The Need For Jesus
Are you missing something in your life?
Our world today is very competitive and fast-paced. Never admit you have problems--always pretend you are perfect...these are the things you need to do to get ahead. People say to "think positive" about yourself. You can work out anything by your own thinking. Well there is certainly nothing wrong with having a good opinion of yourself, and self-confidence is great, as long as it doesn't go too far and become self-righteousness! But if we are honest with ourselves and look deep inside, we will find something--there is always some place where we have failed. We all have weaknesses, difficulties--temptations we know we shouldn't do but we still keep going back to.
Now, for a moment compare yourself to God. God is perfect--Are you? Have you gone all your life without any problems or shortcomings? If we are honest, we will see that we fall short of God's perfection--like a marksman that tries his best but falls short of the target. Did you know that this is the Biblical definition of sin?
"For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" [Romans 3:23]
While we should not embrace sin, we shouldn't be afraid of our past sins. Realizing that you have sinned will lead you to the truth! There is no way for us to be perfect...but we have a Savior! God has provided a Way for us to be cleansed of our sin, set free from its' bondage. How can you be cleansed of your sin and enter into a true relationsip with God?
"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." [John 3:17]
There is salvation and freedom in the name of Jesus. There is cleansing in His blood. How do you receive this? Just ask! If you can confess that you are a sinner, and believe in your heart that the blood of Jesus cleanses you from your sin--you are saved! Once you are saved and enter into a true relationship with God, you will have the peace and joy in your life that was missing.
The one thing we need can be ours, and it is ABSOLUTELY FREE !
We are so conditioned in life to think that we cannot get something for nothing... "Nothing is for free..." "There is no free ride.." "Everything has a price...". I believe that this is the devils' plan...! We live in a world of comparisons... everything has a value and a price must be paid...But you see we don't recognize that the price for our sins has already been paid...!
Jesus has already paid the price for our salvation! 2,000 years ago He laid His life down for us.. and won the victory by rising from the dead! Salvation cannot be earned...cannot be bought by you! The price has already been paid! Paul in his letter to the church at Corinth (speaking to people who were already saved) says.....
"For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's". [1 Corinthians 6:20]
"Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men." [1 Corinthians 7:23].
(note that the word "bought" is past tense!)
"But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction." [2 Peter 2:1]
This scripture clearly states that...
1.There will be false teachers.
2.They will teach the worst kind of "damnable heresy", which is...
3."denying the Lord that bought them"
So we see that the worst lie that one could teach would be to say that Jesus has not paid the full price for our salvation! He has done the full work of salvation..we only need to accept and receive this "free gift"!
However, there IS a price to pay on Judgement Day...
for those who haven't receieved Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour!
"And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20: 11-15)
Now, either these Bible verses are true or they are not true--right? They say very clearly, that everyone who comes before this white throne will be judged by their works--by the things they have done--and everyone who is judged by their works--will go to hell! Read those verses carefully---first it say that there were books--which contained the works of those who are being judged---"the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works."--and then there is another book---The Book Of Life. "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
As I said friend, either this is true or not true. Either this event will happen, or it will not happen. If you are counting on your own works to save you from Hell, you are taking your own chances. You are betting that the Bible is not true, and this judgment day will not happen just the way it is described in the Bible.
So the question that we must know the answer to is this --How can I get my name written in the Book of Life?
The names in the book of life are those who are the blood-bought children of God.
Those who have confessed and believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe that He died on the cross for our sins
The remainder of this page is organized into several sections which deal with some of the most common reasons why people don't have a personal relationship with God.
First:
You're not sure if God really exists.
Let's look at this question as a scientific analysis of Evolution and the origin of life on earth. The theory of Evolution as it is being taught in today's schools has removed all traces of God and made the origin of life on earth a cosmic chance event. If you look at the whole evolution model from beginning to end, using a scientific method, it makes no sense whatsoever.
The prominent scientific theory for the beginning of life on earth is that millions and millions of years ago there was a 'primordial soup' floating around in the ocean (or maybe a lake/pond). Suddenly a bolt of lightning strikes this 'soup' and fuses together the first living one celled creature. This creature was made exactly in such a manner that it had the capability to:
(1) reproduce
(2) survive, and
(3) evolve into progressively more and more complex life forms.
Over the millions of years the evolutionary line of this original creature has supposedly evolved into the millions of species that inhabit the earth today. What do you suppose is the probability of this happening?
The probability of a creature being "born" by lightning zapping a pond or lake is astronomical. Scientists have been able to recreate amino acids in the lab, but nothing like this has ever been observed in the field. If they had seen evidence of this in the field, it would be in every textbook as evidence.
Now when you combine the astronomical probability of any creature being "born" by this process with the astronomical probability of such a creature being able to survive and reproduce, it becomes an unbelievable astronomic probability (We haven't even gotten to the evolution part yet).
Now throw in the absolutely amazingly astronomical probability that this creature just happened to be "born" in such a way that the heredity process (RNA/DNA) allowed for mutations yet was still reliable enough to enable this creature to survive, you have one profoundly slim chance of a slight possibility.
I have a great respect for scientists and the advancements that they have contributed to society, but in the matter of the evolution they act like they have all the answers when in fact they don't even know what questions to ask.
God placed life on this planet. There is no other explanation.
Second:
You believe that God exists, but you've been a pretty decent person your whole life so you don't think that you'll have anything to worry about.
This is a trap that many people have fallen into. We have examined this idea at the beginning of this page, but let's look at it with some different scriptures. Even among christians there are those who believe that their works will get them through the pearly gates.
Galation 2:16
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.
If we were able to win our passage into heaven with our works, what would be the exact number of good deeds that would get us in? If one person got into heaven with 150 good deeds and another got in with 120 good deeds, then the first person would have 'bragging rights'. What about the poor guy who only did 119 good deeds and missed to cutoff, "Sorry - you'll be spending an eternity in hell!" If we were able to do good deeds and earn a spot in heaven, then we take God out of the equation. Let's not forget who is the Creator of heaven and earth. Do you see the fallacy of us being able to 'work' our way into heaven?
For by grace are ye saved through faith
It is God's grace in the form of a gift that is only received if we accept it. "It" being our faith in Jesus Christ that he died for our sins on the cross. This gift from God cannot be earned or bought with any amount of good deeds, if it could - then it really wouldn't be a gift would it?
Third:
You believe that organized religion is a sham and you don't want anything to do with it.
There are many good christian churches out there whose congregations enjoy a fellowship with the Lord. There are also a few "christian" churches out there whose congregations are keeping their eyes fixed on their church funds and their social status in the community rather than looking to God as they should be. I have attended services in many different types of churches: Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, Christian, Mennonite, and Pentecostal to name a few.
There may be disagreements between the different denominations on interpretations of passages in the bible, but there is one common thread that would influence whether I would attend another service or not. That common thread is the churches that preached eternal salvation as a gift from God, paid for in full by the blood of Jesus Christ. They teach that our faith in Him as our personal Saviour is our ticket to heaven.
There are some Christians who feel that every church that they attend has some enormous problem that they don't want to deal with. Perhaps the pastor talks about money every sunday, maybe the people in the congregation aren't as friendly as you think they should be, or maybe the youth group isn't very organized....
You can always find something wrong with a church if you look long enough. The question you should ask yourself is this: "is this going to directly affect my relationship with God?" Maybe God has placed you in that church to organize the youth group! Maybe God has placed you in the church to bring the entire congregation into a better fellowship! Trust God when making decisions about leaving a church and go to Him in prayer.
If you ask God in prayer to lead you to a good church, He will do it.
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