short of God’s expectations by giving into temptation and sin, but this does not mean we are no longer a Christian. Rather, it means that our fellowship, closeness and intimacy with God have been hindered. Just like in our earthly relationships, we must be willing to humble ourselves and confess our wrong-doings. In this way we regain and restore the openness and closeness in our relationships with others. Likewise, as Christians, we must be careful to cultivate and protect our close fellowship with God daily by confessing anything that is unpleasing to Him.

1 John 1:8-9 (GW) If we say, We aren’t sinful we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. God is faithful and reliable. If we confess our sins, he forgives them and cleanses us from everything we’ve done wrong.

BOTTOM LINE: Regarding our relationship with Christ, we get out what we put into it. We become whom we are committed to becoming. The Christian life is about becoming like Christ. Click Here to find helpful next steps on this journey.