Sue lives next door. She is a determined woman, whom I admire. She has been through a lot in her lifetime. She is single and lives alone. She supports herself and works hard to earn a living and maintain her home. She has three grown daughters and is a little younger than my own mom.
Sue is more “into” ancient religions than Christianity, she told me once. “You cannot get any more ancient than the Bible,” I had responded. I would love for Sue to come to know the God of the Bible through a relationship with Him. After all, He died for her and loves her!
Sue and I had another recent conversation about God. Does God exist? Is there evidence for God? Well, yes there is! Look at the complexity of the human body, for example. Many atheistic scientists will denounce evolution, saying it is scientifically impossible, and suspecting a divine creator. They don’t acknowledge God, but I trust that one day their eyes will be opened, and they will see Him for themselves. The evidence for God is available for those who want to see it. For those who don’t want to see it, they will see things to support own ideologies.
Sue explained that she can understand the argument and even the physical evidence for a Creator, God, but thinks that the evidence leads to a requirement of “FAITH.” Sue, that is exactly right, and well put!
This verse came to mind.
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that he rewards those who diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6 NIV
I desire to please God. When we die, we will all be face to face with God (whether we had faith in Him or not). I hope to hear the words of a righteous, holy, and perfect God, of whom I cannot enter into His presence on my own merit, or goodness, telling me that because of my faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, I too am made holy and pure. I want to hear that He is pleased with me. I know it is not by my good works that I can inherit eternal life in heaven. It is only by the grace of God, THROUGH FAITH.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2:8 NIV
And He is rewarder of those who DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM, according to Hebrews 11:6. That is so cool!
What are His rewards? He rewards with the giving of His own Spirit in our lives, which is… just… WOW (another blog post for another time), and He will also reward with the inheritance of forever living with Him once we die.
You don’t ever have to step foot into a church to be saved. You don’t ever have to work for God, or be “good enough” that He accepts you. You simply need FAITH in His Son Jesus Christ.
“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.” Romans 10:9
There it is again, you must BELIEVE. Believe in what? That Jesus Christ was God in the flesh, sent to earth to take our punishment for sin. That’s why He died. The penalty for sin is DEATH. We are all sinners.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the GIFT of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23 NKJV
Did you catch that again? THE GIFT OF GOD. Remember, He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Some say, “I’ll believe it when I see it.” The truth is, you’ll SEE it when you believe! Take me up on that–and try it.
God is good and He is love. He’s nothing the unbelieving world portrays Him as. Jesus is the Truth. He said it Himself, “I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father (God) except through Me (Jesus).”
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 NIV
I pray that TODAY you will have the FAITH it requires to enter into a relationship with God, through His Son, Jesus Christ. It’s as simple as acknowledging to God that you have sinned against Him, that you believe Jesus died and rose again for your sin, and repenting (or to turn away) from it. It is the most important decision you will ever make; one that is eternal; one that will have no regrets!!
