Regardless
of our individual stories, we all share in the common
experience of sin. When we sin, we miss a mark or fall
short of a goal or standard. Sin separates us from God,
His love, and His intended destiny for us.
But
God wants you to know Him and experience His love. Here
are four keys to understanding how to come into proper
relationship with Him:.
1.
God loves you and wants the very best for you. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “I know the plans I have
for you... plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.”
2. The only thing that keeps you from experiencing
God's love is your sin. (Sin is “going
your own way” and falling short of God's will
for your life.) Isaiah 59:2 says, “Your iniquities
have separated you from your God. Your sins have hidden
His face from you.”
3. The key to knowing God Is to receive Jesus
and the forgiveness He offers. Jesus said,
“I am the way, the truth and the life; no one
comes to the Father but through me” (John 14:6).
Jesus paid the penalty for your sin when He shed His
blood on the cross. He died and rose again so that He
could bring you into a relationship with God.
4. Receiving Jesus Involves turning from your
sin and receiving the forgiveness Jesus provides. When you do that, God sends His Spirit to dwell in your
heart and make you a new person. John 1:12 says, “As
many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become
children of God.”
You receive Jesus through faith. Faith can be expressed
in a simple prayer like this:
“Lord Jesus, I need You. I now turn from
my sins and receive Your forgiveness. Please send Your
Spirit to live within me so I can know You and be all
that You want me to be. I thank You now, by faith, that
You have forgiven all my sins and brought me into a
relationship with You!”
The moment
you pray this prayer or decide to believe in and commit
your life to Christ, God accomplished several things
for you:
- Redemption: You are forgiven of sin. "So
overflowing is his kindness toward us that he took away
all our sins through the blood of his son, by whom we
are saved" (Ephesians 1:7).
- Cleansing: You are washed from your sin. "He
saved us--not because we were good enough to be saved,
but because of his kindness and pity--by washing away
our sins and giving us the new joy of the indwelling
Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5).
- Regeneration: You are born anew. "Jesus
replied, 'What I am telling you so earnestly is this:
Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot
enter the Kingdom of God' " (John 3:5).
- Justification: You have peace with God. "So
now, since we have been made right in God's sight by
faith in his promises, we can have real peace with him
because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us"
(Romans 5:1).
- Adoption: You become one of God's children. "And so we should not be like cringing, fearful
slaves, but we should behave like God's very own children,
adopted into the bosom of his family and calling to
him, 'Father, Father' " (Romans 8:15).
- Acceptance: You are received by the Father. "His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us
into his own family by sending Jesus Christ to die for
us. And he did this because he wanted to! Now all praise
to God for his wonderful kindness to us and his favor
that he has poured out upon us, because be belong to
his dearly loved son" (Ephesians 1:5,6).
- Eternal Life: You have an endless hope. "I
say emphatically that anyone who listens to my message
and believes in God who sent me has eternal life, and
will never be damned for his sins, but has already passed
out of death into life" (John 5:24).
If
you would like to know more about accepting Jesus, please
contact us at chofdestiny@aol.com.
If
you prayed the prayer above, we welcome you into the
family of God! We would like to make some materials
available to you free of charge to help you get started
in your new walk with the Lord. Please email us with
a physical address for shipping the materials.
May
God richly bless you as to come to know Him,
Jack and Rebecca Sytsema
(The
above Keys to Knowing God have been adapted from Glory
of Zion, our parent ministry, and from Jack Hayford's
booklet, Newborn, published by Tyndale House,
Wheaton, IL, 1984, pp. 8, 11-12.)
