"God loves each of us as if there were only one of us."
Augustine
God loves you...Why?
Many people have no idea how much they are loved. God created you to have a relationship with Him. He longs to hear from you, to share in your victories, and be a shoulder to lean during your darkest nights. If you ever want to know how much God loves you, look to the cross. He left heaven to come to this world as a baby to live and ultimately die for you. He paid for all the bad stuff you have ever thought of, ever said, ever done so that you and He could be friends again. He did this for You and to bring honor to Himself. The first step of loving others, is knowing Jesus' love for you and then accepting His love. No matter what you have done in the past, God loves you. No matter the failures or mistakes that you regret, God knows all of them and still loves you. Turn to Jesus and accept His forgiveness. Choose to follow Him as Lord. He is faithful and trustworthy. Then forgive yourself. Learn from the past but don't let it hold on to you. Don't let the world bring you down. When you choose to have a relationship with Jesus you are part of His family. Your are precious to Him
How to have a Relationship with God
The Beginning of All Relationships
1. We must acknowledge God as the Creator of everything, accepting our humble position in God's created order and purpose. Romans 1:20-21
"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened."
2. We must realize that we are sinners and that we need forgiveness. None of us are worthy under God’s standards. Romans 3:23
“For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.”
3. God gave us the way to be forgiven of our sins. He showed us His love by giving us the potential for life through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ. Romans 5:8
“But God demonstrates His love toward us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
4. If we remain sinners, we will die. However, if we repent of our sins, and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we will have eternal life. Romans 6:23
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
5. Confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead and you are saved. Romans 10:9-10
“That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
6. There are no other religious formulas or rituals. Just call upon the name of the Lord and you will be saved! Romans 10:13
“For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”
7. Determine in your heart to make Jesus Christ the Lord of your life today. Romans 11:36
"For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen."
The Roman Road: Are You Ready?
The Roman Road shows you the path – are you ready to accept God’s gift of Salvation now? If so, believe in what Jesus Christ did for you on the cross, repent of your sins, and commit the rest of your life to Him. This is not a ritual, just a prayerful guideline for your sincere step of faith:
“Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn
away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ
died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule
and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my
life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.”
Now What?
"Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38)
Now is perfect time to find a great church home and get baptized. Baptism tells the world about your wonderful, new relationship. Just like someone who has fallen in love, you are at an exciting time where you can find out all about this new love in your life. God has given us a love letter. It is called the Bible. Read it as much as you can. Lastly, spend time with your new love in prayer.
Bible Study
God's love letter. The Bible is a God-given gift. He shares about Himself. He even helps us find out ourselves. (I mean, He made us, so He has a pretty good idea how we work and what makes us tick). There are so many choices. Check out the KJV, NKJV, NIV, study Bibles etc. Don't know where to start? How about in Matthew. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are called the Gospels, which mean, "good news," because they talk about the life of Jesus Christ. Another option would be at the beginning, Genesis. Whatever you do, just get started. Some may think the Bible is a mythical book with stories for children. They would be gravely mistaken. There is hard evidence that the Bible not only is accurate historically but also the very words of God. Check out https://answersingenesis.org/is-the-bible-true/. The Bible is the number one best seller in the world for all time. Why? It is alive! You may read it, but it will read you and help you more than you can ever imagine. Find a good Bible study. A local church will have some or you can get one in a Christian book store or online. Have questions about what you are reading, find a good church (see below).
Prayer
Prayer has been described as the greatest wireless connection. Because of Jesus' sacrifice, He gave us the gift of prayer. We don't need to go through any special person. We can go directly to God Himself. We can praise Him for all He is. We can thank Him for all He does for us. We can ask Him to forgive us anytime we mess up. And, of course we can ask Him to help us and others around us. We don't need any special words; we just need to open our heart and be honest. The Bible does mention things that do get in the way of our prayers. If we have hate in our heart to others, God asks us to try to reconcile our relationship with that other person, then come to Him. If we have sins that we keep doing. He wants us to stop doing them, ask for forgiveness and come to the Lord with a clean heart. Lastly, we are not all God's children. Those who choose to follow the Lord are considered children of God and are able to call God, Father!. As a child, we have God's ear to hear and help us. Even, during hard times, don't stop talking to the Lord, anytime, anywhere. The devil doesn't want you to pray. He wants your guilt, the busyness of your life, your sin to stop you from praying. But when, we pray we are not fighting our problems alone. We have the God of the universe right beside us, and Jesus says, "...with God, all things are possible." (Matt 19:26)
Find Support
When you choose to follow God as your Lord and savior, you are now part of God's family. Many people refer to this as a church family. No matter if you have a great biological family or not, you now have a family that branches across the globe, and back to the beginning of time. You will never be alone. Find a good Bible believing church that focuses on Jesus, the Gospel message, and reaching others. It might take a few tries to find the right personality. Some churches have a handful of people, while other churches have thousands. Get connected, reach out to the Pastor, start going to a Bible study or Sunday school class, and finally get involved. The Bible states,
"For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ." (1 Corinthians 12:12) This means the church is body of Jesus Christ. What He thinks and wants to do, we are His body, His hands and feet. The body is made of many different parts, the brain, eye, collar bone, knee cap, tongue, or ear. Each one is vital and has a role to play. We are all a part of God's body. We also have vital role to play. We are all differnt, buimportant and needed. The church needs you. So find out what role God wants you to play.